(VitalNews.org) – The war in Israel has sparked many debates over politics, interpretations of historical events, and disagreements surrounding terminology. One gray area that hasn’t been addressed during this debacle is non-profits in America.
The gray area, or as some have stated the inadequate regulation of nonprofits, has left organizations supporting illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory. It also funded travel for American political figures who support policies in line with Israeli state interests.
One common way that these settlements are being taken is by volunteer trips led by these nonprofits. One example is HaYovel, a Christian Zionist organization that offers volunteer trips to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Volunteers on this trip usually partake in agricultural work, but some of these options include firefighting and night watches as well.
Since the Hamas attacks in October of last year, the organization has been running a campaign called “Operation Ittai” and they are raising funds for purchasing security items like night vision binoculars, aerial surveillance drones, helmets, protective vests, and flashlights.
It’s been reported that some U.S. nonprofits work with the Israeli government directly. For example, the New York-based Volunteers for Israel and the nonprofit SAR-EL have placed American volunteers on Israeli military bases to perform certain tasks like cooking, construction, and maintenance work.
The American Israel Education Foundation specializes in leading group trips for elected officials who align with Israel state objectives. Just last year over two dozen House Democrats participated in a sponsored tour by the group and went through an extensive itinerary while on their trip.
Nonprofits are both tax exempt and they are limited in terms of their political engagement efforts. It’s said that the IRS seems to be focused mainly on regulating nonprofit activity pertaining to political campaign involvement, without addressing political activity as a whole.
Experts have spoken out about the nonprofits that are supporting the war and further stoking the conflict, saying that this is one of the many things that needs to be addressed in order to see a true ceasefire in the war.
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