Activity

Background

• The Netherlands funds numerous Israeli and Palestinian NGOs directly through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Embassy in Tel Aviv, and the Representative Office in Ramallah (NRO), and indirectly through Dutch aid organizations and Oxfam-Novib.
• According to the Dutch MFA’s “Human Rights Report 2018,” the Netherlands provided over €2.7 million in direct and indirect funding to human rights NGOs operating in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.
• Revealing a lack of transparency, in 2021, the new Dutch government Development Aid Portal removed the names of “implementing organisation(s)” on multiple project in areas designated as “Palestinian territories.” The Development Aid Portal does not display names of implementing partners or NGOs receiving Dutch funding on multiple projects in areas designated as “Palestinian territories.”
• In January 2022, the Dutch Foreign Minister announced that the Netherlands will cease all funding to the Union of Agricultural Works Committee (UAWC). According to the Minister, an “external investigation of the UAWC made it sufficiently plausible that there had been ties at individual level between employees and board members of UAWC and the PFLP for some time.” The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is a designated terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel. (See more on UAWC below.)
• In June 2016, the Dutch Parliament passed a resolution calling for “the ending of funding to organizations that directly or indirectly pursue a boycott or sanctions against Israel.”

Direct Funding

Funding via Representative Office in Ramallah (NRO)

• Highly politicized organizations funded through the Representative Office in Ramallah(NRO) include the Union of Agricultural Works Committee (UAWC), Al Mezan, Breaking the Silence, B’Tselem, Gisha, Bimkom, Yesh Din, Society of St. Yves, and the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development.
• According to the Dutch MFA 2019 Mensenrechtenrapportage (Human rights report), the NRO provided €415,625 for “Various confidential projects” in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.

