Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat (the "Secretariat")

Activities

• Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands jointly fund Israeli and Palestinian NGOs through the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat (the “Secretariat”). The donor countries are responsible for “deciding on the general framework and policy for the HR/IHL Secretariat; approving operational manuals and standard forms for the Secretariat; approving annual work plans and budget for the Secretariat; approving funding as proposed by the Secretariat; deciding to open Calls for Proposals for project support; approving annual narrative reports and audited financial statements by the Secretariat; and the Steering Committee commissions the mid-term review or any other external evaluation of the programme.” The funds are managed by the Institute of Law at Birzeit University (IoL-BZU) and a European multidisciplinary consulting company, NIRAS. Until 2014, the NGO Development Center (NDC) in Ramallah managed these pooled government finances through its Human Rights/Good Governance (HR/GG) program. (See NGO Monitor’s reports on the previous counterproductive funding via the NDC here and here.)
• According to the Secretariat’s website, the “overall objective of the programme”  is to “contribute to the effective realization of adherence to human rights and international humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and to influence the behavior of the relevant duty bearers, including Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the governing bodies/ authorities in Gaza.”
• Works “with and supports Palestinian and Israeli human rights (RH) civil society organizations (CSOs) active in the oPt, within the general parameters and context of ending the Israeli occupation of the oPt, and establishing an independent, democratic Palestinian state in which human rights are respected.”
• Funding: Grants budget of approximately $13 million for 2013-2016.
• The Secretariat provides “core-funding” grants to select prequalified organizations. “Core funding” grants, with limited restrictions, support the general budgets of organizations and their full agendas. In March 2014, the Secretariat announced $10.5 million in “core funding” grants, over three years, for 24 highly politicized Israeli and Palestinian NGOs active in the Arab Israeli conflict. (See table below for complete list). Also provides “project funding” grants.
• Political Activity: Funds highly politicized NGOs that engage in legal warfare against Israeli officials and companies that do business with Israel, promote BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) campaigns, advance a “1948 agenda,” exploit the false “apartheid” analogy to demonize Israel and even promote antisemitic propaganda.
• On August 2, 2014, announced “emergency funding” to nine non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for use in documenting “large scale violations of human rights and international humanitarian law – the majority against Palestinian civilians and civilian objects” in Gaza. With this additional funding, the Secretariat is supporting “current and future documentation and investigation efforts by CSOs [civil society organizations] for the purposes of assisting and supporting national and international mechanisms” such as the UN Human Rights Council’s investigation and the campaign to open cases against Israelis in the ICC.
• At the March 2014 Launch Event, Secretariat Manager Mustafa Mari “…highlight[ed] the difficulties faced by the Palestinian people and the need for supporting the human rights and international humanitarian law CSO sector, while reminding the audience of the apartheid-like realities that duty-bearers must address” (emphasis added).
• Troubling partnership with IoL-BZU. In February 2014, IoL-BZU published a 15-page report, “Advocating for Palestinian Rights in conformity with International Law: Guidelines” (English and Arabic). This document is a strategic manual for exploiting legal terms and rhetoric to demonize and isolate Israel internationally (“lawfare”), as well as to emphasize that Israel regardless of its borders is among “racist regimes which are absolutely prohibited in their entirety.” This report was posted prominently on the Human Rights Secretariat Facebook page.
• At the conference on which this report is based, Secretariat Manager Mustafa Mari, of IoL-BZU, chaired a session where participants discussed Israel’s “colonial policy that dated back at least to the 1930s” and the “need for new legal frameworks which make the occupation illegal, criminalize Israeli practices, and support unification of Palestine and Palestinians.” Mari previously worked at Al Haq, a leader in legal warfare against Israel and a Secretariat funding recipient.

NGOs funded by Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands through the Secretariat include:

• BADIL – Founded to promote a Palestinian “right of return” and a leader of international BDS campaigns. BADIL holds annual “right of return contests” and has published antisemitic cartoons on its website, as well as imagery promoting a one-state agenda and denying Israel’s right to exist. A cartoon that won a monetary prize for 2nd prize in BADIL’s 2010 Al-Awda Nakba caricature competition is a blatant representation of classic antisemitic tropes, including a Jewish man, garbed in traditional Hasidic attire, with a hooked nose and side locks. He stands above a dead child and skulls, holding a pitchfork dripping with blood. After the antisemitic cartoons were publicly revealed by NGO Monitor, Switzerland froze Secretariat funding for this NGO. There is no public documentation that an in-depth investigation was conducted regarding the explicitly antisemitic imagery or that controls were established to prevent a further occurrence. Indeed much of the offensive imagery remains on BADIL’s website.
• Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), a leader in the anti-Israel “lawfare” movement, has tried to have Israelis arrested in England, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, and New Zealand. The group has filed for punitive damages against Israeli officials and companies doing business with Israel in the US. All of PCHR’s cases have been dismissed in the preliminary stages. PCHR regularly describes Israel’s policies as “apartheid” and accuses Israel of “ethnic cleansing,” “war crimes,” and the “Judaization of Jerusalem.”
• Al Haq – also a leader in the anti-Israel BDS and “lawfare” campaigns and has proposed sabotaging the Israeli court system by “flooding the [Israeli Supreme] Court with petitions in the hope of obstructing its functioning and resources.” The Israeli Supreme Court has identified Al Haq’s general director Shawan Jabarin as “among the senior activists of the Popular Front terrorist organization.” The PFLP is a designated terrorist organization by the EU, but there is no record indicating that due diligence was conducted by donor countries to ensure that Secretariat funding is not diverted in violation of domestic and international terror financing laws.
• Stop the Wall– Also a leader of the international BDS campaign that received a grant for an overtly political project “To contribute to a situation of accountability and respect for human rights by all duty bearers by creating mechanisms to implement ICJ decisions related to the separation Wall.” Stop the Wall claims that “The Wall is an integral part of the Zionist project to remove Palestinians from Palestine,” and considers “The Wall to be an integral part of the racist ambitions of Zionism” and “Israel’s occupation, colonialism and apartheid” policies.

Secretariat Core Funding Recipients (2014-2016)

Project Funding Recipients