War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London. War on Want works to challenge the root causes of poverty, inequality and injustice through partnership with social movements in the global South and campaigns in the UK. War on Want's slogan is "poverty is political" and its stated focus is on the root causes of poverty rather than its effects.
War on Want is a membership organisation governed by an elected Council of Management drawn from its membership. War on Want patrons include Naomi Klein, Owen Jones, Raj Patel and Mark Serwotka.
The organisation was formed in 1951 after a letter in The Manchester Guardian from Victor Gollancz was read by Harold Wilson, later British Prime Minister, who coined the name.[2][3] Since then, the organisation has taken part in many campaigns and investigations, including in the 1970s helping to expose baby food companies marketing powdered milkinfant formula as a healthier option than breast milk to mothers in the developing world – a dangerous and expensive option for these mothers who had no access to safe drinking water and sterilisation facilities.
In the 1980s, War on Want campaigned on the role of women in the developing world, and supported liberation movements in Eritrea, South Africa and Western Sahara.
From 1983 to 1987, George Galloway was General Secretary of War on Want. The Daily Mirror accused Galloway of living luxuriously at the charity's expense. An independent auditor cleared him of misuse of funds, though he did repay £1,720 in contested expenses. The official history of the charity says that Galloway's methods of management created interpersonal problems among the staff, and although the charity grew under Galloway, his period in charge was followed by a serious internal crisis.[4]
More than two years after Galloway stepped down as general secretary after being elected as a Labour MP, the British Government's Charity Commission investigated War on Want, finding accounting irregularities including that the financial reports were "materially mis-stated"[4] from 1985 to 1989, but little evidence that money was used for non-charitable purposes. Galloway had been general secretary for the first three of those years. The commission said responsibility lay largely with auditors and did not single out individuals for blame. War on Want was found to have been insolvent, and subsequently dismissed most of its staff and narrowly avoided administration.[5] It was relaunched in 1991.
In the 1990s, it focused on issues that resulted from globalisation, including workers' rights and a call to set up a Tobin tax on currency speculation. The charity set up the Tobin tax Network (now a separate charity called Stamp Out Poverty) to develop the proposal and press for its introduction.
In 2006 War on Want launched a campaign for Palestinian human rights, including a report titled Profiting from the Occupation, which looked at European corporations who the charity claimed were profiting from Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.[6] The campaign was praised by The Guardian at the time, which named the charity "Campaign of the Week".[7] In 2007 MP Lee Scott complained to the Charity Commission about an online "guide for boycott, divestment and sanctions" against Israel. War on Want said it already had permission from the Commission to advocate boycotts and sanctions to address "the root causes of poverty and human rights abuses".[8] In July 2009 the Commission concluded that no regulatory action was required, declaring itself satisfied that the charity's trustees understood the official guidance on campaigning by charities and that War on Want's campaigns on Palestine were linked to its charitable objects, making them legitimate under charity law.[9] War on Want has continued its support of the BDS movement.
In 2011, War on Want marked its 60th anniversary[10] with a repeat of the Yes campaign that first formed the charity, asking people to email the word Yes to show their support for withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. They delivered the petition to Foreign Secretary William Hague.[11]
War on Want is campaigning against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). TTIP is a proposed free trade agreement being secretly negotiated between the European Union and the United States. It argues that TTIP will cost more than one million jobs, lead to the irreversible privatisation of public services, a "race to the bottom" in food, environmental and labour standards and allow US companies to sue the UK government in private courts.[12]
Stop arming Israel
War on Want is calling for a two-way arms embargo between the UK and Israel. War on Want believes that by selling arms to Israel, the UK government is complicit in Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people. War on Want advocates for a boycott of Israel until it complies with international law. It also campaigns to expose companies which sustain and profit from the Israeli-occupied territories.
Food sovereignty
War on Want's The Hunger Games report revealed how the Department for International Development (DFID) is using hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money with the express purpose of extending the power of agribusiness over the production of food in Africa. War on Want believes the root cause of the global food crisis is that food is treated like a financial commodity to be traded, and not a right for communities. It believes food production should be in the hands of small-scale producers.
