A Tax Break Fuels Middle East Friction

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"For many years, the United States has had a policy against spending aid money to fund Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which successive administrations have regarded as an obstacle to peace. Yet private organizations in the United States continue to raise tax-exempt contributions for the very activities that the government opposes.

There's nothing illegal about the charitable contributions to pro-settlement organizations, which are documented in filings with the Internal Revenue Service. They're similar to tax-exempt donations made to thousands of foreign organizations around the world through groups that are often described as "American friends of" the recipient.

But critics of Israeli settlements question why American taxpayers are supporting indirectly, through the exempt contributions, a process that the government condemns. A search of IRS records identified 28 U.S. charitable groups that made a total of $33.4 million in tax-exempt contributions to settlements and related organizations between 2004 and 2007.

"This is an issue that has not gotten the attention it deserves," said Ori Nir, a spokesman for Americans for Peace Now, a lobbying group that opposes settlements. "I don't know how many people, including in the U.S. government, realize the extent of private American funding to settlements. . . . Every dollar that goes to settlements makes Middle East peace that much harder to reach."

more



New support for West Bank outpost

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7965503.stm

An unauthorised settlement in the West Bank, illegal even under Israeli law, appears to be benefiting from state funding, the BBC has uncovered.

<snip>

"A road is being built from the established settlement of Eli, near the Palestinian city of Nablus, leading east to the illegal outpost at Hayovel.

Settlement expansion is a major barrier to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

The international community regards all settlements in the West Bank as illegal under international law.

Israel disputes this, but even under Israeli law, those newer, smaller settlements - known as outposts - which have not received authorisation from the government are deemed, by the Israeli government, to be illegal."

<snip>

"Drive up the twisting, landscaped roads of Eli, a mid-sized settlement in the heart of the West Bank, and you come across a scene of intense construction activity. Lorries, tractors, and graders are digging, laying and smoothing a new road, more than a kilometre long. The road leads east to the outpost of Hayovel.

The road-building is not difficult to spot. But outside observers are not welcome. The BBC was asked, twice, to leave the settlement, when we drew too close to the site of the road.

Since the publication of a government-commissioned report into outposts, four years ago, they were supposed not to receive any further support from the authorities.

Indeed, the outgoing Israeli government promised to start dismantling the existing outposts.

That did not happen. Late last year, however, after an increase in violence from a minority of settlers, aimed at Israeli security forces, the cabinet announced an absolute cut-off in all public funding to the outposts.

The new road suggests that the reality is otherwise."

[Jefferson23]

1. Very interesting.

"IRS records identified 28 U.S. charitable groups that made a total of $33.4 million in tax-exempt contributions to settlements and related organizations between 2004 and 2007."

So when do we learn the names of these groups?

[Howardx]

2. heres one of them

i live not too far from his casino

"Irving Moskowitz is a Florida-based bingo and gambling magnate who uses proceeds from his businesses to fund right-wing pro-Israel organizations in the United States and radical Israeli settler groups. Moskowitz, a retired doctor and millionaire who originally built his wealth by buying and selling hospitals, also funds social service outfits in Hawaiian Gardens, California, a small, mostly Latino city just outside Los Angeles where Moskowitz's gambling business is located. A controversial figure both in the United States and Israel, Moskowitz's Hawaiian Gardens casino has been unsuccessfully sued by concerned citizens in the United States for alleged abuses committed against its workers (see the website of the Coalition for Justice in Hawaiian Gardens & Jerusalem, stopmoskowitz.org). In Israel, Moskowitz has been severely criticized for using his wealth to try to dictate government policy and making controversial land purchases in Palestinian enclaves in Jerusalem and the Occupied Territories"

"Moskowitz established the Irving I. Moskowitz Foundation in 1968. A year later, according to the JTA, he began his controversial property acquisitions in Jerusalem with proceeds from the sale of one of his hospitals. In 1988, Moskowitz purchased the Hawaiian Gardens bingo parlor. "It was a move," reports the JTA, "that changed his life—and ultimately, he hopes, the character of Jerusalem." Moskowitz converted the bingo business into a non-profit organization, nearly all the proceeds of which go to the Moskowitz Foundation. "Through bingo profits, Moskowitz's charitable giving has soared from the thousands to the millions, propelling his foundation to one of the top 1,000 private foundations in the United States. Moskowitz's foundation gave away $57,000 in 1987. In 1991, he gave away $1.5 million, according to the foundation's tax returns. By 1994, he had given $4.3 million and about $6 million in 1995. More current figures are not available."
http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/4259.html


he just built a big new eyesore bingo parlor. the "social service outfits" he supposedly runs consists of one food bank open about 2 days a month.

