Spanish Government Funding for NGOs: 2009-2011 Assessing Transparency, Accountability, & Impact Soeren Kern, Author May 2013 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Founder Jeff Halper advocates for a one- state formula that would eliminate Jewish Spanish government funding, in different forms, self-determination rights. ICAHD rhetoric is allocated to a number of Palestinian, Israeli, includes accusations of Israeli “apartheid,” and Spanish NGOs that are among the leaders in “bloody and sadistic actions,” and “atrocities.” ideological campaigns to delegitimize Israel via Popular Struggle Coordination Committee BDS, lawfare, and other forms of demonization. (PSCC): €107,700 (2011). PSCC says Between 2009 and 2011, approximately €15 it “aims at strengthening international million in Spanish government funds have been support networks and their direct ties transferred to political advocacy NGOs active to the struggle for liberty in Palestine.” in promoting this agenda through the different According to its mission statement, PSCC funding frameworks (€5 million to Israeli and promotes a “unique form of community 2 Palestinian NGOs, and €10 million to Spanish based organizing and resistance in the NGOs.). Grantees include some of the most tradition of the first Palestinian Intifada…. E radical groups operating in Israel and the These diverse, non-partisan committees lead Palestinian authority: community resistance to Israeli occupation PAG in various forms, such as marches, strikes, Applied Research Institute Jerusalem: demonstrations, direct actions and legal €176,637 (2011), €849,715 (2010) and campaigns, as well as supporting boycott, €98,347 (2009-2010) for “planning for the divestment and sanctions.” geopolitical future of Jerusalem.” ARIJ is active in promoting BDS and other forms Xarxa d’Enllaç amb Palestina: Funded by of anti-Israel delegitimization, including Barcelona and Catalonia, in May 2012, Xarxa membership in the Palestinian Grassroots organized a concert in Barcelona to mark Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign and support the Palestinian Nakba; in May 2011, Xarxa for the global anti-Israel boycott movement; signed a letter titled “Enrique Iglesias, don’t ARIJ employs the rhetoric of “ethnic sing for the Israeli apartheid!,” which advised cleansing,” “transfer,” “land grab,” and the Spanish musician against performing at a “colonization activities” in its publications. concert in Israel on May 30. Breaking the Silence (BtS): €173,188 (2011), In March 2012, Spain’s new conservative €180,763 (2010) and €24,790 (2009). In government announced austerity measures PANISH GOVERMENT FUNDING FUNDING GOVERMENT PANISH that would cut the total Spanish foreign affairs S May 2011, El País published a feature story on BtS, and the members of this fringe group budget, including development aid, by at least have appeared in numerous public events, €1.4 billion in 2012. In response, some 500 facilitated by the funding received from the Spanish NGOs published an “open letter” to Spanish government. BtS promoted many Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy asking of the “war crimes” accusations against him to make a commitment to maintaining Israel repeated in the now discredited the previous Socialist government’s focus on Goldstone Report, based on anonymous funding development cooperation. and unverifiable hearsay “testimonies.” Their The levels of transparency and accountability for claims are central to delegitimization. NGOs funding at Spain’s federal, regional, and Israeli Committee Against House municipal levels are often highly inadequate; Demolitions: €181,508 (2009–2010). the process by which AECID chooses projects Promotes the demonization of Israel, and awards contracts to NGOs operating in the supports boycotts and divestment campaigns, Palestinian Authority is opaque, and AECID and leads the “Gaza boat” publicity missions. has insufficient supervisory mechanisms to determine how NGOs use government aid funds. Only a small handful of Spanish NGOs receiving government money actually publish annual reports that would enable the general public to assess how taxpayer monies are being utilized. In 2012, the OECD published a Peer Review of Spanish development funding, which criticized the lack of oversight mechanisms and evaluation systems in the aid budget.1 3 E E PAG SPANISH GOVERMENT FUNDING FUNDING GOVERMENT SPANISH 1 See “Spain: Development Assistance Committee (DAC), Peer Review 2011,” Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), available at http://www.oecd.org/ dataoecd/23/45/49356882.pdf TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Overview 6 Table 1. Spanish ODA to the Palestinian Authority (2007-2011) 6 II. Political Context of Spanish Foreign Policy 8 III. Spanish Government NGO Funding Frameworks 10 IV. Palestinian and