Key Issue:Extremist Populism and NGOs – Misinformation, Radicalization, and Incitement to Violence
Several European-funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict appropriate the language of human rights and international law in order to distort historical and political contexts and blur moral distinctions. Often, this occurs to the point of propagating thinly veiled libelous claims or endorsing violence and terrorism. Some of the NGOs even have ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – a designated terrorist organization by the EU, US, Canada, and Israel.
Overview
Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands jointly fund Israeli and Palestinian NGOs through the
A number of NGOs funded by the Secretariat promote antisemitic rhetoric and/or have apparent links to terrorist organizations.
Selected Examples
Palestinian NGO BADIL received $370,000 in core funding (2013-2017) from the Secretariat. BADIL has published antisemitic cartoons as well as posters promoting the elimination of Israel.
Another Secretariat grantee, Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) has called Hamas rockets that injured Palestinians “misuse of weapons.” As stated, Raji Sourani, founder and director of the PCHR, admitted that he served “a three-year sentence [1979-1982] imposed by an Israeli court which convicted him of membership in the illegal Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.” PCHR received $710,000 from the Secretariat in core funding (2013-2017). In April 2016, Sourani declared that “I think resistance is our right and our obligation.”
Defense for the Children International – Palestine (DCI-P) received $738,000 in core funding (2013-2017). Several DCI-P board members have apparent ties to the PFLP. Mahmoud Jiddah, reportedly a “PFLP member,” was imprisoned by Israel for 17 years for carrying out “grenade attacks” against Israeli civilians in Jerusalem in 1968. Hassan Abed Aljawad is similarly described as a Bethlehem-based “PFLP activist,” or “leader,” representing the PFLP at public events.
Finally, Palestinian NGO Addameer, an official PFLP “affiliate,” received $325,000 in core funding in 2013-2017. Addameer’s chairperson and co-founder, Abdul-latif Ghaith, was banned by Israel from travelling internationally due to his alleged membership in the PFLP; he was also banned from entering the West Bank from 2011 to 2015 (see above for more information on Addameer and the PFLP).