Other campaigns
In its campaigning and programmes strands of work, War on Want focuses on
War on Want has released a series of "alternative reports" highlighting issues such as Coca-Cola's overseas activities allegedly causing poverty and environmental damage.[13] It has also released research on alleged human rights abuses by private military and security companies in Iraq and elsewhere, and a report highlighting how companies such as Tesco, Primark and Asda sell goods made by sweatshop labour in Bangladesh.[citation needed] War on Want campaigns against these corporations, and calls for the British government to regulate these industries as well for as the businesses themselves to take responsibility for their actions. In 2010, War on Want released a report exposing the companies that it describes as "profiting" from Israel's occupation of the West Bank, and calling on ordinary people around the world to take action.
Praise and criticism
Solidarity
War on Want has issued numerous statements of solidarity with organisations and movements all over the world. In October 2009, War on Want issued a statement of solidarity with Abahlali baseMjondolo in response to attacks on the Kennedy Road informal settlement and wrote a letter to the South African High Commissioner in London.[14][15] The charity also spearheaded a campaign highlighting the forced displacement of poor South Africans in the lead-up to the 2010 World Cup.[16]
Israel boycott
In 2010, War on Want's[17] campaign "Help win justice for the Palestinian people this Christmas"[18] accused Israel of "illegal Occupation," "daily human rights abuses," and "the siege on Gaza and the Apartheid Wall." As in previous years, War on Want called for holiday donations in the form of "alternative gifts," to "launch a sustained campaign against UK companies that are profiting from the Occupation" and to "secure compensation for those who have lost land due to construction of the Apartheid Wall."[18]
NGO Monitor's Dan Kosky wrote that due to War on Want's support of an Israel boycott and its stand against the British presence in Iraq, a thorough review of the organization should be conducted by the UK regarding funding, for "if not, the United Kingdom could find itself aiding an Israel boycott campaign."[19] In January 2018, War on Want was listed as one of 20 anti-Israel BDS organizations banned from entering Israel and Israeli-occupied territory. Israeli Strategic Affairs MinisterGilad Erdan who formulated the list stated, "Boycott organisations need to know that Israel will act against them and will not allow [them] to enter its territory in order to harm its citizens."[20] In response, War on Want stated "For 70 years, Israel has subjected Palestinians to a range of human rights abuses including travel bans... this blacklist is a repressive tactic borrowed from the same playbook used by the apartheid regime in South Africa."[21]
In October 2018, War on Want's PayPal account was terminated after receiving a complaint from two pro-Israeli legal groups; the Lawfare Project and UK Lawyers for Israel. The groups alleged that War on Want had links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.[22] The groups also lodged a complaint with the Charity Commission which, however, in July 2019 cleared the charity of any wrongdoing.[23][24]
In April 2020, "Oliver Taylor" got articles published in Arutz Sheva, The Algemeiner, The Times of Israel, and The Jerusalem Post.[25] In these, he repeated the allegations made by the pro-Israeli groups that War on Want had "ties to terrorist entities". Taylor described himself as a "24-year-old student, barista, and political activist. During the week I work on completing my masters in political science, and come the weekend you will find me engrossed in all things coffee. Whether I am brewing it or sipping it." His profile photo was that of a young brown-eyed man smiling with a light stubble. But a report by Reuters concluded that Taylor most likely did not exist. There was no record of Oliver Taylor on the University of Birmingham where he supposedly studied and the six experts interviewed by Reuters agreed that the profile photo was a deepfake. The websites were forced to take down the articles when contacted by lawyers. Who actually penned those articles remained a mystery.[26][25]
Finances
Income in the years from 2011/12 to 2015/16 ranged from £1.6m (2011/12) to a high point of £2.1m (2014/15), with public donations and legacies the main source.[1]
In FY19/20, War on Want received funding from the following prominent organisations:[27]
Jewish Voice for Peace is an anti-Zionist left-wing Jewish activist organization in the United States that supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
Global Justice Now, formerly known as the World Development Movement (WDM), is a membership organisation based in the United Kingdom which campaigns on issues of global justice and development in the Global South.
Labour Behind the Label (LBL) is a UK-based non-profit co-operative organisation with an office in Easton, Bristol, which campaigns for workers' rights in the clothing industry. It is the platform of the international Clean Clothes Campaign in the United Kingdom. LBL's members include trade unions and their local branches, consumer organisations, campaign groups, and charities.
Richard Anderson Falk is an American professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, and Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor's Chairman of the Board of Trustees. In 2004, he was listed as the author or coauthor of 20 books and the editor or coeditor of another 20 volumes. Falk has published extensively with multiple books written about international law and the United Nations.
