Japan

Activity

• Japan funds numerous Israeli and Palestinian NGOs directly through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and indirectly through multiple UN frameworks and local NGOs such as the Japan Platform and Campaign for the Children of Palestine (CCP-Japan).
  • Japan is currently ranked fifth in the world for development assistance with an annual budget of over $10 billion.
• Through Japan’s Country Assistance Policy and Rolling Plan for the Palestinians, Japan has donated nearly $1.9 billion since 1993 for projects in the West Bank and Gaza. The assistance is part of Japan’s strategy for “peace building through promoting economic and social self-reliance.”
• Reflecting a lack of transparency and accountability, Japan provides limited information about funding for foreign and domestic NGOs involved in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.

Direct Funding

• In 2017, the Culture and Free Thought Association received $458,016 from Japan.
  • Participates in discriminatory campaigns such as “Love in the Time of Apartheid: The Palestinians Campaign for Repealing Israel’s Racist Law Denying Family Reunification.”
  • In September 2017, CFTA organized a workshop on the rights of women in partnership with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel. The workshop “touched upon a number of solid Palestinian feminist models such as Taghreed Al-Buttama, Maha Nassar and Laila Khaled, who have taught the Zionist enemy painful lessons in various combat operations.”
    • Laila Khaled is a member of the PFLP and a noted airline hijacker.
    • Maha Nassar was a “member of the Central Committee of the PFLP.”
    • Taghreed al-Botmeh is described as a “martyr” by the PFLP.
• In 2016, Mossawa received NIS 52,720 from Japan to “anchor the legal rights of the Israeli-Arab citizens.”
  • In April 2018, Mossawa called for a “March to the Palestinian Coast of Atlit” (sic) to mark the “Nakba.” The statement refers to “Zionist gangs” who “conquered our villages and cities…after a chilling massacre” and alleges that “Israel has not stopped planning to destroy tens of Arab villages, the seizure and control of lands, the destruction of houses and the expulsion of the residents and their concentration in isolated areas.”
• In 2018, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) received €1.1 million from Japan.
  • MSF rhetoric includes accusing Israel of “collective punishment,” “indiscriminate bombings,” and “wholesale massacres. In May 2018, during the violence on the Gaza border, MSF condemned Israel’s use of force, describing it as “unacceptable and inhuman.” MSF further claimed that “this bloodbath is the continuation of the Israeli army’s policy during the last seven weeks: shooting with live ammunition at demonstrators, on the assumption that anyone approaching the separation fence is a legitimate target.” MSF ignored the violent nature of the protests, which included Molotov cocktails, arson, and attempts to breach the border fence with Israel.
• Church World Service
  • Church World Service lists the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs as its donor. CWS does not detail the amount it receives, reflecting a lack of transparency and accountability.
  • Lobbies churches, policymakers and the general public and in the U.S. “to give voice to the issues that affect hunger people and promote sustainable solutions.”
  • In April 2016, President and CEO of Church World Service, John L. McCullough signed an “Atlanta Summit of Churches in the USA and the Holy Land” document titled “Pursuing Peace and Strengthening Presence,” that “Encourage[d] reference to the Kairos Palestine message as an established initiative.” Kairos Palestine calls for BDS against Israel; denies the Jewish historical connection to Israel in theological terms; and rationalizes, justifies, and trivializes terrorism, calling it “legal resistance.”
• Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)
  • In 2015, 39% of JVC’s budget was provided by the Japanese government.
  • In 2014, JVC and Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) were granted $260,447 from the Japanese government for a project titled “School and Community Health Project in East Jerusalem.”
    • Mustafa Barghouti, president of PMRS, takes part in BDS activities, stating, “We are now in the early stages of a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions directed at this Israeli government for its refusal to abide by international law. Such action successfully overturned Jim Crow laws in the American South and apartheid in South Africa, and we are slowly applying it to Israeli occupation and apartheid.”
  • JVC has also partnered with Ard El Insan, a Palestinian NGO with alleged ties to Hamas, to “Protect[] Children’s Health in Blockaded Gaza.”
    • According to the Canada Revenue Agency, Ard El Insan is reportedly tied to Hamas. Ard El Insan has received money from the International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (IRFAN), a terrorist entity designated as such by the Canadian government. This decision was based on findings that money was transferred from IRFAN to various organizations that then funneled funds to or cooperated with Hamas.
    • In 2003, Japan took steps aimed at freezing Hamas’ assets in accordance with counter-terrorism conventions and UNSC Resolution 1373.¹
• Campaign for the Children of Palestine (CCP-Japan)
  • In 2016–2017, Japan provided the Japanese NGO Campaign for the Children of Palestine (CCP-Japan) with over $1.7 million for a series of multi-sectoral projects such as health, education, distribution of goods and “support for war affected vulnerable people in the Gaza Strip.”
  • In 2017, CCP-Japan received $459,725 from the Government of Japan for “Medical Aftercare by Home Visit and Winterization Support for War Affected Vulnerable People in the Gaza Strip.”
  • CCP-Japan utilizes anti-Israel rhetoric, accusing Israel of making Gaza a “ghetto” and an “open-air prison,” while referring to Hamas as a “political group” that is “hardline to Israel.”
  • CCP-Japan is a signatory to the 2015 Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) joint agency briefing paper titled, “Charting a New Course: Overcoming the Stalemate in Gaza,” misrepresenting international law and distorting legal terminology to place primary blame for the 2014 Gaza war on Israel. The paper omits Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli civilians, as well as terror tunnels running beneath the border into Israel. The paper further encourages contact with Hamas, stating: “Restricted contact can undermine humanitarian access and implementation of humanitarian programmes…”
• Japan Platform (JPF)
  • In 2016, the Japan Platform received $3.2 million from the Japanese government for “Humanitarian assistance in Gaza.”
  • In the description of their “Humanitarian assistance to Gaza” project, JPF ignores the context of Palestinian terrorism, its effect on Israeli civilians, and Israel’s right to self-defense.
  • The Japan Platform has provided funding to the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC), a Palestinian NGO that is highly active in promoting BDS campaigns. (See below for further funding information.)
• Norwegian People’s Aid
  • In 2015–2016, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) received $1.8 million from Japan.
  • NPA played a central role in lobbying the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) to divest from Israeli companies “involved in building activities in the illegal settlements,” promoting distorted factual and legal claims.
  • In April 2018, the US Department of Justicefined NPA $11 million for civil fraud. NPA was charged with violating the US False Claims Act for providing material support to Iran and Palestinian terror groups, Hamas, the PFLP, and the DFLP. According to Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman:  “For years, Norwegian People’s Aid obtained grant money from USAID by falsely representing that it had not provided, and would take reasonable steps to ensure that it did not knowingly provide, material support to prohibited parties under U.S. law.”
  • In April 2017, NPA hosted Al-Haq’s General Director, Shawan Jabarin, who has alleged ties to the PFLP terrorist organization and as such has previously been denied exit visas by Israel and Jordan.

