Bij het heengaan van Ami Isseroff en Joe Hochstein

 

Onze twee Israelische vrienden Ami en Joe overleden eind juni in dezelfde week, puur toevallig. Om Ami maakten we ons al jaren zorgen vanwege zijn slechte gezondheidstoestand. De dood van Joe was het meest onverwacht, en we kwamen er pas na bijna twee weken achter. Toen we maar geen reaktie van hem kregen na het overlijden van Ami, werden we ongerust en ben ik heb gaan googelen. Onze ergste vrees werd bewaarheid. Als voormalig uitgever van een prijswinnend Joods weekblad in de VS, waren er in diverse Amerikaanse media officiële obituaries verschenen, maar die waren ons ontgaan. En als rustige man op de achtergrond hadden de Israelische activisten waar we contact mee hebben zijn overlijden ook niet opgemerkt. Hij was vorig jaar al gestopt met zijn politieke werk op internet, wat we gezien zijn leeftijd en toch wel getob met zijn gezondheid wel begrepen. In april jongstleden hebben we beiden voor het laatst opgezocht.

 

Ami en Joe waren voor Israel en voor vrede met de Arabieren, en hebben zich daar jarenlang voor ingezet via ondermeer het internet. Zoals veel Israeli's werden ze sceptischer over de vredeskansen toen het Oslo proces letterlijk werd opgeblazen door de Hamas, Islamitische Jihad en Al Aqsa Brigades, met goedkeuring en steun van nobelprijswinnaar Yassar Arafat. Anders dan velen bleven ze actief naar een compromis en verzoening streven, onder meer via MidEast Web. Maar evenals Ratna en ik moesten ze hun energie en aandacht gaan verdelen om de zogenaamde "vredesactivisten" tegenwicht te bieden die Israel willen boycotten en opdoeken. Reden waarom Ami naast MidEastWeb ook Zionism Israel Info Center opstartte en ons en Joe daarvoor te hulp vroeg. En eigenlijk ook de reden dat Ratna en ik Israel-Palestina Info opzetten, dat ergens tussen de twee sites van Ami in zit.

 

Als u zich afvraagt waarom u op onze blogs en websites zoveel over deze u waarschijnlijk onbekende Israeli's tegenkomt, dan is dat dus omdat zij ons (en vele anderen) voor een groot deel tot dit werk geinspireerd hebben, en omdat het heel bijzondere mensen waren...

 

Wouter

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cross-posted on ZioNation and MidEastWeb.

 

Ami and Joe: two great men have left us

14.07. 2011

http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000760.html

 

 We mourn the passing of Joe Hochstein, who died this June 26, and of Ami Isseroff, who died only a few days later, on June 29.


Joe and Ami at Ami's place in 2009


Ami was the guy who set up MidEast Web in 2000 and Zionism and Israel Information Center in 2005, and their associated Yahoo news and discussion groups, and Joe has been a co-moderator for most of this time. The goal of MidEast Web was to bring Jews and Arabs together and to work on mutual understanding; the goal of Zionism and Israel Info Center was to defend the legitimacy of Israel and Zionism.

Both men were born in the United States and made aliyah, Ami in the 1960s and Joe in the 1980s. Both were firm believers in Israel and in the quest for peace in the Middle East, and came to pursue their dreams and to help make the country a better place.

Ami started out working on a kibbutz in the late 1960s to bring his socialist ideas into practice, but after a while became frustrated with the lack of intellectual challenge; after a day's hard work in the fields, his fellow kibbutzniks were not inclined to engage in discussions on socialist and Zionist ideals and the state of the world. So Ami went on to study psychology and achieved a doctorate, met his wife and started a family. He eventually got a job at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot as a very skilled computer programmer, and a nighttime career as an internet activist and a very illuminating thinker and productive writer on the web, inspiring many with his views on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Joe already had a career behind him as an established journalist and publisher of the award-winning Washington-based newspaper The Jewish Week, when, as a widower with three children, he came to Israel in 1983, realizing a long-held dream. Then Joe's son Marcus, who had made aliyah before him, was killed in an ambush by Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1985. Despite this, in a memorial ceremony in 1986 Joe expressed his and others' commitment to Israel: "Jewish history is being made today, here in Israel. Our loved ones played their role in it; we can give it further meaning."
Joe himself survived an Islamic Jihad suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in 1996.

