Spain
Profile
Country/Territory | Spain |
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Activity
- Spanish funding to NGOs is highly decentralized, taking place at several levels of governance. Funds are managed and allocated by the central government, autonomous communities, provincial deputations, municipalities, and bar associations – and are usually channeled via highly politicized Spanish NGOs, reflecting deep political fissures and regional radicalization.
- Spain provides millions of euros to highly politicized non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that promote anti-Israel narratives, including antisemitism, incitement, lawfare, and discriminatory BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) Some of these groups also have ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – a designated terrorist organization by the EU, US, Canada, and Israel – and were designated as terror organizations by the Israeli Ministry of Defense in 2021 over these links.
- On June 28, 2017, NGO Monitor and ACOM presented a joint report on Spanish funding in the Spanish Parliament. At this event, MK Yair Lapid, Chair of the centrist Yesh Atid party, encouraged his counterparts in Spain to take steps to prevent counterproductive and detrimental government funding
Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)
- The largest Spanish foreign aid donor is the Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), under the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. According to its charter, the agency was created “to foster full development, conceived as a fundamental human right, with the fight against poverty as part of the process for building this right.”
- In addition to directly funding various Palestinian and Israeli NGOs, AECID funds projects carried out by Spanish NGOs together with local partners.
- AECID has provided funding to several projects partnering with a number of highly biased and politicized NGOs active in the Arab-Israeli conflict, including Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC), Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC), Bisan Centre for Research and Development, Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR). Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC), the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ), and the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC). All of these organizations promote BDS and utilize demonizing rhetoric, and seven of these beneficiaries have reported ties to the PFLP.
- In parallel, AECID provides funding to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) – a group that engages in lawfare and international delegitimization campaigns against Israel (see NGO Monitor’s report “Flooding the Courts: The Norwegian Refugee Council’s European-Funded Proxy War” for details.), lobbies governments to reduce anti-terror vetting standards, and helps develop mechanisms to circumvent them. (See NGO Monitor’s report “Norwegian Refugee Council’s Campaign to Weaken and Circumvent US Anti-terror Policy.”)
Palestinian NGOs funded through AECID
- In 2022-2024, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) is providing the Association for Woman and Child Protection (AISHA) with €250,000 for a gender-based violence related project.
- Members of Aisha’s board of directors, Taghreed Jomaa and Elias al-Jelda, have served as PFLP Central Committee members (see NGO Monitor’s report “EU NGO Funding for the West Bank and Gaza in 2022”).
- On October 16, 2023, in the aftermath of the brutal Hamas attack on October 7, Jomaa, shared a Facebook post denying the Hamas massacre and that bodies of victims were burnt. The post suggested, using graphic images, that Israel was presenting a picture of a burnt dog as that of a burnt child. The post, referring to a well-known hate propagandist, read: “Western support for Israel is because of a dog??? American journalist Jackson Hinkle revealed that the photo of the charred child published by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was fake. Netanyahu said that it was of an Israeli child who was burned by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). According to a report by Fatima Triki, the American journalist revealed that the photo of the alleged Israeli child is [actually] one of a dog in a veterinary clinic that was distorted using artificial intelligence, but Western media is quick to repeat Netanyahu’s lies without verification or evidence.”
- In 2024, Spain provided $275,330 to the Al Awda Health and Community Association for “Providing multisectoral protection services at individual, family and community level, for women and girls survivors or at risk of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Rafah and Khan Younis, south Gaza Strip.”
- AWDA is identified by Fatah as an official PFLP “affiliate” and by a 1993 USAID-engaged audit as the “the PFLP’s health organization.” For more information on AWDA’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Union of Health Work Committees’ Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
- AWDA runs the Al-Awda Hospital in Gaza. In December 2023, the Israeli army raided Al Awda Hospital and arrested 21 health workers, including the hospital’s director.
- In 2024, Spain granted $1.6 million to Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) for “Responding to the emergency health needs of vulnerable populations affected by the escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”
- Mustafa Barghouthi, founder and president of PMRS, praised the October 7th attacks in Israel and repeatedly denied the systematic rape of Israeli women during the atrocities.
