NGO Monitor facts for kids
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| Founded | 2001 |
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| Founder | Gerald M. Steinberg |
| Type | Non-profit NGO |
| Focus | End promotion of "politically and ideologically motivated anti-Israel agendas" by certain NGOs. |
| Location |
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Area served
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Israel |
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Key people
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Gerald M. Steinberg (President); Naftali Balanson, Managing Editor; Anne Herzberg, Legal Advisor |
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Revenue
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US$ 385,000 (2008) |
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Employees
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13 (November 2010) |
| Website | ngo-monitor.org |
NGO Monitor is an organization based in Jerusalem. It focuses on the work of international NGOs (non-governmental organizations). It shares information about these groups from a viewpoint that supports Israel.
The organization started in 2001. It was founded by Gerald M. Steinberg. In 2007, it became an independent group.
Some people, like professors and journalists, have criticized NGO Monitor. They say its research is too political. They also say it doesn't look at groups that support right-wing ideas. NGO Monitor says its goal is to stop some NGOs from using "human rights" to push political ideas.
Contents
Who is NGO Monitor?
NGO Monitor is the main project of the Organization for NGO Responsibility. This is an independent non-profit group in Israel. Its president is Gerald M. Steinberg. He is a professor of Political Science.
Some of the people who work there include:
- Gerald M. Steinberg, president
- Naftali Balanson, managing editor
- Anne Herzberg, legal advisor
- Dov Yarden, chief executive officer
- Arnie Draiman, online communications
In 2015, some well-known people were part of NGO Monitor's advisory council. These included Elliott Abrams and Alan Dershowitz.
How NGO Monitor Gets Money
NGO Monitor gets its money from private donors and foundations. It does not receive money from governments.
One of its first supporters was the Wechsler Family Foundation. Other supporters include Nina Rosenwald. In 2010, the organization received a large grant. This came from a group called REPORT.
Some reports have said that NGO Monitor is not always clear about where all its money comes from. However, NGO Monitor says it shares all its financial information as required by law.
What NGO Monitor Does
Working with Laws
NGO Monitor sometimes uses legal actions to achieve its goals. It focuses on how NGOs get their money. It also looks at how laws can affect these groups.
In 2010, NGO Monitor took a case to the European Court of Justice. They wanted to see financial documents about NGOs in Israel and Palestine. In 2012, the court said NGO Monitor could not get all the documents. The court said sharing this information might be dangerous for human rights groups in that region.
In 2013, NGO Monitor published a report. It looked at an Israeli law from 2011. This law requires Israeli NGOs to show how much money they get from foreign donors. NGO Monitor's president, Gerald Steinberg, said this law was a good example for other countries. He also said that a lot of foreign money goes to NGOs involved in the Arab–Israeli conflict.
Some human rights groups in Israel said they already shared their donor information. They felt the new law was not needed.
Criticizing Other NGOs
NGO Monitor has criticized several other NGOs. For example, it criticized the Ford Foundation. This was for funding a conference in South Africa in 2001. The Ford Foundation later changed some of its rules for funding NGOs.
NGO Monitor has also criticized B'Tselem. This group is an Israeli human rights information center. It has also criticized the New Israel Fund. This fund aims to strengthen Israel's democracy.
In 2006, NGO Monitor held a conference in Jerusalem. It wanted to encourage discussion about NGOs in the Middle East conflict. Some human rights groups were invited but did not attend. They felt the conference was not balanced.
In 2007, NGO Monitor was sued by some NGOs. These groups said NGO Monitor had spread false information about them. NGO Monitor later had to apologize.
Editing Wikipedia
In 2013, NGO Monitor's online communications editor, Arnie Draiman, was stopped from editing Wikipedia articles about the Arab–Israeli conflict. This happened because he was editing in a biased way. He also used a second account, which is against Wikipedia rules. He had edited many articles about human rights organizations that NGO Monitor often criticizes.
Political Views
NGO Monitor has been described as having a strong political viewpoint. In 2010, it tried to stop funding for a website called The Electronic Intifada. NGO Monitor claimed the website was "anti-Semitic." However, the funding group disagreed. They said the website was an important source of information. They also said it was not anti-Israel.
Some people have said that NGO Monitor always supports Israel. They say it does not criticize Israel's human rights record. One journalist called NGO Monitor a "rabidly partisan organization." This means it strongly supports one side.
A former spokesperson for the Peace Now group said NGO Monitor is not an objective watchdog. They said it tries to silence groups it disagrees with.
In 2005, a professor named Leonard Fein wrote about NGO Monitor. He said NGO Monitor claimed Human Rights Watch focused too much on Israel. But Fein showed that Human Rights Watch actually focused more on other countries in the region. He suggested NGO Monitor might also have its own political preferences.
NGO Monitor has been described as being connected to the Israeli government. Some say it only looks closely at groups that criticize government policies.
Associated Press "Ban"
A former reporter for the Associated Press (AP), Matti Friedman, said the AP bureau in Jerusalem told reporters not to quote NGO Monitor or its director, Gerald Steinberg. Friedman said Steinberg was the only person he knew who was "banned" from being quoted.
The AP responded by saying there was no such "ban." They said Steinberg and NGO Monitor had been quoted in several stories. Some people believe that while there might not have been a written ban, there was a clear bias in what the AP chose to cover and which sources it used.
See also
- Criticism of Amnesty International
- Criticism of Human Rights Watch
- NGOWatch
- Palestinian NGOs Network