In the 1990s, during the Oslo peace process, Ami became involved in Jewish-Arab dialog and peace activities. In 1998 he started the PEACE group together with Jordanian Ameen Hannoun, and soon they recruited dozens of participants.
Next to dialogue meetings, they started several projects on the rapidly expanding worldwide web, like the Peace Dialogue site and the PeaceWatch column; the latter was hosted on fellow peace activist Robert Rosenberg's Ariga website and was maintained by Ami until 2007.

In August 2000, initiator Yehoshua Zamir, Hope Flowers school founder Hussein Issa, Ami and many others launched MidEast Web for Coexistence, "an NGO for advancing education for coexistence and dialogue in the Middle East". Ami as webmaster filled the website almost singlehandedly with an impressive number of background articles, documents and insightful analyses about the Israeli-Arab conflict. His remarkable intellect, productivity and passion are evident throughout these pages.

In December 2000 they started the MEW Dialog Yahoo group, followed in January 2001 by the MEW News group and in October 2002 by the MEW Background group. In December 2002 they added the Middle East Web Log on MidEast Web. By then, Joseph Hochstein had joined the website and e-mail groups, bringing his knowledge, thoughtfulness and many years of experience as a publisher and editor to MidEast Web, mostly providing quiet advice in the background, pointing out important facts and viewpoints and setting straight historical errors.


Joseph Hochstein in 2008

When the hope for a solution to the conflict dwindled during the second intifada, many lost their faith in the MidEast Web project and drifted away. Ami, Joe and a handful of others remained active, but Ami recognized the dangers of the increasing international campaigns to delegitimize Israel and Zionism. In 2005, after helping to set up Zionism on the Web, he started another major website, Zionism and Israel Information Center, and new affiliated Yahoo groups to defend Zionism and Israel against these vicious attacks. He recruited us and later Joe Hochstein to aid in this effort.

On "ZIIC" Ami repeated his amazing MidEast Web work and wrote article after article about all aspects of Zionism and its history and meaning, making it one of the best and comprehensive websites on the subject. He started the ZioNation blog to provide his comments and invited others to join, and offered Ratna a separate blog in Dutch.

Although their characters were quite different, Joe and Ami highly respected each other's work and benefited from each other's knowledge and insights. They co-authored the blog Israel Like This As If for some years, where especially Joe placed stories about his everyday experiences living in Tel Aviv.

What was very special about both Ami and Joe is that they combined their Zionism and love for Israel with a progressive viewpoint and the quest for peace and understanding of the other side. Unlike many peace activists they, especially Ami, were staunch defenders of Israel and its right to exist and defend itself, but unlike many pro-Israel activists they never lost the will and hope to reach peace with the Palestinians and Arabs. Both men came from the political left and remained faithful to these basic views, Joe also being active for the Tel Aviv chapter of Meretz.

They also shared an eagerness to unravel the facts behind media reports and claims from both sides in the conflict. The truth was the basis for all positions, even if inconvenient for Israel, like what happened in Deir Yassin, which got Ami a lot of angry responses from other Zionists. They were not blind to Israel's own faults, but neither to the many faults of the Palestinian leadership, which was ultimately unwilling to really compromise for peace.

As for us personally, Joe and Ami were our first friends in Israel, and we visited them every time we were there in the last six years. MidEast Web, Zionism Israel Info Center and their news and discussion groups were what got us involved with the country and the conflict. They taught us much of what we know about Israel and the conflict.

As educated men they were interested in and well informed of a wide variety of subjects, from history to culture, from philosophy to nature. There was always plenty to talk about and to learn from them, and to enjoy. We remember Ami also for his humor, his and his wife Ruth's hospitality, and Joe for the dinners at his place or sharing a good falafel in the streets of Tel Aviv.

