Canadian Government Matching Humanitarian Funds: NGO Partners with Terror Links
On October 27, the Canadian government announced it would match donations, up to $10 million, for the Humanitarian Coalition’s Gaza Humanitarian Emergency Appeal. This is part of Canada’s allocation of “$50 million in humanitarian assistance funding announced on October 21, 2023.”
The Humanitarian Coalition comprises 12 NGOs, self-described as “trusted Canadian humanitarian aid organizations.” However, NGO Monitor research shows that a number of coalition members have links to proscribed terror groups or partner locally in the West Bank and Gaza with NGOs affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
The following analysis provides information on four of these NGOs.
World Vision
- On June 15, 2016, Mohammad El-Halabi, the manager of operations for World Vision in Gaza, was arrested by Israeli authorities. He was accused of diverting approximately $50 million over ten years from World Vision’s Gaza budget to the Hamas terrorist organization, including creating humanitarian projects and fictitious agricultural associations to act as a cover for the hijacking of monies and materials for Hamas.
- On June 15, 2022, the Be’er Sheva District Court convicted El-Halabi of contact with a foreign agent, membership in a terror organization, illegal use of property for terror purposes, possession of weapons and ammunition, illegal military training, and providing information to the enemy while employed by the NGO World Vision. (For additional details, see NGO Monitor’s analysis: “Verdict in case of Mohammad El-Halabi/World Vision Diversion of Funds to Hamas.”)
- Although the Humanitarian Coalition is marketing its appeal as the “Gaza Humanitarian Emergency,” World Vision has not been active in Gaza since El-Halabi’s arrest.
Islamic Relief Canada
- Islamic Relief Canada is an “affiliate” of Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW).
- On June 19, 2014, Israel’s Defense Minister declared IRW to be illegal, based on its alleged role in funneling money to Hamas, and banned it from operating in Israel and the West Bank. According to news reports, the decision was made after “the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the coordinator for government activities in the territories, and legal authorities provided incriminating information against IRW.”
- In January 2021, the US State Department cut ties with IRW due to “anti-Semitism exhibited repeatedly by IRW’s leadership.”
- Islamic Relief Canada states that it works “alongside the Ministry of Health” in Gaza. This is a Hamas entity.
- Islamic Relief Canada claims that “oversight, monitoring and quality control is conducted by an Islamic Relief team that is on the ground in Gaza.”
- Since 2006, Islamic Relief Palestine (IRPAL) has cooperated with the Al-Falah Society. According to the Meir Amit Institute, the Al-Falah Society Charitable is one of “Hamas’s charitable societies.” Al-Falah is run by Ramadan Tanboura – according to Haaretz, a “well-known Hamas figure.” According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Hamas held a reception for Tanboura “on his return from an eight-month fund-raising trip to the Gulf States. Senior Hamas figures also participated.”
- IRPAL partners with the Gaza Zakat Committee (GZC), also known as the Islamic Zakat Society (IZS). IZS works closely with the Hamas government and is managed by Hamas preacher Hazem Al-Sirraj. According to Dr. Emanuel Schaeublin, a lecturer at the University of Zurich, GZC has ties to Fatah, the PFLP, and Hamas. Islamic Relief UK and Islamic Relief Canada are both named by IZS as its patrons.
- In 2006, IRW Gaza coordinator Iyaz Ali, a Pakistani-born British national, was arrested and charged with transferring funds and assistance to “Hamas institutions and organizations, including the Al Wafa and Al Tzalah associations, which have been outlawed in Israel. He also admitted that he worked in Jordan and cooperated with local Hamas operatives.”
Save the Children
- On May 18, 2018, Save the Children co-sponsored a workshop at the Dar al Huda kindergarten in Gaza, “Training of Teachers on Positive Discipline in Everyday Teaching.”
- On May 26, 2018, the Dar al Huda kindergarten in Gaza held a graduation ceremony that included the mock killing and kidnapping of Israelis by children dressed as combatants. The simulation included sophisticated equipment such as drones, body cameras, military fatigues, body armor, and sniper camouflage. Children wore headbands representing the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group.
- According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Dar al Huda held similarly exploitative military-style events in 2017 and 2016.
CARE
- CARE has provided funding to the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Health Work Committees (HWC), and Abdel Shafi Community Health Association (ACHA). All three of these NGOs have ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). For more information, see the following NGO Monitor reports:
