Is the Administration Targeting Pro-Israel / Pro-Jewish Groups?

...It's a puzzlement, really. But if the Obama administration is targeting pro-Israel / pro-Jewish groups for economic persecution then I would hope that progressive-left "Zionists" might reconsider their support for the administration. I can hope, but I would not count on it.

Michael Lumish..
Israel Thrives..
25 June '13..





According to Alana Goodman, of the conservative Washington Free Beacon, they are.

She writes:

A watch list from the Internal Revenue Service listed “Occupied Territory Advocacy” as a criterion for flagging nonprofit organizations for further scrutiny, according to documents released by Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Pro-Israel organizations and groups that support the Israeli settlements have alleged that the IRS singled them out for additional scrutiny since 2009.

The watch list defines these groups as “Applications [that] deal with disputed territories in the Middle East. … Applications may be inflammatory, advocate a one-sided point of view and promotional material may signify propaganda.”

“If you see these cases, please forward to the TAG Group, 7830,” the document continues.

The “TAG,” or “Touch-and-Go” group, is responsible for identifying groups that may be involved in terrorism, according to the IRS Tax Exempt Organizations Determinations group.

If what Goodman writes is true it means that the Obama administration is targeting pro-Jewish groups who support Jewish sovereignty on Jewish land as terrorist organizations.

Week by week, month by month, it becomes harder to see the Obama administration as anything other than anti-Israel and anti-Jewish. I often point out that the Obama administration supported the Muslim Brotherhood in its rise to prominence throughout the Middle East, particularly in Egypt. The reason that I do so is because the Obama administration supported the Muslim Brotherhood in its rise to prominence throughout the Middle East, particularly in Egypt.

How it is possible that Obama's Jewish supplicants and sycophants ignore this is beyond me.

That the Obama crew supported the rise of radical Islam throughout the Middle East is a matter of recent historical fact. Whether or not the Obama administration supports the targeting of pro-Israel and pro-Jewish groups by the IRS has yet, to my mind, to be entirely determined.

Was Obama asked by the Palestinians to Target Pro-Israeli 501(c)(3)s?

...Dr. Mohammed Shtayyed made an additional suggestion to Erekat: ... We can’t stop a pregnant lady from having a baby, but look at what we can do. We should look at the 501(c)(3) organizations in the States that make donations to settlers. Let the US administration investigate this.”

Rick Richman..
Commentary/Contentions..
29 May '13..

A Wall Street Journal editorial notes the Obama administration gave special scrutiny to the tax-exempt status of certain pro-Israel organizations and cites a front-page, 5,000 word article in the New York Times published July 6, 2010 as a possible signal to the IRS:

“Why the special scrutiny for pro-Israel groups? A New York Times article in July 2010 provided a clue: Tax-exempt groups were donating to West Bank settlers, and State Department officials wanted the settlers out. ‘As the American government seeks to end the four-decade Jewish settlement enterprise and foster a Palestinian state in the West Bank,’ the Times wrote, ‘the American Treasury helps sustain the settlements through tax breaks on donations to support them.’

“Did the T-men take their political cues from such stories, or did Administration officials give them orders? Either explanation would be a violation of public trust.”

Let me provide another possible clue, found in the June 16, 2009 minutes of the Palestinian negotiating unit headed by Saeb Erekat–part of the Palestine Papers published by Al Jazeera in 2011.

At the June 16 meeting, Erekat said Benjamin Netanyahu’s June 14 Bar-Ilan speech had sought to put the Palestinians on the defensive. Netanyahu endorsed a two-state solution and stated that in the meantime, “we have no intention of building new settlements or of expropriating additional land for existing settlements,” but would “enable the residents to live normal lives.” He urged the Palestinians to engage in immediate negotiations, without preconditions. Erekat wanted to respond to the speech with a letter to the U.S. that would cite the number of individual housing units under construction. Dr. Mohammed Shtayyed made an additional suggestion to Erekat:

“We should also focus on the government incentives to settlers: loans without interest, land for free, agricultural subsidies in the Jordan valley. We can’t stop a pregnant lady from having a baby, but look at what we can do. We should look at the 501(c)(3) organizations in the States that make donations to settlers. Let the US administration investigate this.” [Emphasis added].

IRS digs itself deeper in Z Street case

Fresnozionism.org
15 December '10

A few weeks ago I wrote about the incredible behavior of the IRS in seeking to deny tax-exempt status to the pro-Israel organization Z Street (see “Obama and Nixon would agree on this“).

Z Street sued the IRS, claiming in part that

21. Agent [Diane] Gentry also informed Z STREET’s counsel that the IRS is carefully scrutinizing organizations that are in any way connected with Israel.

22. Agent Gentry further stated to counsel for Z STREET: “these cases are being sent to a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Administration’s public policies.”

