Last week the Israeli daily “Israel Today” published a report saying, based on NGO Monitor research, that Heinrich Böll Stiftung’s (HBS) Palestinian Authority branch would be holding events hosting Hamas and PFLP terrorists in Gaza, Ramallah, and Beirut.
The HBS Israeli branch said they had no idea and would look into it.
The story was picked up by officials of the German Green Party, with whom HBS is associated, and they initially responded (Tagesspiegel) by removing their logo and not having someone senior attend, but it wasn’t clear whether the event would still be funded by HBS.
After the story circulated in Germany, HBS has now announced that they’ve cancelled their participation.
Heinrich Böll Stiftung is a foundation with headquarters in Berlin and offices in Tel Aviv and Ramallah.
The foundation, which receives German federal support, provides funding to the pro-Palestinian Authority +972 Magazine and Ma’an Development Center. The latter published “
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Boycotts, Divestment & Sanctions: Lessons learned in effective solidarity
” and has accused Israel of “war crimes” and violating international law.
“There are certain red lines that should not be crossed or even debated,” said Olga Deutsch, head of the NGO Monitor Europe Desk. “We welcome Böll’s decision to withdraw their support and hope this will lead to greater cooperation and coordination between different offices of the foundation.
“NGO Monitor will continue to publish reports on organizations funded by European governments that stray from their mission statements and promote violence, antisemitism, or have ties to terror organizations.”