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NGO Monitor
Type of site
NGO
Available inEnglish
OwnerJerusalem Center for Public Affairs
URLngo-monitor.org
CommercialNo

NGO Monitor (Non-governmental Organization Monitor) is a non-governmental organization based in Jerusalem whose stated objective is to stop other NGOs from promoting perceived "ideologically motivated anti-Israel agendas"[1] The Economist and Jewish Telegraphic Agency identify NGO Monitor as a pro-Israel non-governmental organization.[2][3]

NGO Monitor in its mission statement says it was founded to "to promote accountability, and advance a vigorous discussion on the reports and activities of humanitarian NGOs in the framework of the Arab-Israeli conflict." The organization was founded jointly by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, an organization which says it has "developed and implemented an array of cutting-edge programs to present Israel's case to the world",[4] and the U.S.-based [5] Wechsler Family Foundation.[6]

Structure and staff

NGO Monitor is the central project of the Organization for NGO Responsibility, a self-described independent non-profit organization registered in Israel operating out of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs/Institute for Contemporary Affairs whose president is Dore Gold, a former ambassador to the United Nations for Israel and adviser to Ariel Sharon.[7] Its editor is Gerald M. Steinberg, a professor at Bar-Ilan University and a columnist for the Jerusalem Post.[8][9] It was formerly a joint project of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and B'nai Brith International founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation.[6] Its staff includes:[1]

  • Gerald M. Steinberg, Executive Director: Professor of Political Studies at Bar Ilan University, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Program on Conflict Management and Negotiation; also a Senior Research Associate at the BESA Center for Strategic Studies, a consultant to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Security Council, and a columnist.[10]
  • Sarah Mandel, Associate Editor.
  • Anne Herzberg, Director of Research and Legal Advisor.
  • Dan Kosky, Communications Director.
  • Andre Oboler, Legacy Heritage Fellow.

Funding

NGO Monitor states that it is funding by the Wechsler Family Foundation originally directed to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs[11] and from Harry Wechsler.[12] Nina Rosenwald, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA),[13] is another NGO Monitor donor.[14] Other supportrs include Newton and Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust, Los Angeles and Ben&Esther Rosenbloom Foundation, Baltimore.[15] The amount of funding the NGO Monitor receives is not disclosed on its official webpage.

Statements by NGO Monitor

NGO Monitor states that its mission is to "end the practice used by certain self-declared 'humanitarian NGOs' of exploiting the label 'universal human rights values' to promote politically and ideologically motivated anti-Israel agendas".[1]

NGO Monitor maintains a directory of NGOs worldwide,[16] which generally includes a description, a quote from the organisation itself, who funds it, and if NGO-Monitor perceives the NGO as anti-Israel, includes a brief justification. NGO-Monitor also contains considerable material in relation to the first Durban Conference,[17] the Durban strategy of divestment and boycott,[18] as well as considerable discussion regarding the upcoming Durban Review Conference.[19]

NGO Monitor held a conference in Jerusalem with the stated aim of encouraging critical debate on the role of NGO’s in the Middle East conflict, with twenty-one humanitarian aid groups in attendance. A panel discussed the pros and cons of NGOs dealing with Hamas.[20][21] NGO’s such as Amnesty International, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights were invited to speak but declined.[20] Amnesty International said the conference did "not give a balanced ground for open and fair dialogue" while another human rights group accused NGO Monitor of "partiality".[21]

NGO Monitor has criticized several major international human rights organizations, such as Christian Aid, for ignoring "Palestinian responsibility in the conflict" and minimizing "Israel’s right to self-defense."[22] Human Rights Watch,[23] Amnesty International,[24] Oxfam,[24] the Center for Constitutional Rights and Medecins Sans Frontieres (also known as Doctors Without Borders).[25]

NGO Monitor released a document comparing Amnesty International's response to the twenty years of ethnic, religious and racial violence in Sudan in which (at that time) 2,000,000 people were killed and 4,000,000 people displaced, to their treatment of Israel. NGO Monitor said that Amnesty International issued seven reports on Sudan, as opposed to 39 reports on Israel.[26] They further said: “While ignoring the large-scale and systematic bombing and destruction of Sudanese villages, AI issued numerous condemnations of the razing of Palestinian houses, most of which were used as sniper nests or belonged to terrorists. Although failing to decry the slaughter of thousands of civilians by Sudanese government and allied troops, AI managed to criticize Israel’s ‘assassinations’ of active terrorist leaders.”[26] NGO Monitor also wrote there were 52 reports on Sudan and 192 reports on Israel. NGO Monitor opined “this lack of balance and objectivity and apparent political bias is entirely inconsistent with AI's official stated mission.”[26]