We will sorely miss them both, personally and as political allies and guides. Israel won't be the same without these friends.


Ami Isseroff in 2007

We express our sympathy with the families of both Joe and Ami for their very great loss. Ami reached the age of 65, and leaves behind a wife and three children. Joe reached the age of 77, and leaves behind two children and eight grandchildren.

Ratna & Wouter, the Netherlands


Ami's family has indicated that donations to commemorate Ami are welcome to any hospital in Israel. Rehovot's Kaplan Medical Center has an American Friends group and can be contacted at amuta_kp@clalit.org.il 
 

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Original content is Copyright by the author 2011. Posted at ZioNation-Zionism and Israel Web Log, http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000760.html where your intelligent and constructive comments are welcome. Disributed by ZNN list. Subscribe by sending a message to ZNN-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Please forward by e-mail with this notice, cite this article and link to it. Other uses by permission only.

IsraAID: Israelische organisatie helpt Zuid-Soedan

 

De Arabieren vinden het maar niks, die deling van Soedan. Zelfs Abbas staat pal achter de vredestichter Al-Bashir (waar zit dat ironie-teken op mijn toetsenbord nou?), en menigeen vermoedt het zoveelste Zionistische complot erachter tegen de religie van vrede (idem).

 

Een Israelische humanitaire organisatie gaat hulp bieden aan het nieuwe land Zuid-Soedan; dat is nog eens wat anders dan een paar ton spenderen aan een bootje om persoonlijk 30.000 steunbetuigingen naar Gaza te brengen (alsof ze daar geen e-mail hebben). In Zuid-Soedan is de internet-dichtheid anders nog vrij klein, schat ik zo in. Misschien dat daar een Free Sudan konvooi heen kan met felicitaties en steunbetuigingen?

 

Wouter

_____________

 

IsraAID: How REAL humanitarians act

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/07/israaid-how-real-humanitarians-act.html

 

 

Helping the new nation of South Sudan.

From JPost:

 

IsraAid, an umbrella group of Israeli and Jewish humanitarian aid organizations, is preparing to send a consignment of humanitarian aid to the newly formed nation of South Sudan, the group said in a statement on Sunday.

The aid package worth $100,000 will include food, clean water, medical supplies and other non-food items.

In addition, IsraAid teams have also begun to plan for a long-term project, aimed at providing assistance to vulnerable women and children living on the streets and in refugee camps around the capital city of Juba. The group, whose full name is the Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid, hopes to raise $1.5 million for the initiative.

“As a small and relatively new-born country, Israel has gained experience in various factors of water, agriculture, post-traumatic stress disorder, education, migration and others that would be valuable to the people of South Sudan who are now building their country,” said Shachar Zahavi, founding director of IsraAID. It is our mission and Jewish commitment to reach out to our new friends in any way we can.”

IsraAid is working in conjunction with Operation Blessing, a Christian humanitarian aid organization based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, which is providing support on the ground for IsraAid’s efforts.

 

Yesterday, George Galloway said that "Israel takes money, it doesn't give it." Oh well, another lie from the Ziophobes, another drop in the ocean.

Zvi comments:

 

The anti-Israel drones squander an insane amount of effort and money to symbolically hurt Israelis, when there are REAL humanitarian causes out there that would benefit very much from that kind of effort and money. The hysterical anti-Israel drones have succumbed to the temptation to let their hatred overcome their humanity, warp their perspective and destroy their souls. 

If every last one of them were to vanish from the world tomorrow, the world would not notice the difference, except that the volume of shouting would decrease a bit. 

In contrast, if IsraAID were to vanish from the world tomorrow, lives would end in many poor countries.

And that says just about all that needs to be said.

 

Jong geleerd, oud gedaan: Hamas zomerkamp 2011

 

Het valt me op dat de kinderen allemaal dezelfde kleren en petjes op hebben, allemaal met Hamas ‘resistance’ logo natuurlijk. Dat zulke gehersenspoelde kinderen later ook niet erg vredelievend en compromisbereid zullen zijn tegenover Israel, ligt voor de hand. Hier het resultaat van de Palestijnse propaganda van de afgelopen jaren: Opiniepeiling: 6 van de 10 Palestijnen wijzen tweestatenoplossing af

Zie verder ook: Hamas artikel op Israel Palestina Info en het Handvest van Hamas. 

