NGO Monitor Digest (Vol. 3 No. 12) 15 August 2005
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CONTENTS: |
- "WAR ON WANT" WARNED BY UK CHARITY COMMISSION
- "THE UN, THE ICJ, AND THE SEPARATION BARRIER: WAR
BY OTHER MEANS", GERALD STEINBERG, ISRAEL LAW REVIEW
- YMCA'S RELIEF ARM MIXES PALESTINIAN ADVOCACY WITH DEVELOPMENT
AID
- GERALD STEINBERG, "TERROR AND THE DIVESTMENT CAMPAIGN",
THE JERUSALEM POST, JULY 17, 2005. (WITH RESPONSE FROM NIF)
- MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE - PROMOTING CONFLICT VIA DIVESTMENT
(UPDATE)
- HRW CHANGES DIRECTION ON TERROR AND HUMAN RIGHTS
- PALESTINIAN ECO-NGOs (UPDATE)
- NGO COALITION MAKES ZIMBABWE ANSWER FOR MASSIVE HUMAN
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS (UN WATCH)
- NEWS UPDATES
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"WAR ON WANT"
WARNED BY UK CHARITY COMMISSION |
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The UK Charity Commission has warned War on Want
about the impact of its extremist political campaigning on
its status as a charity. According to the Jewish Chronicle
(UK), the commission told trustees that they must demonstrate
"a reasonable expectation" that its political activities would
further its "charitable purposes". War on Want has been very
active in anti-Israel political activities, as shown in NGO
Monitor's analysis, using rhetoric such as "apartheid", "slavery",
and "a heavyweight beating a child", while accusing Israel
of attempting to simulate "the aftermath of a natural disaster
for Palestinians".
Read
Article>>>>
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"THE UN, THE ICJ,
AND THE SEPARATION BARRIER: WAR BY OTHER MEANS", GERALD
STEINBERG, ISRAEL LAW REVIEW |
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This article compares the realist and idealist analyses of international law and organizations with respect to the UN General Assembly resolutions and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on Israel's separation barrier. From the realist perspective, this case highlights the exploitation of universal moral claims to support a radical political agenda, and demonstrates the power of NGOs in promoting "war by other means".
Read
Article>>>>
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YMCA'S
RELIEF ARM MIXES PALESTINIAN ADVOCACY WITH DEVELOPMENT AID |
The YMCA's relief
and development agency, Y Care International, headed by former
Anglican hostage negotiator Terry Waite, claims to aid young
people in the Middle East. Y Care has a number of initiatives
to assist Palestinians, but it also participates in the political
campaign that blames Israel exclusively for Palestinian hardships,
and removes the context of terror.
Read
Article>>>>
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GERALD STEINBERG, "TERROR
AND THE DIVESTMENT CAMPAIGN", THE JERUSALEM POST,
JULY 17, 2005. (WITH RESPONSE FROM NIF) |
The anti-Israel
divestment declarations by a number of Protestant church groups
are the latest battle in the political war. Like many of these
campaigns in the effort to portray Israel as "an apartheid
state," divestment is led by a network of Palestinian charities,
unions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Sabeel, MCC,
EAPPI, and CPT are among the NGOs that provide bridges to church
involvement in this propaganda campaign. Others pushing divestment
and boycotts include MIFTAH, a powerful NGO led by Palestinian
spokeswoman Hanan Ashwari; BADIL, which claims to be helping
refugees; Al-Mezan, an extremist group based in Gaza; ADRID,
where terms such as "international Zionist conspiracies"
are common; Ittijah, and others. These anti-Israel political
NGOs receive funding from sources such as the Ford Foundation,
the European Union and individual governments.
Read
Article>>>>
Read the response from NIF>>>> |
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MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
- PROMOTING CONFLICT VIA DIVESTMENT (UPDATE) |
The Mennonite Central
Committee continues to promote a radical pro-Palestinian agenda,
including support for demonization of Israel through divestment
campaigns. The official responses to NGO Monitor's previous
report not withstanding, MCC's website features more highly
distorted reports on the conflict, while erasing the context
of terrorism. This NGO is also active in funding radical political
groups as BADIL and Sabeel, perpetuating the incitement and
violence, in sharp contrast to the goal of peace that MCC professes
to seek.
Read
Article>>>>
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HRW CHANGES DIRECTION ON TERROR AND HUMAN RIGHTS |
Human Rights Watch
has announced an opening for a Project Director for Terrorism/Counterterrorism,
and pledged an "enhanced commitment" on this critical issue.
As NGO Monitor studies show, HRW has often erased the context
of terror in its political condemnations of Israeli and U.S.
policies. If this announcement is matched by changes in HRW's
approach, this could mark an important change and restoration
of universal human rights norms in this NGO.
Read
Article>>>> |
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FUNDERS IGNORING DECEIT
BY PALESTINIAN ECO-NGOs |
Updating an
earlier report on Palestinian environmental NGOs that use ecological
issues to promote a radical anti-Israel agenda, this study found
continuing cases, such as presentation of unreliable and even
false data. For example, the Applied Research Institute (ARIJ)
in Bethlehem, focusing on the "apartheid wall" and settlement
activity, fabricated claims of uprooted trees in this campaign.
Nonetheless, international donors such as the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation and the EU continue to support the
NGOs' "environmental" projects, while the UN Environmental Program
reproduces verbatim materials from these highly politicized
organizations.
Read
Article>>>> |
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NGO COALITION MAKES
ZIMBABWE ANSWER FOR MASSIVE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS (UN WATCH) |
A coalition of
NGOs at the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection
of Human Rights made Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s
government answer before an international human rights body
for the first time over its continued human rights abuses. In
response to the allegations of mass land seizures and house
demolitions, Zimbabwe’s ambassador resorted to repeatedly
referring to the NGOs as “the enemies of the Zimbabwe
government”. The coalition consisted of sixteen NGOs including
UN Watch, the International Council of Jewish Women and Freedom
House.
Read
Article>>>>
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NGO MONITOR NEWS UPDATES |
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Avraham Tal, "Love
does not entitle one to citizenship", Haaretz,
July 22, 2005.
Summary: A number of NGOs,
including HRW,
Amnesty and Adalah have periodically condemned
the Israeli government for refusing to automatically grant
citizenship to non-Israelis (including Palestinians) who marry
Israelis. The condemnations fail to consider the link between
granting of citizenship and the context of the Arab-Israeli
conflict, as well as the involvement in terrorism. In addition,
these NGOs have again applied unique criteria to Israel, without
examination the practice in other democracies, including the
US and in Europe, where citizenship is not granted automatically
on the basis of marriage, as the above article notes.
Hilary Leila Krieger, "Rights
Watch dodges terror", The Jerusalem Post, Aug.
3, 2005.
"PCHR
strongly condemns 4th kidnapping in less than 3 weeks in the
Gaza Strip", Palestinian Center for Human Rights,
July 31, 2005.
Arnon Regular, "NGO
ties PA reform to road map," Haaretz, July
27, 2005.
NGO
Monitor response to article on Christian Peacemaker Team, Gladwin County
Record, July 12, 2005.
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