The German government directly and indirectly provides millions of euros to Israeli, Palestinian, and European non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are politically active in the Arab-Israeli conflict. This includes groups that glorify terrorism, promote BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) campaigns against Israel, and some with alleged ties to the PFLP terrorist organization.

The Israeli NGO PASSIA implements a project together with the German public-benefit federal enterprise GIZ. In a publication funded by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, PASSIA calls the wave of stabbings that began in October 2015 a “youth uprising” and refers to “Palestinian martyr, Baha Eleyan” as an example. Eleyan was one of two murderers to board a bus in Jerusalem in October 2015 armed with a gun and a knife, murdering three and injuring seven. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a longtime funder of PASSIA, is a political foundation affiliated with the SPD party (of which German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is a member).

The German government’s direct and indirect funding is also distributed to a number of organizations with alleged ties the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization by the EU, US, Canada, and Israel.

The Palestinian NGO Al-Haq, a leader of BDS and lawfare campaigns, has been receiving direct German government funding since 2013, as well as indirect funding through the German-funded NGO Medico International (MI). Al-Haq’s General Director, Shawan Jabarin, has alleged ties to the PFLP and has been denied exit visas by Israel and Jordan.

MI also funds the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), UAWC is identified by Fatah as an official PFLP “affiliate,” and by USAID as the “agricultural arm” of the PFLP. According to academic scholar Glenn E. Robinson, UAWC was founded in 1986 by “agronomists loosely affiliated with the PFLP.”

A German-funded project on “strengthening non-violent initiatives” (2013-2016) involved the Palestinian NGO Popular Struggle Coordination Committees (PSCC) – an organization that has organized protests that have turned violent. PSCC’s Twitter activity (December 2015 and onward) repeatedly employs “martyr” rhetoric and showcases photos of demonstrators hurling rocks. PSCC board member Manal Tamimi has promoted terrorism, violence, and virulent antisemitic rhetoric and imagery, as well as using Nazi and Holocaust rhetoric on her Twitter account. NGO Monitor has informed the German federal program of these issues surrounding its project with PSCC. Although there was no government response, PSCC no longer appears as a partner.

For more information, see NGO Monitor’s Report “German Federal Frameworks involving Civil Society in the Arab-Israeli Conflict.”