Preview document (🔗 origineel)

---

February 25, 2011

Analysis of Dutch funding for Israeli and Palestinian political advocacy
NGOs

The Dutch government funds numerous Israeli and Palestinian NGOs through
different channels: directly via the Embassy (Tel Aviv) and
Representation Office (Ramallah), and indirectly through the Ministry of
Foreign Affair’s “co-financing mechanism” and via the NGO
Development Center (Ramallah).

While some of this funding is used to support human rights, a
significant amount goes to highly politicized groups that engage in
anti-Israel campaigns such as   HYPERLINK
"http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/ngo_leadership_in_boycott_and_divest
ment_campaigns"  boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) . This is
inconsistent with   HYPERLINK
"http://www.minbuza.nl/en/News/Newsflashes/2011/01/Rosenthal_takes_ICCO_
to_task" \t "_blank"  statements  by Foreign Minister Rosenthal stating
that support for BDS is “directly contrary to Dutch government
policy” (January 2011). 

The   HYPERLINK
"http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/palestinian_agricultural_relief_comi
ttee_parc_"  Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees  (PARC)
received €7,643,368 in 2009 from the Representative Office in Ramallah
for the project “ HYPERLINK
"http://www.pal-arc.org/earlyrecovery.html" The Early Recovery Program
II ” (2010-2012.) Among its political advocacy activities, PARC
falsely accuses Israel of “savage...  HYPERLINK
"http://www.pal-arc.org/annual/2002e.pdf"  massacres ” in Jenin and
Nablus, and “  HYPERLINK "http://www.pal-arc.org/annual/2009e.pdf" 
war crime [s].” The organization has also signed petitions calling for
 HYPERLINK "http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=66_0_1_10_M11"
BDS  against Israel and in support of the   HYPERLINK
"http://www.al-awda.org/academicboycott.html"  boycott of Israeli
academia . 

The NGO  HYPERLINK "http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/badil" Badil  is
funded both by the NDC and the government funded aid-organization ICCO
(see below). Badil has published  HYPERLINK
"http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/badil_s_antisemitic_cartoon_question
s_for_danchurchaid_trocaire_and_funders" antisemitic cartoon  on its
website, and levels inflammatory accusations of “ HYPERLINK
"http://www.badil.org/en/press-releases/135-2010/2140-majdal-43-release"
\t "_blank" Israel’s colonial apartheid regime ,” “state sponsored
racism,” and “ HYPERLINK
"http://www.un.org/webcast/unhrc/archive.asp?go=081016" \t "_blank"
systematic ethnic cleansing .” It promotes the so-called “right of
return,” and  HYPERLINK
"http://www.badil.org/en/badil-news/829-story-1" explicitly rejects  the
“Roadmap for Peace” and the Arab Peace Initiative.  

  HYPERLINK "http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/al_haq"  Al Haq  was
funded directly by the Representative Office in 2008 and 2009. Its
General Director Shawan Jabarin is allegedly active in the PFLP terror
group. In    HYPERLINK
"http://blog.ngo-monitor.org/other-ngos/human-rights-watch/oops-guess-we
-forgot-to-mention-that-stuff-about-the-pflp" \t "_blank" June 2007 ,
the Israeli Supreme Court labeled him “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” a
human rights worker by day and a terrorist by night.  

Israeli advocacy group   HYPERLINK
"http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/breaking_the_silence_shovirm_shtika_
"  Breaking the Silence  (BtS) received a   HYPERLINK
"http://www.ngo-monitor.org/digest_info.php?id=2542"  controversial 
grant of €19,999 from the Embassy in Tel Aviv in 2008. This grant was
one euro less than the €20,000 threshold requiring “approval from
The Hague,” which critics suggested may reflect an effort to evade
visibility. 

