EU funder forces an NGO to Remove terror whitewashing

NGO Monitor's alerting of European funders forced an NGO to retract an inflammatory account of a terror attack.

On September 26, a Palestinian murdered three Israeli security officers outside the Israeli neighborhood of Har Adar; the attacker was killed in the gunfight. A European funded NGO, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), described this terror attack on its website as, "Israeli forces killed Nemer Mahmoud Jamal (37) from Beit Sorik village, northwest of occupied Jerusalem when 4 Israeli Border Guard officers at the entrance to 'Har Adar' settlement opened fire at him. Moreover, three Israeli soldiers were killed and the fourth was wounded."

NGO Monitor informed PCHR's funders - the governments of Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark - that such distortions are inconsistent with human rights reporting.

This week, we received a response from the Swiss Ambassador to Israel stating that the post on PCHR's website had been removed and that the Swiss government "carefully investigates all the allegations against its partners' organizations and takes measures, if necessary."

In bringing PCHR's false claims to the attention of its European funders, leading them to take action, NGO Monitor has demonstrated the importance of due diligence.

See the PCHR post before and after our intervention:

Photo Credit: courtesy, NGO Monitor

PCHR post, 'before' and 'after' intervention by NGO Monitor

An alert to European funders by the NGO Monitor has resulted in an NGO being forced to retract an inflammatory account of a terror attack.

On September 26, a Palestinian Authority terrorist murdered three Israeli security officers outside the Israeli neighborhood of Har Adar. The attacker was killed in the gunfight.

“Israeli forces killed Nemer Mahmoud Jamal (37) from Beit Sorik village, northwest of occupied Jerusalem when 4 Israeli Border Guard officers at the entrance to ‘Har Adar’ settlement opened fire at him. Moreover, three Israeli soldiers were killed and the fourth was wounded.”

NGO Monitor informed PCHR’s funders – the governments of Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark – that such distortions are inconsistent with human rights reporting.

“This week, received a response from the Swiss Ambassador to Israel stating that the post on PCHR’s website had been removed and that the Swiss government “carefully investigates all the allegations against its partners’ organizations and takes measures, if necessary,” a spokesperson for NGO Monitor said.

NGO Monitor’s due diligence in bringing PCHR’s false claims to the attention of its European funders led them to take action, the organization pointed out.