NGO Monitor Digest (Vol. 4 No. 5) 17 January 2006
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CONTENTS: |
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: CONTRIVED "BALANCE" |
Offsetting
the overdue increase in reports on Arab and Iranian human rights
violations, HRW's condemnations of Israel continue, based on
journalists' reports and unverified Palestinian claims. In December,
HRW published a letter to President Bush on "Expanding
Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories",
and responded to an Israeli newspaper article on options in
the face of Palestinian missile attacks from Gaza. Both denunciations
were based on unverified media reports and false claims. While
the revamped Middle East advisory board has expanded HRW's horizon
beyond Israel, it has not ended political abuses of human rights
norms.
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Article>>>> |
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NGOs AND UN REFORM |
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The UN is a major
source of funding for highly politicized NGOs. For example,
the website
for the Gaza section of the UN Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights includes the following information:
Assistance
was provided to the Palestinian
Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) to support the establishment
of a Women and Group Rights' Unit, …. OHCHR has supported
a similar effort in the West Bank within the organization
LAW.
Assistance provided to al-Mezan
Centre for Human Rights, which focused on economic and
social rights, to strengthen its fieldwork unit [sic]. OHCHR,
Gaza is also assisting other non-governmental organizations
to conduct work in the law reform area.
As NGO Monitor
has shown, these and other NGOs supported by the OHCHR are
active in the anti-Israel demonization campaigns and incitement.
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Article>>>>
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NGOs CONTINUE TO PUSH DIVESTMENT/BOYCOTT
CAMPAIGNS (“DURBAN” STRATEGY) |
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Update:
Sabeel conferences promote Divestment
"CJPP answered
the international call for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions
issued by more than 170 organisations of Palestinian civil
society in July 2005.”
“Twenty Quebec organizations, including the Fédération
des Femmes du Québec (FFQ) and the provincial union
of CEGEP teachers, have endorsed a new campaign to boycott
Israeli products and companies deemed to be supporting the
Jewish state’s ‘apartheid politics.’”
”The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is troubled by the
United Church of Christ's continuing partnership with the
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center"
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Article>>>>
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UPDATE: EU FUNDING FOR POLITICAL
NGOs |
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”Radical
European NGOs promote anti-Israel EU report on Jerusalem”,
ECCP, December 21, 2005.
Issuing a joint statement, several NGOs, lead by Belgian Senator
Pierre
Galand “defied the refusal of EU Ministers to publish
a report compiled by their own diplomats regarding Israeli
violations of international law with regard to East Jerusalem”.
The 30 NGOs supporting the statement also included BADIL,
Friends of Sabeel
UK; the International
Solidarity Movement (ISM), the Israeli
Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), and War
on Want.
French
group announces conference in Jerusalem to promote NGO role,
“solidarity”. The Centre de Recherche Français
de Jérusalem (CRFJ) announced a conference on April
24-25, 2006, for Israeli and Palestinian graduate and doctoral
students. “Collective action is anchored in all kinds
of solidarity, social and territorial roots, as it mobilizes
diverse forms of action dependant on internal strategies as
well as on political opportunities.” The conference
will include sessions on “Israeli left wing organizations
contesting the Israeli politics in the Palestinian Territories”,
“The case of NGOs expertise against public policies”
and “The judiciarisation of political claims among the
Arab minority in Israel”. Additional information can
be obtained from CRFJ’s Elisabeth Marteu (emarteu@hotmail.com).
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NGO MONITOR'S SUBMISSION TO THE
BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE AGAINST ANTISEMITISM (PCAA) |
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In
response to a request by the PCAA for an independent analysis
on British NGOs, NGO Monitor submitted a report. It covered
British NGOs that are active in relation to the Arab-Israeli
conflict, including War
on Want, Christian
Aid (including links to UK Friends of Sabeel),
and Amnesty
International.
Read
the submission>>>> |
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ADDITIONAL ITEMS OF
INTEREST |
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”According
to...one British aid worker ... ‘I came to work with
these people and I feel like I've been stabbed in the back.’
Is this the future of Palestine?” - Martin Peretz, The
New Republic
“Amnesty...has lost its way entirely.” -
Gerald Steinberg, The Jerusalem Post
“Being kind to Palestinians is now a big industry.”
- Ghada Karmi, The Guardian
"Ending poverty appears to have little to do with
overseas aid or the activities of NGOs." -
Jeevan Vasagar, The
Guardian
Gisha, an
NGO focusing on Palestinians'
freedom of movement, downplays the context
of terror.
Nonviolence International and Holy
Land Trust conference in Bethlehem: “Celebrating Nonviolent
Resistance”.
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Article>>>>
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NGO MONITOR
IN THE MEDIA |
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Jamie
Glazov, “Keeping an Eye on the Haters”, Front
Page Magazine, January 5, 2006: an interview with NGO
Monitor Editor Prof. Gerald Steinberg.
NGO staff “exploit the huge budgets provided to non-governmental
organizations (particularly from Europe), they have access
to PR and influence, without the burden of accountability.”
NGO Monitor report on Al-Mezan appeared on media-review weblog
Mediacrity. The author points out that international
volunteers come to Gaza to protect Palestinians but unwittingly
end up serving the radical agendas promoted by “human
rights” groups.
Chairman of Friends of Sabeel North
America seeks to defend Sabeel following NGO Monitor reports.
The letter addresses on-line critics of Sabeel as
“pro-Israel apologists” – in an apparent
reference to NGO Monitor – who “willfully distort
and twist the message of Sabeel.”
Read
Article>>>
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WORLD BANK PNGO PROJECT: SUPPORT
FOR SOCIAL SERVICES DILUTED BY POLITICIZED “PORTAL” |
| The World Bank
Palestinian NGO project (WB-PNGO) aims to support “the
overall professional, and strategic development of the Palestinian
NGO sector”. It has been relatively successful, compared
to other funders. However, the NGO Portal funded by the World
Bank is a notable exception, providing a platform for extremist
political NGOs such as PCHR, Al Haq, the Jerusalem Center
for Social and Economic Rights and ARIJ; and has been as source
of funding for Al Mezan, which was involved in its development.
These organizations are exploiting the World Bank’s
resources for external attacks against Israel, (including
the use of terms such as “apartheid”) rather than
focusing on internal development objectives.
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