Euro Government Funded NGO Manipulating Canadian Court in Anti-Israel Campaign

(Jerusalem) – Jerusalem-based research organization NGO Monitor today called on a Quebec court to reject the attempt by radical Palestinian NGO Al-Haq to exploit the courts of Canada in its effort to criminalize Israeli self-defense.  The Al-Haq-led lawsuit accuses Israel of "war crimes" and seeks to circumvent a negotiated peace process with the Palestinians demanding the Quebec court declare a border between Israel and the Palestinians.
 
Al-Haq is a radical group with a long record of anti-Israel activity.  Its General Director Shawan Jabarin has been denied exit visas by Israel and Jordan on account of his alleged ties to the terrorist group Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine.  On July 7, 2008, the Israeli Supreme Court upheld the visa denial because it examined reliable evidence that Jabarin is “among the senior activists of the Popular Front terrorist organization.”  Among Al-Haq’s funders are the governments of Sweden, Ireland, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway and the Ford Foundation.  
 
This case is merely the latest stage in an anti-Israel NGO campaign over recent years, known as ‘Lawfare’.  NGOs utilize the façade of international humanitarian law to promote and justify the isolation and boycotts of Israel and its leaders.  Al-Haq previously brought a case to the UK courts in 2006 against the UK government to end export licenses to Israel.  This was dismissed by the UK Court of Appeal on November 25, 2008, yet Al-Haq filed another, almost identical action three months later.  Other cases against Israeli officials including Doron Almog, Shaul Mofaz and Avi Dichter in the US, UK and Spanish courts were brought with the assistance of another NGO Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR).
 
Not one of the cases brought by NGOs has been upheld in the courts, but the political objectives are clearly primary.  Although a supposed human rights NGO, Al-Haq has not condemned Hamas’ deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians, the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit, and brutal violence between Palestinian factions.    
 
NGO Monitor’s Executive Director, Prof Gerald Steinberg said, “In this as in other cases, Al-Haq is manipulating international legal rhetoric as part of its anti-Israel political campaigning.  I expect that like other judicial systems across the world, the court in Quebec will recognize that this case has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with ideology and lawfare.
 
These cases are also a major obstacle to peace, as Israelis see that the main Palestinian goal of demonization has not changed in over 60 years. Similarly, the European governments which fund Al-Haq and other NGOs waging this war are responsible for furthering tension in the region.”
 
    

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Editors Notes:

NGO Monitor was founded to promote transparency, critical analysis and debate on the political role of human rights organizations.  For more information, see our website at

http://www.ngo-monitor.org 

Other recent publications and reports by NGO Monitor include:-

Al-Haq Supported ‘Lawfare’ in Canada – June 11, 2009

York University’s Israel/ Palestine Conference: Behind the Academic Façade – June 8, 2009

Amnesty in 2008: Anti-Israel Obsession Continues to Undermine Moral Principles – May 27, 2009

NGO Monitor’s Executive Director is, Prof. Gerald Steinberg.

Members of NGO Monitor’s International Advisory Board include Elie Wiesel, Prof Alan Dershowitz, Sir Martin Gilbert and R. James Woolsey
 

For further information, comment or interviews contact Dan Kosky

E: dan.kosky@ngo-monitor.org" target="_blank">dan.kosky@ngo-monitor.org