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Palestinian Foundation Located in Ramallah Funds Foreign Agent Organizations in Israeli Society

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Palestinian Foundation Located in Ramallah Funds Foreign Agent Organizations in Israeli Society Palestinian Foundation Located in Ramallah Funds Foreign Agent Organizations in Israeli Society Secretariat convention at the managing office in Ramallah, regarding coordination of work with the United Nations Commission of Inquiry against the Israel Defense Forces.1 [On the right: Dr. Mustafa Mari, Manager of the Palestinian “Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat”2, a researcher at Bir Zeit University3. In the middle: Shawan Jabarin, activist in the terrorist organization “The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)”, General Director of the Palestinian boycott organization “Al-Haq”4, a board member of the Palestinian Secretariat.] 1 http://www.rightsecretariat.ps/events/113-press-release-secretariat-partners-hold-workshop-on-un- commission-of-inquiry 2 https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmari 3 http://www.birzeit.edu/people/mustafa-mari 4 http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/article/20478 Yes, an actual Palestinian foundation. 1. The “Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat” [hereinafter: “The Secretariat”] is a Palestinian funding program located in Ramallah, which is in the Palestinian Authority.5 It has operated, since its foundation in 2008 and until the beginning of 2014, within the framework of the NDC, the Palestinian NGO Development Centre. The NDC is itself a Palestinian foundation for all intents and purposes.6 Beginning in March, 2014, the Secretariat operates as an independent organization, managing donation funds (at least on the declared level) from countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Holland and passing them along to radical Palestinian boycott organizations and Israeli foreign agent organizations (See Appendix). The Secretariat has offices in Ramallah and in Gaza, and is run by Dr. Mustafa Mari7, a researcher at Bir Zeit University itself.8 2. The Secretariat’s grant program for the years 2014-2016 includes over $12,000,000, when out of that sum, approximately $3.7 million are granted to 11 Israeli organizations such as “B’tselem”, “Adalah”, “Yesh Din”, “Breaking the Silence”, and “Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights”. The rest of the money is transferred to numerous Palestinian organization, including: “Al-Haq”, “Addameer”, the “Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)” and others (See Appendix). 3. Among the Palestinian organizations supported by the Secretariat there are also radical Palestinian organizations which promote boycotts and sanctions against the State of Israel, organizations working on placing IDF officers and Israeli officials on trial, and more.9 Some of the Palestinian organizations which benefit from the Foundation’s support are related to the activity of the terrorist organization the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)” (See Appendix). 4. During Operation “Protective Edge”, the Secretariat transferred emergency grants to seven radical Palestinian organizations (“Addameer”, “BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights”, “Defence for Children International - Palestine Section”, the “Women's Affairs Technical Committee (WATC)”, the “Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)”, the “Women's Affairs Center” and the “Al Mezan Center For Human Rights”) and to two Israeli organizations (“B’tselem” and “Breaking the Silence”). The grant was given for the purposes of documentary efforts within the Gaza Strip during Operation “Protective Edge”. 5. At the conclusion of Operation “Protective Edge” in August of 2014, the Secretariat initiated a workshop by the title “The United Nations (UN) Commission of Inquiry to investigate violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt)” According to Dr. Mustafa Mari, the Secretariat manager, the workshop was meant to discuss ways of working with the commission by the relevant parties concerned, as with the 2009 UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict along with Shawan Jabarin, General Director of the Palestinian boycott organization “Al-Haq”, and an activist in the terrorist organization “The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)”, who stressed the importance of 5 The “Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat” began its journey in 2008 as a body within the NDC organizations, and most likely began operating as an independent body sometime in the beginning of 2014. 6 http://tinyurl.com/ho3vvl6 7 http://www.rightsecretariat.ps/aboutus/staff 8 http://www.rightsecretariat.ps/aboutus/managing-partne-rs/birzeit-university 9 http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_20506/H_059_13_134837230.pdf documentation efforts by NGOs and who noted the mandate of the Commission to identify perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He mentioned that the recommendations must include a recommendation on joining the International Criminal Court (ICC) otherwise there is no significance in the importance of creating a commission of inquiry.10 6. In September, 2014, the Secretariat conducted a meeting with representatives of the organization on the subject of emergency funding for the Gaza Strip. The participants at the meeting discussed the urgent need to accelerate documentation efforts in the Gaza Strip. CSO representatives illustrated the efficient and prompt responses of their field workers to documentation, information and data collection efforts during the course of the conflict. Partner CSOs urged the Secretariat to “continue undertaking practical and rapid responses to CSO needs and concerns in light of the situation in the Gaza Strip.” At the end of the meeting, partners in Ramallah expressed their strong willingness to exchange information and data with existing partners in Gaza and increase the level of cooperation and scope of documentation also for the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 11 7. The Secretariat partner organizations submitted to the International Criminal Court at The Hague information on alleged Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity which Israel carried out during Operation “Protective Edge”. The organizations requested from the International Criminal Court to ensure that the Palestinian victims of the Israeli attack on Gaza receive justice and reparation. 12 8. The Palestinian Secretariat commended last year (2015) the “B’tselem” organization, as leading the international legal battle against Israel.13 9. The Palestinian foundation in Ramallah reported that it financed for the foreign organization “B’tselem” a lobbyist in the Israeli Knesset. 14 In the picture – the organizations which the Palestinian foundation, the “Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat”, is proud to fund, included among them other Israeli organizations aside from “B’tselem” and “Breaking the Silence”, such as the “Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI)”, “Adalah”, “Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights”, “Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement”, “HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual”, “Yesh Din”, “Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel)”:15 10 http://www.rightsecretariat.ps/events/113-press-release-secretariat-partners-hold 11 http://www.rightsecretariat.ps/events/114-secretariat-holds-meeting-with-partner 12 http://www.rightsecretariat.ps/events/213-human-rights-ihl-secretariat-s-partners-deliver-submission-to-the- international-criminal-court-on-alleged-israeli-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity 13 http://rightsecretariat.ps/portal/uploads/Annual_Report_2014__22_June_2015.pdf (Page 61) 14 http://rightsecretariat.ps/portal/uploads/Annual_Report_2014__22_June_2015.pdf (Page 64) 15 http://rightsecretariat.ps/component/content/article/78-pages/109-list-of-core-fund The Palestinian foundation supports not only foreign agent organizations, but also Palestinian organizations who work together with the terrorist organization “The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)” Following are examples of the connections and collaborations between “The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)” and Palestinian organizations supported by the Secretariat: a. Al-Haq – the organization’s General Director, Shawan Jabarin, who also participated in the workshop to coordinate work methods between the Secretariat and the United Nations (UN) Commission of Inquiry, is a senior member of the terrorist organization the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)".16 In 2009 Israel turned down Jabarin’s appeal on his lawsuit to remove the restraining order against him leaving the country, so that he may travel to Holland in order to receive an award for his, supposed, struggle for democracy. Jabarin appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court four times, however all of his appeals were turned down for security reasons. In an Israeli Supreme Court ruling from March, 2009, the verdict stated that “[Shawan Jabarin] is similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in several hours of his activity he manages a rights organization, and in another part he is an active member of a terrorist 16 http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_20478/H_027_13_330395193.pdf organization that does not shy away from murder and attempted murder, which have nothing to do with rights…”17 b. “Addameer” – the Secretariat regularly funds the “Addameer” organization, which has extremely extensive connections with the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)". “Addameer” chairperson Abdullatif Ghaith is recognized as a member of the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)", and due to this,
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