The Jerusalem Post published on Monday 1 November an article in which it relayed accusations by an Israeli group which claimed that Oxfam was “involved in illegal Palestinian construction and agriculture activity in the West Bank”, and that Palestinians had illegally siphoned water “with the assistance of Oxfam”.
Such information is not only inaccurate but misrepresents our mandate. Oxfam has been working in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory since the 1980s. Our work includes supporting poor farmers in the West Bank who struggle to make a living under difficult circumstances with limited access to the resources they need. In 2008, Oxfam helped West Bank farmers improve their farmlands and carry out more productive farming. Oxfam has no involvement in diverting water.
Oxfam is an impartial humanitarian and development organisation which strives all over the world to help people suffering as a result of natural disasters, climate change, conflict, injustice and poverty. In the programmes it supports worldwide, Oxfam is committed to working within the law. We are registered in Israel as an international aid organisation, and work in partnership with both Israeli and Palestinian civil societies. We work to help those who are most in need, whatever their race, creed, religion, ethnicity or nationality.
Jeremy Hobbs,
Oxfam International’s Executive Director
More on Oxfam in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel
