Key Issue:The NGO Campaign to Exploit Children’s Rights
A number of Palestinian, Israeli, and international pro-BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) NGOs are behind a concerted effort to falsely accuse the IDF of violating the rights of Palestinian minors in order to impose sanctions against Israel. Some of these NGOs also have confirmed or reported ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization, designated as such by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.
EU and European Funded Related NGO Projects
There are additional, similar NGO projects and campaigns relating to children’s rights. Some of the NGOs are members of the UNICEF Working Group.
Save the Children Sweden and Italy
According to the EU’s Financial Transparency System, in 2010, the EU began providing project funding to Save the Children Sweden for a project with the YMCA- East Jerusalem (YMCA-EJ).
A 2014 project description utilizes the language of international law to delegitimize Israel, falsely stating that “Children are subjected to a number of violations of their rights on a daily basis, including killing, maiming, torture, discrimination, harassment, home demolitions, and arbitrary arrest and detention. Between 2000 and 2012 the Israeli military have arrested and imprisoned more than 8,000 children.” (The EU’s European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) provided €550,000 to Save the Children Sweden to support child psychological care for detainees, OPT-14/P-HR-RL/61113.)
In 2015, the EU ceased its funding to the project, and Italy stepped in providing €878,117 for three years. The reasons for the termination of funds is unknown.
In 2015, Save the Children Italy took over the project from Save the Children Sweden, and DCI-P was added as a project partner. In the project description, Save the Children Italy cites DCI-P’s unverifiable claims that “each year, an average of 700 children from West Bank aged 12-17 years old are detained and prosecuted in the Israeli Military courts. In 2013, we have witnessed very young ages of child ex-detainees. In February 2013, the youngest ex-detainee child was registered in East Jerusalem, being a 5.5 years old boy from Silwan. Moreover, in Hebron twenty-one children of 8-10 years old were detained on the same day in March 2013.” Save the Children Italy also falsely alleged that “The detention of children is often based on the suspicion of throwing stones while the existence of evidence regarding those allegations remains unclear.”
| Year | Implementer | Partners | Sum (euro) | Donor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | SC Denmark | EJ-YMCA | 500,000 | ECHO (EU) |
| 2010 | SC Sweden | EJ-YMCA | 545,000 | ECHO (EU) |
| 2011 | SC Sweden | EJ-YMCA | 500,000 | ECHO (EU) |
| 2012 | SC Sweden | EJ-YMCA | 540,000 | ECHO (EU) |
| 2013 | SC Sweden | EJ-YMCA | 600,000 | ECHO (EU) |
| 2014 | SC Sweden | EJ-YMCA | 550,000 | ECHO (EU) |
| 2015-2018 | SC Italy | EJ-YMCA & DCI | 878,117 | DGCS (Italy) |
The NRC, a UNICEF Working Group member, also receives funding for related activities from the Norwegian government. In 2017, Norway provided NRC with $109, 258 for “Protecting Education from Attacks in West Bank, specifically East Jerusalem and Area C.”Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
B’Tselem and Hamoked
In October 2017, Working Group member B’Tselem and the Israeli NGO Hamoked published a joint report, “Unprotected: The Detention of Palestinian Teenagers in East Jerusalem.” B’Tselem and Hamoked are co-beneficiaries of a two-year €200,000 grant from the EU “Youth in Detention: Preventing mistreatment of detained Palestinian minors in East Jerusalem.” The title of the project already prejudices the research findings and indicates the politicized aims of the project, the NGO implementers, and its funder. Furthermore, the publication suffers from fundamental methodological flaws, highlighting the appropriation of human rights for political objectives. See NGO Monitor’s report “Initial Analysis of B’Tselem/HaMoked Report on Children’s Detention in Jerusalem.”
