Welfare Association

Profile

Country/TerritorySwitzerland

Activity

  • Offices in Jerusalem, Geneva, London, Amman, Gaza, and Lebanon.
  • A leading Palestinian “non-governmental development organization,” better known by its Arabic name, Ta’awoun, meaning “cooperation.” Welfare Association (WA) distributes funds to “Palestinian NGOs, community institutions and charitable organizations in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Galilee, Jaffa, Akka, Nazareth and Naqab, as well as in refugee camps in Lebanon.”
  • Goals: “Welfare Association is dedicated to making a distinguished contribution toward furthering the progress of the Palestinians, preserving their heritage and identity, supporting their living culture and building civil society. It aims to achieve these goals by methodically identifying Palestinian needs and priorities and establishing sound mechanisms to maximize benefits from the available funding resources.”
  • Funders include: the governments of Saudi Arabia, France, Austria, The UK, Norway, Spain Canada, Italy, Switzerland, and Sweden; Ford Foundation, Arab Fund for Human Rights, Islamic Bank, Arab Monetary Fund, Kuwait Fund, OPEC Fund, Karim Rida Said Foundation, Norwegian Refugee Council, World Bank, British Lottery Fund; UN bodies. Open Society Institute provided $575,000 in 2009. The EU has also funded WA at least three times via ECHO grants.
  • U.S.-based donors can support our activities in a tax-efficient way through a contribution to the American Friends of the Welfare Association at the King Baudouin Foundation United States (KBFUS).” KBFUS is a large Belgium organization that establishes American Friends Funds “To assist European and African non-profit organizations in their efforts to raise funds in the United States.”
  • Budget for 2009: $28 million; Endowment fund: $75 million.
  • Demonizing rhetoric includes references to the “Apartheid Wall”; places sole blame for the conflict on Israel.
  • Refers to work in the Israeli cities of Nazareth and Shfaram, and in the Negev as “Projects in the 1948 areas.”
  • Channels funds to many NGOs that demonize Israel in the international arena – participating in lawfare and BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) campaigns – including Ittijah, NDC, PCHR, Arab Association for Human Rights, Badil, Mada Al-Carmel (75,000 NIS in 2008), Maan Development Center, PARC, Adalah (240,000 NIS in 2007), and Gaza Community Mental Health Program.
  • Joined Save the Children and the Palestinian Counseling Center for a report alleging that “over 300,000 people [are] under threat of house demolitions in Occupied Palestinian Territory” by Israel.
  • Funds “the rehabilitation and restoration of buildings of cultural and historic importance in other Palestinian cities such as Akka, Haifa, Jaffa and Lod-Ramleh which are part of the Palestinian living heritage.”
  • Organized a forum in cooperation with the Arab Fund that aimed “at raising public awareness of the dangers threatening Jerusalem and its inhabitants, and to present the efforts of the Arab Fund in supporting development projects in Palestine aimed at preserving its culture and heritage, especially in Jerusalem.”

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