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The-Activities-Of-Palestinian-Arab Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 A. The Welfare Association 2 B. NGO Development Center 3 Background 5 A. Welfare Association 5 B. NGO Development Center 5 Welfare Association 6 A. Structure 6 B. Finances 6 1. Annual budget 6 2. Main donors 7 3. Donations from Arab countries 8 4. Activities of the Arab countries and foundations in the Israeli-Palestinian context 9 5. The involvement of Arab countries and foundations that support the families of shahidim (martyrs) in financing Israeli and Palestinian organizations 9 6. The connection with the Ford Foundation 10 C. The organization's activities 11 1. Specific projects – general 11 2. Old city of Jerusalem revitalization program (OCJRP) 11 3. "'48 Palestine" - Support for Israeli organizations 12 4. The campaign against the National Civilian Service Initiative for Israeli Arabs 13 5. Palestinian NGO Project (PNGO) Background to the establishment of NDC 13 D. Summary of the WA’s activities 14 NGO Development Center 15 A. NDC and the WA’s involvement in NDC activities 15 B. Other connections between the organizations 15 C. The money trail 16 1. Annual budget 16 2. Main donors 16 D. The organization’s activities 17 1. Main projects 17 2. The human rights and good governance project and the supported organizations 17 3. Examples of projects 19 4. Examples of organizations that receive funds under this project 19 E. Summary of the NDC's activities 20 Appendices 21 1 public debates, to participate in legal activities etc. Executive Summary against Israel and the IDF, in Israel and abroad. This study focuses on the activities of two inter-con- This study surveys the transfer of monies originat- nected organizations: ing in Arab countries (including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Emirates), international Arab organi- A. The Welfare Association zations and European countries, that are redirected by definitively Palestinian organizations, to finance The Welfare Association (hereinafter: WA)4 is a NGO third sector activities in Israel. These monies are des- founded in Geneva in 1983 for the purpose of building ignated for promoting an agenda and activities aimed a sustainable Palestinian society. The organization at gaining influence over the reality in sovereign Is- bolsters Palestinian organizations, and acts to pre- raeli territory in specific spheres: serve and nurture Palestinian tradition and identity through identifying the needs of Palestinian society. 1. Strengthening the Palestinian identity of Israeli Arabs and severing their positive relationship with The WA is directly involved in activities in Arab cen- the State of Israel.1 ters within the borders of Israel and donates to Israeli- Arab organizations.5 Recipient organizations include: 2. Strengthening Palestinian-Islamic identity and Adalah, Balanda, Ahali, Ittijah, Mada al-Carmel, ownership in Jerusalem.2 and the Galilee Society. Thus, for example, the It is important to note that some of the organizations WA financed the activities of organizations aimed at sending monies indirectly to Israel support the fami- preventing initiatives for Israeli Arabs to register for lies of shahidim (“martyrs”).3 National Civilian Service (the alternative to military service in the IDF, from which Israeli Arabs are ex- This money finances the activities of dozens of Israeli empt). The WA also directs various construction and and Palestinian organizations (such as Adalah, Itti- land use projects, especially in Jerusalem and the Ne- jah, Breaking the Silence, and others), many of which gev. These “real estate” activities can be inter- operate in the following areas: preted as an attempt to establish and preserve 1. Delegitimizing the State of Israel. an Arab presence (with a Palestinian identity, rather than an Israeli-Arab identity) in certain 2. Calling for boycotts against Israel. areas in sovereign Israeli territory. In the frame- 3. Promoting and assisting in the filing of indict- work of its activities, the WA also supports official ments against Israeli public figures, on war crimes Israeli bodies, including the Nazareth municipality charges. and the Kafr Kana local council. The findings of this study raise suspicions that the Is- In the years 2006-2008, $2.65 million were raeli organizations are being obligated by the Arab transferred for activities inside Israel and to organizations that fund them, to express positions in Israeli-Arab organizations.6 1 http://momken.org/baladna/gallery/ConferenceNotoCivicServiceElMidanTheatreHaifa20071027/dscf2959.html. [20/12/10] Campaign in the Arab sector against the National Service initiative for Israeli Arabs financed by the AW in 2007. http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L- [20/12/10] 3449186,00.htmlhttp://www.isdb.org/irj/go/km/docs/documents/IsD- BDevelopments/Internet/English/IsDB/CM/About%20IsDB/FAQ/Temp_DOC/Q%26A.doc [20/12/10] (See question 118 in the official Islamic Development Bank FAQS document. Details of its activities follow.) 