Prof. Steinberg in Berlin

Press Conference: "How Germany's funding for radical NGOs damage Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and strengthen Hamas"

With Prof. Gerald Steinberg, Bar-Ilan Universität Tel Aviv, Director NGO-Monitor, Israel


A Press Conference of the Mideast Freedom Forum Berlin (MFFB)and the Koordinierungsrat deutscher Nicht-Regierungsorganisationen gegen Antisemitismus
Thursday, 26 Juni 2014, 11:00 a.m.
Haus der Bundespressekonferenz, Schiffbauerdamm 40, 10117 Berlin

Audio-Documentation: Prof. Dr. Gerald Steinberg Please note: Introductions are in German, Prof. Steinberg speaks in English. For English please go to min. 05.22    
Since the infamous NGO Forum of the 2001 Durban Conference - which was widely declared as anti-Semitic - the centrality of Human Rights organizations in the political dimension of the Arab-Israeli conflict is an undeniable fact. 
The important political role of many NGOs based in Israel and the disputed territories is a subject which has yet to be explored in detail. The terrible kidnapping of three Israeli teens and the weak responses of these powerful non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has highlighted the moral failure of the human rights network. For many years, these groups have joined the efforts of Hamas and other Palestinian terror organizations in using false accusations against Israel to promote political warfare, while ignoring violent attacks and incitement against the peace process. But the negative roles played many of the human rights groups based in Israel, the disputed territories and Europe is a subject which has yet to be explored in detail.
Prof. Gerald Steinberg (Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv) will show at this Berlin press conference how radical NGOs and the BDS Movement (boycott, divestment and sanctions) do major damage to peace efforts and strengthen the rejectionists, including Hamas - a terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel. He will explain the link between this NGO activity and President Abbas's rejection of a deal with Israel two months ago.
As the director of NGO-Monitor, Prof. Gerald Steinberg has published detailed information on how these groups are funded by European taxpayer's money. NGO-Monitor in a current study focuses on German funding of highly problematic NGOs. 
In contrast to the moral objectives, the NGO funding supports radical organizations that oppose peace, promote demonization, and biased boycott movements as part of political warfare, and in some cases blatant antisemitism.  These campaigns are often justified in terms of opposition to the post-1967 “occupation” or Israeli settlement policies. But this wide NGO network promoting the Durban strategy has a 1948 agenda, supporting the 66-year campaign to roll back any form of Jewish national self-determination and sovereign equality.
Millions of euros originating with German taxpayers are provided annually to these NGOs. Funding frameworks include all German party foundations, Protestant and Catholic church aid networks, as well as direct funding from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and other branches. For example, on July 7 in Berlin, Brot für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED) and Misereor will sponsor a propaganda attack against Israel under the of pseudo-academic conference on international law. 
Prof. Gerald Steinberg calls for greater transparency and wide public discussion of the German NGO funding. Independent supervisory mechanisms should be established to review and evaluate all NGO grants, and the funding frameworks should adopt strict moral guidelines to stop the demonization of Israel and the political warfare strategy.