Coalition of Women for Peace
Introduction
In December 2020, Coalition of Women for Peace announced it was shutting down.
Profile
Country/Territory | Israel |
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Website | https://coalitionofwomen.org/ |
Founded | 2000 |
In their own words | "a feminist organization against the occupation of Palestine and for a just peace" |
Funding
- In 2018, total income was NIS 687,912; total expenses were NIS 649,331.
- Website lists donors as American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Bread for the World (Germany), Kurve Wustrow, Kvinna Till Kvinna (Sweden), the Global Fund for Women, and Alliance for Global Justice.
- Past donors include: Switzerland, European Commission, Oxfam Novib (Netherlands), the United Church of Canada, ICCO (Netherlands), Diakonia (Sweden), Medico International (Germany), The United Church of Canada, SIVMO (Netherlands), Broederlijk Delen (Belgium), Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Foundation (EMHRF), Norwegian Church Aid, and Rosa Luxemberg Foundation (Germany).
- Based on information submitted to the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits, in accordance with the Israeli NGO transparency law, Coalition of Women for Peace received NIS 6,468,300 from foreign governmental bodies between the years 2012-2019 (see chart below for detailed funding information).
- Since 2013, CWP is partner on a project funded by the German government, “Strengthening non-violent initiatives” aimed at “help[ing] to turn individual initiatives into a movement …[through] media, publicity, and campaign work.” In 2013-2017, CWP has received NIS 1.5 million for this project. The project has been renewed for 2017-2019. (See below for further information.)
- In 2013, CWP, nova, and the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC) received a joint grant of €355,130 from the EU’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) for a project titled “Addressing fear: strengthening the nonviolent alternative.”
- Following NGO Monitor publications and communication with the EU regarding violence at PSCC demonstrations, the subsequent PfP Call for Proposals of 2014 warned that “All actions should assess whether they may directly or indirectly lead to violence, even if they have been established for non-violent purposes” (emphasis added).
- Funding to CWP and the PSCC was discontinued in the consecutive funding cycle.
- In 2008-2011, the New Israel Fund (NIF) authorized grants worth $48,957 to CWP (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011). On May 15, 2011, NIF issued a statement declaring that “CWP is no longer on the list of approved donor-advised organizations” and that “We have asked CWP to remove our name and funding direction from their website.”
Activities
- CWP is a leader in international BDS campaigns against Israel, including through initiating the “Who Profits from the Occupation” project.
- Promotes the allegation of Israeli water discrimination against Palestinians. The group claims that the shortage of water in the West Bank is “a result of Israel’s policy since 1967, which includes dispossession of water reservoirs in the occupied territories.” NGO Monitor research has determined that CWP’s claims are based on false information and are part of a larger demonization campaign against Israel.
- CWP officials have been photographed holding a flag of the PFLP terrorist organization. (Following publication by NGO Monitor, this image was removed from CWP’s Facebook page.)
- CWP operates a project with American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) called “Hamushim” (“Armed”) that “works to expose the true human price of the Israeli military industry and arms trade, as well as to mobilize actions against it.” The organization’s activists accuse Israel of selling weapons to dictatorships and countries that suppress human rights in exchange for their sympathetic votes in the UN mechanisms.
- On November 13, 2017, Hamushim held an event titled “The Israeli Arms Empire” which discussed how “In the past 50 years, Israeli weapons have been handed over to almost all perpetrators of crimes against humanity, civil wars and genocide” as well as the “Israeli connection to the suppression of protests by Black Lives Matter in Ferguson, USA.”
- In 2018, CWP campaigned for the release of Khalida Jarrar, a senior Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) official and Addameer’s former vice-chairperson. On April 15, 2015 she was indicted for various offenses including active membership in a terrorist organization (the PFLP) and inciting violence through a call to kidnap Israeli soldiers to be used as “bargaining chips for the release of Palestinian prisoners.” According to Addameer, Jarrar was re-arrested in July 2017 for six months. In December 2017, the detention was extended by another six months to July 2018.
- CWP was listed as an “Endorser” of a September 2016 “Women’s Boat to Gaza.” In October 2016, following the arrest of those onboard, CWP published a statement expressing support and stating that “although we hoped you would be able to reach the Gaza coast and break the siege, your actions helped bring the Gaza blockade to public discourse….We support the non-violent struggle to end the occupation and the besieged Gaza Strip, and we support international solidarity, including the flotilla to Gaza.”
- Following the May 2010 Freedom Flotilla’s violent confrontation with the Israeli navy, CWP stated that it “stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine and with heroic members of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.”
- As part of a German-funded project (see above), CWP is leading a campaign on “non-violent resistance.” CWP’s campaign summary (February 2016) appears to blur the line between violence and non-violence (all translations from the original Hebrew by NGO Monitor):
- CWP claims “there are numerous discussions and debates as to the boundaries of non-violent resistance,” and asks “when is vandalizing property a legitimate part of a struggle and what property exactly… and of course, the ongoing discussion of the question whether throwing stones at an oppressing force is part of non-violent resistance?” (emphasis added).
- CWP further asserts that “in many examples from which one can learn about non-violent resistance, some of the movements in the struggle also included violent groups or actions. A classic example is the struggle against apartheid in South Africa that was renown world-wide for the effect of the boycott and conducting a non-violent struggle, but in fact including much violence of different groups in the struggle.”
