[Opinion] Who Is Funding Iran’s Western Cheerleaders?
[Excerpts]
In its fight for survival, Israel is not only facing Islamist extremists in the Middle East but also an army of hostile Western NGOs, many funded by European governments. Following the standard pattern for the past 25 years, the network of influential political advocacy NGOs claiming to promote human rights and other moral agendas has launched a propaganda campaign against Israel’s defensive strikes to prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons. Their unified message condemns Israel and calls on governments and the UN to pressure and sanction Israel. With a few notable exceptions, tens of such organizations have produced a chorus of allegations based on invented evidence while massively distorting the language of morality and international law.
In contrast to the relatively supportive statements from many European leaders who highlight Israel’s right to self-defense and the danger of a nuclear Iran (alongside the usual slogans of restraint and peaceful solutions), the NGOs they fund under the labels of civil society and human rights continue with their propaganda campaigns.
For example, on June 13, in the first hours following the initial Israeli strike, Ellie Geranmayeh, deputy director of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), posted a blatant propaganda statement asserting:
Israel initiated and designed this attack to up the ante against Tehran—and drag the wider region into confrontation. Such aggression is a threat to regional peace and security, derailing hopes of a diplomatic pathway to resolve Iran’s nuclear crisis and risking a deep regional war, both of which directly threaten core European interests.