Palestinian NGOs reject the European assistance over refusal to renounce ties to terrorism

Palestinian NGOs reject the European assistance over refusal to renounce ties to terrorism

More than 130 Palestinian organizations have refused to sign a European Union grant request that stipulates among its criteria that recipients must refuse to transfer any E.U. assistance given to terrorist groups or entities.

The 135 organizations in question steadfastly decline to do so, claiming Palestinian terrorist groups are merely “political parties,” according to a statement by the Israeli Strategic Affairs Ministry.

Shawan Jabarin, executive director of the Palestinian boycott organization Al-Haq, told The New Arab, “We demanded to include conditions stipulating that we do not have to recognize the criteria listed regarding terror groups.”

A letter of protest was later sent to a meeting between E.U. representatives in the Palestinian Authority and representatives of Palestinian civil society organizations, led by Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, and Jabarin.

In recent years, Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs has been revealing the shared ties between supposed Palestinian human-rights organizations and terrorist groups. In its report released earlier this year, “The Money Trail,” along with additional findings from organizations such as NGO Monitor, it was found that E.U. institutions have awarded millions of euros in financial aid to Palestinian civil society organizations that have ties to terrorist entities and promote boycotts against Israel.

Additionally, in the ministry’s “Terrorists in Suits” report, more than 100 connections between BDS organizations and internationally designated terrorist groups were found, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hamas.

The PFLP is designated as a terrorist group by the European Union, United States, Canada and Israel. Hamas is also considered a terrorist entity by the United States, Canada and Israel.

According to the report, so-called Palestinian civil-society organizations act as medium for funds for terrorist entities, enabling them to raise money for their activities through legitimate bodies including the European Union. The opposition of these organizations to criteria preventing the transfer of funds to terror related activities proves the report’s claim.

An Israeli Shin Bet security agency investigation into the August 2019 “Ein Bubin” bombing, which resulted in the murder of 17-year-old Rina Shnerb and injury of her brother and father, some 50 PFLP terrorists were arrested.

Those detained included senior officials who served in Palestinian “civil society” organizations, including one of the 135 Palestinian NGOs, Addameer.

Addameer is an organizations that, alongside its ongoing campaign to boycott and delegitimize the State of Israel, calls for the release of PFLP terrorists, while also providing them legal representation, according to NGO Monitor.

Source: EJ Press