From 2008-2013, the Netherlands entrusted the  HYPERLINK
"http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/promoting_israel_s_isolation_switzer
land_sweden_denmark_netherlands_funding_for_ndc_and_ngos" NGO
Development Center  (NDC) in Ramallah with  HYPERLINK
"http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/ngo_development_center_ndc_" $6
million  to distribute to NGOs, as part of a program also sponsored by
Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland. NDC “ HYPERLINK
"http://www.ndc.ps/main.php?id=22" facilitated ,” funded, and 
HYPERLINK "http://www.ndc.ps/PDF/calendar18.12.2010_Resized.pdf"
encourages  its NGO grantees to adopt the “Palestinian NGO Code of
Conduct,” which demands that Palestinian groups reject 

	“any normalization activities with the occupier, neither at the
political-	security nor the cultural or developmental levels”
(emphasis added).

The Dutch government outsources a  HYPERLINK
"http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/subsidies-voor-ontwikkelingssam
enwerking-en-europa" significant amount  of its development aid to 
HYPERLINK
"http://minbuza.nl/nl/Onderwerpen/Ontwikkelingssamenwerking/Maatschappel
ijk_middenveld/Maatschappelijke_organisaties" Dutch aid-organizations  
like ICCO, Oxfam Novib and Cordaid. These groups receive funds via the
“co-financing mechanism,” and then run projects and transfer funds
to NGOs outside the Netherlands. 

ICCO, Oxfam Novib and Cordaid promote a one-sided approach to the
Israeli-Arab conflict and support radical and politicized NGOs.

Between 2006 and 2009, ICCO provided €150,000 of funding from the
Dutch government to  HYPERLINK
"http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/electronic_intifada_and_ali_abunimah
_factsheet" Electronic Intifada  (EI). EI’s explicit political goal is
to counter Israel’s “ HYPERLINK
"http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article438.shtml" \t "_blank"
orchestrated media campaign ” to spin news reports to its own
advantage.” They regularly publish articles endorsing BDS, accusing
Israel of “war crimes,” advocating a “one state solution,” and
using Holocaust rhetoric against Israel. ICCO has   HYPERLINK
"http://www.icco.nl/en/news/press-releases/press-item/679/icco-will-not-
change-policy-after-discussion-with-dutch-foreign-minister"  maintained
their support  for EI despite severe criticism from the   HYPERLINK
"http://www.minbuza.nl/en/News/Newsflashes/2011/01/Rosenthal_takes_ICCO_
to_task"  Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs  in 2011. 

From at least 2003 until 2010, ICCO and Cordaid funded   HYPERLINK
"http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/ittijah"  Ittijah , one of the most
radical Israeli-Arab groups. In 2011, these Dutch NGOs defended the
director of Ittijah, Ameer Makhoul, a   HYPERLINK
"http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/amnesty_international_defending_thos
e_linked_to_terror"  convicted Hezbollah spy , falsely claiming that his
“conviction was based solely on a statement by Makhoul under
pressure.”  

NGOs involved in promoting BDS receive Dutch funding via the following
channels:

Direct funding (Embassy and Representative Office): Al Haq, Al Mezan,
Defence for Children International - Palestine Section, Machsom Watch,
PARC

Funding via the NDC: Addameer, Al Haq, Al Mezan, Badil, Defence for
Children International - Palestine Section, ICAHD, Ma’an Development
Center, PNGO 

Funded via the co-financing mechanism (ICCO, Cordaid, Oxfam Novib):
ARIJ, Badil, Defence for Children International - Palestine Section,
Democracy and Worker’s Rights Center, Electronic Intifada, Holy Land
Trust, ICAHD, Ma’an Development Center, Miftah, Sabeel, Stop the Wall,
Coalition of Women for Peace

As indicated in the examples above, many of the same NGOs receive Dutch
government funding from multiple frameworks, indicating the lack of
oversight and transparency in the system. For example, the political
advocacy organization  HYPERLINK
"http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/public_committee_against_torture_in_
israel_pcati_" Public Committee Against Torture in Israel   (PCATI)  
HYPERLINK "http://www.stoptorture.org.il/en/donors"  receives  funding
from: the Netherlands Embassy, Dutch aid-organizations (ICCO, Cordaid),
and the NGO Development Center.

The Amuta for NGO Responsibility R.A. (ע"ר) # 580465508