eu partnership for peace programme: throwing money away on palestinian ngos

7/27/2019 EU Partnership for Peace Programme: Throwing Money Away on Palestinian NGOs

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EU Partnership for Peace Programme:

Throwing Money Away on Palestinian

NGOs


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Copyright 2013 ASHREI-ME. All rights reserved.


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EU Partnership for Peace Programme:

Throwing Money Away on Palestinian NGOs

October 2013

ASHREI-ME is an independent organizaon

that supports human rights for people in the

Middle East who are all but ignored by the

media, by tradional NGOs and by the

internaonal community.

ashrei-me.org


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Throwing money away on Palestinian NGOs

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EU Partnership for Peace Programme

and Palesnian NGOs

The EU Partnership for Peace Programmedescribes its goals this way:The achievement of lasng peace in the

Middle East is a central aim of the EU,

whose main objecve is: a two-State solu-

on leading to a nal and comprehensiveselement of the Israeli-Palesnian con-

ict based on implementaon of the Road

Map, with Israel and a democrac, viable,

peaceful and sovereign Palesnian State

living side-by-side within secure and rec-

ognised borders enjoying normal relaons

with their neighbours in accordance with

UN Security Council Resoluons 242, 338,

1397, 1402, and 1515 and on the princi-

ples of the Madrid Conference.

...The EU Partnership for Peace Pro-

gramme supports local and internaonal

civil society iniaves that promote

peace, tolerance and non violence in the

Middle East. The objecve of this support

is to contribute to the rebuilding of con-

dence within each society and between

sociees.

The programme aims to promote inia-

ves in areas which are likely to have an

impact on peoples everyday lives and

welfare, including praccal acvies

which will promote communicaon and

understanding by demonstrang the ad-vantages of working together for mutual

benet and tangible results.

ASHREI-ME decided to test these stated goals

against the websites of the organizaons

headquartered in the Palesnian territories

to see if the NGOs being given grants were

living up to the stated goals of the European

Commission.

In praccally every case, the Palesnian or-

ganizaons did not come close to reaching

the standards given by the EC. Indeed, it ap-

pears that over the years of giving millions of

euros to these NGOs, the EC has watered

down its expectaons for what these NGOs

are expected to accomplish.

There are four major failings in how the EC

funds are distributed to Palesnian NGOs.

1) The major goal of rebuilding condence


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between Palesnian and Israeli society has

been all but abandoned.

It is axiomac that condence-building

measures must precede any plans for a real,

sustainable peace. Yet ever since the Palesn-

ians rejected the peace plans oered in 2000,

there has been a steady divergence between

the Palesnian and Israeli peace camps.

While Israeli peaceniks have connued to

cling to hopes of peace and reconciliaon

throughout the second infada and thou-

sands of rockets being launched from Gaza to

Israel aer Israeli withdrawal from the sector,Palesnian society has turned the idea of

even talking with Israelis into a virtual crime.

Arabic media and many organizaons decry

any hint of what they call normalizaon

with Israel.

With very few excepons, the EU-funded

NGOs have not risen to this challenge to push

back and declare that normalizaon is not a

dirty word. If anything, they have withdrawn

into their own cocoons, either severing es

with Israeli peers or not being willing to pub-

licly acknowledge them.

The net result is that the culture of peace is

non-existent in the Palesnian territories.

Yet many of the EC-sponsored programs

listed pretend that the Palesnian NGO grant-

ees are working towards a normal relaon-

ship with their Israeli counterparts or with

Israeli society as a whole. Their websites

show that this is not even close to being true.

2) Peace is incompable with accepng Ha-

mas as a partner with the PA.

There is a second, fundamental problem with

one of the ECs stated goals:

[The EC] recognises that connued and

comprehensive Palesnian reforms are

necessary andnaonal reconciliaon is a

basic step to move forward the soluon

of the conict.

On the other hand, it states:

Terrorist aacks against Israel have nojuscaon whatsoever and the EU has

included Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other

armed Palesnian groups in its list of

banned terrorist organisaons.


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It is obvious that the Palesnian Arabs are

now divided between Hamas-run Gaza and

Fatah-run West Bank. If Hamas is a terror or-

ganizaon according to the EU, how is it pos-

sible to have naonal reconciliaon with a

terrorist group and sll be adhering to ECsgoals?

In fact, a number of programs funded by the

EC priorize peace between Hamas and Fatah

more than they care about peace between a

Arab and Jew. Hamas goals are anthecal to

everything the Western world stands for. Ac-

cepng, and even encouraging, Palesnian

naonal reconciliaon is nothing less than

accepng Hamas legimacy.