 

RP

----------- 

 

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/07/hamas-summer-camp-2011.html

 

Some photos from this year's camp, where Hamas teaches kids teamwork, pride and how to kill Jews:

 

 

 

Opiniepeiling: 6 van de 10 Palestijnen wijzen tweestatenoplossing af

 

73% of 1,010 Palestinians in W. Bank, Gaza agree with 'hadith' quoted in Hamas Charter about the need to kill Jews hiding behind stones, trees.

Only one in three Palestinians (34 percent) accepts two states for two peoples as the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an intensive, face-to-face survey in Arabic of 1,010 Palestinian adults in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip completed this week by American pollster Stanley Greenberg.

Elder of Ziyon zegt over deze poll:

This poll is completely at odds with the world's assumptions of a Palestinian Arab people who desire peace with Israel - assumptions that are shaped by media that reports what journalists want to be true rather than what actually is.

If Western leaders understood this survey, they would know that the unilateral declaration of a state planned for September is anything but a peaceful move. They would know that real peace is literally impossible and that "compromise" is not in the Palestinian Arab vocabulary. They would know that any move at the UN makes war more likely, not less.

Velen zullen daar ongetwijfeld tegenin brengen dat de Palestijnen gematigder zullen zijn op het moment dat er een Palestijnse staat is en het beter met ze gaat, maar zo ken ik er ook nog wel een paar. Overigens is vaker uit polls gebleken dat de Palestijnen niet echt voor twee staten zijn, en bijvoorbeeld in grote meerderheid vinden dat alle vluchtelingen en hun nakomelingen naar Israel moeten kunnen ‘terugkeren’ en ook vinden dat de Joden geen volk zijn en een Joodse staat daarom racistisch is (vraag me niet naar de logica). Omdat er in iedere poll ook wel een paar positieve antwoorden staan, of zaken die je positief uit kunt leggen (dat een meerderheid wel wil praten bijvoorbeeld, al wil dat niet zeggen dat ze geweld tegen Israeli’s afkeuren), kunnen de media het zo spinnen dat het hun idee van de redelijke, onschuldige Palestijnen niet tezeer tegenspreekt. Ik ben benieuwd of en wat hiervan in de media te vinden zal zijn. Het zal zeker niet gekoppeld worden aan Palestijnse opruiing en verheerlijking van geweld, verschijnselen die eveneens continu worden gebagatelliseerd. 

 

RP

------------ 

 

6 in 10 Palestinians reject 2-state solution, survey finds

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=229493

By GIL HOFFMAN  
07/15/2011 04:26 

73% of 1,010 Palestinians in W. Bank, Gaza agree with 'hadith' quoted in Hamas Charter about the need to kill Jews hiding behind stones, trees.

Only one in three Palestinians (34 percent) accepts two states for two peoples as the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an intensive, face-to-face survey in Arabic of 1,010 Palestinian adults in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip completed this week by American pollster Stanley Greenberg.

The poll, which has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, was conducted in partnership with the Beit Sahour-based Palestinian Center for Public Opinion and sponsored by the Israel Project, an international nonprofit organization that provides journalists and leaders with information about the Middle East.

The Israel Project is trying to reach out to the Arab world to promote “people-to-people peace.” The poll appears to indicate that the organization has a difficult task ahead.

Respondents were asked about US President Barack Obama’s statement that “there should be two states: Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people and Israel as the homeland for the Jewish people.”

Just 34% said they accepted that concept, while 61% rejected it.

Sixty-six percent said the Palestinians’ real goal should be to start with a two-state solution but then move to it all being one Palestinian state.

Asked about the fate of Jerusalem, 92% said it should be the capital of Palestine, 1% said the capital of Israel, 3% the capital of both, and 4% a neutral international city.

