Key Issue:BDS in the Churches

Introduction

Government funds from Europe and North America are allocated to both Protestant and Catholic humanitarian aid organizations, to provide aid to communities in conflict-ridden areas. These groups then become involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict and/or transfer funds to NGOs active in the conflict.

Grantees include Palestinian Christian NGOs (such as Sabeel and Christ at the Checkpoint) that promote BDS, “one-state” formulas, and the Palestinian claim to a “right of return” within churches. These Palestinian Christian advocacy NGOs sometimes insert antisemitic theologies, such as supersessionism¹ and deicide imagery², into their messages.

Thus, taxpayer money is ultimately utilized by Palestinian NGOs to promote highly biased and problematic sentiments, completely divorced from the original intention of the donor countries.

Government Funding

European governments, the European Union, the United States, and Canada provide funds that are used for church-based efforts to delegitimize Israel. Taxpayer funds are disbursed as grants to church-based humanitarian NGOs. These funds then go to highly politicized NGOs active in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including Christian groups that promote within churches around the world BDS, one-state frameworks, and, in many cases, antisemitic supercessionist (replacement) theologies.

Examples of government funding for church-based anti-Israel activities include:

• Netherlands: The Dutch government grants hundreds of millions of euros annually to Dutch church-based aid organizations such as Kerk in Aktie (KIA) and the Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation (ICCO). In turn, these groups disburse these funds to NGOs around the world, including to Sabeel and other Palestinian Christian advocacy NGOs.
• Sweden: Diakonia lists numerous highly politicized NGOs as partners, including Al-Haq, B’Tselem, Sabeel, BADIL, Al-Mezan, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I).
• Ireland: Trócaire funds highly politicized and biased NGOs that are engaged in activities including supporting BDS and utilizing demonizing rhetoric against Israel. Such NGOs include Zochrot, BADIL, and Breaking the Silence.