"American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera): Aid Activity Tarnished by Political Agenda"

American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) is a major NGO that claims to provide "direct financial assistance and/or gifts in kind to Palestinian-Arab refugees and other needy individuals in the Middle East. With a budget of over $24 million (2005) provided by the US government and a range of private donors and organizations, most of ANERAs focus is on development assistance and emergency relief, and the quality of these programs is considered to be very high. However, as the following report demonstrates, this NGO also engages in biased anti-Israeli political activities, and its publications erase the context of terrorism and promote the Palestinian narrative while falsely claiming to work with all people living in impoverished communities. Such activity is inconsistent with ANERAs proclaimed objectives.

Topics

• Refugees

Analysis of NGO Funding: UK Department for International Development (DFID)

Summary: DFID is the part of the UK Government that manages Britains aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty. In the Middle East, DFID claims to reduce Palestinian poverty by encouraging development, but significant funding goes towards politicised NGOs that campaign on external agendas as opposed to internal development, and use their status to demonize Israel.

CIDA: Canadian Reactions to NGO Monitor Report

Summary: NGO Monitors report, "Assessing Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Funding for Political NGOs", triggered significant discussion in Canada.

Will Reforms at the United Nations Lead to a Review of the Influence of Politicized NGOs?

Summary: Significant reforms and re-examination of UN procedures and policies are taking place, with widespread implications for links between this body and the influential NGO network. Although the anti-Israel bias in the UN has been less pronounced in 2005 (see Warren Hoge, "U.N. Is Gradually Becoming More Hospitable to Israel", New York Times, October 10, 2005), the pro-Palestinian agenda, propelled by the NGO network remains strong.

Update: Is the NGO- Led Divestment Effort Losing Support?

In the October digest, NGO Monitor reported on developments in the anti-Israel divestment campaign, including four conferences held by Sabeel in which representatives of other politicized NGOs, including KAIROS and ICAHD director Jeff Halper, also participated. These conferences generated significant opposition, particularly the Toronto conference (see "CIDA: Canadian Reactions to NGO Monitor Report" above), and led some analysts to discern a decline in the influence of these NGOs and in support for divestment. According to Besser (see below) "a Chicago conference by one of the Palestinian Christian groups that has played a major role in several divestment votes [Sabeel] failed to generate much interest, suggesting its influence may be waning."

HRWs Broadened Middle East Agenda Continues

Summary: Responding to ongoing criticism of a biased and politicized agenda in the Middle East, the activities of Human Rights Watch in 2005 continue to reflect a changed emphasis, as seen in the following developments.

NGO Monitor in the News

November 2005 Digest (Vol. 4 No. 3)

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN): Discrepancy Between Mission and Actions Continues

Analysis of NGO Funding: UK Department For International Development (DFID)

DFID is the part of the UK Government that manages Britains aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty. In the Middle East, DFID claims to reduce Palestinian poverty by encouraging development, but significant funding goes towards politicised NGOs that campaign on external agendas as opposed to internal development, and use their status to demonize Israel.