Ford Foundation Still Funding NGOs that Demonize Israel
The Ford Foundation funds many causes that improve the world and advance its goals of “strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advance human achievement.” Ford gives priority to work in the Palestinian territories, acknowledging that “a just resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is of central importance to the region as a whole, as well as to the peoples directly affected.”
Strange then that it also funds NGOs such as Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, International Committee of Jurists (ICJ), Miftah, Al-Haq, Al-Mezan, SHAML and EMHRN, all of which exploit human rights rhetoric to delegitimize Israel while undermining efforts towards a peaceful end to the conflict. It’s even stranger considering Ford Foundation President Susan Berresford promised to stop funding groups that “promote or condone bigotry or violence, or that challenge the very existence of legitimate, sovereign states like Israel” in the wake of widespread allegations that Ford helped finance much of the anti-Israel activity at the infamous Durban Anti-Racism Conference.
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Why do you say “Strange…” “Even stranger…”? Henry Ford was a noted anti-Semite going back to 1920. The Ford Foundation is merely carrying out the mission of its spiritual mentor.
I don’t know about the other organizations but your characterization of mifta is beyond unfair. Miftah promotes the two state solution. If you can’t fund miftah then all TRUE Palestinian civil rights organizations will be off limits. You are basically taking the position that anyone to defends their rights is terrorist or delegitimizing Israel. Here is their website. http://www.miftah.org/ I would feel no shame what so ever in contribunting to them.
I think this headline should be changed to “Ford Foundation still funding NGO’s that CRITICIZE Israel! You offer no proof what so ever of demonizing and neither does ngo monitor, which has a record of not being able to distinguish the difference between criticism of demonization and of plain making up stuff.
This post is pure horsecrap. The pro-Israel crowd has been out for the Ford Foundation’s scalp for years. Chief among them is Gerald Steinberg who runs NGOMonitory, the site linked here. Steinberg was one of Ariel Sharon’s policy wonks. Steinberg’s tactics are reminiscent of David Horowitz’s. BTW, Steinberg also sticks it to Ford for granting the New Israel Fund a major grant to promote Israeli-Palestinian understanding. Is NIF an “enemy of Israel” too??
Pls. don’t believe this propaganda…
Granted I’m probably more radical than most posters on Jewschool, but this proves Jewschool has absolutely no shame, trying to destroy the funding sources of internationally-respected Palestinian civil society groups. It’s not even an original post, whole quotes w/out attribution are lifted straight from NGO-Monitor, such as ” all of which exploit human rights rhetoric to delegitimize Israel while undermining efforts towards a peaceful end to the conflict.” I haven’t searched all their complaints thoroughly, but one particularly caught my eye; complaining that the ISM refers to Nablus exclusively as a “Palestinian city,” ignoring its biblical history as Shechem. I mean, please.
Yes, Palestinian civil society should just keep quiet while Israel carves up the West Bank and puts the Palestinians “on a diet.” How does documenting this reprehensible behavior “delegitimize” or “demonize” israel?
Also it is important to remember a point that NGO Monitor often forgets: that some of those organizations may in fact be receiving their funding from different “pots” of the greater Ford stash- Egypt, for example- as opposed to the local grants earmarked for peacebuilding/dialogue/civil society within Israel/Palestine.