Seventy-two percent backed denying the thousands of years of Jewish history in Jerusalem, 62% supported kidnapping IDF soldiers and holding them hostage, and 53% were in favor or teaching songs about hating Jews in Palestinian schools.

When given a quote from the Hamas Charter about the need for battalions from the Arab and Islamic world to defeat the Jews, 80% agreed. Seventy-three percent agreed with a quote from the charter (and a hadith, or tradition ascribed to the prophet Muhammad) about the need to kill Jews hiding behind stones and trees.

But only 45% said they believed in the charter’s statement that the only solution to the Palestinian problem was jihad.

The survey’s more positive findings included that only 22% supported firing rockets at Israeli cities and citizens and that two-thirds preferred diplomatic engagement over violent “resistance.”

Among Palestinians in general 65% preferred talks and 20% violence. In the West Bankit was 69-28%, and in Gaza, 59- 32%.

Asked whether they backed seeking a Palestinian state unilaterally in the UN, 64% said yes. The number was 57% in the West Bank and 79% in Gaza. Thirty-seven percent said the UN action would bring a Palestinian state closer, 16% said it would set back the establishment of a state, and 44% said it would make no difference.

When asked what Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s top priorities should be, 83% said creating jobs. Just 4% said getting the UN to recognize a Palestinian state, and only 2% said peace talks with Israel.

Israel Project president Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi said she was encouraged that the Arab Spring would bring more accuracy to Arab media and by the 59% of Palestinians who are on Facebook. The Israel Project has 80,723 friends for its Arabic site, which has had 9.5 million page views in two months.

“Some of the numbers in the poll are discouraging, but we are trying to change them,” she said at a Jerusalem press conference in which Greenberg presented the findings.

Greenberg said the survey proved that there was a big need for public education and leadership on the Palestinian side.

Greenberg and Laszlo Mizrahi have presented the findings to President Shimon Peres, opposition leader Tzipi Livni, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Vice Premier Moshe Ya’alon and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s senior adviser, Ron Dermer.

Next week, they have meetings scheduled in the White House and the Pentagon.

Israeli leaders toldGreenberg and Laszlo Mizrahi they were encouraged by Palestinian support for talks.

“The Palestinians want solutions, not revolutions,” Peres told them according to Laszlo Mizrahi.  

Israel en VS vieren deling van Soedan (cartoon)

This cartoon appeared in the Jordanian daily Al-Dustur and was rebroadcast on official Palestinian Authority television. The text in the upper right says "Division of Sudan," and the distorted figures of the American and the Jew are shown toasting the division by drinking Sudanese oil. The text in both speech bubbles is "cheers."

 

 

De Palestijnse Autoriteit ziet het nieuwe land Zuid-Soedan als een samenzwering van Joden en Amerikanen om aan goedkope olie te komen, die deze gemeneriken blijkbaar liever kopen bij een ex rebellenleider dan bij iemand die verantwoordelijk wordt gehouden voor genocide. Het is natuurlijk allemaal onzin, en als het allemaal meezit heeft Israel straks haar eigen olievelden. Maar de Palestijnen zijn blijkbaar niet erg gecharmeerd van dit nieuwe land, en vinden het maar verraad aan Soedan.

 

Abbas against division of Sudan:

In a letter to President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, who is accused of responsibility for the genocide in Darfur, Abbas stated that the Palestinian people and leadership "have complete faith in the wisdom of President Omar Al-Bashir" and that they "support the unity of the land of Sudan and its people."

 

Dat de bevolking van Zuid-Soedan stelselmatig werd achtergesteld en dat twee miljoen mensen werden gedood in de gevechten tegen de opstanden in Zuid-Soedan, dat doet er allemaal niet toe. Tot zoverre de Palestijnse solidariteit met andere onderdrukte volken. 

