NGO Officials Running for Palestinian Parliament on the PFLP Terrorist Organization’s Electoral Slate
Introduction
The Palestinian Legislative Elections are scheduled for May 22, 2021; if they are held, it will be for the first time in 15 years.
The Central Elections Committee has certified 36 electoral lists (parties), including those representing Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – both designated by the US and the EU as terror organizations.
According to NGO Monitor’s analysis, at least eleven candidates on the PFLP list – known as “The People’s Pulse” – are also current and former officials of Palestinian NGOs that receive funding from the EU and European governments.
Five of them have been or are currently under arrest for their alleged involvement in terror activity, including the murder of an Israeli 17-year-old in an August 2019 bombing attack.
The fact that the PFLP has selected these individuals as its representatives is further proof of their strong affiliations with the terror group. In light of this evidence, foreign governments should cease funding to the NGOs with which they are affiliated.
NGO Involvement of PFLP Candidates Arrested by Israel
Seat 20:
Walid Hanatsheh (Abu Ras), Health Work Committees (HWC)’s finance and administration manager and a board member at Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) on behalf of HWC. Hanatsheh is on trial for allegedly leading PFLP “military” operations and commanding the PFLP terror cell that carried out the August 2019 bombing attack. According to the indictment against him, Hanatsheh bankrolled the bombing.
Following his arrest, the PFLP labeled Hanatsheh a “leader in the Popular Front.”
For more information on HWC’s and PNGO’s ties to the PFLP and their funding, see Appendices I and II).
Seat 25:
Ashraf Abu Aram. At the time of his November 2019 arrest, PNGO described him as its “human rights defender and advocacy officer.” According to the NGO, he “was transferred under ‘administrative detention for four months.’”
- A 2012 report in Haaretz identified Abu Aram as a PFLP member who was arrested for “allegedly planning to kidnap an IDF soldier in order to bring about the release of PFLP leader Ahmed Sa’adat from an Israeli jail.” According to the Israel Security Agency (Shabak), “Abu Aram already contacted a local weapons dealer in an effort to obtain two pistols and an automatic rifle with which to carry out the planned abduction.”
Seat 2:
Khalida Jarrar, Addameer’s vice-chair until 2017.1 Jarrar was arrested on October 31, 2019 on suspicions of “involvement in terror activity.”
According to the indictment against her, Jarrar headed PFLP activities in the West Bank, and Israeli security officials revealed that Jarrar has “emerged as the head of the PFLP in the West Bank and responsible for all the organization’s activities” (emphasis added).
In March 2021, Jarrar was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison following “her own confession, of the offense of holding office in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine from 2016 until her arrest in 2019.”
For more information on Addameer’s ties to the PFLP and its funding, see Appendix III.
Seat 4:
Naser Abu Khdair, Addameer board member.2
- According to a January 2018 article published by Samidoun, “Abu Khdeir is a prominent leader in Jerusalem and has spent 15 years in Israeli prison. Most recently, he served five and a half years in Israeli prison for membership in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”
- According to Arabic language media, Abu Khudair was badly injured in the early 80s while assembling an explosive device, which he planned to detonate near a “bus stop for soldiers in Jerusalem.”
- As reported on the Arab48 website, the Shin Bet arrested Abu Khadair in 2011 for heading a terror cell that planned to commit terrorist attacks and kidnap a soldier. Arab48 adds that he liaised with PFLP leadership in Damascus and met with PFLP officials in Jordan in order to receive training and funds.
- For more information on Abu Khdair’s terror ties, see NGO Monitor’s report “Addameer’s Ties to the PFLP Terrorist Group.”
Seat 65:
Bashir Al-Kahiri, former board of trustees president at UAWC and an Addameer board member.3 He “was convicted of terrorist offences in 1969 and gaoled for 15 years.”
- Al-Khairi was arrested in 2010 by the IDF along with other PFLP members. An Arab media news articlerefers to Al-Khairi as being a member of the PFLP’s National Council.
