Like many Jewish American families, mine donated to its local chapter of the Jewish Federation for many years — no questions asked. These funds enabled us to support Jewish life and culture within our community and abroad, promoting initiatives and institutions that uphold Jewish tradition and values. However, this year, when my family received the call requesting our donation, we declined. We could no longer support an organization that diverted funds meant to support and culturally enrich our own community to subsidize Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, undermining any remaining chance for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Acts of violence targeting Palestinians and aiding ongoing land theft in the West Bank are not things that I, and many other American Jews, want to finance with funds donated with the intent to better our communities here in the United States. Detestably, portions of those funds are being sent to illegal Israeli settlements, helping to cement Israeli settler claims to land and perpetuating a cycle of violence and oppression that will continue to prevent peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
When conflict escalates in Israel and the Palestinian territory, incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia in the United States spike. By supporting organizations that are bankrolling illegal settlement activity in the West Bank — either knowingly or not — American Jews are playing a role in not only perpetuating the conflict abroad but also exacerbating conditions for antisemitism and hate at home.
Having seen with my own eyes the violence stoked and committed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank — cars, homes, and agriculture set aflame; grieving parents of Palestinian children shot by Israel Defense Forces soldiers following a settler attack; Palestinian homes and entire villages forcibly destroyed by settlers and the Israeli government — I believe that US tax-deductible funds should in no way be used to support their crimes.
The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) reports its mission to be “to build flourishing Jewish communities domestically, in Israel, and around the world.” JFNA has previously made its stance on supporting West Bank settlements, illegal under international law, clear. In 2014, JFNA, in an email to federation leaders, stated that “funds are not spent for building or maintenance in the West Bank.” It was further clarified that money could still be spent for “social services for Jews in need wherever they live in the world,” including over the Green Line (in the West Bank). This still implied that they weren’t supplying funds to establish, expand, or support projects in settlements. This hasn’t stopped local chapters of the JFNA from providing tens of thousands of dollars annually to organizations that financially support West Bank settlements.
According to IRS forms and Cece Charendoff and Uri Blau’s 2017 Haaretz investigation, local chapters of the JFNA have provided significant funds to organizations that finance settler activity. According to their 2021 IRS 990 form, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation gave a $20,000 grant to American Friends of Kehillas Simchas HaTorah Inc., which took donations in 2021 to build and support a synagogue in the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit. This settlement was built on private Palestinian land taken from the village of Wadi Foquin, severely hampering the village’s access to key resources and further isolating it from neighboring Palestinian villages.
Similarly, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland provided $5,360 to the Hebron Fund, according to their 2023 IRS 990 form. The Hebron Fund finances Israeli settlers both inside the city of Hebron and the settlement of Kiryat Arba on the outskirts of the city. Settlers in Hebron are notorious for their violent extremism. The expansion of settlements in and around Hebron has resulted in the fragmentation of the city. Palestinians can no longer live, have businesses, or even walk in certain areas of Hebron, in what many have called proof of Israel’s apartheid system in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In addition, both these chapters, as well as the JFNA chapters of Washington, Houston, and Philadelphia gave at least $200,000 combined to the Central Fund of Israel (CFI) between 2022 and 2023. CFI has provided donations to dozens of organizations involved in settlement activity, including the Israel Land Fund, which has worked to forcibly evict Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, particularly in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Other organizations registered as US 501(c)(3) charitable organizations are more transparent about their financial support of Israeli settlements and settlement outposts in the West Bank, although their IRS 990 forms still do not accurately reflect the scope of their financial activity. One Israel Fund, an organization with the expressed purpose of “supporting the over 500,000 residents of Judea and Samaria,” routinely finances settlement and outpost expansion projects. They have also funded the purchase of paramilitary equipment described as tools for security, including for violent settlements such as Yitzhar, which has been a hotbed for settler extremism. Settlers from Yitzhar organized and carried out the most notable settler attack in recent years in February 2023, viciously attacking the Palestinian village of Huwara, setting fire to homes, businesses, and cars, as well as firing bullets at Palestinian civilians and blocking emergency service vehicles from aiding the wounded. This attack was referred to by an Israeli military commander as a “pogrom,” and the physical devastation from the attack is still visible to this day.
Other US registered charities, often called “Friends of” organizations, directly fund specific settlements and outposts, financing housing expansions, community centers, and security infrastructure, usually on privately owned, confiscated Palestinian land. Because these organizations have been awarded 501(c)(3) status, they are tax-exempt, and donors can claim deductions on their contributions, effectively subsidizing settlement expansion with US tax dollars.
Meanwhile, a number of synagogues across North America have hosted Israel real estate fairs that feature properties in West Bank settlements. These events have sparked major protests that have been framed by critics as antisemitic simply because they take place outside synagogues. This conflation of Judaism and Jewish spaces with the settler movement puts American Jewish safety at risk.
Legislation like the “Not on Our Dime!: Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act,” introduced in the New York State Senate by Zohran Mamdani, the democratic primary winner for the New York City mayoral race, sought to penalize and revoke the charitable status of New York–registered charities funding West Bank settlement activity. For families like mine, this legislation echoes our moral dilemma: refusing to allow our charitable donations to contribute to a system of occupation and violence.
We must invest in our communities here in the United States at a time when community and tradition are more important than ever, and in doing so end our support for organizations like the JFNA until they enforce a policy that prohibits donation in any form over the Green Line. Support for organizations that work toward bettering and fostering our communities here at home — and not in West Bank settlements — is crucial to build safe, flourishing, and engaged Jewish communities in the United States.
As someone who has been shaped by and found identity through my local Jewish institutions, I believe we have a responsibility to ensure that our values — of justice, peace, and tikkun olam — are reflected by the organizations we chose to donate to. Giving to organizations that actively perpetuate the continuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by supporting illegal settlement activity in the West Bank not only undermines our efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace but also compromises Jewish safety by fueling instability abroad.
Great Job Rachel Nelson & the Team @ Jacobin Source link for sharing this story.
