What Anti-Israel NGO Is The Worst of All? The New Israel Fund (Part 1)

UPDATES 11 am Israel time, Tuesday, June 10 2014:

**The Knesset election of the next president of Israel will begin in 30 minutes in Jerusalem. That election will probably drag on into the afternoon and evening with second and third rounds of voting until one of the candidates receives 61 votes. Israelstreet will post the results as soon as they become available.

**The room above the Tomb of King David in the 2-storey Cenacle became a flashpoint again yesterday as Catholic Christians once again violated the long-established ground rules there concerning prayer. Those rules which are meant to sustain the status quo allow Christian groups to engage in public prayer there twice a year in the room in which they believe Jesus’ ate the “last supper.”

However, in the wake of Pope Francis’ visit, Catholic priests have begun performing public masses there everyday. Yesterday 30 orthodox Jews showed up to also pray and dance in the room.

The Jerusalem police were on hand to keep the Jews in one part of the room and the Christians in another part.

This was an improvement over two days ago when the police prohibited Jews from even entering the room which holds King David’s sarcaphagous. Yes, you read that right. In a move taken straight from their own actions on the Har Habeyit (Temple Mount), the police suddenly, and unbelievably, would not let Jews even enter the lower room of the Cenacle. 

The reportage of yesterday’s events by the leftist Israeli media and the international press was outrageous. Suddenly, the orthodox Jews who were exercising their right to pray in the room were termed “radical Jews” and “militant Jews”–and the Catholic Christians in the rooms suddenly became the victims. The following picture has gone viral on the internet:

It is worthwhile remembering that all of this turmoil of course can completely be put at the feet of Pope Francis who willfully defied the status quo rules governing the site.

TODAY’S BLOG:

Several months ago your humble servant had the displeasure to attend a program in his synagogue in northern California put on by the New Israel Fund. That program which featured a film about events in the Sheikh Jarrah section of Jerusalem cast Israelis in the same demeaning light as the media description above concerning the events at David’s Tomb yesterday.

Specifically, the Jews were all described as “radical” and “militant”, and as engaged in the activity of illegally evicting a “victimized” Palestinan family from their home. In fact, the eviction had come after decades of legal cases climaxed by a ruling of the Israel Supreme Court that the house actually belonged to the Jews.

When your humble servant attempted to point out this and other inconsistencies in the film, the New Israel Fund facilitator launched into a series of demonstrably false statements concerning the situation on the ground here in Israel.

I was thinking about this a few days ago when reading a report on the recent Israel Day parade in New York. A number of Jews had protested the appearance of the New Israel Fund in that parade. In response, a NIF representative dissembled that he wished that Jews in the U.S. would not judge the NIF for what they do in the U.S. but for what they do on the ground here in Israel.

Let’s do just that over the next few days by following the money trail of the NIF to 27 egregiously anti-Israel NGOs operating in Israel. In doing so, we will be relying on filings by the New Israel Fund with the Israel government as delineated by the NGO Monitor and on specific information provided on each NGO website.

To begin with, the New Israel Fund annually distributes money to approximately 300 NGOs in Israel–some 30 of which have no other mission than to bash Israel.

Here is the first list of 10 NIF funded so-called “political advocacy” NGOs that the NIF funded in 2011-2012 (we will continue with the next 10 tomorrow), the last period for which we have full statistics.

Again, remember that despite the apparently benign names and self-descriptions of their missions, each one of the these NGOs has as its sole purpose an unrelenting attack on everything Israeli–and each one is heavily funded by the New Israel Fund:

1. Gisha: the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement

Self-expressed main mission: “To protect the freedom of movement of Palestinians, especially Gaza residents.”

Also funded by: George Soros’ Open Society Institute, Norway, The Foundation for Middle East Peace, the NGO Development Center, the Drosos Foundation (Switzerland), Oxfam (Great Britain), Ireland, Broederlijk Delen (Belgium), UNDP (United Nations Development Program), the European Commission, Iris O’Brien Foundation, Trocaire (Irish Catholic Church), Sigrid Rausing Trust (London)

2. HaMoked Center for the Defense of the Individual

Self-expressed main mission:  “To assist Palestinians of the Occupied Territories whose rights are violated due to Israel’s policies.”

Also funded by:  Finland, the Norwegian Refugee Council, the NDC (Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and the Netherlands), Belgium, France, United Nations Development Program, and the UNHRC (Human Rights Council)

3. Human Rights Defenders Fund

Self-expressed mission: To defend against “evictions, destruction of property, settlement activity, and the curtailment of freedom of movement in the West Bank.” And to defend “activists” who are “arrested and jailed” on “trumped up charges”.

Also funded by:  Cordaid-Netherlands (Catholic Church Organization for Relief and Development Aid), Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Human Rights Fund, the Moriah Fund

4. I’lam Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel

Self-expressed mission: “I’lam is the only Palestinian NGO in Israel that builds the professional capacities of journalists and educates the Palestinian minority to mobilize media platforms to promote their human rights.”

Other funding sources unavailable.

