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Switzerland cuts ties with three Palestinian NGOs

Palestine Israel wall
Keystone / Atef Safadi

Switzerland is ending its collaboration with three Palestinian non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It accuses them of "breaching the code of conduct and the anti-discrimination clause".

The following three Palestinian NGOs have been excluded from Swiss support: the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) and Al-Shabaka/The Palestinian Policy Network. The foreign ministry confirmed the decision on Friday in an interview with news agency Keystone-SDA following the Swiss government’s decision on Wednesday.

After the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, six Palestinian and five Israeli NGOs were audited. Eight of these eleven non-governmental organisations remain partners in the Swiss cooperation programme in the Middle East.

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Founded in 1995 by Palestinian lawyers and activists, the PCHR has since received financial support from various European countries and the United States. It is based in Gaza City.

The PNGO is an umbrella organisation for dozens of Palestinian organisations in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. A member of BDS (“Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions”), it supports boycotts and sanctions against Israel. Founded in 2005 by Omar Barghouti, it is based in Ramallah. “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” campaigns for a worldwide boycott of Israel until it withdraws from the territories it has occupied since 1967 in violation of international law.

Lastly, Al-Shabaka, based in Washington, was founded in 2013 and describes itself as the first independent Palestinian think tank. It counts intellectuals from Columbia University in New York as among its participants.


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