"Despite its claims to be “committed to strengthening Palestinian-American relations” as “an independent voice for Palestine,” the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) has begun accepting funding from one of the most aggressive funders of anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic initiatives in the United States. A recently released 2011 Internal Revenue Service Form 990 information return revealed that ATFP has accepted at least $10,000 from the Klarman Family Foundation.
The foundation’s principal, Seth Klarman, is one of the pro-Israel community’s most prolific financial angels and also one of its most ideologically hardline.
The donation from Klarman highlights the trajectory of an organization originally founded to advance the position of Palestinian statehood advocates in Washington, DC, but which has increasingly diverged from the Palestinian consensus. It also exposes an emerging strategy of pro-Israel donors like Klarman who are propping up an array of Muslim and Arab-American groups to drive a wedge into grassroots Palestine solidarity organizing.
Reached by phone, ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish declared that he had never heard of Klarman or the Klarman Family Foundation.
Despite ATFP claims to have never accepted donations from foreign governments, the group accepted $148,800 from the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in 2011. Ibish refused to discuss the issue of UAE funding on the record." (thanks Electronic Ali)
The foundation’s principal, Seth Klarman, is one of the pro-Israel community’s most prolific financial angels and also one of its most ideologically hardline.
The donation from Klarman highlights the trajectory of an organization originally founded to advance the position of Palestinian statehood advocates in Washington, DC, but which has increasingly diverged from the Palestinian consensus. It also exposes an emerging strategy of pro-Israel donors like Klarman who are propping up an array of Muslim and Arab-American groups to drive a wedge into grassroots Palestine solidarity organizing.
Reached by phone, ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish declared that he had never heard of Klarman or the Klarman Family Foundation.
Despite ATFP claims to have never accepted donations from foreign governments, the group accepted $148,800 from the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in 2011. Ibish refused to discuss the issue of UAE funding on the record." (thanks Electronic Ali)
