This NGO, called Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), supports the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement and is linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist group in several countries, including the US, EU, Canada and Israel.
According to Lior Hayat, the Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson, “Belgium has positioned itself as one of the Security Council member states most hostile toward Israel.’’
Belgium’s Deputy Ambassador to Israel has been summoned to the Israeli foreign ministry and reprimanded to protest his country’s hostile actions towards Israel at the United Nations Security Council.
This month, Belgium is presiding over the UN Security Council and in this capacity can invite speakers during the Council’s sessions.
Israel is particularly outraged about the invitation made by Belgium for Brad Parker, a senior official for a NGO called Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), to speak at the next Security Council’s session.
This NGO supports the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement and is linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist group in several countries, including the US, EU, Canada and Israel. Citibank and Arab Bank have stopped providing banking services to the NGO.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Brad Parker is behind the pro-BDS legislation introduced in the US by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), think tank NGO Monitor reported. Last January, in his capacity as an adjunct professor at the CUNY Law School’s Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic, he filed an anti-Israel submission to the UN, replete with false statements and whitewashing of terrorist groups like Hamas. CUNY subsequently launched an investigation into the law school’s partnership with DCI-P.
Officials in Jerusalem and pro-Israel advocates accuse the nonprofit of having an extreme bias against Israel, regularly accusing the Jewish state of committing war crimes.
In a report published earlier this week, NGO Monitor NGO-Monitor, a Jerusalem-based research institute, cites the Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P) as one of eight European-funded Palestinian NGOs having ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
According to NGO Monitor, Parker is the driving force behind pro-BDS legislation introduced in the US by a Democratic member of thr House of Representatives, Betty McCollum. Last January, in his capacity as an adjunct professor at the CUNY Law School’s Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic, Brady filed an anti-Israel submission to the UN, replete with false statements and whitewashing of terrorist groups like Hamas. CUNY subsequently launched an investigation into the law school’s partnership with DCI-P.
One of the main donors to DCI-P is said to be a Belgium Catholic charity, Broederlijk Delen, which is heavily funded by the Belgian federal government and has already been pointed in the past for its anti-Israel activities.
“I cannot imagine how the Belgian government justified inviting a terror-linked propaganda NGO to address the Security Council,” said Gerald Steinberg, chairman and founder of NGO-Monitor.
‘’Unfortunately, Belgium has chosen to invite terror supporters to a Security Council debate . This is extremely disappointing and we will express our outrage in the strongest possible terms,’’ wrote Israel’s Ambassador to Belgium, Emmanuel Nahshon on Twitter.
During the meeting with Belgian Deputy Ambassador Pascal Buffin, who was summoned because Ambassador Olivier Belle was out of the country, Israel urged Belgium to cancel Parker’s invitation.
According to Lior Hayat, the Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson, “Belgium has positioned itself as one of the Security Council member states most hostile toward Israel.’’
“Inviting a one-sided radical activist such as Mr. Parker to brief the Security Council is yet another negative record,” he told The Times of Israel.
Contacted by EJP, A Belgian foreign ministry spokesperson could not immediately make a comment on this issue.