The money keeps flowing: Switzerland continues to fund 18 organizations in the Middle East

Help focus

The Middle East is a focus of Swiss development aid. Expenses to date amount to approximately 30 million francs per year.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now checking whether these eleven organizations comply with the EDA Code of Conduct, Bideau writes. Apparently there are fears that Swiss aid money could seep into terrorist channels.

Six Palestinian and five Israeli NGOs are affected. These eleven organizations together received approximately 2.3 million francs last year.

Resistance financed?

Funding for the Al-Shabaka think tank will be halted for the time being. Last year he received 61,000 francs from Switzerland. The NGO released an official statement on October 8. It said: “We stand with those committed to these efforts and to the liberation of Palestinians worldwide.” With such statements, the organization has apparently squandered Switzerland’s goodwill.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights can no longer hope for support. The NGO received 342,000 francs from Switzerland last year. In the financing agreement with our country, she committed herself to ‘refrain from incitement to violence or hatred’. But even before the attack, the organization made it clear which side of the conflict it was on.

In March, it reaffirmed the right of the Palestinian people “to resist the occupation by all available means, including armed struggle, in order to assert their legitimate rights, end the occupation and establish an independent state.”

The money keeps flowing

Will Switzerland cut off all payments to the region? – No, taxpayer money continues to flow into the Middle East. Our country continues to fund the controversial United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) with 20 million francs annually and another 18 NGOs in Israel and Palestine.

This means that an organization that supports the mental health of people in the Gaza Strip can continue to count on support from Switzerland. In 2022, the NGO received 631,000 francs. The Nawa for Culture and Arts Association project, which runs a kindergarten and provides children in Gaza with access to musical activities, also continues to receive support.

Portmann calls for a stop

Just a few days ago, the Federal Council announced that it was “not aware that Swiss funds had benefited Hamas and its activities.” However, several politicians and Israeli Ambassador Ifat Reshef called for the funds to be controlled and monitored so that the terrorists do not benefit from them.

FDP State Councilor Hans-Peter Portmann (60) goes further. He demands that the Federal Council suspend all economic and development assistance in the Middle East, including payments to UNRWA. “I don’t think it is possible at this point to identify which project could lead to funds falling into the wrong hands,” Portmann said. It would therefore only be consistent and effective if all funds were suspended.