According to a recent report published by NGO Monitor, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P) that claims to promote Palestinian children’s rights, employs “numerous individuals with alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization,” including board members. The PFLP is designated as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.
As you may recall, on May 1, 2019, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) introduced a despicable bill titled “Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act” (HR 2407), based on accusations made by the DCI-P. The bill calls for sanctioning US military aid to Israel and demands that $19 million in US aid be allocated to the DCI-P.
DCI-P is also member of UNICEF’s child protection Working Group, ostensibly charged with monitoring and reporting on violations against Palestinian children. The NGO monitor report (Defense for Children International – Palestine’s Ties to the PFLP Terrorist Organization) documents the relationship between the DCI-P and the PFLP terrorist organization, concluding that the DCI-P is “an inappropriate partner and should thus be removed from the UNICEF-oPt Working Group.”
According to NGO Monitor, in 2017-2019, DCI-P received $90,000 from Rockefeller Brothers Fund. In 2017-2019, the European Commission granted €699,236 to DCI-P for a project titled “strengthening community resilience and social cohesion in East Jerusalem on both sides of the separation wall.” DCI-P also received a core funding grant of $1,104,700 (2014-2017) from the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat (Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland). and in 2013-2017, DCI-P was an implementing partner in UNICEF funded projects totaling $1.4 million.
According to NGO Monitor, DCI-P Staff with Ties to the PFLP included Hashem Abu Maria, killed in a violent confrontation in Beit Ummar; Riyad Arar, who appeared in an event that featured PFLP paraphernalia and children in military uniforms; Nassar Ibrahim, who authored a book supporting terrorism; Mahmoud Jiddah, who was in Israeli prison for 17 years for grenade attacks against Israeli civilians in Jerusalem in 1968 – and the list goes on and on.