Indirect Funding

• Japan also provides indirect funding through multiple UN frameworks and aid organizations such as the Japan Platform and Campaign for the Children of Palestine (CCP-Japan).

Funding via UN Frameworks

Funding to UNICEF

• Japan is the single largest donor nation to UNICEF-State of Palestine, with donations amounting to more than $50 million from 2012-2017.
• Throughout this funding period, UNICEF-oPt partnered with and provided funds to a number of radical Palestinian NGOs, including groups such as Defense for Children International -Palestine, Addameer, and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) that are reportedly linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization. This funding period reflects a concerted effort to falsely accuse the IDF of violating the rights of Palestinian minors in order to have sanctions imposed on Israel.
• UNICEF continues to fund these PFLP affiliates using Japanese money, despite steps taken by Japan in 2003 (in accordance with UNSC Resolution 1373) to freeze the PFLP’s assets in compliance with counter-terrorism conventions.

Funding to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS)

• In 2016–2018, Japan granted $1.4 million to UNMAS for projects with Ma’an Development Center.
  • In May 2018, Ma’an Development Center employee Ahmad Abdallah Aladini was killed in the violence on the Gaza border. Aladini was a “comrade” of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist organization designated as such by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel. According to the PFLP, Aladini was active against the “Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip.”
    • On his Facebook page, Aladini posted images that glorify violence and terrorists, including PFLP propaganda. On May 7, 2018, Aladini posted a PFLP memorial notice for the death of six members of Hamas who were killed during the “crimes of the Zionist enemy.”

Funding to the World Food Programme (WFP)

• In 2018–2020, Japan granted $4.9 million to the World Food Programme for projects with Ard El Insan.
  • According to the Canada Revenue Agency, Ard El Insan is reportedly tied to Hamas. Ard El Insan has received money from the International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (IRFAN), a terrorist entity designated as such by the Canadian government. This decision was based on findings that money was transferred from IRFAN to various organizations that then funneled funds to or cooperated with Hamas.

Japan Platform

• In 2014-2016, the Japan Platform granted $579,210 to the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC).
• PARC’s rhetoric includes accusations of “apartheid,” “collective punishment,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “war crimes.”
• According to PARC’s “2014-2018 Strategic Plan,” one of PARC’s strategic goals is “Holding the occupation accountable towards Palestinian rights related to the agricultural sector and rural areas” by “Boycotting…Israelis’ settlement products” and “Supporting the cooperation and coordination with the boycott committees.”

Japanese Funding to Palestinian and Israeli NGOs