The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), one of the largest US foundations, has given out grants to organizations tied to anti-Israeli movements, considered terrorist groups by the US, the Jerusalem Post reported in its investigation. Education for Just Peace in the Middle East (also known under its legal name — the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights) and Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P) received grants of $60,000 and $25,000 respectively from the RBF in 2017.
Israeli media point out that the DCI-P is an NGO, closely tied to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In turn the PFLP is known for the hijacking of an Air France plane in 1976, which led to the deaths of four Israeli passengers. PFLP is considered a terrorist organization by the US, Canada, Australia and the EU.
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The Jerusalem Post stressed in its article that several members of the DCI-P General Board and staff are known members of the PFLP movement. However, most of them hold no significant positions on the board, and only a few of them, like diseased Hashem Abu Maria, have confirmed ties with PFLP, according to the NGO Monitor.
RBF was far from the biggest DCI-P funding source. Between 2014 and 2017 the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat donated $1,098,000 to the NGO.
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The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, for its part, also allegedly has ties to the PFLP, Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, Israeli media reported citing the Tablet online magazine article. The magazine also pointed out that the Campaign is funded by the BNS movement aimed at organizing a boycott against Israel and accused of purportedly having ties to Hamas (branded a terrorist organization in the US) in 2016 by a former terrorism finance analyst for the US Treasury Department, Jonathan Schanzer.
Consul General of Israel in New York, Dani Dayan met with RBF president Stephen Heintz and informed him of the NGOs' controversial ties that the fund supported, Israeli media reported. According to Dayan, the head of RBF denied the accusations. There have been no official statements by RBF officials on the matter.
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Palestinians have been holding mass demonstrations near the Gaza Strip's border with Israel since March 30, known as the "Great March of Return." The demonstrators claim the right of return for people that were displaced during the war following Israel's creation in 1948.
The demonstrations have resulted in clashes between Gazans and Israeli border guards. IDF has claimed that the rallies were organized by Hamas in order to infiltrate Israel and conduct attacks against its citizens. According to Palestinian medical workers, since March 30, at least 115 Palestinians have been killed during the protests, while over 13,300 people have been injured.