- On October 7, 2023, Barghouti declared: “Today is a glorious day for the Palestinian resistance and people. The resistance paid with interest for the attacks of the terrorist settlers, and for the attacks against the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It paid with interest for those who normalize [their relations] with the occupation.”
- In 2019-2021, AECID granted €400,000 to the Union of Agricultural Works Committee (UAWC) for “Improving the economic situation of vulnerable farmers.”
- UAWC is identified by Fatah as an official “affiliate,” and by USAID-engaged audit as the “agricultural arm” of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel. According to academic scholar Glenn E. Robinson, UAWC was founded in 1986 by “agronomists loosely affiliated with the PFLP.”
- On October 22, 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense declared UAWC a “terror organization” because it is part of “a network of organizations” that operates “on behalf of the ‘Popular Front’.”
- UAWC staff members, founders, board members, general assembly members, and senior staff members have ties to the PFLP terror group. For more information on UAWC’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Union of Agricultural Work Committees Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
- Samer Arbid, Union of Agricultural Works Committee’s accountant from 2016 until his arrest in 2019, was indicted on 21 counts in Israeli military court. Arbid is on trial for commanding a PFLP terror cell that carried out a bombing, murdering an Israeli civilian, and injuring her father and brother. According to the indictment against him (on file), Arbid prepared and detonated the explosive device. On August 30, 2020, the PFLP referred to Arbid as a “prisoner and commander,” and “one of the heroes of the Bubeen operation” — referring to the August 2019 bombing.
- Abdel Razeq Farraj, UAWC’s “Finance and Administration Director” is currently standing trial. According to his indictment (on file), Razeq Farraj held a senior PFLP post and authorized the August 2019 bombing.
- In 2020-2021, AECID granted €300,000 to the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC) for “improved access to comprehensive services for survivors of violence.”
- UHWC is identified by Fatah as an official PFLP “affiliate” and by USAID as the “the PFLP’s health organization.” Several UHWC board and staff members have reported ties to the terrorist group.
- HWC’s Youth Development Program, “A community, cultural, and social development program that provide services to Jerusalemite youth through ‘Nidal Center,’” was shut down by Israeli authorities from 2009 to 2012 because, in the words of the Jerusalem District Court, it served as “a place of action of the [PFLP] organization.” According to the Jerusalem District Court, “following the closure of the [Center], the PFLP began operating under the guise of the non-profit the Union of Health Work Committees – Jerusalem…on June 9, 2015 at the request of the Minister of Defense the non-profit was an unlawful organization…”
- Rabah Muhana, one of UHWC’s founders and former head, served as a member of the PFLP political bureau. On May 5, 2019, the PFLP issued a statement mourning Muhanna’s death and referring to him as a “warrior and a great national leader” and “one of the most prominent national leaders in the Gaza Strip.” During his funeral, Muhanna’s coffin was escorted by armed PFLP militants.
- In 2020-2022, AECID granted the Spanish NGO Mundubat €449,735 for a project titled “Comprehensive Protection of the Palestinian Population in East Jerusalem.” According to Mundubat, the project partners include the PFLP-linked DCI-P and UPWC.
- On October 22, 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense declared DCI-P and UPWC a “terror organization” because it is part of “a network of organizations” that operates “on behalf of the ‘Popular Front’.”
- Numerous individuals with alleged ties to the PFLP have been employed and appointed as board members at DCI-P. For more information on DCI-P’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Defense for Children International – Palestine’s Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
- UPWC is identified by Fatah as an official “affiliate” and by USAID-engaged audit as the “women’s organization” of the PFLP. Several UPWC staff members, founders, board members, general assembly members, and senior staff members have ties to the PFLP terror group. For detailed information on UPWC’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report, “The Union of Palestinian Women Committees Society’s Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
- In 2019-2021, Ma’an Development Center received €300,000 from AECID for “Responding to the WASH and GBV needs of the most vulnerable population.”
- In May 2019, MA’AN Director General Sami Khader attended a memorial event organized by the PFLP that centered on PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna. The hall was decorated with PFLP paraphernalia.
- In May 2018, Ma’an Development Center employee Ahmad Abdallah Aladini was killed in the violence on the Gaza border. Aladini was a “comrade” of the PFLP terror group.
