Anti-Israel Boycott conference organized by radical NGOs to be held November 22, 2007 in West Bank
The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO), a radical Palestinian NGO which played a prominent role at Durban 2001, has organized a conference – "First Palestinian Conference for the Boycott of Israel (BDS)" — along with other radical anti-Israel groups, including OPGAI-Coalition, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), and the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign. The conference will take place November 22, 2007 in the West Bank. According to the conference program obtained by NGO Monitor, the stated aim of the conference is "to promote all forms of boycott against Israel among Palestinian community organizations, unions, as well as political, academic and cultural institutions." PNGO has been the recipient of hundreds of thousands of dollars in Ford Foundation money; the organization was instrumental in producing many of the preparatory documents for the Durban 2001 conference, including the document calling for embargoes on Israel. Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative (OPGAI), another participant in the conference, is a radical NGO which in its publications rejects the legitimacy of the Israel’s existence, describes Israel as an apartheid state, and calls for comprehensive boycotts.
In addition to these radical groups, the conference itinerary also lists the BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights as a "main supporter of the conference."As NGO Monitor has reported, BADIL is one of the most active NGOs in promoting extremist Palestinian political positions in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and campaigns against recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. BADIL was a signatory to an August 2002 call to boycott Israel, including an endorsement of the NGO Declaration of the 2001 Durban conference. BADIL has received funding from sources including Oxfam, Canadian International Development Agency, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, and the Swiss Foreign Ministry.