- In statements in 2012 and 2014, the PFLP referred to Al-Khairias an “historic leader,” a “comrade,” and a “leader.”
- An August 27, 2002 CNN article identifies Khairi as “head of the PFLP political bureau.”
For more information on UAWC’s ties to the PFLP and its funding, see Appendix IV.
Other officials from PFLP-linked NGOs
Seat 61:
Abdul-Latif Ghaith, Addameer’s former chairperson.4 Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri banned him from traveling abroad in both February 2019 and February 2017. According to the Interior Ministry, Deri “was convinced that Abdul-Latif, an activist in the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] organization and a person who has connections to the organization’s activists abroad, will utilize his travel abroad for the organizational purposes of the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine].”
Seat 5:
Ilham Jarghoun, Al-Dameer’s vice chairman of the board.
- (For more information on Al-Dameer’s ties to the PFLP and its funding, see Appendix IV).
Seat 12:
Maher Al-Attar, Al-Dameer’s chairman of the board5 and Head of the PFLP’s Democratic Association of Lawyers and Jurists6 as of November 2020.7
Seat 19:
Mousa Ayyad, Al-Dameer’s board secretary (as of March 2021)8 and the Head of the PFLP’s Progressive Scouts Groups (as of August 2020)9.
Seat 9:
Bakr Abu Safiya, board member at Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip.
- In February 2020, the PFLP referred to him as “a member of the Central Committee.”
- For more information on Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip’s ties to the PFLP and its funding, see Appendix VI.
Seat 6:
Shireen Bandak-Mauge, Secretary of the Board at QADER for Community Development.
- For more information on QADER for Community Development’s funding, see Appendix VII.
Appendix I: HWC’s ties to the PFLP and Funding
- On June 9, 2015, the Israel defense minister announced that the Jerusalem branch of the Health Work Committee is an unlawful association, designated as a terrorist organization by the Israel High Court of Justice (HCJ 3923/15; emphasis added).
- Numerous HWC staff members, founders, board members, general assembly members, and senior staff members have ties to the PFLP terror group. For more information on HWC’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Health Work Committees’ Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
Government | Funder | Amount | Year(s) | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
European Union | European Neighborhood Instrument (ENI) | €699,236 | 2017-2019 | Implemented by 5 Palestinian NGO partners |
Belgium | Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (DGD) | €955,976 | 2017-2021 | Via Viva Salud; Implemented by at least one more Palestinian partner |
Sweden | Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) | $3.7 million | 2017-2020 | |
Individuell Människohjälp | SEK 743,948 | 2017 | ||
SEK 883,179 | 2016 | |||
Spain | Basque Agency for Development Cooperation (AVCD) | €800,764 | 2015-2018 | Via Mundubat; Implemented by 5 Palestinian NGO partners as part of the Kanan project |
AVCD | €200,000 | 2016-2018 | Via SODePAZ | |
Provincial council of Gipuzkoa | €40,000 | 2019-2020 | Via SODePAZ | |
Municipality of San Sebastián | €11,630 | 2018 | Via SODePAZ | |
Municipality of Málaga | €7,750 | 2017 | Via Al Quds Association | |
€13,420 | 2016 | Via Al Quds Association | ||
UN OCHA | occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund | €305,054 | 2020 | |
€109,756 | 2017 |
Appendix II: PNGO’s ties to the PFLP and Funding
- PNGO is an umbrella framework with 142 NGO members based in Gaza and the West Bank, which has also ties to the PFLP (see NGO Monitor’s report, “PNGO’s Ties to Palestinian Terror Groups”).
- According to media reports, during a December 2019 meeting with EU officials, the PNGO led rejection of the EU’s Anti-terror Funding Requirement (Article 1.5 bis of “ANNEX II General conditions applicable to European Union-financed grant contracts for external actions”). In January 2020, PNGO’s head of the board, Shatha Odeh, who also serves as the head of the Health Work Committees (see below), stated, “We disagree with the European Union on the list… which includes seven political organizations and classifies them as “terrorists”. For us, they are national liberation movements.”
