On May 14, 2009, Coalition of Women for Peace (funded by NIF and the EU) – which includes Machsom Watch, New Profile, and WILPF – along with Mossawa (also funded by NIF) and ICAHD (funded by the EU until recently), Zochrot and AIC, wrote to the Norwegian Government Pension Fund and called  “upon the Norwegian people to join us in our efforts and to stop investing in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.” This divestment letter accused a number of Israeli and international corporations of “provid[ing] specifically designed equipment for the surveillance and repression of Palestinian population through restrictions of movement and collective punishments.”

The call for divestment from Israel violates the New Israel Fund’s own funding criteria. In an August 2006 correspondence, NIF’s Naomi Paiss wrote: “NIF has never funded groups that call for divestment” (emphasis added). Indeed, according to NIF, when a “Law Fellow” made such a call, “NIF immediately disassociated itself from that position, removed [the individual] from the program and revised its selection process for the Law Fellow program.”

The Coalition of Women for Peace is also responsible for the “Who Profits?” divestment website, a project that tracks Israeli and international corporations that allegedly “are directly involved in the occupation,” and which accepts donations via NIF.