AECID Funding to Israeli NGOs
- In 2020-2021, Breaking the Silence received NIS 155,262 from AECID.
- Breaking the Silence makes sweeping accusations based on anecdotal, anonymous, and unverifiable accounts of often low-ranked soldiers. These “testimonies” lack context, are politically biased, and erase the complicated reality in the West Bank. In addition, they reflect a distorted interpretation of the conflict in order to advance the political agenda of Breaking the Silence activists, thereby fueling the international campaigns against Israel.
- In 2020-2021, B’Tselem received NIS 59,214 from AECID.
- B’Tselem actively pursues its political agenda of “international consequences” and international pressure on Israel via lobbying of the UN and European governments.
- In 2022, Yesh Din received NIS 534,900 from AECID.
- 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, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-I) received NIS 817,000 from AECID.
- Under the guise of medical expertise and scientific fact, PHR-I promotes distorted and false narratives, aimed at demonizing and delegitimizing Israel in the international arena.
- In May 2023, PHR-I was a signatory on a statement blaming Israel for the death of Khader Adnan following his 86-day-long hunger strike and refusal to receive medical treatment from the Israeli Prisons Service. According to the statement, “Israel’s unjust system of arrests and detention are part and parcel of the policies used by Israel to maintain its occupation and apartheid regime.”
- The statement ignored that Adnan was a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad member arrested in February 2023 and was indicted for membership in a terror group, supporting a terrorist organization, and incitement.
- In 2023, Hamoked received NIS 808,000 from AECID.
- HaMoked makes inaccurate and inflammatory allegations of Israeli “apartheid,” “deportations,” “torture,” and “forcible transfers,” and accuses Israel of “collective punishment” and of “ghetto-ization of the West Bank.”
- In 2020-2023, Bimkom received NIS 1.9 million from AECID.
- Bimkom regularly files petitions in an attempt to alter government policies related to spatial planning, planning procedures, and Bedouin communities.
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
- In 2020, Spain provided NRC with $1,694,015 for NRC’s Information, Counseling and Legal Assistance (ICLA) program.
- ICLA, one of NRC’s principle projects in Israel, exploits judicial frameworks to manipulate Israeli policy, bypassing democratic frameworks.
- 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)
AECID Funding to Politicized NGOs Active in the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Year(s) | Partners | Amount |
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2022-2024 | Association for Woman and Child Protection (AISHA) | €250,000 |
2024 | Al Awda Health and Community Association | $275,330 |
2024 | Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) | $1.6 million |
2023 | Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR-I) | NIS 817,000 |
2023 | HaMoked | NIS 808,000 |
2020-2022 | Mundubat, DCI-P, UPWC, JLAC | €449,735 |
2019-2021 | UAWC | €400,000 |
2020-2021 | B'Tselem | NIS 59,214 |
2020 | Bimkom | NIS 592,970 |
2019 | Ma’an Development Center | €300,000 |
2016-2017 | WATC, CFTA, YMCA – East Jerusalem | €586,626 |
2019-2020 | Breaking the Silence | NIS 135,808 |
2020 | B'Tselem | NIS 19,926 |
2019 | Yesh Din | NIS 627,840 |
2019 | Kerem Navot | NIS 30,861 |
2021 | Norwegian Refugee Council | $609,756 |
2020 | $1,694,015 | |
2019 | €500,000 | |
2017 | Palestinian Center for Human Rights | €250,000 |
Basque Autonomous Community
- Since 2014, the Basque Autonomous Community has provided at least €6 million to Palestinian PFLP linked NGOs, including Addameer, Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC), Health Work Committees (HWC), Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), and Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC).
- Funding of Palestinian NGOs is mainly channeled via politicized Spanish NGOs and is granted by multiple Basque governmental bodies such as the Basque Government (AVCD); Provincial Councils of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa; and the Municipalities of Bilbao, San Sebastián and Vitoria-Gasteiz.
- The Basque Autonomous Community also funds projects to develop and strengthen BDS campaigns.
NGOs funded through the Basque Autonomous Community
Addameer
- Addameer is a leader of campaigns in support of Palestinians prisoners convicted of security offenses, referring to them as “political prisoners” and altogether omitting the context of violence and terror.
