Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) is leading a charge to end the tax-exempt status of organizations in the United States that help fund Israel’s illegal settlements.
On July 15 Tlaib sent a letter Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen asking the Biden administration to take action. It was signed by Representatives Cori Bush (D-MO), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Andre Carson (D-IN), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Betty McCollum (D-MN).
“We write to express our extreme concern that U.S. charities are funding and providing direct support to Israeli organizations that are working to expand and perpetuate Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise in violation of international law, including supporting the dispossession and forced displacement of Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem neighborhoods,” begins the letter. “We are concerned that these policies violate U.S. obligations under international law, as well as federal tax law.”
“Since Israeli forces occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in 1967, Israeli authorities have pursued an unlawful settlement enterprise in occupied territory—an aggressive policy of seizing lands either privately owned by, or collectively used by Palestinians, and allocating them for the use and enjoyment of Jewish Israelis,” it continues. “Israeli authorities utilize discriminatory housing, land, and property legal regimes and impermissible military justifications to dispossess Palestinians of their lands, or destroy Palestinian homes, property, and essential civilian infrastructure. Israeli authorities and private Israeli settler organizations in collaboration with Israeli authorities have established some 200 Jewish -only settlements that house over 600,000 Israeli citizens.”
A 2015 Haaretz investigation found that U.S. charities spent $220 million funding Israeli settlements between 2009 and 2013. Tlaib’s letter specifically cites The Central Fund of Israel (CFI), a nonprofit registered in New York. In May The Intercept published a piece by Alex Kane looking at the relationship between groups like CFI and Israel’s settlement expansion.
“This isn’t about what we think is morally or ethically right or wrong. It’s about the simple proposition that Americans — through these so-called charities — cannot directly support, or aid and abet, unlawful activities regardless of where they occur,” Center for Constitutional Rights staff attorney Diala Shamas told Kane. “Members of Congress should call on the Department of State and the IRS to investigate these groups, and at the very least, not grant them the privilege of tax-deductible status.”
Tlaib’s letter was championed by a number of Palestine activists and organizations.
“The violent settlers torching Palestinian fields in the West Bank, attacking shepherds & livestock in the S. Hebron Hills, taking over Palestinian homes in #SheikhJarrah#Jerusalem are all funded by US orgs getting tax exemptions as supposed charities,” tweeted Palestinian attorney Huwaida Arraf. “Thx for this @RepRashida!”
[Secretary Yellen] please act immediately on @RepRashida’s letter to enforce U.S. law and end the 501c3 status of organizations such as the Central Fund of Israel, which is one of several U.S.-based groups fueling the dispossession of Palestinians to make way for Israeli settlers,” tweeted American Muslims for Palestine.
Thanks to these folks!
This has been going on for a long, long time. Btw, lots of churches and synagogues/ houses of worship also preach politics and fundraise for the settlements. They also benefit from tax exemptions. It’s past time for it to end.
“Since Israeli forces occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in 1967, Israeli authorities have pursued an unlawful settlement enterprise in occupied territory—an aggressive policy of seizing lands either privately owned by, or collectively used by Palestinians…”
Once I had the task of taking care of a relative who was no longer competent to take care of himself. I just had to make sure a few bills were paid on time, and I had to drop in once a month to make sure there was food. One of my responsibilities was to not steal money from him.
If in fact our colleagues at Hasbara U are correct that the Palestinians aren’t ‘ready’ for a state then it’s the responsibility of Israel to preserve the West Bank for the future, not fill it with military training zones and settlements. We’re not moral degenerates, we’re Jews, remember? Sometimes ethics is easy.
““Since Israeli forces occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in 1967, Israeli authorities have pursued an unlawful settlement enterprise in occupied territory—an aggressive policy of seizing lands either privately owned by, or collectively used by Palestinians, and allocating them for the use and enjoyment of Jewish Israelis,” it continues. “Israeli authorities utilize discriminatory housing, land, and property legal regimes and impermissible military justifications to dispossess Palestinians of their lands, or destroy Palestinian homes, property, and essential civilian infrastructure. Israeli authorities and private Israeli settler organizations in collaboration with Israeli authorities have established some 200 Jewish -only settlements that house over 600,000 Israeli citizens.”
Emet , anyone home?????.Comments please.
A very reasonable request from all angles. Why are we allowing these companies to operate in areas officially called “Illegal” by the all International Agencies, and NOT recognized even by us?
Why are we allowing American companies to operate in stolen lands housing terrorists and giving them tax exemptions? The State Department has called the crimes of illegal settlers “terrorism”, and we should NOT encourage, nor support, people and businesses, who defy international laws, and make their money over there, giving illegal settlers the opportunity to make money, while they keep attacking, stealing, destroying olive trees, and killing helpless Palestinians. We have seen endless videos of these crimes, the cruelty shown by these terrorists, and the racism.
It is time the US stopped this pretense of not recognizing illegal settlements, and at the same time mollycoddling the terrorists who seem to have the upper hand over there, and sending billions of dollars for Israel to keep the crimes going.
Yes! High time. There is also a campaign in Canada to remove tax-exempt status from the Jewish National Fund, whose principal business is to acquire Palestinian land (one way or another), after which it is reserved for the exclusive use of Jews, as is 93% of the land in Israel. When Israel and Egypt made peace, there was a minor scandale when Egypt had a hard time finding a place for its embassy. Egyptian diplomats aren’t Jewish, you see.