‘Critic to Israel’: Documents show how Israel has criticized NGOs around the world | Israel-Palestine War News

A document obtained by Al Jazeera shows how Israel collected humanitarian data in 2013, selecting the world’s most famous humanitarian organizations for their alleged role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The file, a spreadsheet we obtained through the Israeli ministry’s website, listed more than 150 charities and basic information, such as the name of the director at the time, the organization’s address, phone number, email address and place of work.

But in the “comments” section, 15 were mentioned with words such as “opponent of Israel” in the cases of Premiere Urgence Internationale from France, “participant in the anti-Israel campaign” in Geneva-based Defense for Children International and “strongly involved in BDS” – meaning that Boycott, Secession, Prohibition campaign – explaining Mundubat in Spain.

The document stated that Oxfam “participates in international BDS activities” and encouraged NGOs to join “violations of international law” by supporting projects in the West Bank “despite not being approved by the Israeli Civil Administration”.

Oxfam told Al Jazeera that the comments “seem to reflect their claims and interpretations, not criticism” of its work.

“As a long-established humanitarian organization that operates under strict and accountable laws, we reject claims that are not supported by credible evidence. Oxfam does not support or promote the BDS movement. “

The spokesperson said that the organization adheres to international law and added that “Israeli settlements violate international humanitarian law”.

‘Nothing to do with security’

According to Tania Hary, director of Gisha, an Israeli NGO that promotes Palestinian rights, the document “has nothing to do with security”.

In fact, he said, it is “Another proof that the Israeli government has been following the activities of the organizations that work to save the lives of the Palestinian people who have been living under the oppression of Israel for many years”.

Gisha was not among those named in the file.

The site was found online through the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs, then known as Israel’s Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services. The ministry did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Many reviews cite as their source NGO Monitor, an Israeli-based organization that bills itself as a non-profit organization. The NGO Monitor website, however, has a list of campaigns that include “Mapping the anti-Israel NGO network in the US”. A report on the website said: “Non-governmental organizations in Palestine deny that there are terrorists in Palestine.”

Mayssoun Sukarieh, senior lecturer in the Department of International Development at King’s College London, described NGO Monitor as a “right-wing” organization “that monitors people who are aligned with Palestine”.

Israel felt the ‘bite of BDS’ in 2013

The document was created in October 2013, at a time when the BDS movement against Israel was growing. That year, the physicist Stephen Hawking refused to join a conference in Israel on the Palestinian cause, several student organizations adopted a boycott of education and the main Protestant church in Canada, the United Church of Canada, launched a campaign against goods made in Israeli settlements, which is prohibited under international law.

Experts say the file shows Israel’s methods of vetting charities and the BDS movement four years before it imposed a ban on anyone who supports the campaign.

In 2013, “Israel began to feel the sting of BDS, and the ministry wanted to explain the various aspects of these organizations,” Sukarieh said. “Maybe they were gathering data to reach this law,” he added, referring to the 2017 ban on BDS supporters.

Giovanni Fassina, director of the European Legal Support Centerhe said that the list was written in the “hype of the years Israel is passing laws and fighting BDS”.

“In 2011, (Israel) enacted a law imposing sanctions on any person or organization that seeks economic, cultural or educational neglect in the settlements of the West Bank or Israel itself,” he said.

Israel has been “documenting” groups and individuals “for a long time” using networks that include groups like NGO Monitor, he added.

“This is not a new process. They have been doing this since 2013. In my opinion, this document marks the beginning of this process.”

Non-violent BDS movement seen as ‘threat’

Other charities with comments in the spreadsheet are the Spanish NGO ACSUR-Las Segovias, DanChurchAid from Denmark, Diakonia/NAD from Sweden and Norway, Kvinna from Stockholm to Kvinna Foundation, United Kingdom-based Medical Aid for Palestinians, Germany’s Medico International, Norwegian Refugees Solidarity Association of Sweden, Norwegian Refugees Solidarity Council, Sweden. Socialiste, Vento di Terra Onlus in Italy and World Vision International, based in the UK.

The file also said that Tsafrir Cohen, director of Medico International, wrote about the BDS campaign, urged politicians to pressure Israel and was among the authors behind the 2012 report called Trading Away Peace, which investigated Europe’s role in supporting Israel’s stability.

“The report did not mention sanctions,” Medico’s Riad Othman told Al Jazeera, describing it as “bad”.

He said the file obtained by Al Jazeera showed “a lot of Israel”.

“What was feared was this: If the gap between the wealth of the working class and the looting of land and the wealth of Israel cannot be bridged, where will this leave the rest of Israel’s wealth in the future?”

He said Medico did not join the strike group or the order.

“However, we have publicly defended the right of people and groups to strike,” he said.

The Palestine Solidarity Association of Sweden, which no longer has staff or an office in the Palestinian territories, said it was “common knowledge” that Israeli authorities are monitoring Palestinian support networks.

“They see especially the non-violent BDS movement as a threat,” a spokesperson told Al Jazeera.

The document said that the representative of the Swedish NGO was he tried to provide help to Gaza by boat as part of a flotilla, that the group was “active in BDS” and “campaigned to stop the EU-Israel Association Agreement“.

“We were and still are active in BDS, proudly. We believe it is the most effective way to recognize the rights of the Palestinian people and force Israel to comply with international law,” said the spokesperson.

The NGO’s relationship with Israel was recently highlighted in Israel’s Gaza war, which has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians since it began in October 2023, according to health officials.

Throughout the war, which began after the death of Hamas intervention in southern Israel, Israeli authorities have stopped humanitarian organizations from sending life-saving aid to the Gaza Strip, barring foreign aid workers and doctors from entering, and asked 37 NGOs provide information for Palestinian workers to continue their work in Gaza.

Sukarieh at King’s College London said international aid organizations have “always” been there in Palestine, doing “important work”.

But over the years, “numerous restrictions” have been imposed by Israel and “constantly reviewed”.