 

RP

------------- 

 

 

Click here to view PMW's website

Cartoon: Demonized Jew and American celebrate division of Sudan http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=5295 by Itamar Marcus     [PA TV (Fatah), July 10, 2011] As documented by Palestinian Media Watch, Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has expressed opposition to the division of Sudan in the past, and his close aide called the proposals for division an "Israeli conspiracy."    Abbas against division of Sudan: In a letter to President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, who is accused of responsibility for the genocide in Darfur, Abbas stated that the Palestinian people and leadership "have complete faith in the wisdom of President Omar Al-Bashir" and that they "support the unity of the land of Sudan and its people."    Israeli conspiracy to divide Sudan: PA official Abd Al-Rahman, Director General of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's office, accused Israel of being involved in a conspiracy to divide Sudan, saying that "there are other conspiracies which the occupation [Israel] plans so as to cause a decrease [in attention] to the Palestinian cause and to turn it into a secondary matter with no priority, such as... the division of Sudan."

 

 

PMW | King George 59 | Jerusalem | Israel

 

Israel zit naar mijn  inzicht tussen een Westers en een Midden-Oosters land in, maar spiegelt zich graag aan het Westen, en wordt ook vaak naar die maatstaven beoordeeld -- en veroordeeld.

Gezien haar positie temidden van (mag ik het zeggen?) achterlijke en goeddeels vijandige Arabische staten kan zij zich de Westerse maatstaven en normen niet altijd veroorloven. Oproepen tot een boycot van je eigen land is toch een min of meer staatsvijandige activiteit; in een Arabisch land moet je zoiets echt niet proberen. In die zin blijft Israel een oase van vrijheid en democratie in het Midden-Oosten.

De brief van het CIDI vind ik dan ook wel erg zwaar aangezet, maar ieder zijn mening. Als sympatisant van boycot-campagnes (Nestlé boycot ik al sinds 1983, evenals Douwe Egberts en Chiquita, om maar eens wat te noemen), kan ik deze wet ook niet echt ondersteunen, maar ik heb er wel enig begrip voor in Israels situatie.

 

Wouter

____________

 

CIDI vraagt Netanyahu de boycotwet te herroepen

http://www.cidi.nl/Nieuwsberichten/CIDI-vraagt-Netanyahu-de-boycotwet-te-herroepen.html

WO 13-07-2011

In een brief aan de Israelische premier Benjamin Netanyahu, vraagt CIDI om de herroeping van de anti-boycotwet die maandag 11 juli werd aangenomen. De wet maakt sancties mogelijk tegen een ieder die oproept tot een boycot van Israel, hetzij economisch, academisch of cultureel. Burgers en organisaties kunnen hen voor het gerecht dagen en een schadevergoeding eisen. Tevens zijn bedrijven uitgesloten van inschrijving op offertes van de overheid.

Ronny Naftaniel, directeur van het Centrum Informatie en Documentatie Israel, verzocht in zijn brief aan de premier van Israel de wet te herroepen.

'Namens het Centrum voor Informatie en Documentatie Israel (CIDI) wil ik mijn zorgen uiten over de anti-boycot wet van de Knesset. Ik zou u willen vragen om uw macht aan te wenden en uw best te doen om deze contraproductieve wet in te perken en te herroepen.

Door het opleggen van een wettelijke aansprakelijkheid tegen iedereen die oproept tot een economische, academische of culturele boycot van Israel dient de Wet om Schade aan de Staat Israel door middel van Boycots te Voorkomen van 11 juli vrijheid van meningsuiting en andere burgerrechten een grote klap toe. Inplaats van de Israelische samenleving en Israels status op een cruciaal moment te versterken, verzwakt deze wet dit juist.

Sinds de oprichting in 1974 heeft CIDI zich gekeerd tegen acties om Israel te boycotten en heeft het zijn best gedaan om dergelijke initiatieven te bestrijden. Deze strijd mag echter niet de hoekstenen van de Israelische democratie aantasten. Wij zijn er trots op deze te steunen en, zo nodig, te verdedigen. Verder vinden wij dat acties om deze schadelijke wet in te perken eerst vanuit u, als Israels leider, moet komen, voordat het voor het Hooggerechtshof verschijnt.

Als laatste wil ik zeggen dat CIDI gelooft dat Israels maatschappij, met zijn traditie van levendig en democratisch publiek debat, bekwaam genoeg is om het boycot fenomeen op te lossen zonder parlementaire bemoeienis.'