EU-funded programs must make clear that

Hamas rule is not acceptable and that Hamas

must not be rewarded, even indirectly, by the

EU. Reconciliaon means that the EC is ad-

vocang compromise with Hamas, and the

PAs acceptance of some of Hamas goals

such as the eventual full destrucon of Israel

and the enshrinement of terrorism as a desir-

able strategy. (Fatahs plaorm also includes

terrorism, another fact that the EC apparently

decides to ignore based on its funding

paerns.)

3) While issues that the Palesnian side con-

siders obstacles to peace are generously

funded, those that Israel considers im-

portant are ignored.

The Palesnian side is not the only party to

negoaons. Yet while every issue that Pales-

nians consider important is covered and tac-

itly accepted by the EC funding (selements,

Jerusalem, refugees, natural resources) those

that Israel considers important are missing

from the conversaon.

There is not one funded NGO that works to

reduce incitement against Jews and Israel in

the media and in textbooks. There is not one

funded NGO that works acvely to create an

environment of normalizaon and trust with

Israel. There is not one NGO that supports

the idea of two states for two peoples.

These are crical issues that must be ad-

dressed for real peace, and yet they are ab-

sent in the European Commissions priories

based on the organizaons they fund.


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This indicates a clear bias of the EC towards

the Palesnian Arab perspecve, that Israeli

acons are the only ones that are impedi-

ments to peace. If the EC truly wanted to

work towards peace, it would take seriously

the issues at the top of both sides agendas,

not just one.

4) Some of the funded groups seek the de-

strucon of Israel, explicitly or implicitly.

As the following report shows, some of the

groups funded by the EC in fact support the

so-called right of return, which is simply a

misreading of internaonal law meant to de-

mographically destroy the Jewish state. It is

not compable with the goal of two states for

two peoples.

Other groups do not explicitly condemn ter-

rorism as a strategy, rather they consider it to

be an unaracve tacc at the moment.

To fund groups that consider terrorists to be

heroes, or that hold out hope that Israel is a

temporary blight on the Arab world that will

eventually be replaced with another Arab

state, is against EC principles.

In conclusion, the paerns of funding by the

EC indicate that the Partners for Peace pro-

gram has lile or no oversight and lile or no

strategy behind it that is remotely consistent

with the principles it states. Rather than

keeping these programs running indenitely

with an automac rubber stamp to connue

funding year aer year, the EC needs to step

back and re-evaluate whether each of the re-

cipients of grants is doing even a modicum of

work towards the stated goals of the project

and whether they are consistent with EC and

EU goals for peace.

As it stands, there is a large disconnect be-tween the funded groups and the prospects

of real peace in the Israeli-Arab conict.

ASHREI-ME

October, 2013


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Save Youth Future Society

T

he Save Youth Future Societys purpose,

even according to the EC, is to help pro-mote dialogue and mutual understanding

between conicng pares.

While the website is careful not to say it spe-

cically, it is obvious which two pares are

being referred to: Fatah and Hamas.

Hamas is classied as a terror organizaon by

the EU. If there is ever going to be peace,

reconciliaon with Hamas and other terrorgroups such as Islamic Jihad is not what is

needed. What is needed is for organizaons

that advocate real peace with Israel to be em-

powered to speak out.

Hamas is not a partnerit is an obstacle.

Palesnian Youth Promong Naonal Reconciliaon between

Conicng Pares in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by

Advocang for Internal Dialogue and Mutual Understanding

499,755


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Media for in peace building in Palesne:

The acon will build Palesnian (both in the West Bank and

Gaza) journalists, independent media outlets, media

professionals' capacity on eecve media work for promong

peace building, social cohesion, non-violence.

ElamonaMedia Research and Development

W

hile the EC claims that its funds are

meant to promote peace building,the Elamona website does not refer at all to

peace with Israel. In fact, Israel isnt men-

oned at all in the English site.

What Elamona does claim to do is, as we

have seen, promote reconciliaon between

Palesnian facons. As its own descriponof

this EC-funded program states:

Elamona aims for structural changes in

the Palesnian society using the media

as a catalyst. It intends to support the

development of an alternave media

through improving the capacity, perfor-mance and impact of the neutral and

non-faconal media outlets and in mo-

bilizing those media outlets in pro-

mong a culture of tolerance, mutual

trust and cohesiveness within

thefraconalPalesnian societythrough a strengthened media.

