Medico International

Activity

• Medico International states that it “struggles for the human right to the best possible access to good health. In doing so we support local partners… in their endeavors to create the economic, social and cultural conditions which allow each person to attain the highest health standard possible.”
• Based in Germany and Switzerland, with projects in Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America, and Asia. Medico’s offices for “Israel and Palestine” are based in East-Jerusalem and Ramallah.

Funding

• According to its 2021 Annual Report, Medico International’s 2021 budget was €23.9 million. MI received €6.7 million in public funds in 2018, which amounted to over 46% of its total income (€14.3 million).
  • Donors include Germany and the Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) of the European Union. Private donors include Brot fur die Welt, Misereor, and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation – all of which receive most of their funding from the German government.
• In 2021, Medico spent €1.8 million on projects in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Donors for these projects include Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Federal Foreign Office (AA), ifa Zivik, Medico International Switzerland and Medico International Foundation.
• In 2017-2020, Medico received €4.5 million from the German MFA for three projects:
  • In 2017-2020, Medico received €2.8 million from the German MFA for “Mobile medical clinics and crisis management in the Westbank (sic).”
  • In 2017-2020, Medico received €1.5 million for the project “Defying the protracted crisis, Strengthening resilience in health care and patients with non-communicable diseases in the Gaza Strip.”
  • In 2019, Medico received €213,933 from the German MFA for the project “Land and Water Rights in the Palestinian territories.” According to MI’s annual reports, this project is implemented by UAWC. (See below for more information regarding UAWC.)
• In 2017, Medico received €1,999,980 from Germany to “Defy the protracted crisis, strengthening the resilience of health services and patients with non-communicable diseases in the Gaza Strip.”

Funding for Politicized NGOs

• MI openly supports political activities and lobbying of its partners. According to MI’s 2015 annual report, “in addition to humanitarian aid, [MI’s local partners] also bring the political crisis into light. They collect material for the International Court of Justice in The Hague and pursue political interventions” (p.25, NGO Monitor translation).
• In 2021, Medico funded 20 projects with a number of highly biased and politicized NGOs active in the Arab-Israeli conflict including Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), Al-Haq, Al Mezan, Culture and Free Thought Association, Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), Adalah, Akevot, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-I), Who Profits,  Breaking the Silence, Kerem Navot, and HaMoked. (See below for further funding information.)
  • The Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), Al-Haq, and Al Mezan have ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist organization designated as such by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel. On October 22, 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense declared UAWC and Al-Haq “terror organizations” because they are part of “a network of organizations” that operates “on behalf of the ‘Popular Front’.”
    • UAWC is identified by Fatah as an official PFLP “affiliate,” and by USAID as the “agricultural arm” of the PFLP. According to academic scholar Glenn E. Robinson, UAWC was founded in 1986 by “agronomists loosely affiliated with the PFLP.” For more information on UAWC’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Union of Agricultural Work Committees Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
    • Al-Haq’s General Director Shawan Jabarin has been linked to the PFLP. In May 2018, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express shut down online credit card donations to Al-Haq due to the group’s ties to the PFLP.
    • A number of Al-Mezan officials and employees are members of the PFLP and Hamas. For more information on Al-Mezan’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Al Mezan Center For Human Rights’ Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
• Funds a project titled “EU advocacy & lobbying for a just Middle East politics [sic]” of Brussels-based NGO European Middle East Project (EuMEP), a lobbying organization within the EU.
• Advertised a “book presentation” with Breaking the Silence (BtS) in Ramallah on May 17, 2011, to launch “Occupation of the Territories: Israeli Soldier Testimonies 2000-2010.” Following criticism from NGO Monitor, the event was cancelled. MI’s Israel director Tsafrir Cohen claimed that funding for BtS comes from MI’s “own donations, i.e. there are no state or EU moneys involved.”