NRO Funding to Palestinian NGOs

• Union of Agricultural Works Committee (UAWC)
  • In 2013-2021, UAWC received approximately €11.7 million from the NRO’s Water Resource Management program 2017-2020 (LWRM).
    • According to the heavily redacted documentation of the project,  “The [PA] ministry of agriculture (MOA) plays a crucial role in the project,” and “is co-chairing the Steering Committee” and its staff “participates in all tenders’ technical evaluation.”
  • UAWC is identified by Fatah as an official “affiliate,” and by USAID-engaged audit as the “agricultural arm” of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel. 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.”
  • On October 22, 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense declared UAWC a “terror organization” because it is part of “a network of organizations” that operates “on behalf of the ‘Popular Front’.”
  • On July 20, 2020, the Dutch government announced it was freezing funding to UAWC over the NGO’s close links to the PFLP. Foreign Minister Stef Blok and Development Minister Sigrid Kaag revealed that an internal government audit concluded that Dutch funds were used to pay the salaries of two UAWC employees – Samer Arbid and Abdel Razeq Farraj – currently standing trial for their alleged roles in an August 2019 bombing that murdered an Israeli civilian. ·         In August 2021, the Dutch government allocated €26,439 to a private company to conduct a further external review of UAWC. 
  • In January 2022, the Dutch Foreign Minister announced that the Netherlands will cease all funding to the Union of Agricultural Works Committee (UAWC). According to the Minister, the investigation determined that UAWC had 34 employees with ties to the PFLP in 2007-2020, 12 holding leadership positions in the terrorist group concurrent to their employment at UAWC. In reporting to parliament, Ministers de Brujin and Knapen added that “the large number of board members of UAWC with a dual mandate is particularly worrying.”
    • On August 30, 2020, the PFLP referred to Arbid as a “prisoner and commander,” and “one of the heroes of the Bubeen operation” — referring to the August 2019 bombing.
  • On February 2, 2017, diplomats from the NRO met with senior officials from UAWC to sign an $11.5 million grant agreement. The Dutch contingent was led by its “Head of Cooperation,” Henny de Vries.
    • As seen in a picture posted on the Representative Office’s Facebook page, UAWC representatives to the signing ceremony included individuals currently standing trial or incarcerated due to their involvement in PFLP activities, as well as another official associated with jailed PFLP leader, Ahmed Sa’adat.
• Al Mezan
  • In 2018–2019, Al Mezan received €202,055 and an unspecified amount 2019-2022 from the NRO under the RAM CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUPPORT project.
  • Al Mezan is highly active in anti-Israel lawfare campaigns, exploiting courts and international legal bodies to seek arrest warrants against Israeli government officials, file lawsuits against companies and governments doing business with Israel, and lobby for cases against Israelis at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
  • A number of Al Mezan officials and employees are members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hamas – both designated as terrorist organizations by the US and the EU.  Additionally, Al-Mezan officials and board members speak at PFLP events, and many have posted material on their social media accounts promoting terror groups or utilizing antisemitic imagery and rhetoric. 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.”
  • In October 2020, in an response to a Parliamentary question about ongoing Dutch Funding to Al Mezan, the Dutch Minister of Minister of Foreign Affairs appeared to excuse vulgar hate speech of Al Mezan employees by claiming that “these are personal messages, not statements on behalf of Al Mezan, and that employees have freedom of expression.” According to the statement, “Al Mezan has promised that the messages will be removed and has again reminded employees of internal agreements, whereby on the one hand freedom of expression is respected, but employees promise not to express opinions that are contrary to human rights.”
• Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD)
  • In 2018-2019, PWWSD received €87,850 and an unspecified amount 2019-2022 from the NRO under the RAM CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUPPORT project..
  • PWWSD utilizes highly biased and distorted rhetoric, accusing Israel of “apartheid policies,” “Judaization” of Jerusalem, and “constant violations of Human Rights.”
• Society of St. Yves
  • In 2019-2022, Society of St. Yves is receiving an unspecified amount from the Dutch government.
  • According to Arabic language media, in 2011, Raed Halabi, Society of St. Yves’ “head of the advocacy department,” was convicted and sentenced to 26-months in prison for “organizational activity in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” (PFLP) – a designated terrorist organization in the US, EU, Canada, and Israel. Electronic Intifada reported that in 2004, Halabi was sentenced to two-years in prison.  In May 2017, Society of St. Yves reported that “the Israeli authorities arrested St. Yves’ advocacy and field officer, Mr. Raed Halabi.”
• Independent Commission for Huma Rights (ICHR)
  • In 2017-2020, ICHR received €623,113 from the NRO.
  • ICHR is a “quasi-governmental Palestinian organization,” established in 1993 with a declared mandate “to follow-up and ensure that different Palestinian laws, by-laws and regulations, and the work of various departments, agencies and institutions of the State of Palestine and the Palestine Liberation Organization meet the requirements for safeguarding human rights.”
• AMAN Coalition
  • In 2017-2020, the AMAN Coalition received €1.4 million from the NRO.
  • Aman accuses Israel of “stealing,” having “racist goals,” “Judaisation,” and “repeated attempts to ignite a sectarian religious conflictwith the aim of controlling the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its precincts.”

NRO Funding to Israeli NGOs

• Breaking the Silence
  • In 2018, Breaking the Silence received €200,955 and an unspecified amount 2019-2022 from the NRO under the RAM CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUPPORT project.
  • In 2018, Breaking the Silence received funding for “bilateral support.” One of Breaking the Silence’s stated objectives for this project is efforts to encourage “diaspora Jewish communities to voice their opposition to the occupation.” Breaking the Silence will also use the Dutch funds to “increase opposition in the international arena to Israel’s prolonged occupation of the oPt” through challenging “key international public figures…to respond.”
  • Breaking the Silence makes sweeping accusations based on anecdotal, anonymous, and unverifiable accounts of often low-ranked soldiers. These “testimonies” lack context, are politically biased, and erase the complicated reality of asymmetrical warfare. In addition, they reflect a distorted interpretation of the conflict in order to advance the political agenda of Breaking the Silence activists, thereby fueling the international campaigns against Israel.
• B’Tselem
  • In 2018, B’Tselem received €184,800 and an unspecified amount 2019-2022 from the NRO under the RAM CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUPPORT project.
  • In 2018, B’Tselem received funding for “bilateral support.” Among the activities supported by the Dutch funding is a “report on the role of the Israeli Supreme Court.”
  • According to Dutch government documentation, “B’Tselem regularly refers to the Supreme Court as one of the main mechanisms that permits the ongoing occupation and human rights violations by granting judicial legitimacy to Israel’s policies.”
  • B’Tselem actively pursues its political agenda of “international consequences” and international pressure on Israel via lobbying of the UN and European governments.
  • In January 2021, B’Tselem launched a discriminatory and hateful campaign, under the banner of “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid.” As part of the campaign, B’Tselem attacked Israel’s role as a haven for the Jewish people (the Law of Return) and used the phrase “from the river to the sea” – echoing long-standing Palestinian terminology for the destruction of Israel. (Read NGO Monitor’s analysis: “From the “River to the Sea”: B’Tselem’s Demonization Crosses the Line.”)
• Gisha
  • In 2018–2019, Gisha received €65,776 and an unspecified amount 2019-2022 from the NRO under the RAM CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUPPORT project.
  • Gisha employs “apartheid” other international legal rhetoric to promote a partisan political and ideological agenda.
• Bimkom
  • In 2018–2019, Bimkom received €79,200
  • Bimkom regularly files petitions in an attempt to alter government policies related to spatial planning, planning procedures, and Bedouin communities.
• Yesh Din
  • In 2018–2019, Yesh Din received €169,111 and an unspecified amount 2019-2022 from the NRO under the RAM CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUPPORT project.
  • In 2018, Yesh Din received funding for “bilateral support.” According to the grant agreement, Yesh Din is expected to ensure that the “Issue of impunity of ISFP [Israeli security forces personnel] in cases of offences committed against Palestinians in the West Bank and in Jerusalem remains on international agenda and in discussions between GOI [Government of Israel] and foreign government representatives. Increased international awareness on systemic impact of law enforcement failure for Palestinian communities, forcible home entries and the human rights situation in the West Bank and in Jerusalem (emphases added).
  • Yesh Din is central to the allegations that Israeli investigative and court systems are unable or unwilling to investigate allegations of wrongdoing and is part of a wider “lawfare” strategy of pressing “war crimes” cases against Israeli officials in foreign courts and in the International Criminal Court (ICC). These campaigns use faulty information and skewed statistics to promote their political claims.

Funding via Embassy in Tel Aviv

• The Embassy in Tel Aviv does not publish details on NGO funding. According to information submitted by Israeli NGOs to the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits, the Embassy allocated NIS 849,940 to Israeli NGOs from 2018-2021.
• Beginning in 2019, all funding to Israeli NGOs was allocated via the NRO (see above) under the project RAM CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUPPORT.

Previous Embassy funding includes:

• In 2018, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) received €26,780.
  • PCATI regularly circulates unverifiable allegations of Israeli torture, using them as the basis for campaigns in international forums and Israeli courts.
• In 2017, HaMoked received NIS 7,280.
  • HaMoked makes inaccurate and inflammatory allegations of Israeli “apartheid,” “deportations,” “torture,” and “forcible transfers,” and accuses Israel of “collective punishment” and of “ghetto-ization of the West Bank.”