The descripon of this program by the EC is

decepve. The only peace building being

promoted is within Palesnian society, not

between Arabs and Jews.

217,617
http://home.elamona.org/en/1/3/132/http://home.elamona.org/en/1/3/132/http://home.elamona.org/en/1/3/132/


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Popular Struggle

Coordinaon Commiee

T

he Popular Struggle Coordinaon Com-

miee is, together with Al Quds Univer-sity, Spanish NGO Nova and the Israeli Coali-

on of Women for Peace, working on this

project.

However, the PSCC website has many viru-

lently an-Israel arcles. It explicitly supports

BDS, whose leaders are on the record as

wanng to see Israel eliminated and replaced

with an Arab majority state. Its website also

speaks about resistance but nowhere does

it condemn terrorism or violence, only sayingthat violence has fallen out of favor among

many Palesnians. Addionally, the PSCC

supports potenally fatal stone throwing and

slinging.

The PSCC advocates taccs and goals that are

completely at odds with stated EU policy, yet

it is being funded by the EU.

Addressing fear: strengthening the nonviolent alternave

355,130*(*together with other organizations)


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Medicine in the Service of Peace A cross-border Israeli-

Palesnian Professional Medical Cooperaon Program ...in

order to promote peace and condence building between the

two communies, and broaden the base of support to a

negoated soluon of the conict through building mutual trust

and capacity for conict resoluon.

Palesne Red Crescent

Society

T

his iniave is a joint eort with the Per-

es Center for Peace. The descriponmake it clear that the program is meant to

facilitate cooperaon and trust between Is-

raelis and Palesnians in the healthcare eld.

However, the Palesne Red Crescent Society

website doesnt menon the Peres Center or

this iniave at all. The only menons of Isra-

el on its site are negave and oen very inac-

curate (such as accusaons of the IDF using

depleted uranium in its weapons, quong a

Brish conspiracy theorist.)

It also refers to Israels separaon fence as

the apartheid wall.The site does not talk about specic Israeli-

Palesnian peace at all. There is no stated

support for a two-state soluon. There is no

discussion of cooperaon with Israeli health

ocials at all.

In short, PRCS does not publicly promote a

single value that this program is meant to en-courage. But it happily takes EU funds.



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Panorama Palesnian Center for Disseminaon of

Democracy & Community Development

P

anoramas website has not been acve

since mid-

2012. It is unclear if it sll ex-ists. The EC funding was earmarked from Jan-

uary 2012 through December 2013.

Cached copies of the site show that it sup-

ported the so-called right of return meant

to demographically destroy the Jewish state.

Panoramas logo erases Israel altogether.

Palesnian-Israeli Peace NGO Forum... aims to sustain strong

relaons between Palesnian and Israeli Peace NGOs, to

increase the breadth and eecveness of their work and to

enhance their capacies.

406,998*(*together with Peace Now)


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Sustainable Planning as a Tool to Promote Dialogue and

Cooperaon between Palesnians and Israelis ... bring Arab and

Jewish Israelis together with Palesnians to share experiences,

engage in dialogue on sustainable planning processes, and work

together to develop a 'Sustainable Planning Guidelines

Document'.

Applied Research

Instute Jerusalem (ARIJ)

T

he Applied Research Instute-Jerusalem

describes this program a bit dierently

than the EC does. According to its website,

the only session that has occurred so far un-

der this iniave was meant to engage in di-

alogue with Arab Israelis, specically from

Nazareth. The project is described there this

way:

The overall objecve of the project is to

share experiences between professionals

and experts in planning and develop-

mentfrom Nazareth and Bethlehem, in

addion, engage in dialogue on sustain-

able planning processes, and work to-

gether to develop a "Sustainable Plan-

ning Guidelines Document".

Nothing is stated about speaking with Jewish

Israelis.

Addionally, Israeli policies are described as

apartheid in mulple places on the site. It

spins a false history of the past century in its

Land Research Centersecon.

While much of the organizaon concentrates

on uncontroversial ecological issues, there is

nothing on its website that advocates peace

between Israel and a Palesnian Arab state.

http://www.arij.org/latest-news/588-arij-sustainable-planning-development.htmlhttp://www.arij.org/latest-news/588-arij-sustainable-planning-development.htmlhttp://www.poica.org/pal-in-a-century/pal-in-century.phphttp://www.poica.org/pal-in-a-century/pal-in-century.phphttp://www.poica.org/pal-in-a-century/pal-in-century.phphttp://www.arij.org/latest-news/588-arij-sustainable-planning-development.html


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PalTrade

P

alTrade does not menon this iniave

on its website.

