Wednesday 9 July 2008

Europe still funding NGOs promoting Israel demonization campaigns

It is unbelievable that the Israeli government should be devoting resources to fight hostile NGOs, some of which are being generously and cynically funded by European governments (in other words by unwitting European taxpayers).

Article by Gerald Steinberg in TJP:

"Now, as the UN and the anti-Israel NGO network prepare for the Durban Review Conference to be held in Geneva in April 2009, the Foreign Ministry has left the minimalist NGO desk empty. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has denounced the anti-Semitism of the UN's Durban process, and announced that Israel will not participate if this continues. But the Israeli diplomatic corps was surprised when the Preparatory Committee for this review conference accredited the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign. European members of the committee simply waved them through, and no Israeli official was aware of the process.

The damage from this black hole in the Israeli diplomatic universe goes far beyond the Durban process. Some of the NGOs promoting the demonization campaigns get more then half their annual budgets from European governments, under the misleading headlines of "partnerships for peace" or projects claiming to promote democracy and Palestinian development."

Europe's Hidden Hand, NGO Monitor report

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