Recently, criticism has fallen on the New Israel Fund (NIF), a US-based Jewish organization that has funded such groups as Breaking the Silence [BTS], the Mossawa Centre, Adalah, etc.
Everyone knows how BTS has made unverifiable claims that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza and broadcast them to the media. But the Israeli Arab (or as they now prefer to be called, ‘Palestinian Arab in Israel’) organizations that the NIF funds are perhaps not so familiar.
NIF President Larry Garber says
We are also proud of the support we provide to Israeli Arab groups that advance civil rights in the courts and in the Knesset, and through grass-roots action. These groups, working with partner civil rights organizations that have emerged within Israel’s Jewish majority, continually advance the cause of equality on behalf of a minority that the Israeli government itself admits faces serious discrimination.
If in fact these groups actually were concerned with civil rights as we understand them — voting rights, allocation of public funds, discrimination in housing and employment, etc. — then there would be no basis for criticism.
But in fact the ‘Palestinian Israeli’ interpretation of ‘civil rights’ goes far beyond this. Mossawa articulated it clearly in “The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel” (2006) in which it called for the replacement of the Jewish state with a ‘state of its citizens’, elimination of the Law of Return for Jews and addition of one for Palestinian Arabs, the creation of a ‘consensual system’ of government in which the Jewish majority and Arab minority would have equal power, the assumption of full responsibility by the state for the ‘nakba’ [catastrophe of 1948] and compensation of Arab victims thereof, changing the flag and the national anthem, recognition of Arabs as an ‘indigenous cultural group’ with full rights of citizenship but also ‘international care, protection, and support’, etc.
In simple terms, Mossawa calls for the replacement of the Jewish state of Israel with — something else, something that would shortly become yet another Arab state in the Mideast. Should Jews support this?
Another group supported by NIF is Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. In 2007, Adalah presented its version of a “Democratic Constitution” for Israel. In the intoduction, Adalah begins by demanding that
The state of Israel must recognize, therefore, its responsibility for the injustices of the Nakba and the Occupation; recognize the right of return of the Palestinian refugees based on UN Resolution 194 [understood by Arabs as return of any ‘refugees’ who choose to do so — ed]; recognize the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination; and withdraw from all of the territories occupied in 1967.
They also present several options for providing the Arab minority with a veto over all decisions of the Knesset. There is lots more, but the adoption of this constitution would clearly mean the end of the Jewish state.
I previously wrote about the youth organization “Baladna” [our land!] which teaches Palestinian nationalism to young Arab citizens of Israel. They too are supported by NIF.
I can’t end this piece without mentioning another Jewish organization that the NIF funds, Machsom Watch. Here is some of what NGO Monitor said about this group:
The Israel-based Machsom Watch monitors and disseminates reports on Israeli soldiers at checkpoints, with the ultimate aim of “ending the occupation.†Machsom Watch publications regularly omit the context of terror and employ human rights terminology, “apartheid†rhetoric and emotive and politically charged language that contribute to the demonization of Israel. In many cases, their allegations are either inaccurate or unverifiable….
Machsom Watch reports often deviate away from describing events at the checkpoints. Through omission of context, use of pseudo-legal terminology and emotive language, many reports become a platform for the author’s radical political views…
Machsom Watch reports regularly omit the context of terror and claim that the presence of checkpoints is arbitrary, unrelated to the security situation and created solely to disrupt the Palestinians’ daily lives, hinder their business and humiliate them.
I’ve only touched on a few examples. There are more. Although not all of NIF’s grants are to groups and projects which are inimical to the Jewish state, enough of them are that this agency must be considered hostile to it.
Technorati Tags: New Israel Fund, Breaking the Silence, Mossawa Centre, Adalah, Baladna, Machsom Watch
It is unfortunately a story as old as Tannach, wherein our worst enemies often come from our own midst.
What is more worrisome now that at any time I can remember is the effort these groups are making both to undermine traditional Jewish support groups in the United States, and to have a stronger voice within Israel itself.