The site does discuss Palesnian-Israeli coop-

eraon in business, but the most recent re-

port advocang that posion is from 2007.

That earlier project was also done in coopera-

on with The Peres Center.

One EC-funded project is discussed, however:

a project to encourage Palesnian exports tobypass Israel and to go to Jordan or Egypt di-

rectly, called the Trade Corridors Facilitaon

Project.

The site does not have too much that isovertly an-Israel, but there is no recent in-

formaon about facilitang peace between

the two sides in line with the ECs Partnership

for Peace program goals.

Clearly, trade relaons between Israel and

the Palesnians is a crucial component of any

permanent and lasng peace, yet PalTradeseems to be a lile ambivalent about in-

creasing those business es based on its site.

Partners in Business, Partners in Peace: Increasing

Capacies for Israeli-Palesnian Business Cooperaon:

enhance Israeli-Palesnian business and economic relaons

with an emphasis on increasing the level of Palesnian

exports to Israel, and maximizing the business potenal forboth sides.

458,097*(*together with Peres Center)
http://www.paltrade.org/cms/images/enpublications/Facilitating%20Palestinian%20Global%20Trade%20Through%20Jordan%20and%20Egypt%20-%20eng.pdfhttp://www.paltrade.org/cms/images/enpublications/Facilitating%20Palestinian%20Global%20Trade%20Through%20Jordan%20and%20Egypt%20-%20eng.pdfhttp://www.paltrade.org/cms/images/enpublications/Facilitating%20Palestinian%20Global%20Trade%20Through%20Jordan%20and%20Egypt%20-%20eng.pdf


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Knowing the Other through Publishing Valid, Comprehensive

and Objecve Informaon about Israel and the Israeli Society:

MADAR

PalesnianForum forIsraeli Studies

This project translates a variety of arcles

from Israeli media into Arabic. An 8-page sup-

plement is published In Al Ayyams newspa-

per biweekly, prominently labeled as an EC

iniave. There is also analysis of Israeli me-

dia.

A sampling of the arcles translated show a

bias towards news stories that makes Israel

look bad or that indicate that Israeli society is

in trouble. None of the stories we looked at

described any Israeli peace programs or any-

thing posive about the Israeli economy, for

example.

While MADAR does mostly what the EC pro-

ject descripon says (with the excepon of

objecve,) it is unclear how the project en-

courages peace. Arab media translate Israeli

newspapers all the me and there is no extra

value added with the MADAR projects. Only if

MADAR would seek out stories that humanize

Israeli Jews, or that highlight Israeli peace

group acvies.

Moreover, it would be unimaginable to see

the EC fund a similar project to translate Ara-

bic news arcles into Hebrew.

360,000


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Palesnian Peace

Coalion Associaon

The Palesnian Peace Coalion Associaon

pretends to be a driving force behindMahmoud Abbas decisions, giving no evi-

dence of any inuence whatsoever. For exam-

ple, in its Strategic Plan 2013-2015, it takes

credit for Palesne being recognized as an

observer state in the UN as well as for local

elecons.

Addionally, the PPCA supports the so-called

Right of Return, meant to destroy Israel de-

mographically and to turn it into another Pal-

esnian Arab state. While it tells its Europe-an donors that it is commied to a two-state

soluon, in fact it is advocang two Arab

states.

This sort of doubletalk is rampant in the Pal-

esnian NGO world but Eu donors do not

know enough to ask the hard quesons, or

they accept it as just one of those things.

Through a variety of outreach acvies, the project aims at

promong peace, specically the Geneva Peace Iniave,

among the wide public



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Other NGOs

The webpage of the Center for Democracy

and Community Development , which re-

ceives part of a 455,414 grant, could not be

examined in depth because it is lled with

malware. According to NGO-Monitor, its posi-

on is to destroy Israel through implementa-

on of the Right of Return.

The webpage of the Associaon of Society

Voice for Social and Developing Work, which

receives a 239,800 grant, could not be

found.

The Palesnian Informaon and TechnologyAssociaon of Companies includes third-

party reports on the importance of cooper-

ang with Israel but there is very lile on its

webpage that directly encourages such coop-

eraon.

The Qeiadat Associaon webpage could not

be found. It receives part of a 500,000 grant.

eu partnership for peace programme: throwing money away on palestinian ngos

Documents