Now the IRS has responded, and their response is even more incredible. Here’s an excerpt:

(Read full "IRS digs itself deeper in Z Street case")

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'Terrorism Special Policy' Prevents Pro-Israel Group from Gaining IRS Tax Exempt Status

Daniel Halper
The Weekly Standard
13 December '10

Z Street, the pro-Israel group that alleges the IRS has prevented it from gaining tax exempt status because its policy toward Israel is antithetical to the administration's, now says that the IRS is changing its tune. Instead, Z Street is being excluded because of a "a Terrorism Special Policy, and that Israel is included." Lori Lowenthal Marcus, in a short press release, briefly explains what's going on:

We now have the mind-numbing IRS defense for delaying (almost a year now!) Z STREET's application for tax exempt status. In a signed affidavit, an IRS official explains that there is no "Israel Special Policy," instead it is a Terrorism Special Policy, and that Israel is included.

(Read full "'Terrorism Special Policy' Prevents Pro-Israel Group from Gaining IRS Tax Exempt Status")

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Z Street's Legal Battle Continues Against the IRS

Daniel Halper
The Weekly Standard
22 November '10

As THE WEEKLY STANDARD reported in August, pro-Israel group Z Street believes it was discriminated against after "Z Street was told by an IRS agent that it might not be granted 501(c)(3) status, which would allow the group to be tax exempt, because its position toward Israel differs from the Obama administration's official policies." Today, Z Street continues its legal battle to obtain tax-exempt status from the IRS.

Here's the press release the group is about to release, outlining the latest developments:

Z STREET: IRS continues Constitutional violations concerning Israel

Z STREET, an organization devoted to pro-Israel public education, today filed in federal court its Opposition to the government’s effort to continue violating the US Constitution by discriminating against the organization because its views on Israel and the Middle East differ from those of this government. On August 25, 2010 Z STREET filed a Complaint in federal court charging the Internal Revenue Service with constitutional violations by subjecting Z STREET’s application for tax exemption to a discriminatory process.

In its response to Z STREET’s Complaint, the government did not deny that it engaged in this First Amendment violation. Instead, the government’s position is that (1) it can violate the Constitution whenever it wants and the only way to stop it is if the government agrees to be stopped, and (2) Z STREET should go to a different court to get something it should already have - tax exempt status - were it not for the constitutional violation the government has inflicted upon it.

(Read full story)

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First Amendment, anyone?

Fresnozionism.org
26 August '10

The rules for 501 (c)(3) tax status — which allows the donations of US citizens to a non-profit organization to be tax-deductible — are remarkably lax. According to the IRS,

To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3), and none of its earnings may inure to any private shareholder or individual. In addition, it may not be an action organization, i.e., it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.

There is no requirement that a charity not take political stands, only that it is not ‘substantially’ a lobbying organization and that it does not support or attack specific candidates.

So, for example, the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Students Association, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations all can accept tax-deductible contributions. So can the left-wing Americans for Peace Now, Meretz USA, and even the relatively extreme Jewish Voice for Peace.

(Read full post)

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From Tax-Exemption We Go To Illegal Government Domination

Yisrael Medad
My Right Word
25 August '10


For years I have been on to the efforts of anti-YESHA groups to hack away on the issue of tax-exemption.

It started when I joined Dassie Marcus and her fight against the major Jewish charities that refused to transfer funds ear-marked for YESHA in the mid-1980s and even twenty-years later. Even the JNF refused. They claimed the State Department prohibited that and we responded that that was illegal. We eventually won and even Federation funds came across the Green Line

More recently, Gush Shalom, Peace Now, Arab (here too) and even far-out right-wing groups have been complaining and combating in various ways. See here and here and also here. Here, too.

And now, there's a new development, bad (Obama administration thinks it is Nixonian) and good: Jews, Z Street in particular, are fighting back) even though it is not specifically a YESHA issue:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 25, 2010
CONTACT: contact@zstreet.org

IRS SUED FOR DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ORGANIZATIONS
THAT DON’T SHARE ADMINISTRATION’S POSITIONS ON ISRAEL

Z STREET, a pro-Israel non-profit corporation, filed a lawsuit in federal court today charging that the IRS violated the organization’s First Amendment rights. The suit was filed after Z STREET was told by an IRS official that its application for tax-exempt status has been delayed because an IRS policy requires consideration of whether a group’s views on Israel differ from those of the current Administration.

“Not only is it patently un-American but it is also a clear violation of the First Amendment for a government agency to penalize an organization because of its political position on Israel or anything else,” said Z STREET president Lori Lowenthal Marcus, a former First Amendment lawyer. “This situation is the same as if the government denied a driver’s license to people because they were Republicans or Democrats. It goes against everything for which our country stands.”

Z STREET filed for tax-exempt status in January of this year and, despite having met all of the requirements for grant of this status, the application has been stalled. An IRS agent told Z STREET’s lawyers that the application was delayed because of a Special Israel Policy that requires greater scrutiny of organizations which have to do with Israel, in part to determine whether they espouse positions on Israel contrary to those of the current Administration.

(Read full post)

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