Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
Profile
Country/Territory | Switzerland |
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Website | www.wilpf.int.ch/index.htm |
Founded | 1915 |
In their own words | Brings "together women from around the world who are united in working for peace by non-violent means, promoting political, economic and social justice for all." |
Funding
- Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s donors include Ireland, Sweden. Norway, Switzerland, Canada, United Nations, Sigrid Rausing Trust, and Open Society Foundations.
- In 2018-2019, WILPF received $374,375 from Open Society Foundations.
Activities
- Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has lobbied for an NGO Forum at the Durban Review Conference, erasing the antisemitism and virulent anti-Israel rhetoric of the NGO Forum at the first Durban conference in 2001.
- In statements to the UN, WILPF promotes a very biased view of the Israel-Arab conflict, falsely accusing Israel of “relentless destruction of Palestinian infrastructure” and maintaining “more than 650 checkpoints where Palestinians are brutalized and die.”
Political Advocacy
- In October 2021, WILPF was a signatory on a joint statement condemning the decision by the Israeli Ministry to designate six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organizations. According to the statement, “This unprecedented designation is merely the latest escalation in Israel’s widespread and systematic institutionalized campaign that has aimed to silence and discredit any Palestinian individual or organization that dares seek accountability for Israel’s grave human rights violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity…the international community, especially the European Union and its member states who are key supporters of and donors to Palestinian civil society, should ensure that banks and financial institutions in their jurisdiction are notified Israel’s designation of Palestinian organizations is unfounded and inapplicable.”
- In May 2021, WILPF and the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC) presented an oral statement to the Human Rights Council claiming that the “apartheid settler colonial policies pursued by Israel result in crimes against human humanity and other violations of the human rights of Palestinians.” The statement also called for “an immediate and comprehensive arms embargo…[and to] Strengthen its scrutiny of Israeli and foreign companies that continue to benefit from the occupation, such as those with business ties to Israeli settlements.”
- In May 2021, WILPF published a statement calling for Israeli authorities to “be held accountable for their continuous violence to ethnically cleanse entire neighborhoods…WILPF stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist in the face of the violent systematic settler colonial policies in effect and apartheid system founded on land theft, violence, and the denial of basic human rights.”
- In April 2021, WILPF endorsed US Congresswoman McCollum’s proposed legislation meant to advance BDS and demonization of Israeli companies and defense forces. The entirety of the proposed bill is premised on factually inaccurate claims from anti-Israel advocacy NGOs, including direct quotes from Defense for Children International -Palestine’s “No Way to Treat a Child” 2016 report and website.
- In July 2020, following the announcement of President Trump’s “Peace Plan,” WILPF published a statement that “this annexation is another episode in a systematic settler colonial policy that is built on violating the rights of the Palestinian people through maintaining an apartheid system that establishes land theft and violence.” WILPF called for States and individuals to “boycott products and services from the illegal Israeli settlements and should continue to support efforts by the UN to improve its database of companies involved in the settlement business.”
BDS Activities
- In October 2020, WILPF was a signatory on a letter to Congress calling for the “U.S. must stop funding Israel’s military, which regularly engages in violations of human rights and international law without accountability.”
- In July 2020, WILPF was a signatory on a statement calling for “Immediate targeted sanctions to stop Israel’s annexation and apartheid.” The statement further called for “A ban on arms trade and military-security cooperation with Israel,” “Suspension of trade and cooperation agreements with Israel,” and “Investigation and prosecution of individuals and corporate actors responsible for war crimes/crimes against humanity in the context of Israel’s regime of illegal occupation and apartheid.”
- In June 2020, WILPF was a signatory on a letter to then Vice President Biden calling for “support for conditioning U.S. military funding to Israel on an end to Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights and adherence to all relevant U.S. laws, including the Arms Export Control Act and the Leahy Law.”
- In March 2020, WILPF was a signatory on a letter to OHCHR High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet praising the High Commissioner for publishing the list and stating that it “look[s] forward to continuing to work with the OHCHR, with a view toward ending corporate impunity for profiting from grave breaches of international law.”
Partners
WILPF is a member of the Coalition of Women for Peace (CWP), a highly politicized Israeli NGO umbrella group funded by NIF and the EU.
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