5. IPCRI: Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information

Self-expressed mission: “To combine research with peace-building actions and advocacy across Israel and Palestine . . . [and]  to engage policymakers and the public at large in ending the occupation and promoting a just and sustainable end to the conflict.

Also funded by: United States Agency for International Development West Bank/Gaza, the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands, GIZ (German Organization for International Cooperation, the Osprey Foundation, Zivik (German Foreign Office)

6. Israeli Social TV

Self-expressed mission: Israel Social TV is an independent media organization working to promote social change, human rights, social justice and equality as well as to mobilize its viewers towards activism.

Other funding sources unavailable.

7. Ir Amin (City of Nations)

Self-expressed mission: “Ir Amim seeks to render Jerusalem a more equitable and sustainable city for the Israelis and Palestinians who share it.  Ir Amim envisions a city that ensures the dignity and welfare of all its residents and that safeguards their holy places, as well as their historical and cultural heritages . . .”

Also funded by: Abrons Foundation,  Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation, Brot Für Die Welt, Lois and Richard England Family Foundation, European Union, Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moriah Fund, the Norwegian Embassy, George Soros Open Society Foundation, Ms. Sara Grottesman

8. Machsom Watch (Barrier Watch)

Self-expressed mission: “Machsomwatch is a movement of Israeli women, peace activists from all sectors of Israeli society, who oppose the Israeli occupation and the denial of Palestinians’ rights to move freely in their land . . . Through the documentation which discloses the nature of everyday reality, we are attempting to influence public opinion in the country and in the world, and thus to bring to an end the destructive occupation, which causes damage to Israeli society as well as to Palestinian society.”

Also funded by: the European Union, Diakonia (Sweden), Norway, the U.K.

9. Molad: the Center for Renewal of Israeli democracy

Mission: Among other things–to fight against the inclusion of Zionist nationalism into the civics curriculum in Israeli schools and to fight against Israeli military control over the “occupied territories”

Other funding sources unavailable.

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10. Mossowa: the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel

Self-expressed mission: “To address the internal conflict in Israel and contribute to the sustainability of peaceful relations between all citizens of the State and to an environment that supports dialogue for regional peace.”

Also funded by: Zivik (see above), Heinrich Boell Foundation

———-

Tomorrow we will take a look at more NIF funding to explore what other delegimizing the New Israel Fund does in Israel by looking at the following organizations that it funds: Nine Seven Two, NISPED, PCATI, PHR-I, Rabbis for Human Rights, Sikkuy, Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, The Arab Center of Alternative Planning, Windows for Peace, Yesh Din, B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence, Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Vaadah Against Torture, Itach Machi, Nashim Shalom: Women’s Coalition for Peace.

———-

Addendum:

For the next few weeks, your humble servant will append Israel Vocabulary 101 to the bottom of this blog everyday.

 Basic Israel Vocabulary 101

1. Use the Jewish and Israeli names for things; here are five to start with:

Har HaBayit instead of Temple Mount

Kipat HaSela instead of Dome of the Rock

The Kotel instead of the Western Wall

Shechem instead of Nablus

The Kineret instead of the Sea of Galilee

2. Use ‘Judea and Samaria’ instead of ‘the West Bank‘. ‘West Bank’ is a term of occupation and exploitation created by the Jordanians to refer to the area west of the Jordan River illegally seized and annexed to Jordan in 1948. Prior to 1948, the land was referred to as Judea and Samaria for almost 3000 years. In the 1947 U.N. Resolution that partitioned “Palestine”, “Judea” and “Samaria” were the terms used.

3. Use ‘Palestinian Autonomous Territories’ to refer to Areas A and B of Judea and Samaria–never under any circumstances use the term ‘occupied territories’ because it is simply not true; Israel is not occupying anything. Areas A and B have been under Palestinian civil administration since the signing of the Oslo Accords two decades ago. By the way, when PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas wants to compare these areas to Gaza, he uses the term “Palestinian Autonomous Territories.”

4. Use ‘Jewish communities’ or ‘Israeli cities instead of ‘settlements.’ How in the world can anyone call the communities and cities of Maaleh Adumin (40,210) and Modin Illit (51,773), Gush Etzion (54,939), and Ariel (41,720) ‘settlements’?

5.  Use ‘construction of Jewish homes, schools, and hospitals’ instead of ‘settlement activity’. By obscuring what the activities are, the activities are delegitimized.

6. Use ‘new Jewish communities’ or ‘fledgling Jewish communties’ instead of ‘outposts‘. An outpost is a small military encampment, not a place where people permanently live.

7. Use ‘Jewish community member’ instead of ‘settler’. Are we living in the wild west? Most Jewish community members are suburbanites commuting to jobs in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and elsewhere. If you want to use the term ‘settler’, refer to Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria as settlers–after all, they are the late arrivers to the land (see No. 13 below). 

8. Use ‘eastern Jerusalem’ or the ‘eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem’ instead of East Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem must never be divided again. Again, areas such as Ramat Shlomo and Gilo are ‘neighborhoods’ of Jerusalem, not ‘settlements.’

