| Rodney Gouttman,
“Australian NGOs and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”,
Quadrant, October 2004
Dr. Gouttman, Senior Political Analyst for the Anti-Defamation
Commission of B'nai B'rith Australia, addresses the motives
of Australian NGOs involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict:
“It is a common view that when Australian non-government
organisations (NGOs) intervene in overseas areas of conflict,
disaster, or great deprivation, their motives are purely humanitarian.
Cases do exist, however, where humanitarian programs and projects
are also driven by distinct, even overriding, political preference.
One example is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Margaret Wente,
“Whither Christian Peacemakers?”, Globe
and Mail, December 6, 2005
”The hostages belong to a small activist outfit
called Christian
Peacemaker Teams, which is described as being engaged
in a "humanitarian mission" in Iraq. In fact, the
group does not spread the gospel, and its mission is political.”
Badil
- “OPT:
Palestinian refugees' right of return remains at core of Palestinian
public agenda - Global Palestine Right-of-Return Coalition
holds 6th annual meeting”, ReliefWeb, December
5, 2005
"The Coalition also called for the launch of
preparations towards a broad public anwareness-raising [sic]
campaign around the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba
in 2008, as well as for concerted global efforts for campaigns
of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until
it abides by international law. … the Coalition considered
pros and cons of a new Palestinian strategy which combines
the quest for implementation of Palestinian refugee rights
with a one-state, rather than a two-state, framework of conflict
resolution.”
EU Parliamentarians meet with
Radical NGOs. As part of the 30th interparliamentary
delegation from the European Parliament, several NGOs were
invited to meet on Saturday, November 26 with the visiting
European legislators. Among those NGOs invited were representatives
from such politicized groups as Machsom
Watch, B’tselem
and Yesh Gvul. While NGO Monitor regards the promotion of
civil society as a positive step, these groups have demonstrated
radical agendas, as documented by previous NGO Monitor analyses.
The annual
UN meeting of the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the
Palestinian People, which took place on November
29, 2005, included a speech by Chris Doyle, from the International
Coordinating Network on Palestine (and Director of the Council
for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding). In addition
to repeating the standard rhetoric of demonization, and blaming
Israel exclusively for Palestinian suffering, Doyle called
on NGOs to continue to promote anti-Israel boycott and divestment
campaigns.
The UN held the “International Day for the Inalienable
Rights of the Palestinian People”, a conference in Brussels
on Saturday, December 3, 2005. Speakers included representatives
from such NGOs as PCHR
and al-Dameer,
Jean-Luc Onckelinx (Desk Officer for EU and Benelux) and featured
a session organized by Belgian
Senator Pierre Galand.
Raed El Rafei,
“Hayyabina slams politicians over fiefdoms”,
Daily Star (Lebanon), November 30, 2005
Lebanese NGO Hayyabina calls attention to the various political
and paramilitary organizations in control of different sectors
of Lebanon, and calls into question the notion of Lebanese
sovereignty.
Irwin J. Mansdorf,
"Psychologists for Social Irresponsibility",
FrontPageMagazine.com, November 25, 2005
Phyllis Chesler, “False
Diagnosis”, FrontPageMagazine.com, November
18, 2005
Psychologists for Social Responsibility accuses Israel
of using sonic booms, caused by jet aircraft flying at supersonic
speeds, as a means of psychological warfare against Palestinians
in Gaza. PSR’s lobbying and media campaigns ignore the
ongoing Palestinian terror, including launching of missiles
against Israeli cities, and the attempt by Israel to use non-lethal
means to end these attacks.
Gerald M. Steinberg, "Can
Europe provide security?", Jerusalem Post,
December 5, 2005
”The EU transfers millions of euros to support
radical anti-Israel non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
that exploit the rhetoric of human rights to promote boycotts
and divestment campaigns.”
PHR-I Holds Politicized Conference
at BGU. On November 29, the pseudo-medical political
group Physicians
for Human Rights – Israel held a conference entitled
“Health Professionals and Dual Loyalty” at Ben
Gurion University of the Negev in the southern Israeli city
of Be’er Sheva. The conference, which was co-sponsored
by the university’s health sciences faculty, featured
opening remarks by university president Prof. Avishai Braverman,
who recently announced his candidacy for the Knesset. PHR-I’s
activities are funded by the European Union and individual
European governments.
Gerald M. Steinberg, “The
Mary Robinson Dilemma”, Canadian Jewish News,
November 24, 2005
“How should we respond to people who joined the political
war against Israel and are now trying to rehabilitate themselves?
Mary Robinson is a case in point …Ignoring warnings,
Robinson led the UNHRC and the non-governmental organization
(NGO) network into the UN-sponsored World
Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.”
UN-based
NGO Coalition Issues Recommendations for new Human Rights
Council. On November 22, the UN Human Rights
Commission convened in Geneva to discuss proposals for reforming
the body into a new Human Rights Council. At the meeting,
a coalition of 38 NGOs together issued a joint recommendation
that the new Council exclude “abusive regimes”,
be given equal status to the Security Council, adherence to
the principle of equality before the law, as well as specific
state-membership selection criteria. According to Hillel Neuer,
director of UN Watch (one of the coalition NGOs), “States
seeking election to the Human Rights Council should be required
to demonstrate, in the words of the Secretary-General, ‘a
solid record of commitment to the highest human rights standards’.”
“Presbyterian
Church USA & Families of 9/11 Victims Delegations Meet
with Hizbullah”, MEMRI, November 23, 2005
In late October, a delegation from the Presbyterian
Church USA went to southern Lebanon to meet with a Hizbullah
terrorist commander. According to delegation spokesman Robert
Worley, “we want to hear about the charity activities
and the cultural and social activities organized by Hizbullah
in south [Lebanon]. The Americans hear in the Western media
that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization, and they do not
hear any other opinion. … We have suffered much pressure
on the part of Jewish organizations in the U.S. because [of
our help in] divesting corporations working with Israel.”
(For more information on divestment in the Presbyterian church
and other churches, see the NGO
Monitor section on Boycotts and Divestment Campaigns.
Lawrence Hart,
“Local groups threaten Sharon”, Canadian
Jewish News, November 22, 2005
Based on Amnesty
and B’Tselem
reports, a group of extremist anti-Israel Canadian NGOs are
petitioning the federal government to bar PM Ariel Sharon
from entering Canada, in the process demanding that pro-Israel
government ministers recuse themselves from the issue.
Pranay Gupte, “For
Bayefsky, Keeping Eye on U.N. Is a Crucial Mission”,
New York Sun, November 17, 2005 |