The organization formerly criticized the Ford Foundation for funding a group which it accuses of condoning violence against Israel.[27] The Ford Foundation has modified its policies regarding funding of NGOs.[28] It also has taken exception to such accusations and says its involvement in the Palestinian territories reflects its belief that a just solution to the conflict is vitally important to the region and the peoples directly affected and that it also funds groups such as the New Israel Fund.[29]

NGO Monitor also states that B'Tselem, an NGO that calls itself "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories", has employed "abusive and demonizing rhetoric designed to elicit political support for Palestinians".[30]

NGO Monitor has criticized the New Israel Fund, which states that its primary objective is "to strengthen Israel's democracy", for funding organizations that NGO Monitor says are engaged in a "campaign to delegitimize Israel." These arguments were denied by the President of the New Israel Fund and law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, Peter Edelman, who described NGO Monitor's criticism as "un-democratic and un-Jewish" and "inherently and fundamentally flawed." [31] Larry Garber, Executive Director of the New Israel Fund, and Elizier Yaari, NIF's Israel Director and a retired Israeli air force major[32], wrote in an op-ed for The Jerusalem Post that if Israel were to accept the premises of Gerald Steinberg, the director of NGO Monitor, then "Israel's credibility - and, more important, the nation's morality - will suffer."[33]

On October 12, 2006, NGO Monitor made a submission to the Government of the United Kingdom on the funding of Israeli NGOs.[34]

Critisism of NGO Monitor

In an op-ed published by Forward, Leonard Fein, a former Professor of Politics and Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at Brandeis University,[35] takes issue with NGO Monitor's statement that Human Rights Watch (HRW) places “extreme emphasis on critical assessments of Israel” and has issued more reports about HRW than on any other of the 75 NGOs it concerns itself with. In his article, Leonard Fein writes that HRW has devoted more attention to five other nations in the region — Iraq, Sudan, Egypt, Turkey and Iran — than they have to Israel; but that, despite extensive correspondence, Mr Steinberg has failed to correct the "misleading" statement about HRW on the NGO Watch website. Fein argues that NGO Monitor may not be free of the "narrow political and ideological preferences” of which it accuses HRW.[9] The Forward writes NGO Monitor says it has increased Human Right Watch's reporting on Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian authority while Human Rights Watch has rejected the statements and said it was dealing with counterterrorism in a post-9/11 world.[36]

Kathleen Peratis, a member of the board of Human Rights Watch has criticized NGO Monitor for accusations against Human Right Watch and its "executive director, whose father fled Nazi Germany". Peratis took issue with an op-ed by NGO Monitor's Gerald Steinberg titled "Ken Roth's Blood Libel",[37] and argues those like NGO Monitor "who want selective exemption of Israel from the rules of war" may not "have faced the implications of getting what they wish for." Peratis further criticized NGO Monitor for not saying specifically where or when HRW statements have been unverifiable.[38]

In an article for the Political Research Associates, which describes itself as "a progressive think tank devoted to supporting movements that are building a more just and inclusive democratic society"[39], Jean Hardisty and Elizabeth Furdon describe NGO Monitor as a "conservative NGO watchdog group,...which focuses on perceived threats to Israeli interests", adding that "the ideological slant of NGO Monitor's work is unabashedly pro-Israeli. It does not claim to be a politically neutral examination of NGO activities and practices."[40]

In an opinion column he writes for the The Jerusalem Post, Larry Derfner asserted that "NGO Monitor doesn't have a word of criticism for Israel, nor a word of acknowledgment, even grudging, for any detail in any human rights report that shows Israel to be less than utterly blameless. In fact, on the subject of Israel's human rights record, NGO Monitor doesn't have a word of disagreement with the Prime Minister's Office," he wrote.[41]

Ittijah, Union of Arab Community Based Organisations in Israel, has said NGO Monitor represents the interests and the say of the Israeli state rather than civil society’s voice based on human rights values. Ittijah further states that NGO Monitor is guided by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[42]

HRW has accused NGO Monitor of making false accusations such as "Accepting Saudi Government Funding". They have responded by stating, "Human Rights Watch takes no government money of any kind". They have further said that "NGO Monitor...conducts no field investigations", and that "NGO Monitor...condemns anyone who criticizes Israel".[43]

Uriel Heilman, a Managing Editor for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) and a senior reporter for the Jerusalem Post, wrote in an online opinion column that there were a "couple of disingenuous (read: inaccurate) elements" in the May 2009 digest of NGO Monitor. Heilman rhetorically asked whether the situation itself was "enough for Steinberg and NGO Monitor's followers without Steinberg having to stretch the truth?" Gerald Steinberg, head of NGO Monitor, later conceded the phrasing was confusing and revised the statement.[44]

David Newman, a professor at Bar-Ilan University, wrote an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post criticizing NGOM for attacking the transparency of human rights organizations while ignoring the murky funding and support for extremist settler organizations: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1259243045210&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.

