My colleague, Glyn Gaskarth, has written an extended post for the TaxPayers' Alliance blog discussing a report on EU funds supporting NGOs in Israel/Palestine. The lack of control, transparency and accountability for the use of these funds is absolutely shocking and many of the groups receiving support are clearly out to bash Israel:
"The EU diplomatically supports a two state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict based on two democratic entities which have secure borders and are at peace with each other. An honourable objective we should all support. Given this objective it is strange that the EU funds groups diametrically opposed to this vision. NGOs which oppose a two state solution, advocate the abolition of Israel, equate Israeli Liberal Democracy with apartheid South Africa and advocate recognition of and engagement with Hamas receive EU grants. A report by NGO Monitor entitled “Europe’s Hidden Hand, EU Funding for Political NGOs in the Arab-Israeli Conflict" details (in as much depth as the public can access) who we are funding and what the groups advocate. Its findings are pretty shocking."
