With even the Netanyahu government admitting that the so-called “price tag” settler attacks are acts of terrorism, it is time to examine the role the United States, and especially US citizens, plays in sustaining the settlement enterprise. One Israeli
group, Honenu, which has a fundraising arm in the US that enjoys tax-exempt status, has been revealed as aiding some of the most notorious terrorists on the West Bank.
The rabbinic human rights group, T’Ruah has filed a complaint in New York State calling for the revocation of Honenu’s tax-exempt status. In this issue brief, I explore the playing field for AMericans who wish to stop giving tax breaks to settlement supporters and what actions might credibly be taken in this vein. Read it here, on the FMEP web site.
Americans often seem to be misled about events abroad and can be easily persuaded to contribute funds to people of the same ethnicity who present a tale of hardship or injustice in what is seen as the home country under attack. Support for the IRA, seen by Irish Americans as freedom fighters, contributed to the activities of a small minority of violent criminals who were prepared to kill for a reunited Ireland, against the will of the democratically elected majority.
The media are largely to blame. A good story makes better news than the truth!