Thursday, June 26 2014, in Berlin, Germany, with Professor Gerald Steinberg

Hosted by The Mideast Freedom Forum, Berlin (MFFB)

Since the infamous NGO Forum of the 2001 Durban Conference – which was widely declared as anti-Semitic – the centrality of Human Rights organizations in the political dimension of the Arab-Israeli conflict is an undeniable fact.

The Palestinian contributions to the stalemated US peace initiative, and the PA-Hamas rapprochement which has complicated negotiations, have been supported by the negative activities of powerful non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The important political role of many NGOs based in Israel and the disputed territories is a subject which has yet to be explored in detail.

At this Berlin press conference, Prof. Gerald Steinberg (Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv) will show how radical NGOs and the BDS Movement (boycott, divestment and sanctions) do major damage to peace efforts and strengthen the rejectionists, including Hamas – a terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel. He will explain the link between this NGO activity and President Abbas’s rejection of a deal with Israel two months ago.

As the director of NGO-Monitor, Prof. Gerald Steinberg has published detailed information on how these groups are funded by European taxpayer’s money.  In a current study, NGO Monitor focuses on German funding of highly problematic NGOs.

In contrast to the moral objectives, the NGO funding supports radical organizations that oppose peace, promote demonization, and biased boycott movements as part of political warfare, and in some cases blatant antisemitism. These campaigns are often justified in terms of opposition to the post-1967 “occupation” or Israeli settlement policies. But this wide NGO network promoting the Durban strategy has a 1948 agenda, supporting the 66-year campaign to roll back any form of Jewish national self-determination and sovereign equality.

Millions of Euros originating with German taxpayers are provided annually to these NGOs. Funding frameworks include all German party foundations, Protestant and Catholic church aid networks, as well as direct funding from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and other branches.

For example, Brot für die Welt – Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED) and Misereor (a German, Catholic humanitarian framework), which NGO Monitor has found to abuse German taxpayer funds for anti-Israel propaganda activities, are holding a July conference in Berlin on “The ICJ’s Wall Opinion Revisited: Towards its effective Implementation,” using the 2004 ICJ ‘advisory opinion’ as a means to demonize Israel.

Prof. Gerald Steinberg calls for greater transparency and wide public discussion of the German NGO funding. Independent supervisory mechanisms should be established to review and evaluate all NGO grants, and the funding frameworks should adopt strict moral guidelines to stop the demonization of Israel and the political warfare strategy.

Read NGO Monitor’s full report: “German funding for political advocacy NGOs active in the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

Journalists and experts are invited to attend.

Date: Thursday, July 26 2014

Time: 11:00-12:00

Location: Conference Center at the Haus der Bundespressekonferenz, Room 0107, Schiffbauerdamm