Palestinian Authority blocks registration of legal aid group

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Palestinian Authority has blocked the registration of a legal advocacy group representing critics and opponents detained in Palestinian jails, a move condemned as the authority’s latest effort to stifle civil society in the occupied West Bank. Without proper registration, the group, Lawyers for Justice, said Friday it could lose access to its funds and be forced to close. The organization was told it had violated the law by engaging in non-profit work and accepting foreign aid despite being registered as a “civil corporation.” The New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch on Thursday described the authority’s bureaucratic explanation as a thinly veiled attack on Palestinian nongovernmental organization. The Palestinian Authority did not respond to requests for comment.