Activity

• Ireland, via its program for overseas development Irish Aid, provides millions of euros through direct and indirect funding processes to politicized non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Ireland, Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.
• Organizations receiving Irish funding lead campaigns and political activities that are inconsistent with Ireland’s policies to promote peace and a two-state framework in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Some of these groups also promote antisemitic rhetoric and have alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – a designated terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.
• In 2023, Ireland’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the West Bank and Gaza was €35.8 million.

Direct Funding from the Irish Government

Irish Aid Funding to Palestinian NGOs

• In 2023, Addameer received €100,000 from Irish Aid.
  • Addameer is an official PFLP “affiliate” and several of Addameer’s current and former employees, as well as lawyers that work for Addameer, are linked to the terror group.
  • On October 22, 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense declared Addameer a “terror organization” because it is part of “a network of organizations” that operates “on behalf of the ‘Popular Front’.”
  • Khalida Jarrar served as vice-chairperson of the PFLP-affiliated NGO Addameer, until 2017. Jarrar was arrested on October 31, 2019 on suspicions of “involvement in terror activity.” On December 18, 2019, it was revealed that Jarrar has “emerged as the head of the PFLP in the West Bank and responsible for all the organization’s activities” (emphasis added).
  • Addameer listed Samer Arbid as its accountant for several years on its website. According to Israeli security officials, on August 23, 2019, he commanded a PFLP terror cell that carried out a bombing against Israeli civilians, murdering 17-year old Rina Shnerb, and injuring her father and brother. According to the indictment, Arbid prepared and detonated the explosive device.
• In 2023, Al-Haq received €100,000 from Irish Aid.
  • Al-Haq is a leader in anti-Israel “lawfare” campaigns and BDS activities.
  • On October 22, 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense declared Al-Haq a “terror organization” because it is part of “a network of organizations” that operates “on behalf of the ‘Popular Front’.”
  • In May 2018, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express shut down online credit card donations to Al-Haq due to the group’s ties to the PFLP.
  • Al-Haq General Director Shawan Jabarin is tied to the PFLP. As a result, his requests for Israeli exit visas have been denied on several occasions, and he has been denied entry by Jordan.  In a series of court cases in 2007-2009, the Israeli High Court of Justice found Jabarin to be a senior PFLP activist (2007, 2008, 2009).
• In 2023, Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) received €100,000 from Irish Aid.
  • Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) is a leader in anti-Israel lawfare and BDS campaigns, ignores the existence of terrorism against Israeli civilians, and presents a distorted version of the conflict based only on the Palestinian narrative.
  • PCHR describes Israel’s policies as “apartheid” and accuses Israel of “ethnic cleansing,” “war crimes,” and the “Judaization of Jerusalem,” while regularly distorting or denying the context of terrorism against Israeli civilians.
  • According to a 1995 article in the Washington Report, Raji Sourani served “a three-year sentence [1979-1982] imposed by an Israeli court which convicted him of membership in the illegal Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine…” He was also denied a US entry visa in 2012.
  • In February 2014, the PFLP organized a ceremony in Gaza honoring PCHR director Raji Sourani for winning the “Alternative Noble (sic) Prize.”
  • For more information on PCHR’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
• In 2023, Jerusalem Legal Aid & Human Rights Centre (JLAC) received €100,000 from Irish Aid.
  • JLAC is highly active in promoting BDS campaigns, lobbying international bodies, and utilizing highly inflammatory rhetoric.
  • In 2010, JLAC published the first edition of its book We Have Names, We Have a Homeland, which alleges that “brutality and sadism is the true face of Zionism and the State of occupation” and accuses Israel of “savage,” “abhorrent,” and “fascist” practices. The book continues to ask, “Has the history of humanity ever known such brutality as practiced at the hands of Israel…?”
• In 2023, Miftah received €100,000 from Irish Aid.
  • Miftah regularly promotes “resistance” (a euphemism for terror attacks) and glorifies terrorists. Miftah also utilizes anti-Israel rhetoric, such as accusing Israel of perpetrating “massacres,” “cultural genocide,” “war crimes,” and “apartheid.”
  • In March 2013, Miftah published an article written by Nawaf al-Zaru that repeated the antisemitic blood libel that Jews use Christian blood to bake Passover matzah.

