Abstract:
The Palestinian NGOs (PNGOs) have played a significant role in developing various
aspects of Palestine’s national welfare. After 1948, another duty was added on to
the PNGOs, which is resisting Israeli occupation both directly and indirectly. In that
process, PNGOs could not finance themselves because of the economic damages of
the Israeli occupation. As a result, PNGOs relied on foreign support, from Arab
organizations and non-Arab organizations. In particular, the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) and European Union (EU) were the biggest funders
for the PNGOs. In fact, USAID and EU are still the primary funders for the Palestinian
Authority (PA), which emerged from the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. The author
argues that conditional funding prevents PNGOs from supporting the exercise of the
right of self-determination. Moreover, it marginalizes the PNGOs from the political
sphere. Both these are affected by inserting anti-terrorism clauses by the funders in
the funding contracts.
