Every child is important in the eyes of the National Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Children – unless they are Palestinian, it
would seem, because they have accepted millions from JCB a company which makes money from
destroying Palestinian homes, traumatising the children and plunging
the families into instant poverty.
And a three-year campaign to change the charity’s practice eventually
evinced a response that they had checked with their lawyers, and it was
legal to do so.
JCB, which has not engaged at all with campaigners, exports to an
Israeli partner, Comasco. The bulldozer manufacturer is fully aware that
their equipment is used to demolish Palestinian homes, schools,
clinics, olive groves and water pipes. This is completely illegal under
the Fourth Geneva Convention, the human suffering is immeasurable and
studies by psychologists show that the children are permanently
traumatised.
But it is all part of Israel’s policy of “judaizing” Palestine in –
among other places – East Jerusalem, the highly fertile Jordan Valley
and the Naqab (Negev).
But that cuts no ice with the charity which claims to exist for the protection of children. The acceptance of money from JCB is “legal” so the human misery wreaked by their bulldozers is ignored.
Faced with calls that it should refuse to accept money earned in
activities that involve severe and enduring harm to Palestinian
children, the NSPCC has previously said that, "In line with Charity Commission guidance the NSPCC has produced
ethical corporate fundraising guidelines reflecting its values… and
undertakes due diligence based on criteria approved by its Trustees in
relation to corporate partners."
Surprisingly, perhaps, the NSPCC feels
entitled to regard profits earned from home demolitions, and the cruelty
they inevitably entail, as clean money. Perhaps this is because the
guidelines only advise the refusal of moneys "associated with any
organisation connected with slavery, human trafficking and child labour
or where a director or officer has been convicted of a sexual offence."
In a pamphlet called "Living Our Values",
the NSPCC states: "We will speak out when something is wrong… We seek
to achieve cultural, social and political change – influencing
legislation, policy, practice, attitudes and behaviours and delivering
services for the benefit of children and young people."
The NSPCC here recognises a responsibility
to challenge accepted norms where these expose young people to harm.
Yet when it comes to children in faraway lands, it suggests
that government trading priorities provide an adequate guide to moral
practice: "The export activities of a corporate do not form part of our
ethical checks" unless concerning a country "on which the UK Government/
Department of Trade has formally imposed trade restrictions."
With this legalistic approach, the
charity's officials brush aside a serious moral challenge to their
mutually beneficial relationship with JCB.
Meanwhile the United Nations, Amnesty International and Lawyers for
Palestinian Human Rights have all denounced JCB’s complicity with Israel
as war crimes. And the company is currently under scrutiny by the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for its
lack of a human rights policy.
A broad coalition comprising Defence of Children International, ICAHD
UK, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Protecting Palestinian Families,
the Shoal Collective, Social Work Action Network, the UK-Palestine
Mental Health Network, eminent social work and medical professionals and
thousands of individual citizens has bombarded the NSPCC with letters,
postcards and Tweets, all asking the senior staff and every single
trustee at NSPCC to sever links with JCB.
All these bodies and individuals condemn JCB, quoting International
Humanitarian Law, International Law and Human Rights conventions. But
the NSPCC ignores it all, citing narrow legality.
And here comes the hypocrisy. NSPCC uses the following language of some of
these documents in its banner headlines – “Every Child Matters” and
“Every Child is Worth Fighting For” but these wonderful slogans don’t
apply to Palestinian children.
The NSPCC was founded to prevent cruelty
to children. but despite them having received detailed information about JCB’s complicity in
Israel’s house demolitions, it continues to accept donations and
partner with the company. that derives profits from
inflicting cruelty on Palestinian children – it doesn’t make sense.
The NSPCC has recently launched its annual festive fundraiser, Letter from Santa.
Aiming to drive donations for the charity during the winter season, the
campaign, which is in its 20th year, encourages supporters to order a
personalised letter from Santa for the little ones in their life. Apparently if children write to Santa with their own unique message via the NSPCC they will get an answer
So this information has been used to write a letter from an imaginary Palestinian child. It makes the point about the toxic relationship between the charity and its donor JCB.
It would be great if as many copies of the letter flooded into the inboxes of NSPCC trustees and officers before Christmas. You could use the following actual letter, a modified form of it or a completely original letter of your own to one, more or all of them.
It would great to do the whole thing on December 6, the feast day of Saint Nicholas aka Santa Claus, but any day you can manage would be excellent.
Here are the addresses of the principal officers and all the trustees of the NSPCC and some of them use twitter – see below
Josephine.Swinhoe@NSPCC.org.uk director of income generation
Peter.Wanless@NSPCC.org.uk chief executive @peterwanless
David.Hamilton@NSPCC.org.uk director of communications and marketing
Claire.Watt@NSPCC.org.uk director of services
Neil.Berkett@NSPCC.org.uk chair of trustees @neilberkett
Mark.Corbidge@NSPCC.org.uk treasurer
j.begent@nhs.net @jobegent9
other trustees using same email format
Elizabeth Brash
Peter Daffern
Eithne Daly @eithnedaly
Pippa Gough @pippagough
Ife Grillo @ifetalksback
Albert Heaney
Andrew Kerr @andychariots
Tarek Khlat
Derrick Mortimer
Sheanna Patelmaster @5h34nn4
Sarah Ridgway
Tom Toumazis @tomtoumazis
Emma Smyth
Dear Santa
My name is Leila and I live in Bethlehem. Most people in the city are Muslims but my family is Christian - however at this time of year we all celebrate Christmas! Everybody loves the enormous Christmas tree set up in Manger Square and all my school friends wish me “Happy Christmas!” Of course we wish them “Happy Eid” when it’s their turn and we all share the special foods in each other’s tradition.
I have heard that children in the UK write to you via the NSPCC which helps children who are suffering from cruelty and that if they use this charity, you will write back to them so I am sending you my wish. Please can you give my cousin Nabil a new house? A big yellow bulldozer knocked down his house last week. The soldiers said they had to destroy the house to make way for a new Israeli settlement and that the whole village is in the way.
It’s getting cold and rainy now and Nabil is living under a plastic sheet near the rubble. His baby sister Maysun suffers from asthma and it’s hard to get her to hospital because of the checkpoints. So I’m very worried about what will happen to them as the winter goes on.
My teacher told me that the company that makes the bulldozers gives money to the NSPCC but I am sure that must be a mistake. A charity which prevents cruelty to children wouldn’t take money from a company which made my cousins homeless, would it?
Anyway Santa my best present would be a new home for Nabil and Maysun
With love from Leila
ps I have been a good girl this year