Government | Funder | Amount | Year(s) | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
European Union | European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and ENI | €261,914 | 2017-2020 | Implemented by 2 Palestinian NGO partners |
EIDHR | €446,482 | 2016-2019 | Implemented by PNGO and Al-Dameer | |
Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI | €1.2 million | 2017-unknown | Implemented by 4 Palestinian NGO partners | |
Norway | Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) | NOK 52.5 million | 2016-2019 | Implemented by 11 Palestinian NGO partners |
Germany | German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) | N/A | 2011-2016 | Project title: “Strengthening Civil Society in the Palestinian Territories.” |
Appendix III: Addameer’s ties to the PFLP and Funding
- Addameer is a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) “affiliate.”
- Numerous Addameer staff members, founders, board members, general assembly members, and senior staff members have ties to the PFLP terror group. For more information on Addameer’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Addameer’s Ties to the PFLP Terrorist Group.”
Government | Funder | Amount | Year(s) | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Germany | Heinrich Böll Foundation | N/A | 2016 | |
Ireland | Irish Aid | €80,625 | 2019 | |
€75,000 | 2018 | |||
€75,000 | 2017 | |||
€75,000 | 2016 | |||
Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands | Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (HIHL) Secretariat | $498,700 | 2014-2017 | |
Switzerland | Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation | CHF 167,410 | 2017-2019 | |
Norway | Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs | NOK 1,800,000 | 2015-2016 | |
Spain | Basque Agency for Development Cooperation (AVCD | €799,362 | 2019-2021 | Via Mundubat; Implemented by 4 Palestinian NGO partners |
€180,000 | 2017-2019 | |||
€199,988 | 2015-2019 | |||
Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa | €81,248 | 2016-2018 | Via SODePAZ | |
Municipality of Barcelone | €162,712 | 2017 | ||
€57,436 | 2016 | |||
Autonomous community of Navarre | €158,486 | 2019 | Via SODePAZ | |
€153,486 | 2018 | |||
€153,486 | 2017 | |||
Municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz | €68,332 | 2016-2017 | Via Nazioarteko Elkartasuna - Solidaridad Internacional | |
€56,999 | 2018-2019 | |||
Municipality of Rivas-Vaciamadrid | €22,630 | 2016 | ||
€50,000 | 2019-2021 | |||
Municipality of San Sebastián | €50,000 | 2018-2020 | Via SODePAZ | |
€66,489 | 2016-2018 | |||
€69,429 | 2015-2017 | |||
UN | UNICEF | $205,028 | 2016 | Implemented by 5 NGO partners |
$114,144 | 2017 |
Appendix IV: UAWC’s ties to the PFLP and Funding
- UAWC is identified by Fatah as an official PFLP “affiliate,” and by USAID as the “agricultural arm” of the PFLP. In 2019, two of UAWC’s senior employees responsible for financial matters (Samer Arbid and Abdel Razeq Farraj)10 were arrested by Israel. They are currently standing trial for being part of a PFLP terror celland the August 2019 murder of 17-year old Rena Shnerb.