 De volledige brief kunt u hier bekijken

  

Lijst van organisaties die Israel boycots steunen en hun financiers

 

Een interessant overzicht van organisaties die de boycot (BDS) campagne tegen Israel ondersteunen en de regeringen die hen geld geven. Hleaas staat Nederland er ook meermaals bij, maar die financiering is in een aantal gevallen gelukkig gestopt. Noorwegen en Zweden zijn verder nogal actief, en een organisatie genaamd NDC (NGO Development Center) die Elder of Ziyon omschrijft als:

 *The NDC mechanism is funded by Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands; 2008-9

 

Maar ook bij financiering van 2010 tot 2012 staat de NDC meermaals met flinke bedragen. Ben benieuwd wat voor 'mechanisme' dit is.

NGO Monitor schrijft over NDC op haar website:

 

• NDC's budget for 2009 was $14 million. Donors included:
  • Joint funds from Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, $4,745,996 (32.9%)
  • World Bank, $4,040,381 (28%)
  • France, $ 3,948,227 (27.3%)
  • Switzerland, $900,000 (6.2%)
  • Islamic Development Bank, $549,933 (3.8%)
  • Welfare Association, $120,000 (0.83%)
  • European Union: $108,164 (0.75%)
  • Germany, $ 18,720 (0.13%)
• In July 2008, these four governments established and funded the Human Rights and Good Governance  (HR/GG) Secretariat, managed by NDC, which comprised 1/3 of NDC's total budget in 2009 (annual report, p. 29).
• Approximately $18 million has been pledged to NDC for 2010-2013 from the four governments: Switzerland, CHF 4.4 million; Sweden, SEK 31.5 million; Netherlands, $4.5; and Denmark, DKK 25 million.
  • NGOs with increased funding for 2010-12:B'Tselem ($680,000), Badil ($575,000), Musawa ($390,000), HaMoked ($680,000),  Adalah($170,000), Gisha ($271,000) and DCI-PS($639,000).
  • Israeli NGOs receiving funding from NDC: B'Tselem, HaMoked, Bimkom ($160,000), ICAHD ($76,000), PCATI ($33,000), Adalah, Gisha, ACRI($50,000), Rabbis for Human Rights ($50,000).
  • A significant number of NGO grantees advance BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) campaigns – including PCHR ($425,000), Al-Haq($134,000), DCI-PS, Al Mezan ($425,000), ARIJ($40,000), Badil, Miftah ($110,000) and the Israeli NGO ICAHD.

 

Dit is dus een Palestijnse NGO die geld krijgt om verder te verdelen en dit aan een hele rits anti-Israel NGO's in de Palestijnse gebieden en Israel doet. Waarom er voor zo'n constructie is gekozen en niet voor het direct financieren, is me onduidelijk. Ik zou zeggen dat hier voor onze regering alvast een gemakkelijke bezuinigingspost ligt, al is het niet veel op de 18 miljard. Het financieren van rabiate anti-Israel NGO's gaat in tegen de doelstelling van onze regering om via onderhandelingen tot een tweestatenoplossing te komen, aangezien de meeste van bovengenoemde organisaties tegen een tweestatenoplossing zijn. Bovendien leidt de financiering van organisaties die boycots promoten en daarmee bijdragen aan polarisatie ook tot maatregelen als de omstreden anti-boycotwet die het Israelische parlement onlangs heeft aangenomen. 

