Trouble for Anti-Israel Conference
Click here to read the original article in German.
EXCERPTS (translated from the original German)
On July 7, “Bread for the World”, “Misereor” and the Human Rights Centre of the University of Potsdam in Berlin will hold a conference on the “Wall” between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
“This is a conference for anti-Israel activists,” writes Prof. Gerald Steinberg, President of NGO Monitor, an organization that examines the cash flow to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as “Bread for the World” and “Misereor”. The policy expert of Bar-Ilan University told BILD: “The people who speak there are almost all apponents of Israel, but no real experts.”
On Thursday, Steinberg will be in Berlin where he will present NGO Monitor research. For twelve years, his organization has been investigating the flow of money to international organizations. He has found that the Federal government is funding anti-israel activists, who seek to disrupt the peace process in the Middle East.
Steinberg told BILD: “Most NGOs work very secretly, even the large ones. They do not disclose who their partners or how decisions have been made. In most cases, politicians and the general public are not interested in this and simply provide money. They are not aware that this money is being used for anti-Israeli propaganda.”
Steinberg: “In the last 10 or 15 years, NGOs have become very anti-Western and anti-capitalist. Because Israel is an easy target, the Palestinians are easily labeled as victims… they condemn Israel… without taking the other side into account.”
“We finally need a reasonable and public discussion, in which the government clarifies its policy of how money is allocated… The public has the right to know where the money is being dispersed and what it is being used for.”
In no other country is the discrepancy between what the government says and what the NGOs do as great as in Germany, says Steinberg.