[Jefferson23]

5. Thanks for the information Howardx, this paragraph caught my attention.

" Praising Moskowitz's generous funding, David Wurmser, an adviser on the Middle East to Vice President Dick Cheney and a former AEI fellow, once said that the bingo mogul was a "gentle man whose generous support of AEI allows me to be here" (quoted in Jim Lobe, "New Cheney Foreign Policy Adviser Sets Sights on Syria," Foreign Policy In Focus, October 22, 2003; see also, the Irving I. Moskowitz Foundation, 2005 Form 990)."

[Howardx]

9. yeah he's a peach

just the kind of neighbor i want.

[azurnoir]

3. Is this even legal?

considering this statement

A 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service stated: "The United States stipulates that U.S. aid funds cannot be used in the occupied territories."

But that is not all from 2007

Settlers launch first drive in U.S. to sell homes

A campaign launched this week to convince American Jews to buy homes in the West Bank is the first organized sales effort of its kind, activists from both sides of the political spectrum said.

Amana, the settlement arm of Gush Emunim, hosted housing fairs in New York and New Jersey this week and plans are underway for similar events in Miami and Chicago.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/832405.html

[Jefferson23]

8. Talk about ambiguity, sheesh.

"Activists also say that calling the project "legal" is somewhat dubious. "Settlers are supposed to get building permits and if they have done so, selling these homes would be legal under Israeli law. Of course, it's totally illegal under international law," said Adam Keller, spokesperson for Gush Shalom."

vs: "American embassy officials had no information about the legality or illegality of the project under U.S. law, but said that the expansion of settlements ran counter to American policy. Spokesman Stewart Tuttle said that buying homes in the West Bank would be a "huge risk" given the unknown results of a final status agreement."


I hope the attorney for Peace Now gets his requested criminal investigation.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

4. Recent settler fundraiser speaker (in NYC) calls for Abbas' assassination.

In NY synagogue, Israeli settler leader calls for assassination of Abbas-- and tax-deductible contributions
Exclusive report from Mondoweiss: In a speech at a New York synagogue Wednesday night, Nadia Matar, a leader of the Israeli settlers' group "Women in Green," called for the assassination of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, as a way of bringing peace to Israel.

Just as Churchill understood that in order to bring peace to Europe, "he had to destroy the Nazi beast," Matar explained, "today we must destroy all the terrorist organizations. We must kill all the terrorist leaders, starting with Mahmoud Abbas and all others...Nobody had any moral qualms at destroying the Nazi regime. We have to abolish the Oslo Agreements, there's no difference between the PA, the Islamic Jihad, the Hamas, whatever names you have, they're all terrorists and we cannot have peace with them."

Matar then urged the crowd at the Safra Synagogue on the Upper East Side to make tax-deductible donations to Women in Green by writing checks to the Central Fund of Israel.

As our site has reported, the Central Fund is a U.S. charity group that supports Jewish settler militias. It has received donations from leading figures in the American Jewish community, including James Tisch, the ceo of Loews, Michael Milken the banker/philanthropist, Alan C. (Ace) Greenberg, the former ceo of Bear Stearns, and actor Kirk Douglas. The Fund is housed at a fabric store on Sixth Avenue called Marcus Fabrics and administered by Arthur and Hadassah Marcus, who live in New York, and their son Jay, who lives in Efrat, the West Bank settlement where Nadia Matar also lives.

Matar, who was born in Belgium and moved to Israel 20 years ago, thanked the Safra Synagogue rabbi, Elie Abadie, who is associated with Yeshiva University, for hosting her visit. It was her third appearance in a tour of the U.S. to build support for the Jewish colonists of the West Bank.


http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/in-ny-synagogue-settler-leader-calls-for-assassination-of-abbas-and-taxdeductible-contributions-to-s.html

[Jefferson23]

6. At least with Nadia, she doesn't even try to pretend how she really feels

nor what she wants for her cause.

From Scurrilous piece above,
"A 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service stated: "The United States stipulates that U.S. aid funds cannot be used in the occupied territories." The issue came to a head during a 1992 dispute over the use of U.S. loan guarantees. A Jan. 25, 1992, story in the New York Times said that Secretary of State James A. Baker had cautioned Israel's ambassador "that the administration was not going to underwrite Israeli policies that fundamentally contradict its own principles and long-stated policies."


I don't understand why these contributions, which conflict with our own policies, are in fact legal.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

7. It's barely possible to contribute to a genuine charity connected to Palestine! nt

[Howardx]

10. they are legal

because no congressperson wants to stick their head in the buzzsaw to outlaw them.

