J Street announced a new campaign today calling on the Treasury Department to investigate whether American non profits who fund Israeli settlements are breaking the law. Their petition says:
Please launch an investigation into whether or not the organizations funding settlement activities in the Occupied Territories, including those named in a recent New York Times report, have broken the law.
The alleged links between the named organizations and former officials and donors associated with far-right Jewish groups that are classified as terrorist organizations by the United States provide a reasonable starting point for an investigation.
One of the organizations named in Times article has gone on the offensive to clear its name. Sort of. The Central Fund of Israel has a letter in the Times today, but I doubt it swayed too many readers. It reads in part:
Geographic location is not a consideration in our decision to help a worthy cause. We are extremely proud of the work we do, whether it’s in Shomron or Tel Aviv or the Negev.
It is sad that the Obama administration seems to believe that Jews don’t have the right to live in places populated by Jews for more than 3,500 years, and that The New York Times disparages a most legitimate charity. The negative innuendo in your article is appalling.
It was written by Jay Marcus, who is listed as being from New York. That’s funny, because when we looked into Jay while researching the Central Fund he lived in the West Bank settlement Efrat. I know they say geographic location isn’t a consideration, but this seems to be a very convenient oversight.