Political Advocacy

• Medico International’s website and publications completely ignore Palestinian terrorism, do not mention Israeli victims, and focus only on alleged Israeli violations of international law.
• In October 2021, Medico condemned the decision by the Israeli Ministry to designate six Palestinian NGOs, including Medico’s partners Al-Haq and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), as terrorist organizations. According to the press release, “we consider Gantz’s decision an escalation to cement Israeli domination in the occupied Palestinian territories and to rally international political support for this with the “accusation of terror”. medico international strongly opposes the criminalisation of work for Palestinian human rights.”
• In June 2021, Medico signed a letter to the European Commission regarding the “political instrumentalization of the fight against antisemitism.” The letter called to “Acknowledge, reject and counter the political instrumentalization of the fight against antisemitism and of the IHRA definition in particular for the purpose of shielding the Israeli government from criticism. Instruct all involved EU officials to refrain from facilitating and legitimizing such instrumentalization.”
  • In October 2019, Medico and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation published an “Expert Opinion on the ‘Working Definition of Antisemitism’ of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance,” referring to it as “inconsistent, contradictory and formulated very vaguely.”
  • The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, adopted by nearly 30 countries and counting, represents the international consensus definition of antisemitism, as well as how to distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitism. An example of the latter includes denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
• On May 7, 2020, Medico released a short film titled “Chronically ill in Gaza,” which deals with “how the closure of the Gaza Strip affects the realities of life for people with chronic diseases and their families.” The movie was produced “with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), as part of a project in cooperation with the medico partner organization Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS).” The film blames Israel’s “occupation” and “sanctions” for the health situation in Gaza, failing to mention Hamas’ prioritization of terror infrastructure over healthcare and legitimate Israeli national security concerns. The film also omitted that the blockade was implemented in an effort to stop Palestinian weapons smuggling.
• On October 2, 2019, Medico announced “With deep concern we had to observe the arrest of Samer Al-Arbeed, who is working for our partner organisation UAWC.” According to the indictment against him, in August 2019, Samer Arbid, UAWC accountant and previously UAWC “financial officer,” commanded a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror cell that carried out a bombing against Israeli civilians, murdering 17-year old Rina Shnerb, and injuring her father and brother. According to the Israel Security Agency (Shabak), Arbid prepared and detonated the explosive device.
• In July 2019, Riad Othman, Medico’s Near East consultant, gave an interview to the German organization Rosa Luxemburg Foundation stating that one of the main objectives of Medico International is “to influence politics in Germany, to a lesser extent also in the European Union” (emphasis added). Specifically, regarding this part of its work in Israel, Othman stated that it “means providing legal assistance against the Israeli civil administration and encouraging the farmers through material support to stay in the C areas. In Germany, we have been campaigning for years for the federal government to address the discriminatory licensing regime – also condemned by the Israeli Supreme Court – and the problem of Palestinian access to resources.”
• On May 16, 2019, rejecting the German Bundestag’s resolution defining BDS campaigns as antisemitic, Medico published a statement saying that “BDS would also be critical in asking how the emotionalised discourse on Israeli colonialism superimposes and destroys a profound preoccupation with anti-Semitism and its history…. The accusation of antisemitism has degenerated into a cheap attempt of censorship, which calls for attention in a high-profile public space.”
  • Medico also wrote that German political foundations operating in the West Bank and Gaza “almost all work together with civil society organizations that have signed the BDS call” and that “hopefully, they will continue to cooperate with them in the future,” claiming that “the Israeli government and its German – in part: their ‘anti-German’ apologists, whose relationship with Israel is reminiscent of the Soviet Union’s loyalty to the DKP [German Communist Party], dream that cooperation with these organizations will be banned. Because then hardly any Palestinian partner remain.” (NGO Monitor translation)
  • In June 2019, Riad Othman, a Middle East speaker for Medico, stated that “Putting BDS centre stage directs the debate towards Israel and Palestine instead of focusing on homegrown antisemitism and racism, including that among communities of migrant origin in Germany.”
• In March 2019, Medico published an article mourning the death of Sajed Mizher, a 17-year-old Palestinian killed by the Israeli security forces, as  a “first aid volunteer” with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS). Medico neglected to mention that Mizher was a “comrade“ of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist organization designated as such by the U.S., EU, Canada, and Israel). Mizher’s funeral procession featured many individuals wearing military gear, PFLP paraphernalia, and PFLP banners. Mizher’s body was also adorned in PFLP paraphernalia, as well as a PMRS orange reflective vest.  (For more details, see NGO Monitor’s blog “Palestinian NGO Medic Killed in Bethlehem Clashes Had Ties to PFLP Terror Group.”)
• In a June 2017 blog post on MI’s website, MI’s Head of Public Relations and Media Spokesperson, Katja Maurer, wrote: “The Israeli right is cleverly trying to cement the status quo and thus to turn it into a prospective solution. They do this first and foremost with accusations of antisemitism and the implication that behind the demand for harsh measures to enforce UN resolutions – binding under international law – is directed against the existence of the State of Israel and is therefore antisemitic. Such a reversal of political responsibility is possible only because the Israeli right understands the Shoa, and not European nationalism and the resulting disintegration of multinational states, as the explanation for the existence of the country… The experience of centuries-long persecution in Europe thus becomes a universal Jewish narrative. In contrast, other experiences remain underrepresented. Among these, that Jews in the Ottoman Empire could live relatively safely, in comparison to Europe in any case. Only the foundation of the State of Israel changed this, leading to the half voluntary half forced exodus of most Jews from Arab lands” (emphases added, NGO Monitor translation).
• In July 2016, MI Spokesperson Katja Maurer described Israel as a “non-liberal democracy” and claimed that “[t]he 1967 occupation has been wiped out of the collective memory, the green line is irrelevant.” The article ended with a plea for donations, on the premise that “[t]he measures with which our Israeli partners try to protect themselves against defamation, attacks and criminalization are costly.” (NGO Monitor translation).
• In a December 2015 article titled “Internal Colonization,” MI Near East Coordinator Riad Othman accuses Israel of “internal and external land grab” and “erosion of democratic values,” describing the Israeli government as “blatantly racist” and claiming that “[i]t is becoming increasingly apparent that democratic values and rights are not intended for all citizens of the country, but for those who belong to the Jewish majority… The actions of the Israeli government demonstrate what MI’s partners in Israel such as Breaking the Silence, Adalah or Physicians for Human Rights have long warned against” (NGO Monitor translation, emphasis added).

Medico International Switzerland

• In 2020, Medico International Switzerland’s income was CHF 1.3 million, of which 21% came from Swiss municipalities and cantons.
• According to Medico International Switzerland, the organization runs four projects in “Palestine/Israel.”
  • Total budget in 2020 for projects in “Palestine/Israel” was CHF 144,843.
• Medico International Switzerland funds the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP), Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), and Physicians for Human Rights- Israel (PHR-I).
• In 2019, Medico International Switzerland funded the production of the movie “Not just your picture” about “German-Palestinian siblings living in Germany” who travel through “Europe, telling … family’s story while pursuing a legal case against the State of Israel through the German courts.”