Timothy W. Burns is Professor of Politics at Baylor University. Among his books is The Key Texts of Political Philosophy: An Introduction (with Thomas Pangle)(Cambridge University Press, 2014). Professor Burns has taken in the NGO Monitor study Puppet Regime: Hamas’ Coercive Grip on Aid and NGO Operations in Gaza. Melanie Phllips takes up the NGO Monitor study in her JNS column “The humanitarian front against Israel” (“Mass murder has been branded as conscience to mess with people’s minds”).
Now Professor Burns has followed up with a message to Catholic Relief Services. He advises that he “hasn’t received any response, though, to be fair, it is early yet.” I am most grateful to Professor Burns for his permission to post his message below verbatim.
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Dear Members of Catholic Relief Services:
I write to inquire about a recent report concerning your activities in Gaza. The report is by NGO Monitor: https://ngo-monitor.org/reports/puppet-regime-hamas-ngo-gaza/
The report speaks of “guarantors” in Gaza who control NGO activities. It further states that the guarantors, often members of Hamas, “also serve another function, allowing Western NGOs to circumvent various government restrictions on direct engagement with Hamas.” It lists a number of NGOs in Gaza whose guarantor is linked to Hamas. It also states the following:
“[A]ccording to a December 2022 document produced by MoINS’ Foreign Associations Department and reviewed by NGO Monitor, … the ‘guarantor’ for US-registered Catholic Relief Services (CRS), director of the NGO in Gaza, is “affiliated with the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] (PFLP)” – designated as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, and Canada.”
Your Catholic Values page claims that your organization is “driven by the Gospel of Jesus Christ to cherish, preserve and uphold the sacredness and dignity of all human life,” and that “We believe in the sacredness and inherent dignity of every person and strive to protect and promote this dignity in all our work.” This claim is not consistent with working with a designated terrorist organization. You say on the same page, to be sure, that “While some positions and practices of these institutions may not always align with Catholic teaching, CRS ensures that our association with them is focused solely on activities consistent with Catholic teaching.” But in your service to a terror organization’s orders, you cannot be focused on activities consistent with the Catholic teaching. You are aiding and abetting terrorism.
Moreover, on the map that you provide on your website, under the title “Where We Work,” you have part of the State of Israel marked off as “Palestine,” and it is marked in red, as “urgent.” Clicking on that area of the map, one is taken to a page titled “Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza.” There is of course no country or area called “Palestine.” This is a name used by terrorist organizations like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Hamas, for what they wish to conquer. (Your map seems to have just changed, in the last few minutes, removing the word “Palestine.” Interesting.)
Can you confirm what is stated in this report concerning the guarantor in Gaza of CRS? And can you explain why you have been using the title “Palestine” for the land in which you have been working?
With appreciation,
Tim Burns