[Scurrilous]

11. ADC Files Complaints with Treasury Department against US Tax Exempt Organizations

Full Title: ADC Files Complaints with Treasury Department against US Tax Exempt Organizations Raising Funds for West Bank Settlements

Washington, D.C. | March 27, 2009 | www.adc.org |

<snip>

"Today, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed multiple administrative complaints with the US Department of the Treasury, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), requesting investigations into the activities of organizations claiming tax-exempt status under section 501(C)3 of the US Tax Code yet allegedly raising funds for the development of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Among other allegations, the ADC complaints allege that these organizations are using assets and income in direct violation of their addressed purpose, and to support illegal and terrorist activities abroad.

The construction of settlements in occupied territory is illegal under international humanitarian law. The use of tax-exempt status to raise funds for these types of activities is also illegal under US law. Further, it is a central part of stated US policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict that settlement expansion and construction must stop. In filing its complaints, ADC seeks to ensure that US tax laws are not being exploited, and violated, by certain organizations which are allegedly using their tax-exempt status contradictory to stated US policies on this issue.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including the system of segregation roads, walls and checkpoints which surround them, continue to debilitate life for Palestinians in the occupied territory. Every American administration since the Carter Administration has been critical of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Most recently, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Israeli government initiatives to expand these settlements. More information on the challenges associated with Israeli settlement construction and detailed information on the settlement enterprise can be read in the recently-released ADC-Research Institute’s issue paper on this subject."

http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=3437

[Jefferson23]

12. Maybe this will get the attention it deserves, thanks for the info.

[Scurrilous]

13. Settlers using government transition to step up construction

<snip>

"Construction activity on West Bank settlements has increased in the transition period between the February general election and the formation of the new government, Haaretz has learned.

One notable example is the extensive earthworks being carried out in preparation for the construction of a road connect the settlement of Eli, north of Ramallah, with the Hayovel outpost Yuval, just south of the Arab city.

The earthworks are being carried out on private land owned by residents of the Palestinian village of Qaryut. The mayor, Abd al-Latif Lavum, plans to submit a petition today to the High Court of Justice demanding the issuing of a stop order to the Civil Administration to halt the work.

In fact, the Civil Administration, a government body that governs civilian aspects of daily life in the West Bank, has itself already issued an order to stop the work but it has not been enforced."

more

[Scurrilous]

14. Israeli Activist Group Targeting U.S. Charities for ‘Illegal’ Fundraising

<snip>

"An Israeli peace activist group plans to pressure the
U.S. government to revoke the tax-exempt status of
U.S. charities that solicit funds for the development of
illegal Jewish settlements and outposts in the West
Bank, the group’s spokesperson told Tax Analysts September
18.

Gush Shalom, an organization that advocates for
Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories, is collecting
information on U.S. tax-exempt groups whose
fundraising on behalf of Israeli settlements violates
Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) rules governing
charitable organizations, spokesman Adam Keller
said in a phone interview. Gush Shalom is coordinating
the information gathering process with other U.S.
human rights and political activist groups, he said.
Once the information is collected, Gush Shalom will
send its findings to the IRS and ask the government to
revoke the organizations’ tax-exempt status, Keller said.
The group does not yet have an exact time frame for
contacting the IRS. ‘‘When we’ve finished collecting
the information, we will decide the best course of action,’’
Keller said, adding that the group is working
with people who understand U.S. tax laws and can
help develop the best arguments for revoking the organizations’
tax-exempt status.

Keller said the group can show a discrepancy between
the U.S. charities’ statement of purpose given to
the IRS and the charities’ fundraising activities to help
expand West Bank settlement activity. The U.N. and
other major international bodies consider settlements to
be a violation of international law, though Israel disagrees.

"These charities tell the IRS they’re involved in humanitarian
and nonpolitical work and that donations
are used to build schools and libraries in West Bank
settlements," Keller said. "But they tell their supporters
that they’re raising funds to extend the Jewish hold
over a particular area and are reducing the Arab presence
— this is clearly political work, which is not allowed
under the U.S. tax-exempt rules."

Keller said there is a paradox at play. "The U.S.
government — particularly under President Obama —
has said it is very strongly opposed to settlements and
sees them as an obstacle to peace talks," he said. "At
the same time, the U.S. government is in a sense funding
the settlements." The tax revenue being forgone by
the U.S. Treasury because of the charities’ tax-exempt
status is going to the settlements the U.S. government
claims to oppose, he added.

Keller declined to name any of the U.S. charities
being targeted, saying he doesn’t want to give them
any advance warning. "We’re looking at between 10
and 20 groups and are working on finding out more,"
he said."

more

[Howardx]

15. great news

hopefully my neighborhood settler supporter is one of them.