A report from watchdog group NGO Monitor makes for more grim reading about the European Union’s seriousness in promoting fairness and peaceful outcomes in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The report, presented this month to the European Parliament, accuses Brussels of, at best, failing to perform due diligence and, at worst, turning a blind eye over grants made to groups that seek to boycott the Jewish state.
“Many of the grantees are involved in promoting the Durban strategy of political warfare and demonisation of Israel,” the report stated. The ‘Durban Strategy’ is the campaign led by global NGOs to delegitimise Israel, launched at the 2001 “World Conference Against Racism” in Durban, South Africa. NGO Monitor gave prominence to a group named the Coalition of Women for Peace (CWP) which, along with partners, has been awarded over £500k for the 2011-2014 period.
CWP does not make a secret of what it stands for: it gives prominence to its BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) activities on its website.
While CWP is not hiding anything, the NGO Monitor report indicated that Brussels was anything but forthcoming in responding to requests for explanations about the grant-making process and especially how and to what extent monitoring takes place after monies have been disbursed.
Prof Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, said: “The facts clearly demonstrate that either the officials involved were unaware of the groups chosen to receive taxpayer funds, or that they chose to promote NGOs that fuel the conflict.”
This is a disgrace on several levels. European institutions are funded by European taxpayers, which means that readers of this article are paying for the practices just described. The case for contacting one’s MP would seem self-evident.
Equally disturbing is the fact that the EU, after years of criticism on this score, continues to deploy funds and manpower in the cause of harming peace.
Robin Shepherd is the owner of thecommentator.com
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