Europeans still playing double game against Israel

The relationship between European governments and Palestinian NGOs that de-legitimize Israel or have ties to the PFLP is so strong and so co-dependent, that they simply cannot stop funding them.

By  Liora Henig-Cohen, ISRAEL HAYOM

The Europeans are still playing a double game against Israel. Nine European governments last week issued a joint statement on six Palestinian NGOs that Israel designated as terrorist groups in 2021. In their statement, the governments said they have seen “no substantial evidence” to support Israel’s allegations and will, therefore, “continue to cooperate with and support” these groups.

According to Israel, these organizations are a network working under the guise of human rights groups but are actually an arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Senior officials in these NGOs were involved in the murder of Rina Shnerb and raising funds for the terrorist organization. The foreign ministries of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden made it clear that from their perspective, there was nothing to prevent them from continuing to fund these NGOs.

Without getting into the question of what would constitute the “incontrovertible evidence” they seek, European governments should have stopped funding these NGOs far before Israel’s declaration in 2021. There was already considerable evidence that these organizations and their employees have ties to the PFLP, and this alone should have given any reasonable government enough reason to pause and examine how their money was being used. For example, PFLP conferences were attended by the directors of these NGOs; their directors hired members of the terrorist organization – some of whom had already served time in Israeli prison – and more.

Following Rina Shnerb’s murder, the Dutch government even published an independent report pointing to the ties between one of the organizations it funds and the PFLP. Meanwhile, in addition to their connections to terrorism, these NGOs are at the forefront of a campaign to de-legitimize Israel’s existence. They spearhead boycott and defunding campaigns, propagate the apartheid lie, target Israel in the International Criminal Court at The Hague, accuse the IDF of war crimes, and paint the army as a killer and abuser of Palestinian children.

Three of these NGOs recently submitted a document to the UN committee investigating Operation Guardian of the Walls. According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, the document is antisemitic as it equates Zionism to racism and even Nazism, claims the Zionist movement and its institutions imposed a “regime of colonialist settlement and apartheid on the Palestinian people,” says Israel must revoke its laws of return, citizenship, and nationality, and essentially concludes that Israel doesn’t have a right to exist.

The European Union and Western countries have been the primary lifeline for many Palestinian NGOs over the past 20 years. Every year, some 35 million euros are transferred to a small and exceedingly perennial group of select NGOs, including those that have been declared terrorist organizations. The blood libels against the Jews in the Middle Ages have been replaced by the reports and campaigns of these NGOs.

The governments of Europe are playing a double game. On one hand, its leaders call for cooperation with Israel, and on the other, they continue funding organizations that spread hate and de-legitimize its existence, mainly as a means of applying pressure and influencing its policies. It appears the claim that Israel failed to provide “substantial evidence” is just an excuse for the Europeans to continue rewarding their subcontractors in the region. After all, the connection between European governments and these NGOs is strong and co-dependent, so much so that they simply cannot stop funding those who promote de-legitimization or have ties to terrorism.