Irish Aid Funding to Israeli NGOs

• In 2023, Bimkom received €100,000 from Irish Aid.
  • Bimkom regularly files petitions in an attempt to alter government policies related to spatial planning, planning procedures, and Bedouin communities.
• In 2023, Gisha received €100,000 from Irish Aid.
  • Gisha employs “apartheid” rhetoric and vocabulary based on international law and human rights to promote a partisan political and ideological agenda.
• In 2023, Yesh Din received €100,000 from Irish Aid.
  • Yesh Din is central to the allegations that Israeli investigative and court systems are unable or unwilling to investigate allegations of wrongdoing and is part of a wider “lawfare” strategy of pressing “war crimes” cases against Israeli officials in foreign courts and in the International Criminal Court (ICC). These campaigns use faulty information and skewed statistics to promote their political claims.
• In 2023, Comet-ME received €100,000 from Irish Aid.
  • Comet-ME’s work is highly political and may be in violation of Israeli law. In an article regarding building in Area C of the West Bank, co-founder Elad Orian stated, “We don’t get any permits [from the Israeli Civil Administration], so we simply build without.”
• In 2023, Ir Amim received €25,000 from Irish Aid.
  • Ir Amim’s activities consistently promote a one-sided Palestinian narrative, accusing Israel of the “Judaization” of Jerusalem, and alleging without evidence that the security barrier’s supposedly “demographic rationale therefore outweighs its security rationale.”
• In 2023, Geneva Initiative received €34,000 from Irish Aid.

Irish Aid Funding to NGOs Active in the Arab-Israeli Conflict (amounts in €)

Norwegian Refugee Council

• In 2023, Norwegian Refugee Council received €400,000 from Irish Aid.
  • Norwegian Refugee Council engages in lawfare and international delegitimization campaigns against Israel.
  • One of NRC’s principle projects in Israel, “Information, counseling, and legal assistance (ICLA),” exploits judicial frameworks to manipulate Israeli policy, bypassing democratic frameworks.
    • ICLA’s interventions in Israeli courts and other venues “beneficiary targets” include: “3628 opened and continuing cases for legal assistance in the West Bank (West Bank 612 new and 3016 continuing), 40 advocacy briefings given on specific HLP and residency issues (verbal or written), 10 of instances information is submitted to other UN mechanisms, and 75 public interest cases challenging unjust HLP issues.”
  • A lawyer affiliated with the NRC program stated that the objective of these cases are an attempt to “try every possible legal measure to disrupt the Israeli judicial system…as many cases as possible are registered and that as many cases as possible are appealed to increase the workload of the courts and the Supreme Court to such an extent that there will be a blockage” (emphasis added).

Indirect Funding from Irish Aid to Israeli and Palestinian NGOs

Trocaire

• In 2023, Trócaire, the “overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland,” received €31.8 million from Irish Aid.
• Trócaire funds highly politicized and biased NGOs that support BDS and engage in anti-peace rhetoric against Israel including BADIL, Al-Haq, Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Gisha, Who Profits, Caritas Jerusalem, Medical Aid for Palestinians, and Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. Trócaire does not disclose the extent of these partnerships, nor the amounts given to these NGOs.
• In opposition to Irish government policy, Trócaire conducts campaigns in Europe calling for sanctions against Israel and suspension of trade agreements. Trócaire  was among the 22 NGOs involved in the “Trading Away Peace: How Europe Helps Sustain Illegal Israeli Settlements” publication (October 30, 2012), which lobbied the EU and national governments to wage political warfare through economic sanctions (a form of BDS) against Israel.
• In 2018, Trocaire supported the “Control of Economic Activity (Occupied territories)” bill that would criminalize the importing or sale of “settlement goods” and the provision or attempt provision of “settlement services.” The language of the bill reflects a broader goal of isolating Israel and implementing a discriminatory BDS agenda.