2 http://www.isdb.org/irj/go/km/docs/documents/IsDBDevelopments/Internet/ [20/12/10] English/IsDB/CM/About%20IsDB/FAQ/Temp_DOC/Q%26A.doc [20/12/10] (See question 119.) 3 http://globalmbreport.org/?p=3272 [20/12/10] http://www.isdb.org/irj/go/km/docs/documents/IsDBDevelopments/Internet/ [20/12/10] English/IsDB/CM/About%20IsDB/FAQ/Temp_DOC/Q%26A.doc [20/12/10] (See question 119) http://www.ainalyaqeen.com/issues/20011214/feat1en.htm [20/12/10] 4 Also known as Mou’assasat Al Ta’awoun 5 From the WA annual reports: http://welfare-association.org/en/images/stories/publications/AR2005_Eng..pdf [2012/10] 6 According to the organization’s reports: http://welfare-association.org/en/images/stories/publications/AR2005_Eng..pdf [20/12/10] 2 B. NGO Development Center Army,” and disseminating propaganda or con- ducting legal activities in connection with such The NGO Development Center (hereinafter: NDC)7 violations.11 The NDC promotes its agenda, among was founded in March 2006 for the purpose of devel- other ways, by supporting petitions to courts in Israel oping and strengthening Palestinian civilian society and abroad and waging legal battles against Israeli in general and the third sector of Palestinian society public figures and IDF officers. The organization is in- in particular. The NDC was established on the WA’s directly involved in promoting these activities and is organizational infrastructure, and “inherited” assets, likely directly involved in some of them. 8 staff and work plans from the WA. It is apparent that According the reports published by the NDC, in the to this day many key positions in the NDC are held by years 2008-2009 about $2.4 million were trans- people who formerly held positions in the WA. ferred to Israeli organizations, and around $3.5 The NDC later participated in projects for the devel- million to Palestinian organizations. opment of the Palestinian third sector, financed by the World Bank and a number of European coun- The connection between the tries. Today the NDC coordinates the application of organizations (WA and NDC): human rights and good governance policies in Gaza, As stated above, the WA was the foundation Judea and Samaria on behalf of the donor countries. upon which the NDC was established. In addi- In this context, the NDC is involved financing tion, the WA supports the NDC financially12 and Israeli and Palestinian organizations9 that oper- holds a senior position on the NDC’s board.13 ate clearly anti-Israel and anti-IDF activities.10 This fact is evidence of the WA’s ability to di- rect NDC activities and donations. In practice, The NDC supports many other field organizations and the two organizations channel funds to support assists them in ways that include liaising between Israeli organizations (including Israeli-Arab or- them and donors. The NDC’s senior management in- ganizations) and Palestinian organizations that cludes several key figures from Palestinian umbrella are involved in activities against IDF and Israeli organizations. In fact, the NDC’s activities encompass state policies, and against the character of the hundreds of field organizations. Evidently, the NDC is State of Israel. a type of “framework organization” and is financed by several countries, serving them as an additional Sources of financing: way for these countries to support local organiza- Both organizations rely on foreign funding, but while tions, beyond the countries’ direct support for these the NDC is backed mainly by generous donations organizations. from Europe,14 the WA also receives funding from Among the criteria for receiving financial aid from the sources in international Arab organizations and NDC: Activities tracking and documenting hu- Arab countries and hostile to Israel such as Sau- man rights violations by the “Israeli Occupation di Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.15 7 Also known as Markaz Tatweer 8 From the bank’s FAQS: http://www.isdb.org/irj/go/km/docs/documents/IsDBDevelopments/Internet/English/IsDB/CM/About%20IsDB/FAQ/ Temp_DOC/Q%26A.doc [2010/10] From the organization’s report: http://www.ndc.ps/uploads/File/NDC-Financial-Statment.pdf [20/12/10] 9 From the organization’s annual report: http://www.ndc.ps/uploads/File/NDC-Financial-Statment.pdf [20/12/10] 10 Examples of organizations involved in anti-Israel and anti-IDF activities in various fields: Breaking the Silence, Adalah, B’Tselem, Ittijah, Bimkom, Gisha, PCHR, PNGO, Al-Haq, B’dil. # For details of the anti-Israel activities of Israeli organizations see: http://imti.org.il/Uploads/GoldstoneHE5.pdf [20/12/10] and http://www.stuffings.co.il/Im-Tirzu/NIF-ADALA-Report.pdf [20/12/10] #For details of the anti-Israeli activities of Palestinian organizations see the report later in this report. 11 http://www.ndc.ps/uploads/File/Guidelines%20for%20submission%20HRGG%20%20.pdf (pgs. 3-4 in the document) [20/12/10] 12 From the organization’s annual report: http://www.ndc.ps/main.php?id=9 [20/12/10] 13 In 2007 five of the thirteen NDC board members were WA personnel.
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