2023-11-08

ًWest Bank and Gaza

West Bank / Gaza / position paper

Palestinian civil society to conduct assessment of partnership with international donors

November 6, 2023

In light of one of the most violent Israeli assaults on the Palestinian people as a whole across historical Palestine, and the ongoing genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip, the undersigned Palestinian civil society organizations are conducting an integrity and human rights audit of our partnerships with the international donor community.

We assumed that our long partnerships have been based on mutual respect and promotion of international law, international humanitarian law, human rights and justice. This, in spite of our persistent dismay at the international community’s long standing failure to hold Israel accountable for its systematic and deliberate violations of the above-mentioned standards, despite its moral and legal obligations under international law.

But this duplicity has reached new and indefensible levels. We have watched in horror and outrage many Western governments further amplifying their double standards by acting like a cheering chorus of war that exempts Israel from the absolute obligation to comply with international humanitarian law. More horrific was the military support and engagement offered by some governments to Israel’s lawless actions, amounting to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, through statements, political cover, and additional financial and military aid. Such actions amount to complicity and are comprehensively incompatible with our values. This is reminiscent of the racist, white supremacist and colonial ideology that has historically shaped the West’s attitude to Palestine.

Some of our staff have been killed by Israel’s horrific bombardment of homes in Gaza while others are displaced and are struggling to survive. All of us have lost family, friends and loved ones. We owe them and the hundreds of thousands of innocent lives shattered by this criminal campaign of our occupier and its enablers to ensure that our partnerships are consistent with the universality of human rights and the principle of accountability while rejecting exceptionalism and double standards.

It has therefore become imperative that we conduct an examination of this relationship to ensure compliance with our shared values, morals and principles and the foundations of our partnership, that shape our work in line with the vision of the Palestinian people in their struggle for justice and freedom.

Signatories:

Palestinian Non-governmental Organizations Network (PNGO – coalition of 135 Palestinian NGOs) Coalition for Accountability and Integrity-AMAN
The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy - MIFTAH
A.M. Qattan Foundation

ACT - Alternative Dispute Resolution & Studies Arab world Democracy and Electoral Monitor

Center for Defence of Liberties and Civil Rights “hurryyat” Community Media Network
Culture and free thought association
Defence for Children International - Palestine Engineering Association - Jerusalem Center

Filastiniyat
Human Rights and Democracy Media Centers SHAMS
MUSAWA- The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession Palestinian Nursing & Midwifery Association
Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development PWWSD
Psycho Social Counseling Center for Women
Roles For Social Change Association - ADWAR
Rural Women’s Development Society (RWDS)
Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights
Teacher Creativity Center Association
The Civil Commission for the independence of Judiciary and Rule of Law (ISTIQLAL)
The General Union of Cultural Centers
The Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC)
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)
The Palestinian Federation of Women’s Action Committee
Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)
Women’s Studies Centre
Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC)
جمعیة الدفاع عن الاسرة