'Israel' pressures the Netherlands to stop funding human rights group
27/07/2009
Various sources-IUPFP
Following protests by “Israel”, the Netherlands will reevaluate its funding of an organization that alleged that “Israeli” troops used Palestinians as human shields in Gaza.
Acting on instructions from the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, the “Israeli” ambassador to the Netherlands, Harry Knei-Tal, met last week with the director-general of the Dutch Foreign Ministry and complained about the Dutch embassy's funding of “Breaking the Silence”.
The Zionist ambassador suggested that the Netherland's funding of the organization should be terminated. "The Dutch taxpayer's money could be better used to promote peace and human rights," a source quoted Knei-Tal as saying.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen - considered one of “Israel's” staunchest supporters in the European Union - did not know that the Dutch embassy in Tel Aviv was funding “Breaking the Silence”. He learned about it after the organization's funding sources were published in an article in The Jerusalem Post.
Sources say Verhagen reproached senior figures in the Dutch Foreign Ministry upon learning this and gave instructions to launch an internal investigation on the matter. It showed that the embassy in “Israel” gave Breaking the Silence 19,995 euros to help put together its 2009 report, which discusses Operation Cast Lead and was released earlier this month. Had this figure been five euros higher, it would have required approval from The Hague.
The director-general of the Dutch Foreign Ministry told the “Israeli” ambassador that in light of the probe, funding for Breaking the Silence would be reevaluated because of the political sensitivities of the issues covered by the organization.
Breaking the Silence, which was founded by “Israeli” army veterans, has collected what it says are damning testimonies from soldiers who took part in the January offensive against Hamas in Gaza. The report contains almost 30 anonymous testimonies.
This shows in how far the Zionist entity is trying to prevent the world from taking notice of the atrocities it is systematically committing against the Arab people of Palestine since 1948.
