FDFA names Palestinian NGO excluded from Swiss aid
Published: Friday, Nov 24th 2023, 12:40
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Switzerland is ending its cooperation with three Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The named organizations are accused of violating the code of conduct and the anti-discrimination clause. Following the terrorist attack by the Palestinian Hamas on Israel on October 7, six Palestinian and five Israeli NGOs were investigated.
Eight of these eleven non-governmental organizations remain partners of the Swiss cooperation programme for the Middle East. However, following the Federal Council's decision on Wednesday, the following three Palestinian NGOs are now excluded from Swiss support: the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) and Al-Shabaka/The Palestinian Policy Network.
This was announced by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) on Friday at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency.
The PCHR was founded in 1995 by Palestinian lawyers and activists and has since received financial support from various European countries and the USA; it is based in Gaza City.
The PNGO is an umbrella organization of several dozen Palestinian organizations in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip; it supports boycotts and sanctions against Israel (member of the BDS: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement). It was founded in 2005 by Omar Barghuti and is based in Ramallah.
Al-Shabaka, based in the US capital Washington D.C., was founded in 2013 and describes itself as the first independent Palestinian think tank. According to its own statements, intellectuals from Columbia University in New York are among those involved.
©Keystone/SDA
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