Norwegian Funding for Political Advocacy NGOs

Introduction

• The Norwegian government provides tens of millions of kroner (NOK), through direct and indirect funding processes to politicized NGOs that operate in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.
• The organizations receiving Norwegian funding lead campaigns and political activities that are inconsistent with government policies to promote peace and a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
• Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), a large-scale recipient of Norwegian funding, actively politicizes the International Criminal Court as part of its effort to demonize and delegitimize the State of Israel.
• Norwegian Refugee Council – which receives funding from Norway, Sweden,  UK, and EU – allocated NOK 85 million (~$15 million) for its work in the West Bank and Gaza, and supports politicized cases in Israel and internationally.

NGOs funded by Norway include

PCHR ($120,000- 2012) – PCHR has tried to have cases brought against Israeli officials in England, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, and New Zealand. The group has filed for punitive damages in the U.S. against companies doing business with Israel. In 2010, PCHR published “The Principle and Practice of Universal Jurisdiction: PCHR’s Work in the occupied Palestinian territory,” advancing allegations of Israel’s “violations of international humanitarian law,” “war crimes,” and “culture of pervasive impunity.” PCHR’s campaign has also focused on pursuing charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court, including meetings with ICC officials in Hague to “explore different avenues to bring justice to the victims of serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”

Miftah ($129,000-2012) – Miftah’s website is a forum for the demonization of Israel and “disseminate[s] the Palestinian narrative and discourse globally.” In April 2013, Miftah published an article repeating the antisemitic blood libel, claiming that “the Jews used the blood of Christians in the Jewish Passover …” During the 2009 fighting in Gaza, Miftah condemned Israeli “atrocities” and “massacres,” and an opinion piece declared, “Israel has opened the gates of hell to the Palestinians” and denounced defense of Israeli actions as “scandalous fabrications.”

Yesh Din ($310,000- 2012) – Yesh Din regularly petitions the High Court of Justice to alter Israeli policy (for example, to cancel the law prohibiting the transportation of Palestinians in Israeli vehicles within the West Bank and to gain access to military court records).  The organization engages in advocacy campaigns, such as briefings to foreign diplomats and encourages Palestinians to claim compensation for seized land.

Breaking the Silence ($64,000 – 2012) – Breaking the Silence plays a central role in the demonization and BDS campaigns targeting Israel, based on “testimonies of soldiers” to “demonstrate the depth of corruption which is spreading in the Israeli military…Israeli society continues to turn a blind eye, and to deny that which happens in its name.” In 2010 BtS published a book of anonymous and unverifiable “testimonies,” Occupation of the Territories – Israeli Soldier testimonies 2000-2010.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC):

• In 2013, NRC allocated NOK 85 Million (~$15 million) for its work in the West Bank and Gaza. Funders include Norway, Sweden, the UK and the EU.
• A program on “Information Counseling and Legal Assistance” provides legal assistance and training for lawyers to counter “House demolitions, house evictions and movement restrictions… the leading causes of displacement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”
• Initial research indicates that this project was responsible for numerous court cases in Israel, as well as filing a UN complaint against Canada “for its failure to prevent two Canadian corporations from engaging in human rights violations related to settlement construction in Palestine.”
• In June 2013, PCHR, “in coordination with the Norwegian Refugee Council,” gave a field tour to British officials, highlighting “Israeli violations committed against fishermen and farmers in the Gaza Strip.”

Direct Norwegian funding to political advocacy NGOs

(information provided by Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation)

Indirect Norwegian funding to political advocacy NGOs:

*Yesh DIn received this amount in three parts: 90,840; 192,280; 79,927

**Hamoked received this amount in three parts: 310,628; 284,925; 151,200