George Galloway is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer who has served as member of Parliament (MP) for Rochdale since the 2024 by-election. He has been the leader of the Workers Party of Britain since he founded it in 2019. Between 1987 and 2010, and between 2012 and 2015, Galloway served as MP for four constituencies, first for the Labour Party and later for the Respect Party, the latter of which he joined in 2004 and led from 2013 until its dissolution in 2016.
Disinvestment from Israel is a campaign conducted by religious and political entities which aims to use disinvestment to pressure the government of Israel to put "an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories captured during the 1967 military campaign." The disinvestment campaign is related to other economic and political boycotts of Israel.
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations NGOs, focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1995 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief in Oxford, UK, in 1942, to alleviate World War Two related hunger and continued in the aftermath of the war. By 1970, Oxfam had established an international presence, in India, Australia, Denmark, and North America.
Viva Palestina is a British-based organisation formerly registered as a charity. The body came into being in January 2009 with the initial intention of running a convoy of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Its aims are the "provision from the UK of food, medicine and essential goods and services needed by the civilian population" [of the occupied Palestinian Territories] and "highlighting the causes and results of wars with a view to achieving peace."
The Palestine lobby in the United States is organized by a number of pro-Palestinian advocacy groups seeking to influence the United States government, institutions, and citizens to actively oppose Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, many of them members or cooperating with the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. These organizations include peace and anti-war, human rights, anti-Zionist, and Arab- and Muslim-American groups. Groups against occupation also include Jewish Voices for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine, among others. Their tactics include education, protest, civil disobedience and lobbying.
The Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS), a secular organisation, was formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1984 to promote free discussion and action on Jewish and general social and political issues. It grew out of a profound concern at the continuing Arab–Israeli conflict, though some of its members had been active on the left since at least the 1930s in Europe. Others had been born in Israel or Australia, or spent considerable time in Israel. Others came out of the anti-Vietnam war and peace movements. Some key members had strong links to the Israeli peace movement, the Jewish left, Labor Zionism, or other Jewish religious and cultural traditions. More recently, members with strong environmental concerns have become active.
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations under international law, defined as withdrawal from the occupied territories, removal of the separation barrier in the West Bank, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and "respecting, protecting, and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties". The movement is organized and coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee.
Lisa Taraki is an Afghan-born Palestinian journalist, teacher and sociologist. She is an associate professor of sociology at Birzeit University in the West Bank and former Dean of its graduate students. She is the co-founder of the university's Institute of Women's Studies and founding Director of the doctoral program in social sciences. Taraki is also the co-founder of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a campaign that spearheaded the BDS movement and advocates for academic and cultural boycotts of Israel until it stops what they see as violations of the Palestinians' human rights. She has also served as the director of the board of trustees for Al Haq.
Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel is a New York-based organization that campaigns for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. “Adalah” is the Arabic word for “justice.”
The current campaign for an academic boycott of Israel was launched in April 2004 by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) as part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. The campaign calls for BDS activities against Israel to put international pressure on Israel, in this case against Israeli academic institutions, all of which are said by PACBI to be implicated in the perpetuation of Israeli occupation, in order to achieve BDS goals. Since then, proposals for academic boycotts of particular Israeli universities and academics have been made by academics and organisations in Palestine, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries. The goal of the proposed academic boycotts is to isolate Israel in order to force a change in Israel's policies towards the Palestinians, which proponents argue are discriminatory and oppressive, including oppressing the academic freedom of Palestinians.
The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) is a Scottish political organisation which campaigns in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Students for Justice in Palestine is a pro-Palestinian college student activism organization in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. It has campaigned for boycott and divestment against corporations that deal with Israel and organized events about Israel's human rights violations. In 2011, The New York Times reported that "S.J.P., founded in 2001 at the University of California, Berkeley, has become the leading pro-Palestinian voice on campus."
BOYCOTT! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within, commonly known as Boycott from Within, is an association of Jewish and Arab Israelis who support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Founded in 2008, it describes itself as following the guiding principles and sharing the goals of the Palestinian BDS movement, as delineated by Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).
Reactions to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) refer to the views of international actors on the BDS movement.
The Amendment No. 28 to the Entry Into Israel Law prohibits the entry into Israel of any foreigner who makes a "public call for boycotting Israel" or "any area under its control" – a reference to the Israeli settlements. It denies entry, visa and residency permits to these affected foreigners.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