Israeli Political Advocacy NGOs funded by AECID (2009-2011) 11 Palestinian NGOs 11 Israeli NGOs 14 Table 2. Palestinian and Israel Political Advocacy NGOs funded by AECID (2009-2011) 19 V. Spanish Political Advocacy NGOs 20 AECID-funded projects 20 Regionally-Funded Projects 23 Table 3. Spanish Political Advocacy NGOs Funded by AECID and Regions (2009-2011) 32 VI. Lack of Transparency in NGO Funding 33 VII. Summary and Recommendations 35 Appendix A: Complete List of NGOs Active in Israel/Palestinian Authority, Funded by 36 Spain (AECID and/or Regions) (2009-2011) Appendix B: NGOs funded by Spanish Autonomous Communities (2009-2011) 48 Appendix C: Other Spanish Entities Active in the Palestinian Territories 60 I. OVERVIEW TABLE 1. SPANISH ODA TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY he NGO Forum of the 2001 (2007-2011) Durban Conference adopted a strategy of political warfare 2007 ¤53 million and delegitimization against 2008 ¤69 million Israel, based on campaigns using allegations of “apartheid,” “racism,” “war crimes,” 2009 ¤71.3 million Tand similar rhetoric. This strategy has been 2010 ¤32.5 million implemented by a network of non-governmental organizations, often under the banner of 2011 ¤48.9 million promoting human rights, democracy, peace and humanitarian aid. The mechanisms, modeled on More than one-third of Spanish ODA to the 6 those used to overturn the apartheid government Palestinian Authority is channelled to or through in South Africa, include boycotts, divestment dozens of Spanish NGOs and humanitarian E and sanctions (BDS), and exploiting universal organizations, many of which also provide jurisdiction statutes and frameworks, such as the PAG important input into the formulation of Spanish International Criminal Court, to promote legal foreign policy vis-à-vis the Palestinian Authority. cases against Israeli officials (“lawfare”). Much In 2011, Spain allocated to the Palestinian of the funding for the NGOs that lead this form Authority a total of €48.9 million in ODA.6 of political warfare is provided by European This amount (which includes both multilateral governments.2 and bilateral support) was distributed to the In this report, we examine the funding provided Palestinian Authority through three primary by the Spanish government, in different channels: frameworks, for these NGO activities. 1) the central government in Madrid, primar- The Palestinian Authority is the second-largest ily through the Spanish Foreign Ministry; recipient of Spanish government overseas 2) the decentralized Spanish autonomous development assistance (ODA).3 Only Peru communities; and receives more money from Spain, which provides ODA to 50 countries.4 3) local municipal governments.7 PANISH GOVERMENT FUNDING FUNDING GOVERMENT PANISH Spanish 2011 ODA for the Palestinian Authority S The Spanish government provided the Palestinian was channelled as follows: 69.3% of the funds Authority with a total of €274.7 million in ODA were channelled through the Spanish Foreign (including both multilateral and bilateral aid) Ministry and its primary aid-giving agency, the during the five year period 2007-2011.5 Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). The other 30.5% was distributed through Spain’s autonomous communities (25.3%) and local municipal governments (5.2%). The remaining 0.2% was distributed through other ministries and/or 2 Gerald M. Steinberg, “The Politics of NGOs, Human Rights and the Arab-Israel Conflict,” Israel Studies 16.2 Summer 2011 agencies.8 3 See http://www.aecid.es/es/donde-cooperamos/ 4 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 5 See http://www.aecid.es/galerias/cooperacion/por 7 Ibid. Paisesdescargas/territorios-palestinos/Territorios_Palestinos. pdf 8 Ibid. Of the 69.3% of total ODA distributed through period 2008-2010.13 The Province of Navarra the Spanish Foreign Ministry, 36.6% involved provided €971,356 during the four-year period multilateral transfers and the remaining 32.7% 2007-2010.14 were bilateral transfers through the AECID. The In March 2012, Spain’s new conservative other 30.5% of ODA distributed through the government announced austerity measures autonomous communities and local municipal that would cut the total Spanish foreign affairs governments was all bilateral (i.e., Bilateral = budget, including development aid, by at least AECID + Autonomous Communities + Local €1.4 billion in 2012.15 In response, some 500 Municipal Governments).9 Spanish NGOs published an “open letter” to In real terms, the multilateral component of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy asking Spanish ODA was €15 million, and the bilateral him to make a commitment to maintaining component of Spanish ODA was €33.9 million.10 the previous Socialist government’s focus on 16 funding development cooperation. 7 This report by NGO Monitor focuses on the