- Addameer is an “affiliate” of the PFLP terror group. Several of Addameer’s current and former employees, as well as lawyers that work for Addameer, are linked to the terror group. For more information on Addameer’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Addameer’s Ties to the PFLP Terrorist 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’.”
- In 2022-2024, the Municipality of San Sebastian is providing the Spanish NGO SODEPAZ and Addameer with €48,147 to “guarantee the rights of Palestinian political prisoners, with special attention to former women prisoners.”
- In 2021-2023, the Municipality of San Sebastián provided the Spanish NGO SODEPAZ and Addameer with €49,740 for a project, “Defense of the rights of Palestinian political prisoners with a global approach to human rights.”
- In 2021-2022, the Basque Agency for Development Cooperation (AVCD) provided Addameer with €150,000 for the “Defense of the rights of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons, with special attention to the situation caused by the covid-19 pandemic.”
- In 2021, AVCD provided the Spanish NGO Mundubat Foundation with €622,658 for “Reducing vulnerability and strengthening the resilience capacity of the Palestinian population of east Jerusalem.” Implementing partners include Addameer, Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC), and DCI-P.
- In 2020-2022, SODePAZ and Addameer received €48,477 from the municipality of San Sebastián to “guarantee the defense of the human rights of Palestinian political prisoners and their families within a comprehensive protection approach.”
Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC) (See above)
- Since 2014, the Basque Autonomous Community has provided at least €2.8 million for projects with the Union of Palestinian Women´s Committees (UPWC).
- In 2021-2023, the Basque Agency for Development Cooperation (AVCD) provided the Spanish NGO Mundubat with €622,658 for “reducing vulnerability and strengthening the resilience of the Palestinian population in east Jerusalem.” The project was implemented by UPWC( primary recipient) together with Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), Addameer, and Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC).
- Following the October 7 Hamas-orchestrated massacre, and referring to areas within the internationally recognized borders of Israel, UPWC published a statement affirming, “the entry of the Palestinians into part of their occupied territories comes from the belief of the Palestinian people in their right to freedom, justice, and self-determination as a people subjected to the authority of the Zionist occupation” (emphasis added).
- In 2021-2022, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa provided the Spanish NGO Mundubat and UPWC with €39,999 for a project, “Psychosocial and emergency care for women and minors in the Gaza strip.”
- In 2021-2022, the Basque Agency for Development Cooperation (AVCD) provided UPWC and Mundubat with €200,000 for “Strengthening of the mental health system and psychosocial support for protection and community response to human rights violations in the Gaza strip.”
- In 2021, AVCD provided Mundubat and UPWC with €622,658 for “Reducing vulnerability and strengthening the resilience capacity of the Palestinian population of east Jerusalem.” Implementing partners include the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC), DCI-P, and Addameer.
- In 2020-2021, AVCD is providing Mundubat and UPWC with €199,998 for the project “community psychosocial support to the Gaza population of the Gaza-Palestine strip“
- In 2019-2021, UPWC is an implementing partner on a €799,362 project funded by AVCD for “Comprehensive Protection of the Palestinian Population in East Jerusalem.” (See more on this project above.)
- In 2019-2021, the municipality of San Sebastián provided UPWC and Mundubat with €45,499 for “Promoting the Political Participation of Palestinian Women in Defense of Their Rights.”
- In 2021-2023, the Basque Agency for Development Cooperation (AVCD) provided the Spanish NGO Mundubat with €622,658 for “reducing vulnerability and strengthening the resilience of the Palestinian population in east Jerusalem.” The project was implemented by UPWC( primary recipient) together with Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), Addameer, and Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC).
Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC)
- Since 2014, the Basque Autonomous Community provided at least €2 million for projects partnering with UHWC.
- In 2019-2020, Provincial Council of Bizkaia provided €80,000 to UHWC and Paz con Dignidad for “Comprehensive Health Services for Women and Youth in Northern Gaza.”
- In 2017-2018, AVCD provided €200,000 to UHWC and Paz con Dignidad to “improve the response capacity in emergency situations of the Al-Awda hospital in the northern area of the Gaza strip.”
