(JTA) Edwin Black - "The Ford Foundation has notified LAW [The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment] of its decision to cease funding and to demand return of its unspent grant funds," wrote Ford's vice president of communications, Alex Wilde. LAW officials in Jerusalem confirmed that last month they received notification from Emma Playfair, Ford's representative in Cairo, that further expenditures of foundation monies were not authorized and that the unspent balance was to be returned. Wilde stated that the foundation also has notified some 30 other LAW donors that it had suspended the organization's funding. Wilde ruled out the possibility that LAW could obtain monies via the Palestinian NGO Network, which Ford also funds. PNGO "will be subject to our new and expanded worldwide program of grantee audits, our continuing investigation into the events surrounding the Durban conference, and new grantee contract language that prohibits any organization receiving Foundation funds from promoting or engaging in violence, terrorism, bigotry, or the destruction of any state."
2003-12-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive