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Introduction

As detailed in NGO Monitor research, numerous Palestinian NGOs have substantial ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – designated as a terrorist organization by the EU, US, Canada, and Israel. In some instances, the NGOs were founded by the PFLP itself; in others, PFLP members serve as staff, on the boards, and in key decision making and financial roles. Ignoring these clear links, European governments and foundations continue to fund and cooperate with these NGOs, as officials deny the significance of the links with the PFLP and assert that the ties have long since lapsed.

A video uncovered by NGO Monitor researchers captures the breadth and ongoing relevance of the PFLP’s NGO network. The video shows NGO officials, including those who were subsequently arrested and indicted for orchestrating a deadly terror attack, attending a PFLP event.

On May 14, 2019, the PFLP organized a memorial in Ramallah. The hall was decorated with PFLP paraphernalia. The focus centered on PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna, who, according to information posted by the PFLP, “contributed to the establishment” of several PFLP-affiliated NGOs, including the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC), the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), and Addameer.

This video, when added to the existing evidence of links between the NGOs and the PFLP, reinforces the clear and urgent need for a detailed, independent investigation of European government funding to these organizations.

Summary of Findings

• Nine individual representatives from at least seven NGOs that receive European government funding attended this PFLP event. (See Appendices for details on funding from the EU and individual European countries.)
• At least four current and former NGO officials who attended the event were subsequently indicted on charges of being members of a PFLP terror cell. Some are currently standing trial for their direct involvement in the August 2019 murder of a 17-year-old Israeli girl.
• Four of the NGOs whose officials have been identified in the video clip are members of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), an umbrella group of 142 NGOs based in the West Bank and Gaza. NGO Monitor research shows that PNGO and a number of its officials have ties to the PFLP (see NGO Monitor’s report “PNGO’s Ties to Palestinian Terror Groups”).
  • PNGO often represents its members in negotiations with the EU and other funding frameworks. According to media reports, during a December 2019 meeting with EU officials, PNGO officials “refused to sign an EU grant request which stipulates among its criteria that beneficiaries must refuse to transfer any EU aid given to terrorist groups or entities…The organizations in question steadfastly decline to do so, claiming Palestinian terrorist groups are merely ‘political parties.’” (See NGO Monitor’s report “In a first, EU to investigate if funding went to terror linked NGOs”).

Palestinian NGO Officials Identified at the PFLP Event

Shatha Odeh

Chair of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) Board of Directors and “General Director” of Health Work Committees (HWC) – two PFLP-linked NGOs (see NGO Monitor’s reports “Health Work Committees’ Ties to the PFLP Terror Group” and “PNGO’s Ties to Palestinian Terror Groups”).

Shatah Odeh sitting in front of the PFLP banner detailing the identity of the “martyrs.” Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (17:00)

Shawan Jabarin

Director General of Al-Haq, Secretary General of FIDH, and member of the advisory board of Human Rights Watch’s MENA division.

• In 2007, the Israeli High Court referred to Jabarin as a “Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, acting some of the time as the CEO of a human rights organization, and at other times as an activist in a terror organization” (NGO Monitor’s unofficial translation of the ruling by the Israeli High Court of Justice – June 20, 2007).

Shawan Jabarin standing. Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (2:47)

Mustafa Barghouti

President of Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS).

• Barghouti was interviewed during the event and declared, “We mourn the loss of all the shahids [martyrs] that our people have lost, and that the fighter PFLP has lost. Comrade Muhanna was a brother and a dear friend, we were colleagues in struggle…he lived a life of a hero struggler. We are sure he left a mark on the political and national struggle. We share this mourning with our dear comrades in the PFLP… these shahids are the shahids of all the national movement in its entirety” (5:37, emphasis added, translation from Arabic by NGO Monitor).

Mustafa Barghouti interviewed. Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (5:39)

Khitam Saafin

President of Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC), a PFLP-affiliated NGO (see NGO Monitor’s report “The Union of Palestinian Women Committees Society’s Ties to the PFLP Terror Group”).

• In July 2017, Saafin was arrested by Israeli security forces. In a July 2017 statement, the PFLP confirmed the arrest of “a number of leaders and activists of the Front, led by the Palestinian Legislative Council member Khalida Jarrar, feminist activist Khitam Saafin and former prisoner Ihab Massoud, as well as a number of activists in al-Khalil” (emphasis added).
• The PFLP refers to Saafin as a “comrade.”

Khitam Saafin sitting on the right. Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (9:05”)

Gebril Muhamad

Senior researcher at Bisan Center for Research and Development (Bisan), an organization with reported ties to the PFLP. (See NGO Monitor research)¹

Gebril Muhamad interviewed Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (5:27”)

Sami Khader

According to the NGO, he is “MA’AN’s Director General and one of the founders of the MA’AN Development Center since its establishment in January 1989.”²

Sami Khader walking with a red shirt. Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (3:29)

Palestinian NGO Officials Who Were Subsequently Arrested and Indicted

Several NGO officials who were arrested in 2019 by Israeli security forces and indicted on charges of being part of PFLP-terror cell also attended the memorial event (see NGO Monitor’s report “Current and Former NGO Employees Arrested as Part of PFLP-Terror Cell”). These include:

Samer Arbid

Accountant and previously “financial officer” of the PFLP-affiliated NGO the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) (see NGO Monitor’s report “Union of Agricultural Work Committees Ties to the PFLP Terror Group”).

• Samer Arbid is on trial for commanding a PFLP terror cell that carried out the August 23, 2019 bombing attack, murdering a 17-year-old Israeli girl and injuring her father and brother. According to the indictment against him (on file), Arbid prepared and detonated the explosive device.

Samer Arbid sitting on the left. Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (7:23)

Walid Hanatsheh (Abu Ras)

HWC’s finance and administration manager and also listed as a PNGO board member on behalf of HWC.

• Hanatsheh is on trial for allegedly being the leader of 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.

Walid Hanatsheh (Abu Ras) sitting on the left. Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (1:10)

Abdel Razeq Farraj

UAWC “Finance and Administration Director.”

• According to his indictment (on file), Razeq Farraj held a senior PFLP post and authorized the August 2019 bombing. He is currently standing trial.

Abdel Razeq Farraj sitting on the left Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (7:24)

Khalida Jarrar

Former Vice President of the PFLP “affiliate” NGO Addameer (see NGO Monitor’s report “Addameer’s Ties to the PFLP Terrorist Group”)

• According her indictment, headed the PFLP in the West Bank since June 2016.

Khalida Jarrar sitting on the right. Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (2:47)

Appendix 1: Government Funding to MA’AN Development Center

*According to AFPS, the project was extended to 2020.

Appendix 2: Government Funding to HWC

Appendix 3: Government Funding to PNGO

Appendix 4: Government Funding to UAWC

*In 2011-2017, the EU provided €18.3 million to projects involving UAWC. For more details, read NGO Monitor’s blog post “NGO-Terror Links Case Study: EU Funding to UAWC in 2011-2017”

Appendix 5: Government Funding to UPWC

Appendix 6: Government Funding to Addameer

Appendix 7: Government Funding to PMRS

Appendix 8: Government Funding to Bisan

Appendix 9: Government Funding to Al-Haq