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Which Well-Known "Human Rights" Organizations Participated in the Durban Conferences — and What Their Involvement Reveals
The Durban Festival of Hate did not organize itself. Behind the antisemitic declarations, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion sold openly on conference grounds, and the Hitler flyers handed to delegates, there was an infrastructure — of NGOs, funders, umbrella bodies, and professional activists — that made it all possible.
What is most remarkable about that infrastructure is how many household names were part of it. Organizations that appear on charity donation pages, that receive government funding, and that are cited approvingly in mainstream media were signatories to — or active organizers of — the most virulent eruption of institutionalized antisemitism of the post-war era.
This addendum documents those organizations, tier by tier, with specific actions, quotes, and citations.
The NGO Forum at Durban 2001 produced a declaration so extreme it was signed or endorsed by some of the world's most recognized human rights organizations — including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. That signature alone constitutes a permanent stain on their credibility. Beyond signing, scores of NGOs actively organized, funded, distributed antisemitic materials, and drafted the language that became the blueprint for BDS.
"The NGO Forum produced what is known as 'The NGO Declaration,' which, while not an official conference document, assumed a high international profile and was signed by groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch."
— NGO Monitor, NGO Forum at Durban Conference 2001
Tier 1: The Major International NGOs
1. Amnesty International
Signed NGO Declaration | Active in Durban II & subsequent conferences
Amnesty International — one of the world's most recognized human rights brands — signed the Durban NGO Declaration, the document that:
- Declared Israel "an apartheid state" (Article 164)
- Called for a "policy of complete and total isolation of Israel" (Article 425)
- Called for "mandatory and comprehensive sanctions and embargoes" against Israel (Article 425)
- Condemned nations that "support, aid and abet the Israeli apartheid state" for committing "racist crimes against humanity including ethnic cleansing, acts of genocide" (Article 426)
Amnesty's subsequent conduct has only reinforced this institutional posture, including publishing a 2022 report formally labeling Israel an "apartheid state" — recycling Durban's central charge — and issuing statements after October 7, 2023 that NGO Monitor documented as "hyperactively demonizing Israel" while minimizing Hamas's atrocities.
"Although Amnesty officials repeatedly referred to [their apartheid report] as 'original research extending over 4 years,' an examination of the contents reveals this to be a collection and repetition of the verbal contortions and discredited claims largely copied from other NGOs with the same agenda."
— NGO Monitor, 2001 Durban Conference Archives
Wikipedia: Amnesty International and Israel
2. Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Signed NGO Declaration | Defended Durban II against democratic boycotts
Human Rights Watch — perhaps the most prestigious international human rights organization in the world — also signed the Durban NGO Declaration. Under longtime Executive Director Kenneth Roth (1993–2022), HRW became what NGO Monitor documented as a platform for systematic anti-Israel campaigning.
Most revealingly, when Western democracies boycotted Durban II in 2009 over Ahmadinejad's Holocaust-denying keynote, Human Rights Watch condemned the democracies — not the Iranian president — for "undermining" the conference:
"Human Rights Watch condemned Western democracies for 'undermining' the conference, not the racism and corruption of human rights by Iran and radical NGOs."
— NGO Monitor
HRW also published a landmark 2021 "apartheid" report (A Threshold Crossed) — the culmination of two decades of Durban-framework rhetoric that HRW itself had helped legitimize by signing the 2001 declaration.
Wikipedia: Human Rights Watch and Israel | Reddit: r/worldnews — HRW bias discussions
Tier 2: The Funders — Money Behind the Hate Fest
3. The Ford Foundation
Primary funder of Durban NGO Forum participants
America's largest private philanthropic foundation was "among the main funders for extremist NGOs involved in the 2001 UN-sponsored Durban conference" — providing the financial infrastructure that made the NGO Forum possible.
"The Ford Foundation was among the main funders for extremist NGOs involved in the 2001 UN sponsored Durban conference, which crystallized the strategy of delegitimizing Israel as 'an apartheid regime' through international isolation."
— NGO Monitor, 2001 Durban Conference Archives
Ford-funded organizations at Durban included:
- MIFTAH (headed by Hanan Ashrawi) — which addressed the NGO Forum and deployed the full "apartheid/colonialism/racism" lexicon
- SHAML (Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Center) — received a $90,000 Ford grant; promoted "right of return" as part of the Durban strategy
- JMCC (Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre) — advised journalists on framing coverage to undermine Israel's right of self-defense
The fallout was severe enough that Ford's own President received a formal internal letter warning that its grantees "were principal players in undermining important international efforts at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism." An internal admission — and a damning one.