- Questioning whether non-violence is the only legitimate form of protest, CWP introduces “criticism of concepts of non-violent struggle.” Examples include “the criticism of Malcolm X towards the approach identified with Martin Luther King,” and contemporary “demonstrations and the formation of protest movements around the world and of course in the struggle against the occupation.”As part of a German-funded project (see above), CWP is leading a campaign on “non-violent resistance.”
- Promotes and has organized “Israeli Apartheid Week” activities and events.
- Utilizes politicized language including referring to the security barrier as “The Apartheid Wall;” stating that it “is committed to the struggle to end the occupation” and claims “to act for peace, justice, and equality in the Israeli Society”; and joining “Zochrot” and “New profile” in recognition of “The 59th Anniversary of the Naqba” on Israel’s Independence Day.
- In 2009, CWP brought the controversial play “Seven Jewish Children – A Play for Gaza” to Israel as part of its “10 days against the siege” campaign.
BDS
- At CWP’s 2009 general meeting, the organization passed a resolution to support the Palestinian call for BDS.
- Initiated the “Who Profits” campaign “in response to the Palestinian Call for boycott, divestment, and sanction (BDS) on Israel.” “Who Profits?” is an activist tool and a database that identifies targets for anti-Israel divestment and boycotts.
- In January 2014, the “Who Profits” campaign announced that “[due to] its increasing professionalization as a research center, the project separated from CWP and became an independent organization”. According to the Israeli registrar of non-profits, “Who Profits” was founded in 2013, with the objective of “conducting research on social and economic issues in Israel and the region.” As of the date of this publication (March 4, 2014), the campaign’s sources of funding are unknown, yet the two organizations continue to “collaborate as sister organizations.”
- CWP is involved in campaigns against major Israeli banks, the Elbit and G4S security companies, Ahava cosmetics, and Agrexco produce; in support of the Berkeley divestment vote; and a successful divestment initiative with the Norwegian Government Pension Fund.
- In March 2017, CWP signed a letter that the “EU Must Act to Prevent the Further Closing of Civil Society Space in Israel” and “Refrain from any form of upgrade or enhancement of EU-Israel relations in the current context and ensure that respect for human rights and democracy remains a central component in the elaboration of the EU-Israel Partnership Priorities.”
- In July 2015, on the occasion of “ten years to the Palestinian call for BDS,” CWP released a statement supporting the “legitimate struggle to put an end to the Israeli occupation and ongoing oppression” and “the call for cultural and economic boycott, divestment and international sanctions to increase pressure on Israel from the international community” in order to “defend the legitimacy of positions critical of the Israeli government policies of brutal occupation and apartheid.”
- CWP and “Who Profits” co-authored a document “Knowing the Occupation Economy” (2015), which stresses: “As long as Israeli and international corporations will continue to profit from the occupation, their interest in preserving it will grow. However, corporate involvement in the occupation opens up new channels for civil society to influence the situation. This information packet is part of a concerted effort by Coalition of Women for Peace and Who Profits to discover and expose these dangerous interests. The next step will be to divert the focus of all NGOs working against the occupation to the trade dimension inherent in the oppression we fight against, and demand corporate responsibility.”
- In March 2013, CWP repeated a call for action by the Palestinian Global BDS Day of Action against Israeli institutions and corporations.
- Together with Israel Social TV, Machsom Watch, Mossawa, Women against Violence, ICAHD, Zochrot and AIC, CWP wrote to the Norwegian Government Pension Fund and called “upon the Norwegian people to join us in our efforts and to stop investing in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.” This letter accused a number of Israeli and international corporations of “provid[ing] specifically designed equipment for the surveillance and repression of Palestinian population through restrictions of movement and collective punishments.”
Lawfare
- Lobbied the British government in December 2009 to “Enable Prosecution of Israeli War Criminals.” CWP also sent a Hebrew translation of the UN Goldstone “Fact-finding” Report to (former Foreign Minister) Tzipi Livni, stating: “We are convinced that if you refer to the report you will understand why British citizens and organizations have turned to the courts with a request to issue a warrant for your arrest… We call on you to cooperate with any international investigation that may be opened against you and to counsel your colleagues in the Government and military to do the same.”
Partners
As of 2009, Coalition of Women for Peace (CWP) has ten members, including New Profile, Bat Shalom, Machsom Watch and Women in Black, and provides an additional platform by which these NGOs promote their campaigns.
Funding Chart
Partial list of foreign donations based on reports to Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits (amounts in NIS)
Donor | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kurve Wustrow (Germany) | 8,797 | 223,352 | 173,237 | 156,396 | 563,303 | |
Bread for the World (Germany) | 128,346 | 125,454 | 120,675 | 93,957 | ||
United Church of Canada | 13,671 | 23,316 | ||||
Oxfam-Novib(Netherlands) | 20,959 | 189,034 | 361,617 | |||
NOVACT/ Nova Centre (Spain) | 161,258 | |||||
Kvinna till Kvinna (Sweden) | 106,684 | 104,284 | 109,872 | |||
European Union | 152,082 | |||||
HEKS-EPER | 43,247 | 217,393 | ||||
Mennonite Central Committee | 35,813 | |||||
American Friends Service Committee | 73,894 |