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Revision as of 07:43, 9 May 2010 by Soosim (talk | contribs) (updated considerable amounts of out-dated information throughout the article, added a history section)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Type of site | NGO |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| URL | ngo-monitor.org |
| Commercial | No |
NGO Monitor (Non-governmental Organization Monitor) is a non-governmental organization based in Jerusalem, Israel whose stated aim is to generate and distribute critical analysis and reports on the output of the international NGO community for the benefit of government policy makers, journalists, philanthropic organizations and the general public.
NGO Monitor in its mission statement says it was founded 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 agendas."
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. Its president is Gerald M. Steinberg, a professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University and a columnist for The Jerusalem Post.
Its staff includes:
- Gerald M. Steinberg, President, and Professor of Political Science at Bar Ilan University, where he founded the Interdisciplinary Program on Conflict Management and Negotiation; and is a Senior Research Associate at the BESA Center for Strategic Studies, and a columnist.
- Naftali Balanson, Managing Editor.
- Anne Herzberg, Legal Advisor.
- Dov Yarden, Chief Executive Officer.
Funding
NGO Monitor was founded jointly with funding from the Wechsler Family Foundation. All additional funding is provided by private donors and foundations, and NGO Monitor receives no governmental support. Major donors include: the Ben & Esther Rosenbloom Foundation, Baltimore; the MZ Foundation, Oakland; Klarman Family Foundation, Boston; Middle East Forum Education Project, Philadelphia.
The amount of funding the NGO Monitor receives is disclosed in its annual report, which is posted to its official webpage in its annual report.
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 agendas".
NGO Monitor maintains an online directory of NGOs worldwide, which generally includes a description, a quote from the organization itself, who funds it, and relevant quotes from publications and officials. NGO-Monitor also has, online, considerable material in relation to the first Durban Conference, (offically known as the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance which took place in Durban, South Africa), the Durban strategy of divestment and boycott, as well as considerable discussion regarding the 2009 Durban Review Conference.
NGO Monitor held a conference in Jerusalem in 2006 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. NGO’s such as Amnesty International, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights were invited to speak but declined. 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".
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." Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Oxfam, the Center for Constitutional Rights and Medecins Sans Frontieres (also known as Doctors Without Borders).
NGO Monitor published in 2009 a monograph entitled “Experts or Ideologues: Systematic Analysis of Human Rights Watch” which includes analysis of key HRW staff members, five case studies of HRW campaigns, and quantitative analysis comparing HRW publications in the Middle East, covering the period from 2002 to 2009. In April 2010, Benjamin Birnbaum published in The New Republic a lengthy and highly critical piece about HRW, reinforcing the research done by NGO Monitor and confirming that HRW gives "disproportionate attention to Israeli misdeeds."
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. 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.” 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.”
The organization formerly criticized the Ford Foundation for funding the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance which took place in Durban, South Africa, which it accuses of condoning violence against Israel. The Ford Foundation has modified its policies regarding funding of NGOs. 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.
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".
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 ex-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." Larry Garber, then Executive Director of the New Israel Fund, and Eliezer Yaari, then NIF's Israel Director and a retired Israeli air force major, 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."
Ongoing public debate in 2009 and 2010 about the NIF's funding practices continues, with NGO Monitor calling for the NIF to draw a firm line regarding funding those organizations which "support activities designed to promote the NGO Durban strategy to isolate Israel." NGO Monitor decried NIF’s use of “uncivil rhetroric” including being accused of "McCarthyism" , being called “extremist” , and more.
On October 12, 2006, NGO Monitor made a submission to the Government of the United Kingdom on the funding of Israeli NGOs.
On August 31, 2009, NGO Monitor made a submission to Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism, regarding "Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the “Durban Strategy”: The Emergence of an Antisemitic Global Movement" explaining in detail the Canadian government funding for NGOs promoting the Durban Strategy.
Reception to NGO Monitor
The Economist and Jewish Telegraphic Agency identify NGO Monitor as a pro-Israel non-governmental organization.
In an op-ed published by Forward, Leonard Fein, a former Professor of Politics and Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, 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. 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.
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", 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.
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", 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."
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.
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.
HRW has accused NGO Monitor of making false accusations such as "Accepting Saudi Government Funding". The HRW visit to the Saudi Kingdom was first criticized by NGO Monitor. HRW 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". NGO Monitor responded by saying that the statement is accurate but untrue, showing rather the scandals included a fundraising trip to Saudi Arabia, which used HRW’s anti-Israel bias and the specter of the pro-Israel lobby to conduct "a fund-raiser in Saudi Arabia with the Saudi elite, with representatives of different branches of the Saudi government in the room. They also admitted that they have used their criticism of Israel as a fund-raising tool in dealing with Arab audiences.”
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.
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:.
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."
John H. Richardson, writing in Esquire Magazine's online magazine described NGO Monitor as a "rabidly partisan organization that attacks just about anyone who dares to criticize Israel on any grounds." It notes that Steinberg is dedicate to fighting "the narrative war," and has made a "special project" of attacking Human Rights Watch.