- Numerous UAWC staff members, founders, board members, general assembly members, and senior staff members have ties to the PFLP terror group. For more information on UAWC’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Union of Agricultural Work Committees Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
Government | Funder | Amount | Year(s) | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Netherlands | Representative Office in Ramallah | $11.3 million | 2017-2021 | |
Spain | Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) | €400,000 | 2019-2021 | |
Norway | Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) | NOK 52.5 million | 2016-2019 | Implemented by 11 Palestinian NGO partners |
European Union | European Solidarity Corps | €15,378 | 2020-2022 | Implemented by 2 NGOs |
€19,168 | 2019-2021 | Implemented by 2 NGOs | ||
European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) | €3 million | 2015-2017 | ||
Belgium | Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (DGD) | €286,002 | 2017-2018 | Via Oxfam Solidarité |
Germany | Medico International | N/A | 2018 | |
MFA | N/A | 2018 | ||
Italy | Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) | €994,415 | 2018-2020 | Via Organizzazione Per Lo Sviluppo Globale Di Comunita’ In Paesi Extraeuropei Onlus (Overseas); Implemented by 3 Palestinian NGO partners |
€847,701 | 2018-2021 | Via Associazione Di Cooperazione E Solidarieta (ACS); Implemented by 3 Palestinian NGO partners | ||
France | Agence Française de Développement | €232,000 | 2018-2020 | Via Experts-Solidaires |
The Rhone Mediterranean Corsica Water Agency | €203,440 | |||
Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) | N/A | |||
UN OCHA | occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund | $356,117 | 2019 | |
$400,000 | 2018 | via OXFAM Netherlands (NOVIB) | ||
$248,941 | 2017 | |||
$230,585 | 2017 |
Appendix V: Al-Dameer’s ties to the PFLP and Funding
- Al-Dameer was established in cooperation with the PFLP “affiliate”
- Numerous Al-Dameer staff members, founders, board members, general assembly members, and senior staff members have ties to the PFLP terror group. For more information on Al-Dameer’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Al-Dameer’s Ties to the PFLP Terrorist Group.”
Government | Amount | Year(s) |
---|---|---|
European Union (EIDHR) | €446,482 | 2016-2019 |
Secretariat | $366,700 | 2014-2017 |
Switzerland | CHF 77,221 | 2017-2019 |
United States (National Endowment for Democracy) | $30,000 | 2018 |
Appendix VI: Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip’s ties to the PFLP and Funding
- PFLP organizes events in the RCS4GS hall. For example, In February 2019, RCS4GS hosted a memorial service organized by the PFLP for Maher Yamani, a PFLP “founder” and a “member of the Central Committee and one of its most prominent military commanders.” Yamani “coordinated special operations…in particular the operation against an aircraft of the Israeli company El Al in July 1968 in Greece.” “Fighters” of the PFLP’s Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades and “civil society representatives” attended the event (see photos below).
![](https://www.ngo-monitor.org/nm/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Yamani-288x193.png)
Source: PFLP website
- Several RCS4GS board members have served as members of the PFLP Central Committee and as board members of other PFLP-linked NGOs.
Government | Funder | Amount | Year(s) |
---|---|---|---|
European Union | EIDHR | €648,000 | 2020-2023 |
Appendix VII: Funding to QADER for Community Development
- In 2019, QADER for Community Development’s total income was NIS 1.46 million; total expenses were NIS 1.43 million.
QADER for Community Development’s 2019 donors and partners included German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), UN Women Trust Fund, Caritas Germany, Global Affairs Canada, Catholic Relief Services, and Save the Children.
Footnotes
- According to Addameer’s website.
- According to Addameer’s website (November 2020).
- According to Addameer’s website (December 2019).
- According to a November 6, 2019 Addameer article
- According to Al-Dameer’s website (March 2021).
- According to the PFLP, DALJ is the “Front’s [lawyers’] union framework,” a PFLP subsidiary that regularly collaborates with the PFLP and participates in the latter’s rallies, celebrations and official meetings. Furthermore, DALJ regularly praises PFLP members and disseminates its official content.
- According to Democratic Association of Lawyers and Jurists’s Facebook account (November 2020).
- According to Al-Dameer’s website (March 2021).
- According to Progressive Scouts Groups’s Facebook account (August 2020).
- Samer Arbid, UAWC’s financial director, is on trial for commanding a PFLP terror cell that carried out the August 2019 bombing. According to the indictment against him, Arbid prepared and detonated the explosive device. On August 30, 2020, the PFLP itself issued a press release confirming that Arbid is a PFLP “commander and one of the heroes of the heroic Ein Bubin operation,” that is the August 2019 attack. Abdel Razeq Farraj, UAWC’s “Finance and Administration Director,” is also currently standing trial. According to his indictment, Razeq Farraj held a senior PFLP post and authorized the August 2019 bombing.