Statement by the Press Secretary on Today’s Attack in the Southern West Bank

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 31, 2010

Statement by the Press Secretary on Today’s Attack in the Southern West Bank

The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack today perpetrated by Hamas in which four Israelis were killed in the southern West Bank. We express our condolences to the victims’ families and call for the terrorists behind this horrific act to be brought to justice.  We note that the Palestinian Authority has condemned this attack.  On the eve of the re-launch of direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, this brutal attack underscores how far the enemies of peace will go to try to block progress.  It is crucial that the parties persevere, keep moving forward even through difficult times, and continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region that provides security for all peoples.

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ADC Supplements NY Times Report on Tax-Exempt Funds Aiding Illegal Settlements

ADC Supplements NY Times Report on Tax-Exempt Funds Aiding Illegal Settlements

Washington, DC | www.adc.org | July 6, 2010 | ADC welcomes the NY Times article, which reemphasizes ADC's on-going campaign in addressing the role American NGO's play in funding illegal Israeli settlements. The article titled, "Tax-Exempt Funds Aid Settlements in West Bank," highlighted the issue of American non-profit organizations (NGO's) funding illegal settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The full article can be read here.

Although the article is fair and balanced, there are more components pertaining to the legality of the issue, which supplement the claims raised by the NY Times. Two key points not mentioned at length in the article are the engagement of the NGO's in discriminatory practices and deceptive fundraising. Research by ADC has uncovered that these NGO's are engaged in discriminatory practices by funding projects and activities which cannot be used by Palestinians. Such discriminatory practices are against American public policy, and NGO's are prohibited from engaging in such activity as described in the US Supreme Court Case of Bob Jones University v. The United States. In the case, the High Court agreed that the IRS can disqualify organizations that act contrary to public policy from receiving tax-exempt status from the federal government. The court upheld the IRS's disqualification of Bob Jones University as a tax-exempt organization, despite its educational mission, because its racially discriminatory practices were found to be contrary to public policy.

Further, many American NGO's are engaging in deceptive fundraising. These organizations solicit donations by claiming they are raising funds for things such as "educational purposes" or "community development" when in reality the funds are used in some cases for the purchase of weapons and paramilitary material. Deceptive fundraising can lead to an organization losing its 501(c)(3) status, as well as possible criminal actions against those perpetrating the fraud.

The article attempts to distinguish between "outposts" and "settlements;" however, it is ADC's position that there is no difference between the two, as both are illegal under international law and amount to a continuous and unjust occupation of the OPT. Any peace agreement must include the immediate freeze and dismantlement of all settlements.

ADC has been engaging with a broad range of coalition partners in addressing the issue of illegal funding of settlements. Over the past year, ADC has filed numerous complaints with the Department of Treasury against organizations believed to be in violation of their 501(c)(3) status.

Prior releases about ADC's work on this matter:
March 2009 release
August 2009 release
January 2010 release

ADC will continue looking into American NGO's funding of illegal settlement activity, and hopes to file more complaints in the very near future.

For more information about the campaign, please contact the ADC Legal Department by calling 202-244-2990 or via e-mail to aayoub@adc.org.

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Contact: legal@adc.org
202-244-2990

NOTE TO EDITORS: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which is non-profit, non-sectarian and non-partisan, is the largest Arab-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was founded in 1980 by former Senator James Abourezk to protect the civil rights of people of Arab descent in the United States and to promote the cultural heritage of the Arabs. ADC has 38 chapters nationwide, including chapters in every major city in the country, and members in all 50 states.

The ADC Research Institute (ADC-RI), which was founded in 1981, is a Section 501(c)(3) educational organization that sponsors a wide range of programs on behalf of Arab Americans and of importance to all Americans. ADC-RI programs include research studies, seminars, conferences and publications that document and analyze the discrimination faced by Arab Americans in the workplace, schools, media, and governmental agencies and institutions. ADC-RI also celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the Arabs.

ADC Research Institute (ADC-RI) | www.adc.org
1732 Wisconsin Ave., NW | Washington, DC | 20007
Tel: 202-244-2990 | Fax: 202-333-3980 | E-mail: media@adc.org

Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize and that puts world's evil on notice

President Obama’s genuine desire for peace earns Nobel Peace Prize

By Ray Hanania

President Obama’s first call in coming to office was to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

He then made an epoch speech to the Arab and Muslim world to repair the damage caused by his rightwing and narrow-minded predecessor President George W. Bush.

Obama has pushed the Israelis to force them to accept peace based on returning Arab lands, even though the Israelis have surrounded the wagons and have allowed Israel’s most racist elected official, foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman to become their spokesman. In fact, Israel’s Lieberman is the new face of hate in the world.

He is shifting from the illegal American war and occupation in Iraq to the genuine fight against terrorism and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

And Obama has vowed to the American people that despite this country having wasted hundreds of billions on politically motivated wars driven by oil money greed, he will fight to make their own country a place where every American will be guaranteed the right to adequate healthcare, something most Americans now lack.

You don’t even need to read the announcement from the Nobel Committee explaining why they have given this year’s Peace Prize to President Barack Hussein Obama.

Obama is more than just a president seeking justice. His name has come to symbolize a movement of change. Change from a past driven by racist bigotry and hatred to a future of justice where the Rule of Law actually has relevance and justice is based on issues of principle and fairness, not on partisan political influence.

Israel is not just a “Jewish State” in Obama’s eyes, but a nation that must also abide by the Rule of Law. Hypocrisy has no place in Obama’s administration, which is why his words have placed special notice on Israel which has more nuclear weapons than any other power outside of the United States and Russia. And yet Israel refuses, like Iran, to abide by the International rules seeking to limit and monitor and inspect nuclear weapons.

Although Obama has not achieved any of his mighty goals, the fact that he has set them is what earns him the special honor. It takes a real courageous man in this world to stand up to the forces of hatred and bias to advocate for fairness for all.

Obama’s policies may or may not achieve their stated goals, but they have already changed the dynamics of one important region of the world in the Middle East.

The Nobel Peace Prize award will put a special pressure on Israel to stop pretending that it supports peace. It throws cold water on the face of Israel’s arrogant and reticent society that it cannot pretend to seek peace and embrace politics and politics of racism, apartheid, bigotry and war.

Israel cannot pretend to support peace and continue to occupy the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and continue to imprison 1.4 million civilians in the world’s largest and most oppressive prison system called the Gaza Strip.

Israel cannot claim the right of defense when it is in offense against justice, the Rule of Law and peace, and it cannot hide behind lies it perpetrated through the manipulation of a friendly international media to assert that Hamas started the Nov. 2008 war. In fact, everyone knows that Israel started that war for one reason, to exact punishment on Hamas before Obama could be sworn in as president.

For the first time in World History, the facts are clear and all of the crimes in this world have been placed together shoulder-to-shoulder. Israel’s phony claims of being the victim when it is in fact the aggressor and oppressor are exposed.

Barack Hussein Obama is what the late great President John F. Kennedy is said to have been but could never become. He is the light of hope that might open the door to a world that is genuinely at peace and where all men and women are created equally and where the concerns of the poor are as important as the concerns of the wealthy.

As an American and a Palestinian Arab Christian, I am proud of this year’s choice for the Nobel Peace Prize, and in a way I feel a special part in that award as if the peace prize has been awarded not to just one man, but to an entire world of people who have not completely given up on hope.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist and Chicago radio talks how host. he can be reached at www.RadioChicagoland.com.)