- UHWC is identified by Fatah as a PFLP “affiliate” and by a USAID-engaged audit as “the PFLP’s health organization.” Numerous UHWC staff members, founders, board members, general assembly members, and senior staff members have ties to the PFLP terror group. For more information on UHWC’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Union of Health Work Committees’ Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
Health Work Committees (HWC)
- Since 2014, the Basque Autonomous Community provided at least €6 million for projects partnering with HWC.
- In January 2020, HWC was designated by Israel as a terrorist organization,
- On June 9, 2015, the Israel defense minister announced that the Jerusalem branch of the Health Work Committee is an unlawful association, designated as a terrorist organization by the Israel High Court of Justice (HCJ 3923/15; emphasis added).
- Numerous HWC staff members, founders, board members, general assembly members, and senior staff members have ties to the PFLP terror group. For more information on HWC’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Health Work Committees’ Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
- Walid Hanatsheh (Abu Ras), HWC’s finance and administration manager, is on trial for allegedly being the leader of PFLP “military” operations and commanding the PFLP terror cell that carried out the August 2019 bombing attack (see UAWC above). According to the indictment against him, Hanatsheh bankrolled the bombing. Following his arrest, the PFLP labeled Hanatsheh a “leader in the Popular Front.”
- Since 2014, the Basque Autonomous Community provided at least €6 million for projects partnering with HWC.
Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P) (see above)
- In 2021-2022, the Basque Agency for Development Cooperation (AVCD) provided the Spanish NGO Asociación Paz con Dignidad and DCI-P with €200,000 for a project, “Strengthening protection measures for Palestinian children in accordance with IHL, with special attention to child victims of torture and other cruel and degrading treatment.”
- In 2021, AVCD provided Mundubat with €622,658 for “Reducing vulnerability and strengthening the resilience capacity of the Palestinian population of east Jerusalem.” Implementing partners include the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees DCI-P, (UPWC), and Addameer.
- In 2020-2021, AVCD provided Asociación Paz con Dignidad and DCI-P with €199,998 for the project “strengthening measures to protect Palestinian children victim of Israeli occupation policies, in accordance with IHL and the convention on the rights of the child.”
- In 2019-2021, DCI-P was an implementing partner on a €799,362 project funded by AVCD for “Comprehensive Protection of the Palestinian Population in East Jerusalem.” (See more on this project above.)
- In 2019-2020, the municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz granted DCI-P and Mundubat with €67,682 for a project titled “Comprehensive Protection of Palestinian Children in East Jerusalem.”
Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees
- In 2020-2022, the Municipality of San Sebastián granted €98,479 to PARC to “Promote gender equality and socio-economic empowerment of the rural population in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
- PARC’s rhetoric includes accusations of “apartheid,” “collective punishment,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “war crimes.”
- In 2020, PARC published a report referring to Israel’s alleged use of “ethnic cleansing.” According to the report, “In order to achieve its objectives of controlling the areas…the occupation authorities practice a policy of ethnic cleansing.”
BADIL
- In 2020-2023, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa (Basque Autonomous Community) provided Asociación Paz con Dignidad and BADIL with €120,000 and €100,000.
- In December 2023, BADIL published a report, “The Palestinian People Have a Right to Armed Struggle by Virtue of their Inalienable Right to Self-Determination,” openly denying the right of Israel to exist. According to BADIL “It is important to note that the establishment of the State of Palestine on the pre-1967 borders does not realize the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, and so does not preclude the legitimacy of their collective acts in pursuit of self-determination. Rather, as long as their right to self-determination is not fully implemented by all and for all, the right to resist is activated, irrespective of whether or not a state for (some) Palestinians has been created and is gradually recognized by members of the international community” (emphasis in original).
