Over the course of several months last year, there was a back-and-forth between German officials and Kurve Wustrow. The German aid organization was staging a desperate attempt to save its ongoing projects with Zochrot and New Profile, two Israeli human rights organizations focused on anti-militarization and Palestinian rights.
The organization made phone calls and held personal meetings with officials. They sent emails responding to questions. They even sent statements from the Israeli organizations explaining their positions.
But nothing managed to dissuade the German authorities from cutting all official government funding for the organization. In mid-December, the decision was confirmed. The futile struggle left Kurve Wustrow's acting director, John Preuss, feeling "tired and frustrated. "
Kurve Wustrow has partners in several countries, including Sudan and Myanmar. But, Preuss said, this was the first time ever the German government had defunded any of their ongoing projects.
Preuss, who for days agonized over the decision of whether to speak up publicly, and his Israeli partners had to second-guess what exactly they were even attempting to defend themselves against.
The German authorities never gave the organization an official explanation as to why they had suddenly decided to rescind the funding for projects they had approved or renewed just the year before.
DW's investigative unit has reviewed emails and classified documents, and spoken with dozens of sources from the development sector in Germany, Israel and the occupied West Bank. The findings indicate that the defunding of Zochrot and New Profile are part of a larger pattern of cutting federal funds for human rights organizations that have been critical of the Israeli government's policies and the ongoing war in Gaza.
Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel, Germany has also stopped funding at least six Palestinian organizations. The sources DW spoke with all agreed that the move was political, an attempt to silence critical voices amid shrinking space for civil society in Israel. They also claimed Germany's decision was taken under Israeli pressure.
In a statement to DW, Germany's Foreign Affairs Ministry rejected this allegation as "inaccurate," saying it continues to fund "numerous NGOs in Israel and the Palestinian territories critical of the Israeli occupation policy."
The work carried out by New Profile and Zochrot is contentious in Israel, particularly under a government that is politically further to the right than any other in the country's history.
Germany's funding cut terminated ongoing projects the groups had cleared in late 2023.
Zochrot, which means "Remembering" in Hebrew, advocates for accountability of the Nakba, a term many use to refer to the expulsion and displacement of Palestinians before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The organization also campaigns for the right of return for Palestinian refugees........