Anti-Semitic NGOs, which receive funding from official authorities such as the United States and the European Union, use classic Christian blood libels in their claims against Israel, said Professor Gerald Steinberg, head of NGO Monitor.

Prof. Gerald Steinberg, head of NGO Monitor.

Steinberg spoke to Arutz Sheva at the 4th conference of the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism which was held in Jerusalem.

Steinberg named MIFTAH, a Palestinian Authority-based NGO, as an example of a group which uses the old Christian blood libel that accuses Jews of using the blood of Christians to bake matzah on Passover, as part of its anti-Israel propaganda.

He noted that while the EU has refused to respond to questions about the funding that it provides to such anti-Israel NGOs, choosing only to comment that it “funds projects and not organizations,” the United States has agreed to cut off funding to such groups.

“They don’t say it was because of this specific reason, but clearly there’s a relationship,” said Prof. Steinberg.

“The Americans are much more serious about their obligations to ensure that their funding is not being used for precisely the opposite of the purposes which they claim to support,” he added.

Steinberg warned that anti-Semitic “poison” preached by these anti-Semitic groups is adopted by major organizations and becomes mainline. One example of this, he said, is the report by the Church of Scotland that questioned the divine right of Jews to the land of Israel.

The church paper, entitled “The Inheritance of Abraham,” selectively highlighted scriptural and theological claims of Jews to the land, and rejected verses in which the land is promised to the children of Abraham.

The paper suggested that the church consider political action, including boycotts and disinvestment in Israel, in protest of what is described as “illegal settlements in the occupied territories.”

The Church of Scotland, noted Professor Steinberg, “is not just a minor organization” and therefore its anti-Israel actions should not be taken lightly.

“They own a major hotel in Tiberias, they run a hospice in Jerusalem – this is an organization which is accepted in Israel as legitimate,” he said. “And yet they are classical anti-Semites in this document.”

View original Arutz Sheva publication at: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/168564#.UawcOZx0k9F