Year(s) | Funder | Amount | NGO(s) |
---|---|---|---|
2022-2024 | Municipality of San Sebastian | €48,147 | SODePAZ; Addameer |
2022-2023 | Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa | €100,000 | Asociación Paz con Dignidad; BADIL |
2021-2023 | Basque Agency for Development Cooperation (AVCD) | €622,658 | Mundubat; Addameer; Union of Palestinian Women's Committees (UPWC); Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P) |
2021-2023 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €49,740 | SODePAZ; Addameer |
2021-2022 | AVCD | €150,000 | Addameer |
2021-2022 | Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa | €39,999 | Mundubat; UPWC |
2021-2022 | AVCD | €200,000 | Mundubat; UPWC |
2021-2022 | AVCD | €200,000 | DCI-P |
2020-2022 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €98,479 | PARC |
2020-2022 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €48,477 | SODePAZ; Addameer |
2020-2021 | AVCD | €199,998 | Mundubat; UPWC |
2020-2021 | AVCD | €199,998 | DCI-P |
2020-2021 | Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa | €120,000 | BADIL |
2019-2021 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €45,499 | Mundubat; UPWC |
2019-2021 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €50,000 | SODePAZ; Addameer |
2019-2020 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €17,446 | Mundubat; UPWC |
2019-2020 | Provincial council of Gipuzkoa | €40,000 | SODePAZ; HWC |
2019-2020 | Municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz | €67,682 | Mundubat; DCI-P |
2019-2020 | Provincial Council of Bizkaia | €80,000 | Paz con Dignidad; UHWC |
2019-2020 | AVCD | €199,946 | Mundubat; UPWC |
2019-2021 | AVCD | €799,362 | Mundubat; UPWC;DCI-P; Addameer; JLAC |
2018-2019 | AVCD | €184,252 | Mundubat; UPWC |
2018-2019 | Municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz | €56,999 | Solidaridad Internacional; Addameer |
2018-2020 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €50,000 | SODePAZ; Addameer |
2018-2020 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €11,630 | SODePAZ; HWC |
2018-2019 | Provincial council of Gipuzkoa | €120,000 | Paz con Dignidad; BADIL |
2017-2019 | AVCD | €180,000 | Addameer |
2017-2018 | AVCD | €200,000 | Paz con Dignidad; UHWC |
2017-2018 | Provincial Council of Bizkaia | €80,000 | Paz con Dignidad; UHWC |
2017-2019 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €48,643 | SODePAZ; Addameer |
2016-2018 | AVCD | €200,000 | SODePAZ; HWC |
2016-2018 | AVCD | €200,000 | Paz con Dignidad; UHWC |
2016-2017 | Municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz | €68,332 | Solidaridad Internacional; Addameer |
2016-2018 | Provincial council of Gipuzkoa | €81,248 | SODePAZ; Addameer |
2016-2018 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €66,489 | SODePAZ; Addameer |
2016-2017 | Provincial Council of Bizkaia | €80,000 | Paz con Dignidad; UHWC |
2015-2016 | Provincial Council of Bizkaia | €70,000 | Paz con Dignidad; UHWC |
2015-2019 | AVCD | €199,988 | Addameer |
2015-2016 | AVCD | €200,000 | Paz con Dignidad; UHWC |
2015-2018 | AVCD | €800,764 | Mundubat; UPWC; DCI-P; LRC; AIC, Bisan, HWC |
2015-2016 | Provincial Council of Bizkaia | €7,500 | Mundubat; HWC |
2015 | Provincial Council of Bizkaia | €69,450 | Mundubat; UAWC |
2015-2017 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €69,429 | SODePAZ; Addameer |
2014-2015 | AVCD | €199,246 | Paz con Dignidad; UHWC |
2014-2016 | AVCD | €514,837 | Paz con Dignidad; HWC |
2014-2015 | Municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz | €97,947 | Solidaridad Internacional; Addameer |
2014-2015 | Provincial council of Gipuzkoa | €23,999 | Mikelazulo Kultur Elkartea; UAWC |
2014 | Municipality of Bilbao | €30,000 | Mundubat; UAWC |
2014-2015 | Provincial Council of Bizkaia | €70,000 | Paz con Dignidad; UHWC |
2014-2016 | Municipality of San Sebastián | €68,921 | SODePAZ; PCHR |
Navarre Autonomous Community
- Addameer
- In 2022, Navarre Autonomous Community provided SODePAZ and Addameer with €152,119 for a project titled “Protection of the rights of the Palestinian population detained in Israeli prisons.”
- Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC)
- In 2019-2021, PARC received €490,000 for the “Promotion of the social and solidarity economy as a tool to overcome inequalities in Palestine.”
Extremadura regional government
- In 2024, the Agency for International Development Cooperation (AEXCID) provided funding to Al-Haq (amount unknown) for a report that referred to terror attacks as “acts of struggle” and asserting that “Even if individual acts of struggle breach provisions of international humanitarian law in bello, never should the Israeli colonial power or the international community categorise the collective resistance of the Palestinian people in pursuit of their inalienable jus cogens right to self-determination as ‘terrorism’, and justify its policy of suppression accordingly.”
- Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-orchestrated massacre, Al-Haq, has led the “genocide” accusations against Israel and has intensified its lawfare campaign in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC). For more information, see NGO Monitor report “FIDH and Its PFLP-Linked Member NGOs Lead “Genocide” Accusation Against Israel.”
- In a July 2023 letter addressed to members of the European Parliament, Al-Haq wrote, “For seven decades, Israel has imposed an apartheid regime over the Palestinian people, which constitutes a tool of the broader settler-colonial regime. Israel’s permanent occupation is yet another extension of the settler-colonial apartheid regime.” Referring to Israeli sovereignty itself, Al-Haq added, “These root causes must be dismantled before any sort of good faith negotiation can ever happen.” In the same letter, which took on a new light after the October 7th atrocities, Al-Haq also claimed that “by keeping democratically elected political parties on the EU terrorist list, the EU is perpetuating the denial of self-determination of the Palestinian people. Hamas needs to be removed from the terrorist list to ensure Palestinian internal cohesion and democracy.”
- 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’.”
- Al-Haq’s General Director Shawan Jabarin is linked to the PFLP. According to the Israeli Supreme court, Jabarin “is apparently acting as a manner of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, acting some of the time as the CEO of a human rights organization, and at other times as an activist in a terror organization.”
Andalucía Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID)
- Andalucía Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID) is a primary donor to NGO-led activities in the Arab-Israeli conflict, designating €1.2 million for activities in 2020.
- The website Cooperanda (AACID’s database) lists 25 projects with a total volume of over €5 million conducted in the “Palestinian Territories,” implemented mainly by NGOs, including the PFLP-linked UHWC, Alternative Information Center (AIC), and Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), and other NGOs such as Psycho-Social Counseling Center for Women (PSCCW), and Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC).
NGOs funded through AACID and Andalusian Municipalities
- Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC)
- In 2021-2022, AACID provided €300,000 to Paz con Dignidad and UHWC for “Comprehensive protection services for Gazan boys and girls in the Al Nuseirat refugee camp, in accordance with IHL and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
- In 2019-2021, AACID is providing Movimiento por la Paz, el Desarme y la Libertad, and HWC with €300,000 for the “promotion of the access to health and the protection of people with different capacities with special attention to women.”
- In 2018-2019, UHWC was an implementing partner on a €300,000 project for “Women leading and strengthening community protection mechanisms in northern Gaza.”
- Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)
- In 2021-2022, AACID provided €109,825 to PCHR and the Al Quds Association for the “Promotion and protection of women’s rights in the Gaza Strip.”
- Addameer
- In 2023, the Municipality of Malaga provided HWC (via the Spanish NGO Al Quds Association) with €14,613.
- Culture and Free Thought Association
- In 2021-2022, AACID granted €300,000 to CFTA and Alianza por la Solidaridad to “Improve the protection of women and girls who are survivors or at risk of gender-based violence and sexual violence in the middle and southern area of Gaza, in the context of conflict and the Covid-19 pandemic.”
- Culture and Free Thought Association (CFTA) is signatory to the March 2016 “Palestinian Women’s Call for Worldwide Women’s Endorsement of BDS.” CFTA’s Director Mariam Zakoot signed a 2016 statement from Palestinian feminists supporting BDS and “deplor(ing) the colonial attitude inherent in some Israeli feminists’ request of us to sign a statement in favor of liberal ideals, ‘dialogue’ and ‘co-existence,’ and against the effective solidarity with the struggle for rights.”
- Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC)
- In 2021-2023, PSCC and the University of Malaga is receiving €95,589 for a project titled “The Human Rights of Palestinian women: stories of resilience in times of Covid-19.”