History of NGO Monitor
NGO Monitor states that it was founded following the 2001 Durban Conference, officially known as the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance which took place in Durban, South Africain which powerful non-governmental organizations (NGOs), claiming to promote human rights, hijacked the prinicples of morality and international law.
NGO Monitor 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", and the U.S.-based Wechsler Family Foundation. It is formerly a joint project of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and B'nai Brith International.
In 2007, NGO Monitor became an independent organization registered with the Registrar of Non-Profit Organizations in Israel.
See also
References
- ^ "About NGO Monitor". NGO Monitor.
- Bar Ilan University Faculty Info
- "Professor Gerald M. Steinberg". Bar-Ilan University.
- NGO Monitor: Donors
- NGO Monitor: Donors
- NGO Monitor: 2008 Annual Report
- Directory of Non Governmental Agencies Alphabetical by Country
- NGO Monitor Reports on Durban at website
- NGO Leadership in Boycott and Divestment Campaigns
- Durban Review Conference 2009 at NGO Monitor site
- ^ European Jewish Press: EU to discuss Middle East NGOs funding
- ^ The Jerusalem Post: Major NGOs skip 'unfair' monitoring conference
- "Christian Aid (UK)". NGO Monitor.
- Report: "Activity Summary of Human Rights Watch March 2003 - March 2004"|work=NGO Monitor
- ^ ""Human Rights Groups are Working Against Peace"". NGO Monitor.
- Humanitarianism´ and Medical NGOs|work=NGO Monitor
- Experts or Ideologues: Systematic Analysis of Human Rights Watch
- http://www.tnr.com/article/minority-report-2?page=0,0 Minority Report: Human Rights Watch fights a civil war over Israel, by Benjamin Birnbaum, April 27, 2010]
- ^ Template:Cite web url = http://www.ngo-monitor.org/editions/v2n12/NGOsAndSudan.htm
- NGO Monitor: Ford Foundation NGO Funding Update
- netWMD: "Stunning Reversal"
- Forward: Ford Foundation Backs Proponents of Peace
- Betselem: Report Uses Outdated Sources and the Rhetoric of Demonization, NGO Monitor Analysis (Vol. 2 No. 12), August 15, 2004.
- NGO Monitor Mission Statement
- NGO Monitor: Exchange of letters on NIF transparency and accountability
- http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/content/view/958/53/ Jewish Tribune: New Israel Fund director responds to criticism]
- The Jerusalem Post: Who's really damaging Israel's image?
- NGO Monitor Calls on New Israel Fund to draw Red Lines
- http://coteret.com/2010/02/05/dr-amir-paz-fuchs-mccarthyism-pure-and-simple/ McCarthyism - Pure and Simple]
- NIF letter to President Peres
- NIF Funds NGOs which assisted the UN Goldstone Commission
- 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
- Submission to Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism
- Boycotting Israel: New pariah on the block, The Economist, September 13, 2007.
- Ha'aretz columnist dropped by British Zionists, JTA Breaking News, August 31, 2007.
- Hoover Institution: Is Camp David Falling Apart?
- Cite error: The named reference
forwardwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - Human Rights Watch To Increase Focus on Terrorism, Marc Perelman, July 29, 2005, The Forward,
- Jerusalem Post: Ken Roth's blood libel
- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2006/08/29/AR2006082901045.html The Washington Post: Diversionary Strike On a Rights Group]
- PublicEye.org: About PRA
- Policing Civil Society Spring 2004, Political Research Associates
- Derfner, Larry (2009-07-22). "Rattling the Cage: The smearing of human rights organizations". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
- [http://www.ittijah.org/?intLanguage=2&chrSystem=item&intPMenu=319&intMenu=319&intMenuType=2&intCategory=386&intItem=1769&intItemType=2&intItemDisplayType=4 Ittijah: Statement on Israel’s Pronouncement to Boycott]
- JTA: Playing fast and loose with the facts at NGO Monitor
- Newman, David (Nov. 30, 2009). "Who's monitoring the monitor?". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help) - MIDEAST: Israel Declares War on Peace NGOs (IPS, Dec. 24, 2009)
- Richardson, John (2009-10). "Why Is This Good Man Getting Hung Out to Dry?". Esquire Magazine. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - About the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
- Non-Profit Data: Exempt Organization Information
- ^ IMRA: Follow up on ISM and the death of Rachel Corrie
External links
Official Links
News articles related to NGO Monitor
- NGO Monitor slams German agency for Durban II coverage by Benjamin Weinthal, The Jerusalem Post, February 25,
2010
- NGO Monitor turns to EU court for transparency by Dan Izenberg, The Jerusalem Post, January 21, 2010
- Right of Reply: Who's afraid of NGO Monitor? byh Naftali Balanson, The Jerusalem Post, December 2, 2009
- Israel, Aid Groups Have Long Feuded By Craig Whitlock,
Washington Post Foreign Service, January 14, 2009
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