German government cuts funding to Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA) after the chair calls for a ceasefire and support for BDS

In the beginning of November 2023, the German government cut funding to the Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA). This decision was made after Azza Soliman, the chair of CEWLA and an awarded human rights lawyer, signed a statement on October 24. The statement called for a ceasefire, an end to Israel's assault on Gaza, as well as support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, and was signed by 254 international non-governmental organizations. The German government had originally approved funding for the program supporting women survivors of trafficking on the grounds of shared feminist values.

As the reason for withholding the funding, the German embassy stated, “One of our criteria for official funding is that organizations must not affiliate with the BDS movement or otherwise call for boycott against Israel.”

Soliman strongly criticized the choice to halt the funding for the anti-human-trafficking project. ​​In an interview with Mada Masr, she said, “We are in a decadent and critical historical stage in which the masks are falling off the faces of all supporters of human rights.” She added that the German government is displaying “double standards” and is “whitewashing” its history by disregarding Palestinian suffering.