logo
Donate
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
    • Glossary
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Magazine
  • Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Nonprofit Newswire | Israeli Paper Says Friend of Obama is Raising Funds To Break Blockade in Gaza

Rick Cohen
July 27, 2010

{source}[[span style=”float: right; border-left: 1px solid gray; border-bottom: 1px solid gray; margin: 0pt 0pt 5px 5px; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 5px;width:250px;”]][[h3]]Related Articles[[/h3]][[br /]]{loadposition related}[[/span]]{/source}

July 25, 2010; Source: Haaretz | With friends like this, President Obama doesn’t need enemies.  A Columbia University history professor named Rashid Khalidi is attempting to raise a few hundred thousand dollars in donations to purchase a U.S. ship to participate in an upcoming flotilla to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.  According to the Israeli paper Haaretz, Khalidi is a presidential friend, but to hammer the point home the ship will be rechristened “The Audacity of Hope,” obviously a play on the President’s two autobiographies.

It is unclear the coalition with which Khalidi aligns himself. Some articles refer to the International Solidarity Movement, which solicits tax deductible donations in the U.S. through its fiscal sponsor, the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, but the Free Gaza Movement website identifies the Khalidi group as “U.S. Boat to Gaza” which accepts tax deductible contributions through the Institute for Media Analysis in New York City.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

As we reported earlier, Palestinian officials continue to express dismay that tax deductible charitable donations in the U.S. have gone to organizations that support the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank (see here as well), though there will presumably be Israeli consternation about fundraising for a U.S. boat in the next big flotilla operation, scheduled for September or October.

Charity and philanthropy is caught in the middle.  In recent months, performers such as Elvis Costello and others have cancelled concerts in Israel, but Jethro Tull defied pressure and chose to maintain its performance schedule, though donating all proceeds from its concerts to groups pledged to Jewish/Arab/Christian coexistence.

Charity and philanthropy are inherently small “p” political, especially in hot-button Middle East issues.  Writing in Slate and Newsweek, one columnist slammed Costello (and other boycotting stars like Meg Ryan) with a not very subtle suggestion that they will find themselves hard pressed to disassociate their actions from anti-Semitism.  Do tax deductible charitable donations for West Bank settlers or Gaza flotilla participants mean that the U.S. government is endorsing their activity?  We don’t think so, do you?— Rick Cohen

About the author
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: Nonprofit News

Our Voices Are Our Power.

Journalism, nonprofits, and multiracial democracy are under attack. At NPQ, we fight back by sharing stories and essential insights from nonprofit leaders and workers—and we pay every contributor.

Can you help us protect nonprofit voices?

Your support keeps truth alive when it matters most.
Every single dollar makes a difference.

Donate now
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

You might also like
Amid Disappearing Federal Funds, Could New York Be a Model for City-Level Health?
Rebecca L. Root
Madeleine L’Engle’s Books Were Never Meant to Be “Safe”
Charlotte Jones Voiklis
The Human Cost of Cutting Medicaid
Rebekah Barber
As Long as Social Media Is Around, Can We Really Break Free of Overconsumption?
Anmol Irfan
Flood Insurance Is Becoming Unaffordable—Can Community-Based Catastrophe Insurance Help?
Cinnamon Janzer
Arab and Muslim Advocates Fight Back Against Federal Repression
María Constanza Costa

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
May 27th, 2:00 pm ET

Ask the Nonprofit Lawyer

Register
Group Created with Sketch.
June 26th, 2:00 pm ET

From Performance Management to Mutual Commitment

Fostering a Culture of Joyful Accountability

Register

    
You might also like
US Capitol Building
Tax Provision Would Give Trump Administration Unilateral...
Rebekah Barber and Isaiah Thompson
A piggy bank wearing a graduation hat and standing on a pile of cash, symbolizing how endowments for academic institutions can be accessed in difficult times.
Endowments Aren’t Blank Checks—but Universities Can Rely...
Ellen P. Aprill
Saving AmeriCorps: What’s at Stake and Why We Must Act Now
Hillary Kane

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Donate
  • Editorial Policy
  • Funders

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.