As noted in previous NGO Monitor updates, HRW is continuing to use current events to pursue a political agenda, including calls to cut U.S. aid to Israel. In a letter of February 9 to European Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso, Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division stated that EU aid to a Hamas-led P.A. should be conditioned on the human rights record of the Palestinian government...
State Prosecutor Nira Mashraki respodns to HaMokeds claims that it is a human rights organization, noting its one-sided anti-Israel activities. Submitted to the Jerusalem Magistrates court, 28 February 2006.
Summary: Since NGO Monitors first report on Ilam in 2004, the NGO has continued to carry out programs to develop Arab media in Israel, and bring Arab affairs to greater public attention. However it has also persisted in disseminating politically motivated material that makes unsubstantiated claims, consistent with the Durban strategy, and frequently fails to provide sources and evidence for its assertions...
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs Development Cooperation is the international development arm of the Finnish Foreign Ministry. Its purpose is to provide humanitarian assistance and fund development projects in developing countries. However some of its funds are being diverted to promote politicized NGOs that contribute to incitement, such as the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG), Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), and the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights (JCSER). Funds also go (directly and via KIOS) to NGOs whose activities contradict the goals of the Ministry for Development Cooperation.
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) postponed a conference sponsored by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations on academic boycotts and academic freedom, planned for February 13th to 17th in Italy. The list of invited participants included many who are active in the boycott campaign and the wider effort to delegitimize the existence of Israel, in accordance with the Durban agenda.
Sabeel continues to promote the Durban agenda Sabeel and the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA East Jerusalem and YWCA of Palestine will launch the World Council of Churches "global advocacy week concerning the situation in Palestine and Israel." The Conference (12-19 March 2006) program is endorsed by a number of NGOs including Caritas Jerusalem and EAPPI, and includes "solidarity visits with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron," a "settlement tour with ICAHD" and an opportunity to "witnes[s] the destruction in Jenin Refugee Camp".
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International: Following a long-standing pattern, these NGO superpowers issued similar statements in response to the election of Hamas. In a press release on 31st January, Amnesty said that "the campaign of suicide bombings and deliberate attacks against Israeli civilians by Hamas and other armed groups constitutes crimes against humanity;" and a HRW release on January 30th stated that " attacks that intentionally kill and maim civilians are among the very worst kinds of crimes - war crimes and crimes against humanity."
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