- PSCC calls for “community resistance” to “overthrow Israel’s occupation” through “marches, strikes, demonstrations, direct actions and legal campaigns as well as supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions.”
- PSCC has organized protests that have turned violent. Footage of PSCC protests in Hebron, Kfer Qaddum, Nilin, Nabi Saleh, and Beituniya shows protestors hurling rocks, throwing sharp objects, trying to destroy the security barrier, and arson.
- In September 2020, PSCC called for the UN General Assembly to “Launch international investigations into Israel’s apartheid regime over the Palestinian people as a whole, as well as associated State and individual criminal responsibility,” to “Ban arms trade and military-security cooperation with Israel,” and “Prohibit all trade with illegal Israeli settlements and ensure that companies refrain from and terminate business activities with Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise.”
In addition to AACID, Al Quds Association reports funding by local Andalusian governmental bodies to HWC, PCHR, and AIC. (See table below).
Year(s) | Funder | Project | Amount | NGO(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | Municipality of Málaga | "Basic medical care in Tubas, Nablus and Qalqilya, through the provision and equipping of medical centres" | €14,613 | HWC |
2022 | Municipality of Málaga | "Caring for people with chronic diseases and those affected by COVID-19 in Tubas, Nablus and Qalqilya, Palestine." | €6,751 | HWC |
2021 | Municipality of Málaga | “Improved health and well-being of the vulnerable Palestinian population in the face of the COVID19 pandemic in marginal areas of northern West Bank: municipality of Tubas and surroundings” | €10,747 | HWC |
2021 | AACID | “Promotion and protection of women's rights in the Strip from Gaza” | €109,825 | PCHR |
2020 | Municipality of Málaga | “Improved access to primary health care and wellness of vulnerable people in the West Bank” | €14,933 | HWC |
2019 | Municipality of Málaga | “Right of access to medical care for the most vulnerable Palestinian population in isolated areas of Area C. West Bank (Palestine)” | €14,595 | HWC |
Provincial Council of Málaga | €35,599 | HWC | ||
2019 | Municipality of Casares | “Protecting the right of access to healthcare in the Gaza Strip (Palestine)” | €15,000 | PCHR |
2018 | Municipality of Málaga | “Strengthening capacities for comprehensive health care and reproductive and sexual health of women in rural areas of Bethlehem, West Bank” | €12,297 | HWC |
Provincial Council of Málaga | €30,000 | HWC | ||
2018 | Provincial Council of Málaga | “Protection and promotion of women's rights in the Gaza Strip through access to justice, empowerment and legal defense” | €20,000 | PCHR |
2017 | Municipality of Málaga | “Protection of women's social and reproductive rights through health care and empowerment against gender-based violence” | €7,750 | HWC |
2017 | Provincial Council of Málaga | “Making visible the construction of bridges of dialogue between Palestinian and Israeli Human Rights defenders” | €25,000 | AIC |
2016 | Municipality of Málaga | “Protecting the health of Palestinian women through | €13,420 | HWC |
Cancer diagnosis, prevention and treatment in the West Bank.” | HWC | |||
2016 | Provincial Council of Málaga | “Making visible the construction of bridges of dialogue between Palestinian and Israeli Human Rights defenders” | €25,000 | AIC |
Madrid Autonomous Community
In 2019, Madrid Autonomous Community provided Alianza por la solidaridad and UHWC with €79,450 for “Strengthening of humanitarian protection mechanisms for survivors of gender-based violence in Gaza.”
Municipality of Barcelona
In 2022, the Municipality of Barcelona provided the Spanish NGO Paz con Dignidad and Addameer with €120,000.
Further Reading
- This is how Spain funds the hatred of Israel Pablo Molina, El Medio, May 4, 2017
- Is Spain Fueling the BDS War Against Israel? Soeren Kern, August 22, 2015
- Interview: Spanish Funds Support the BDS Movement and the Matisyahu Affair Jerusalem Online, August 23, 2015
- Kidnapped Israeli Teens Compel Scrutiny of Hamas's International Finances Matthew Levitt, The New Republic, June 24, 2014