Funding via Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs

• The Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), in partnership with the Land Research Center, Palestinian Hydrology Group (PHG), and the Economic & Social Development Center of Palestine, received €8.4 million (2013-2018) and a further $11,250,000 (2017-2021) from the Dutch MFA.
  • 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.” (See more on UAWC above.)
  • Land Research Center claims that the Balfour Declaration “placed a toxic dagger in Palestine that aims at restricting the advancement of the Arab Nation and disconnecting its east from its west,” and is part of a “continuous conspiracy.” LRC outlines “the conspiracy in years,” which also includes the American war in Iraq, the “Fatah-Hamas conflict,” and the Arab Spring.
  • Palestinian Hydrology Group is part of Stop the Wall, a grassroots network organization engaged in BDS and delegitimizing Israel through international advocacy.
• Diakonia received €241,608 (2016-2019) from the Dutch government for “Enhancing Legal Knowledge on Humanitarian assistance and Development in Area C.”
  • Diakonia’s “International Humanitarian Law” (IHL) program, which has its own online “Resource Center,” exploits international law, demonizes Israel, and promotes anti-Israel lawfare campaigns and a narrative based solely on Palestinian victimization. The IHL program focuses exclusively on Israel, and Diakonia does not conduct similar types of programs in terms of content or resources involving any other conflict region in the world.
  • Diakonia “Partners” with a number of NGOs that promote BDS and lawfare campaigns against Israel and even blatant antisemitism, including BADIL, Sabeel, Al-Haq, Alternative Information Center (AIC), and Al-Mezan.
• The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also provided funding to Israeli NGOs, including Comet-ME and HaMoked.
  • Comet-ME received NIS 4 million (2017) from the Dutch MFA, as part of a €2.39 million grant (2017-2020).
    • In 2022, Comet-ME received NIS 4.7 million from the Dutch MFA.
    • In 2021, HaMoked received NIS 240,000 from the Dutch MFA.

Lack of Transparency

• The Development Aid Portal does not display names of implementing partners or NGOs receiving Dutch funding for multiple projects in areas designated as “Palestinian territories.” 
• Project in PALESTINIAN ADMIN. AREAS (2020-2025)
  • Sectors: Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution
  • Budget: €2.6 million
  • Implementing organisation(s):Donor Country-Based Ngo Group
• Project in Ramallah (2018-2024)
  • Sectors: Legal and judicial development
  • Budget: €17.37 million
  • Implementing organisation(s): United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
•  Project in Ramallah (2020-2023)
  • Sectors: Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution
  • Budget:  €328,116
  • Implementing organisation(s): No organisation name specified
• Project in Ramallah (2020-2021)
  • Sectors: Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution
  • Budget: €152,000
  • Implementing organisation(s):  Multiple Parties
• Project in Ramallah (2019-2021)
  • Sectors: Multisector aid
  • Budget: €5.95 mln
  • Implementing organisation(s):  No organisation name specified
• Project in Palestinian admin. Areas (2017-2021)
  • Sectors: Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution
  • Budget: €999,480
  • Implementing organisation(s):  Donor Country-Based Ngo Group
• Project in Palestinian admin. Areas (2021-2024)
  • Sectors: Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution
  • Budget: €299,750    
  • Implementing organisation(s): No organisation name specified
• Project in Palestinian admin. Areas (2021)
  • Sectors: Sectors not specified
  • Budget: €377,218    
  • Implementing organisation(s): Developing Country-Based Ngo Group
• Project in Ramallah (2020-2021)
  • Sectors: Human Rights
  • Budget: €158,891
  • Implementing organisation(s): No organisation name specified

Indirect Funding

• Large-scale indirect funding for political advocacy NGOs is channeled through Dutch aid-organizations, most frequently Oxfam-Novib. Other aid-organizations include: Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation (ICCO), Kerk in Actie (KIA), PAX, and the Catholic Organization for Relief and Development Aid (Cordaid). NGOs in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza have received over €13 million since 2012 through this form of indirect funding from the Dutch government.

Oxfam-Novib

• Oxfam-Novib received €126.8 million from the Dutch government (2016-2018).
• As of July 2019, Oxfam-Novib’s projects in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza listed as “active” have combined budgets of approximately €10 million.
• Oxfam-Novib supports the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR),Adalah, Al Mezan, Bimkom, Breaking the Silence, Coalition of Women for Peace, Culture and Free Thought Association, Emek Shaveh, Gisha, HaMoked, MIFTAH, Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC), Palestinian Medical Relief Society, Palestinian Working Women Society for Development, Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ), The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity – AMAN, Union of Health Work Committees (UAWC), Women’s Affairs Center (WAC), Women’s Centre for Legal Aid a Counselling (WCLAC), Women’s Studies Center, Yesh Din, as well as other “undisclosed” partners.

Kerk in Actie

• Kerk in Actie (KIA) runs projects co-financed with the government, but does not detail which ones. KIA partners include Rabbis for Human Rights, Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) and Sabeel.

Dutch Funding to Israeli and Palestinian NGOs