You are looking at Har Gilo–a huge 40,000+ person Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem.

9. Use ‘Palestinian cities’ instead of  ‘Palestinian refugee camps‘. Who is kidding whom? Cities such as Kalandiya are huge places with massive construction going on all the time–the Palestinian residents of these cities are not nomads living in tents.

10. Use Palestinian ‘settlements’ instead of  Palestinian ‘villages’ or ‘hamlets’.

Accorcing to the leftist Israeli newspaper Haaretz, this is a picture of the Palestinian “village” of Halat Makhoul. Would you call this a “village” or even a “hamlet”? This is a settlement.

Who is kidding whom?  “Village” is a word blatantly used to make the West think that the Palestinians are (and have been) living peacefully and sleepily in hamlets for thousands of years.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

11. Use Palestinian ‘settlers’ instead of Palestinian ‘farmers’ and ‘villagers’. Let’s call people what they are, not what the delegitimizers would have us believe that they are.

12. Use ‘PLO’ or  ‘Palestine Liberation Organization’ instead of ‘Palestinian Authority‘. Mahmoud Abbas has made it clear that the PLO runs the show in Areas A and B of Judea and Samaria, and the United Nations recognizes the PLO–not the Palestinian Authority. Your humble servant was the first to use the abbreviation “PLO/PA” when writing about the governance of Areas A and B–an abbreviation now used by various newspaper columnists here in Israel.

13. When possible, use ‘Palestinian Terrorist Organization–HAMAS’ instead of merely ‘Hamas‘. HAMAS is an acronym for “Harakat al Muqawamah al Islamiyya” which means ‘Islamic Resistance Movement’–which is a euphemism for Palestinian Terrorist Movement. It is easier to say or write HAMAS, but the acronym does not tell what the organization is about.

14. In regard to the new PLO-Hamas “government”, use the phrase ‘terrorist government‘ instead of ‘reconciliation‘ or ‘unity‘ government. They only thing the PLO and Hamas are unified about is their desire to destroy Israel.

15. Use ‘conservative politicians’ instead of ‘right-wing politicians‘. Smearing someone as ‘right-wing’ is a convenient way of dismissing what they have to say. Note how quickly international politicians and media (and the leftist Israeli media) call conservative politicians such as Naftali Bennett, Moshe Feiglin, and Orit Struck “right-wing extremists” and “right-wing fanatics” when in fact all they advocate is Israeli nationalism. We should all be so extremist and fanatic.   

16. When possible, use ‘Israeli men, women, and children’ instead of  ‘Israeli citizens‘ when referring to those of us assaulted by terrorists. After all, Palestinian terrorists delight in trying to kill all Israelis–regardless of age or gender.

17. When referring to the human results of Palestinian terrorism, use the term‘wounded’ instead of ‘injured’.  ’Wounded’ connotes an intentional act committed by someone trying to hurt you; ‘injured’ usually does not.

18. When referring to the human results of Palestinian terrorism, never let someone get away with saying that “no one was wounded.” In fact, an Israeli is wounded in every terrorist attack whether those wounds be physical or emotional–just look at the incidence of PTSD among children and adults living along the Gaza border. In fact, using the phrase “no one was wounded” is part of the underpinning of the absurd ‘disproportionality’ canard.  

Note that in this blog, your humble servant often says that “no one was physically wounded but the emotional toll is incalculable.” 

19. Use “so-called human rights organizations” or “self-proclaimed human rights organizations” instead of “human rights organizations” to denote the so-called human rights organizations operating in Israel. None of these organizations are in the least interested in protecting Israeli or Jewish human rights.

20. Use international ‘lawbreakers’ instead of international ‘activists’ when referring to those members of the international community who come to Israel for the express purpose of breaking Israeli law and attacking Israeli police and soldiers.

21. Use ‘the suicide bomber prevention fence instead of the ‘separation fence’ or ‘wall’. Have we all forgotten why the suicide bomber prevention fence was built? To stop suicide bombers.

22. The current round of so-called “peace talks” has apparently come to an end, but it will be back in a new form before we know it.  Use “Israel concession process” instead of “peace process”. There never has been a peace process between Israelis and Palestinians–only a process of trying to wrench ever more concessions out of Israel in return for nothing.

23. Use “Muslims” instead of Muslim fundamentalists, Muslim extremists, Muslim fanatics, Islamists, militant Islamists, hostile Islamists, radical Islamists, and Salafists. If you must use two words to describe terrorists, use “Muslim terrorists.”

What are Muslim fanatics, Muslim extremists, Muslim fundamentalists, Islamists, and Salafists? They are simply Muslims, and the attempt to cast them otherwise is an obvious attempt to portray just plain old “Muslims” as not fanatic, not extremist, not fundamentalist, not Islamist, and not Salafist. In Gaza, we now have the ludicrous situation in which Palestinian terrorist Hamas–which is one of the most fanatic, extremist, fundamentalist, and Islamist terror organizations on the planet–being portrayed as the “good guys” by the media. The time has come once again to call a Muslim a Muslim.