Tier 3: The Orchestrators — Palestinian & Arab NGOs
4. MIFTAH — Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy
Active organizer and speaker at Durban NGO Forum
Headed by Hanan Ashrawi — a prominent PLO official — MIFTAH was one of the key Palestinian NGOs that shaped the Durban NGO Forum's agenda. Ashrawi personally addressed the Forum, deploying the full Durban lexicon of "apartheid," "colonialism," and "racism" against Israel. MIFTAH was funded jointly by the Ford Foundation and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
5. The Arab Lawyers Union
Distributor of Nazi-era antisemitic propaganda at the NGO Forum
The Arab Lawyers Union — a professional legal body with UN consultative status — physically distributed caricatures at the NGO Forum depicting:
- Jews with hooked noses and fangs dripping with blood
- Jews wearing Nazi swastika helmets
- Jews clutching money
Imagery indistinguishable from Nazi-era propaganda — distributed at a United Nations anti-racism conference.
UN Watch's then-Executive Director Andrew Srulevitch called a press conference, and was quoted by the Associated Press:
"Any NGO that is passing out hate literature at a world conference against racism should be kicked out."
— Andrew Srulevitch, UN Watch, quoted by Associated Press, September 2001 · UN Watch
The Arab Lawyers Union was not expelled. No official UN body took disciplinary action.
6. Palestinian NGO Coalition (collective)
Distributed Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Hitler flyers
A coalition of Palestinian NGOs operating under the NGO Forum umbrella distributed:
- Copies of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion — the notorious Tsarist forgery that inspired the Holocaust — openly on conference grounds
- Leaflets depicting Hitler with the caption: "What if I had won? There would be NO Israel and NO Palestinian bloodshed"
Large contingents of NGO Forum participants also wore mass-produced T-shirts reading: "Occupation = Colonialism = Racism, End Israeli Apartheid" — coordinated, not spontaneous.
Wikipedia: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
Tier 4: The BDS Architects — NGOs That Wrote the "Durban Strategy"
7. Interfaith International
Organized the NGO Forum for Durban II (2009)
Interfaith International chaired the October 2008 PrepCom session that organized NGO participation in the Durban Review Conference. NGO Monitor identified it as an organization "active in the first Durban conference and identified with comments justifying suicide bombings" in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
— NGO Monitor, Durban Review Conference 2009
8. Al-Haq
Leader of anti-Israel "lawfare" campaigns rooted in the Durban strategy
Al-Haq is a West Bank-based legal organization that has used the Durban framework to prosecute "lawfare" — weaponizing international courts and legal processes to harass Israeli officials and institutions. It is a leading actor in translating the Durban NGO Declaration's language into formal legal proceedings. Israel's Defense Ministry has designated several of Al-Haq's sister organizations as terrorist fronts.
9. FIDH — International Federation for Human Rights
Signed Durban Declaration | Active in BDS and lawfare
FIDH is a Paris-based federation of 141 NGOs from 92 countries with consultative or observer status at multiple UN bodies. NGO Monitor documented FIDH's "strong anti-Israel bias" with "disproportionate resources devoted to condemning Israel," selective interpretation of international humanitarian law, active promotion of BDS campaigns, and ICC lawfare against Israel.
— NGO Monitor, UN BDS Blacklist Archives
Tier 5: The British NGOs — Durban's Long Shadow in the UK
10. War on Want
Leader of post-Durban BDS campaigns in Britain
War on Want is one of Britain's oldest development charities — and one of the most aggressive adopters of the Durban strategy in the UK. It became "a leader and mobilizer of anti-Israel BDS campaigns," including co-organizing "Israel Apartheid Week" events on UK campuses and campaigning for corporate divestment from Israel:
"War on Want (WoW)'s July 2006 campaign for divestment from Israel by international firms has claimed a victory… War on Want is currently under investigation for breaching guidelines set by the U.K. Charity Commission prohibiting political campaigning."
— NGO Monitor
11. Oxfam
Post-Durban anti-Israel political campaigning
While Oxfam did not take as direct a role in the 2001 Forum as some others, it subsequently adopted the Durban framework's political agenda — including calling for aid to be sent to the Hamas-led Palestinian government with no condemnation of Hamas's terrorism or rhetoric calling for Israel's destruction.
— NGO Monitor, Oxfam Calls for Aid to Be Sent to Hamas-Led Palestinian Government
Tier 6: The Norwegian NGOs — Government-Funded BDS
12. Norwegian People's Aid (NPA)
Leader of post-Durban BDS mobilization — partly government-funded
Norwegian People's Aid — partly funded by the Norwegian government — became "a leader and mobilizer of anti-Israel BDS campaigns" following Durban, regularly promoting allegations of Israeli "apartheid," "collective punishment," "war crimes," and "violations of international law."
13. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
Funded lawfare cases against Israel in Israeli courts
The NRC funded hundreds of anti-Israel legal cases via NGOs in Israeli courts — a direct application of the Durban "lawfare" strategy. A lawyer affiliated with a 2013 NRC program that funded 677 such cases described it explicitly as an attempt to overwhelm Israeli judicial proceedings.
— NGO Monitor, Core Bias in OCHA-oPt
The Enablers: NGO Umbrella Bodies
14. CONGO — Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations
Administrative umbrella that kept the antisemitic NGO infrastructure connected to UN processes
CONGO's subcommittee — misleadingly presenting itself as the "NGO Committee on Racism" — was the vehicle through which organizations like Interfaith International organized the follow-up NGO Forum for Durban II, maintaining a continuous institutional link between the 2001 antisemitic infrastructure and subsequent UN processes.
What the NGO Declaration Actually Said
To understand why these organizational endorsements matter, here is what the Durban NGO Declaration — signed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and hundreds of other groups — actually called for:
| Article | Content |
|---|---|
| Art. 164 | "Targeted victims of Israel's brand of apartheid and ethnic cleansing methods have been in particular children, women and refugees" |
| Art. 425 | "A policy of complete and total isolation of Israel as an apartheid state… the imposition of mandatory and comprehensive sanctions and embargoes, the full cessation of all links (diplomatic, economic, social, aid, military cooperation and training) between all states and Israel" |
| Art. 426 | "Condemnation of those states who are supporting, aiding and abetting the Israeli apartheid state and its perpetration of racist crimes against humanity including ethnic cleansing, acts of genocide" |
— NGO Monitor, NGO Forum at Durban Conference 2001
This is not a document about human rights. It is a blueprint for the international economic strangulation and political annihilation of the Jewish state — written by NGOs, signed by some of the world's most trusted humanitarian brands, and endorsed by the United Nations process.
The Durban–BDS Pipeline
The Durban NGO Forum was not just a conference — it was a strategic planning session that produced what NGO Monitor calls the "Durban Strategy":
"The final declaration of the NGO Forum introduced the 'Durban Strategy' of isolating Israel internationally, following the model of the campaign against apartheid in South Africa. This Durban strategy, led by NGOs, is behind the BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) efforts, which are justified using the rhetoric of human rights, to demonize and delegitimize Israel."
— NGO Monitor, Durban Review Conference 2009
Every major BDS campaign on university campuses, in trade unions, and in parliaments since 2001 flows directly from the organizational work done at Durban. The language, the framing, and the strategic goals were all set there.
Wikipedia: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
Reddit: r/Jewish — NGOs and antisemitism discussions
Reddit: r/Israel — HRW bias
Quick Reference: NGO Involvement Scorecard
| Organization | Signed NGO Declaration |
Distributed Hate Material |
BDS Campaigns |
Durban II/III/IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amnesty International | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Human Rights Watch | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ✅ Defended it |
| Ford Foundation | N/A (funder) | ❌ No | ✅ Via grantees | ✅ Yes |
| Arab Lawyers Union | ✅ Yes | ✅ Nazi caricatures | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| MIFTAH / Ashrawi | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| War on Want | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ✅ Leader | ✅ Yes |
| Interfaith International | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ✅ Organized Durban II Forum |
| FIDH | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Al-Haq | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ✅ Lawfare | ✅ Yes |
| Norwegian People's Aid | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ✅ Leader | ✅ Yes |
| Oxfam | Partial | ❌ No | ✅ Political | ✅ Yes |
Sources & Further Reading
Primary Sources
- NGO Monitor — NGO Forum at Durban Conference 2001
- NGO Monitor — Durban Review Conference 2009
- NGO Monitor — 2001 Durban Conference Archives
- NGO Monitor — Watching the Watchers (full report PDF)
- NGO Monitor — UN BDS Blacklist Archives
- NGO Monitor — Oxfam Calls for Aid to Hamas-Led PA
- NGO Monitor — Core Bias in OCHA-oPt
- UN Watch — Durban IV Full Analysis
- UN Watch — Countries Rejecting Durban
Wikipedia Reference Pages
- Antisemitism at the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism
- Amnesty International and Israel
- Human Rights Watch and Israel
- Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
- The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
- Ford Foundation
- War on Want
- Oxfam
Reddit Communities
- r/Jewish — NGOs and antisemitism
- r/Israel — Human Rights Watch bias
- r/worldnews — Durban NGO Forum
- r/geopolitics — BDS and the Durban Strategy
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