Christian Aid Ireland

• In 2023, Christian Aid Ireland received €5.7 million from Irish Aid.
• Christian Aid Ireland , in turn, funds highly politicized and biased NGOs active in the Arab-Israeli conflict including Al-Haq, Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), B’Tselem, Adalah, Culture and Free Thought Association, and Zochrot.
• Christian Aid Ireland is active in lobbying elected officials and assists people in becoming a “local lobbyist” to aid in “fighting against injustice.”
• In 2018, Christian Aid Ireland supported the “Control of Economic Activity (Occupied territories)” bill aimed at criminalizing trade in Israeli settlement goods. According to Rosamond Bennett, Chief Executive of Christian Aid Ireland, the bill “sends an important message across the globe, that international law exists to protect people and their rights across the world. For too long, settlements and the produce that comes from them have been at the expense of Palestinian rights, forcing them off their land and into poverty.”

Front line – The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

• In 2023, Front line – The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders received €700,000.
• Front Line promotes Omar Barghouti, co-founder of Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), who is active in promoting BDS and compares Israeli efforts to contain terrorism to the antisemitic polices of Nazi Germany as a “human rights defender.”
• Front Line has also promoted Manal Tamimi, a fieldworker for the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC), and Salah Khawaja, a “leader” with Stop the Wall.
  • Tamimi frequently utilizes antisemitic and violent rhetoric and imagery on social media. In August 2015, Tamimi tweeted, “I do hate Israel, i (sic) wish a thrid Intefada (sic) coming soon and people rais (sic) up and kills all these zionist settlers everywhere.”
  • Khawaja was “an active member of the blacklisted Popular Front Liberation Party.” Khawaja is also a “member of the secretariat of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement,” which purports to coordinate the “coalition of Palestinian organisations that leads and supports the BDS movement.”

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

• In 2023, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) received €250,000 from Irish Aid.
• The group, composed of 178 member organizations, supported campaigns including the BDS campaign against Orange (2015), promoted the EU product labeling guidelines, and participated in the NGO campaign at the UN Human Rights Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry targeting Israel following the 2014 Gaza War.
• FIDH engages in “lawfare,” supports BDS campaigns, and abuses its reputation as a human rights organization to condemn Israel in a variety of international forums.
• In August 2016, Shawan Jabarin (General Director of Al Haq) was elected as FIDH’s Secretary General. Jabarin has been denied exit visas for Israel and Jordan on several occasions due to his alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization by the U.S., EU, Canada, and Israel. (Click here to read a translation of the decision by the Israeli High Court of Justice, June 20, 2007.)
• Together with the Platform of French NGOs for Palestine, FIDH spearheads a settlement boycott campaign in Belgium and France called “Made in Illegality,” which calls to “Ban the import of settlement products; Exclude colonies from bilateral agreements and cooperation with Israel; Dissuade Belgian companies from investing and conducting business relationships with Israeli settlements.” This campaign makes false factual claims and distorts legal narratives to accuse Israel of human rights violations, and erroneously argues that conducting business with Israel amounts to furthering these alleged violations.

Irish Indirect Funding

2018-2023 amounts to Israeli NGOs based on quarterly reports submitted to the Israeli Registrar for Non-Profits

Funding via the United Nations

UN-OCHA oPt Humanitarian Fund

• In 2024, Ireland provided $957,331 to the UN-OCHA occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund.
• Several PFLP-linked NGOs, including UAWC, UHWC, and PCHR, are regular recipients of disbursements from the “occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund.”

UNICEF

• In 2023, Ireland provided UNICEF with $98,713.
• UNICEF spearheads a campaign to have Israel included on a UN blacklist of “grave” violators of children’s rights. The list appears as an annex to the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC). This political agenda is a primary facet of UNICEF’s activities relating to Israel, completely inconsistent with its mandate of “child protection” and from its guidelines for neutrality and impartiality. (Read NGO Monitor’s report “UNICEF and its NGO Working Group: Failing Children.”)