Donations from the Diaspora

by Joel on December 21, 2009

I was reading the abstract of a paper, and I thought the subject of Diaspora communities donating to Palestinian causes worth musing about. Having only read the abstract, I cannot do a deep evaluation of the strength and merit of the arguments presented. However, I do think it’s worth our time to examine the ideas that support this argument.

The paper offers three reasons why Jews in the Diaspora would donate to non-profits sympathetic to the Palestinian cause:

  1. A belief that Israel should adopt more liberal ideas and begin to shed its identity as a “Jewish state.”
  2. Financing Palestinian NGOs creates dependence on the Diaspora Jewish community, which in turn gives that community influence to “soften” the anti-Israel character of the Palestinian cause.
  3. Jewish donors want to show their liberal communities that their opinion is nuanced and that being Jewish does not necessarily mean unquestioning support of Israel.

We have already encountered the first argument in exploring the NIF. This very radical argument does not sit well with many Israel supporters. For many traditional Zionists, if Israel lost its identity as a Jewish state, it would cease to exist.

The second argument is fascinating, as it relies on a sort of ironic self-interest. It would seem that bringing a large number of Jewish donors to the table would bring more credibility to a Palestinian NGO, as well. These organizations then provide a place where two seemingly divergent communities interface. Whether or not that interaction actually creates balance and reduces radicalism is another question entirely.

The last one seems to be similar to an explanation of the rise of groups like J-Street. There’s an old joke that ten Jews have at least twelve distinct opinions about any subject. Diaspora Jews certainly do not have a unified position about anything, let alone a subject as complex as the Israel-Palestine conflict. There is a common (mis)conception that the American Jewish community supports Israel rather blindly. However, the existence of a diverse group of pro-Israel non-profits indicates that there exists a wide range of opinions about Israel amongst Diaspora Jewish communities.

What’s most interesting is that this social tension is played out through the NGO and non-profit world. By tracking how people donate their money, we can actually measure shifts in social and cultural values. An increase in donations to the Palestinian cause indicates that the worldwide Jewish community does not share anything like a unified position about Israel. Many people sympathize with the situations of all who are badly off in the Middle East and genuinely want to make the situation better for the average Palestinian. In doing so, maybe some hope that we can undermine the sources of terrorism and fear to bring an end to the violence.

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Joel

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  • http://www.israelsituation.com/ Anthony Reich

    Joel. Thanks for this interesting piece.

    It is often argued that the Israeli government is the biggest contributor the Palestinian cause via the significant sums of money that are transferred to the Palestinian Authority. In truth, much of this is collected by the Israeli government on behalf of the PA. It is, however, true that Israel does use this to try to influence the PA behaviour where possible, and does endeavour to pay this only to parts of the PA that it is sure will not use the money to fire missiles back to Israel, or to fund violence against Israeli citizens.

    I find it difficult to understand why Diaspora Jews would want to donate money to Palestinian causes. The use of the money within the Palestinian arena is not at all transparent and it is difficult to determine its final destination. Much of it finds its way into the private coffers of the leaders, and to terror activities. I don’t believe for a moment that we will ever be able to influence Palestinian actions with Jewish money. In addition, there are so many Jewish causes that aim to make Israel more liberal and “unJewish” in its nature (as much as I oppose this concept) that there can be no justification for feeding this money to the enemy. Being Jewish should certainly mean unequivocal support for Israel. After all, it is the very existence of the Jewish State and the Jewish army that allows Diaspora Jews to continue to practice their Judaism in relative safety.

    I would hate for a Diaspora Jew to have to think about whether it was his money that financed a terror attack or other “negative” event instigated by Palestinian terrorists. This possibility is not as far-fetched as it sounds. To avoid such a scenario, there is only one answer – donate your money to Jewish causes. Surely there are enough of these of all shapes and types to choose from?

  • Joel

    I don’t think the dichotomy between “Jewish” causes and “non-Jewish” ones is real. The desire for a) peace amongst the multitudes and b) equality of opportunity for Israeli citizens ought to supersede the “us/them” mentality. Not all “Jewish” charities promote good things; not all “non-Jewish” charities funnel their money into terror. To equate the “other” with the “enemy” is exactly the problem. We need to start looking at principles that we want to uphold across the board rather than looking at who is upholding those principles.

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