NGO Monitor has been characterized as a "right-wing Israeli NGO" by Inter Press Service. Didi Remez, a spokesperson for the Peace Now group, said NGO Monitor "is not an objective watchdog: It is a partisan operation that suppresses its perceived ideological adversaries through the sophisticated use of McCarthyite techniques – blacklisting, guilt by association and selective filtering of facts." [45]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "About NGO Monitor". NGO Monitor.
  2. ^ Boycotting Israel: New pariah on the block, The Economist, September 13, 2007.
  3. ^ Ha'aretz columnist dropped by British Zionists, JTA Breaking News, August 31, 2007.
  4. ^ About the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
  5. ^ Non-Profit Data: Exempt Organization Information
  6. ^ a b IMRA: Follow up on ISM and the death of Rachel Corrie
  7. ^ Shlomo Greenwald. Ford Foundation Is Criticized on Mideast Funding. New York Sun. May 23, 2006.
  8. ^ http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~steing/index.shtml Faculty info
  9. ^ a b Leonard Fein (2005-05-20). "Monitoring The Monitor". Jewish Daily Forward.
  10. ^ "Professor Gerald M. Steinberg". Bar-Ilan University.
  11. ^ JCPA: Institute for Contemporary Affairs
  12. ^ NGO Monitor: "Gerald Steinberg debates Irene Khan, head of Amnesty International, on BBC World Service Radio"
  13. ^ Hudson Institute: Staff Bio
  14. ^ NGO Monitor: Founding Donor
  15. ^ NGO Monitor. Official website. Funding NGO Monitor. Last accessed: 18 August 2009.
  16. ^ Directory of Non Governmental Agencies Alpha by Country
  17. ^ NGO Monitor Reports on Durban at website
  18. ^ NGO Leadership in Boycott and Divestment Campaigns
  19. ^ Durban Review Conference 2009 at NGO Monitor site
  20. ^ a b European Jewish Press: EU to discuss Middle East NGOs funding
  21. ^ a b The Jerusalem Post: Major NGOs skip 'unfair' monitoring conference
  22. ^ "Christian Aid (UK)". NGO Monitor.
  23. ^ "Special Report: "Activity Summary of Human Rights Watch March 2003 - March 2004"". NGO Monitor.
  24. ^ a b ""Human Rights Groups are Working Against Peace"". NGO Monitor.
  25. ^ "´Political Humanitarianism´ and Medical NGOs". NGO Monitor.
  26. ^ a b c Fredman, Asher Ahuvia (August 26, 2004). "Asleep at the Wheel: Comparing the Performance of Human Rights NGO's on Sudan and Arab-Israeli Issues". NGO Monitor. Retrieved 2006-07-27.
  27. ^ NGO Monitor: Ford Foundation NGO Funding Update
  28. ^ netWMD: "Stunning Reversal"
  29. ^ Forward: Ford Foundation Backs Proponents of Peace
  30. ^ Betselem: Report Uses Outdated Sources and the Rhetoric of Demonization, NGO Monitor Analysis (Vol. 2 No. 12), August 15, 2004.
  31. ^ NGO Monitor: Exchange of letters on NIF transparency and accountability
  32. ^ Jewish Tribune: New Israel Fund director responds to criticism
  33. ^ The Jerusalem Post: Who's really damaging Israel's image?
  34. ^ The humanitarian and development situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Oral and written evidence By Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. International Development Committee. (Session 2007-08). Published by The Stationery Office, 2008 ISBN 0215523199 p 79
  35. ^ Hoover Institution: Is Camp David Falling Apart?
  36. ^ Human Rights Watch To Increase Focus on Terrorism, Marc Perelman, July 29, 2005, The Forward, [1]
  37. ^ Jerusalem Post: Ken Roth's blood libel
  38. ^ The Washington Post: Diversionary Strike On a Rights Group
  39. ^ PublicEye.org: About PRA
  40. ^ Policing Civil Society Spring 2004, Political Research Associates
  41. ^ Derfner, Larry (2009-07-22). "Rattling the Cage: The smearing of human rights organizations". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  42. ^ Ittijah: Statement on Israel’s Pronouncement to Boycott
  43. ^ http://www.hrw.org/en/node/84956
  44. ^ JTA: Playing fast and loose with the facts at NGO Monitor
  45. ^ MIDEAST: Israel Declares War on Peace NGOs (IPS, Dec. 24, 2009)
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