 

RP

----------

 

NGO Monitor's list of BDSers being funded by governments

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/07/ngo-monitors-list-of-bdsers-being.html

 

NGO Monitor came out with a very important piece of research showing a list of organizations that support boycotting and sanctions against Israel - and the countries that fund them:

NGOs involved in BDS and their funders (partial list): NGO Primary Funders Funding Amount Central Involvement Addameer Sweden €207,000 (2009) Signatory to 2005 BDS call (http://www.bdsmovement.net/) NDC* $127,000 (2010-12) Al Haq Holland $426,201 (funding ceased in 2008) Signatory to 2005 BDS call (http://www.bdsmovement.net/) Ireland Norway $88,928 (2009) $156,163 (2009, funding ceased) Ford Foundation Diakonia NDC* $600,000 (2009-10) $120,490 (2009) $134,000 (2010-12) Al Mezan Sweden €105,000 (2007-9) Signatory to 2005 BDS call (http://www.bdsmovement.net/) NDC* $425,000 (2010-12) Norway, EU funding not transparent Alternative Information Center Belgium ICCO Sweden (via Diakonia) Spain and the Basque gov't (via MUNDUBAT) Catalan gov't (via Sodepau) funding not transparent 434,024NIS (2009) 164,225NIS (2009)   711,182NIS (2009)   173,271NIS (2009) "Yes to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Against Israel" Alternatives (Montreal) Canada $2,000,000 CAN (2008-10) (unclear if ceased) Signatory to 2005 BDS call (http://www.bdsmovement.net/) Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (PA) EU €374,174 (2009-11) Signatory to 2005 BDS call (http://www.bdsmovement.net/) Spain €98,347 (2009) Switzerland funding not transparent Badil (PA) NDC* $575,000 (2010-12) Leader of BDS movement Christian Aid Ireland, EU 24,521,692£ (2009-10) "Partner supporting" calling for BDS and "pursuing parastata Zionist orgs" Coalition of Women for Peace EU €247,954 (2005-7) Runs "Who profits?" website, which is central in the Norwegian BDS campaign NIF $294,129 (2006-9)(funding ceased 2011) Defence of Children International -Palestine Section Sweden (via Save the Children) European Union 459,000SEK (2009-11) 600,000€ (2009-12) Signatory to 2005 BDS call (http://www.bdsmovement.net/) NDC* England $639,000 (2010-12) £12,500 Diakonia Sweden $52.7 million (2009) Advocates for divestment strategy against Israel, lobbies against EU-Israel upgrade EU 10,500,000SEK Human Rights Watch Soros' Open Society Institute $2,353,895 (2007-8) $100,000,000 (2010-20) Supported Caterpillar boycott,Call for cuts in U.S. foreign aid to Israel Ford Foundation $445,000 (2009-11) Netherlands via Oxfam-NOVIB $987,818 (2007-8) Israel Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) Spain €105,000 (2009) Leader in BDS activism NDC* EU $76,000 (2010-12) €169,661 (2010-12) KAIROS Canada - funding washalted in 2009 $1,575,966 (2008) Main supporter of church divestment campaign Machsom Watch EU €251,650 (2007-2010) Norwegian Pension Fund divestment campaign NIF $204,698(2006-9) Miftah EU $79,906 (2010) Signatory to 2005 BDS call (http://www.bdsmovement.net/) Denmark $28,077 (2010) Austria NDC* $60,624 (2010) $110,000 (2010-12) Mossawa NIF $517,642 (2006-8) Norwegian Pension Fund divestment campaign EU €298,660 (2006-8) UK funding not transparent Norwegian Association of NGOs for Palestine (incl. Norwegian People's Aid) Norway €57,000 (2008) Coordinates Norwegian Boycott Israel Campaign USA €8,000 (2008) Sweden, Netherlands funding not transparent Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) NDC* $130,000 Leader of BDS movement Received France's Human Rights Prize Sabeel Sweden €76,000 (2006-8) Leader of global church divestment movement Trocaire Ireland €23,499,837 (2008) Supports BDS movement, lobbies against EU-Israel upgrade, calls for review of arms export licenses UK €640,682 (2008) EU €1,698,692 (2008) War on Want UK €256,000 (2008) Advocates for sanctions, including arms boycott Ireland €77,000 (2008) EU €266,000 (2008) Palestinian Center for Human Rights (Gaza) NDC* EU, Holland, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden $425,000 (2010-12) funding not transparent Leader of BDS movement *The NDC mechanism is funded by Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands; 2008-9

 

I wonder if anyone ever put together a list of which regions/countries receive the most international NGO help? It would be interesting to see if money spent has any relationship to money needed.