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<h1 class="article-title">ProPublica: US Funding Defense of
Suspected Killers of Palestinian Teen</h1>
<div class="article-subtitledetails">
<span class="article-details">
<span class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part1.05020200.09080904@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> Friday July 11, 2014 05:52</span><span
class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part2.04090106.00030800@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> by Uri Blau - <b><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.imemc.org/article/68426">http://www.imemc.org/article/68426</a></small></small></small></b></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="article-intro">A controversial Israeli
organization that is representing the six men recently arrested in
the recent revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager is receiving
thousands of dollars in tax-deductible support from Americans. The
group, called Honenu (which roughly translates to "pardon"),
supports Israelis charged with or convicted of violence against
Palestinians.</blockquote>
Honenu's work goes well goes beyond legal aid.<br>
<br>
The group says it also provides "spiritual" and "financial"
assistance to prisoners and their families. Among those Honenu has
helped: Yigal Amir, assassin of Israeli Prime <a style=""
href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ih/9781156067437"
class="skimwords-link" target="_blank" data-skimwords-id="1"
data-skimlinks-editor="0"
data-skimwords-word="Minister%20Yitzhak%20Rabin"
data-group-id="4062485" data-skim-creative="300004"
data-skim-product="1" title="Shopping link added by SkimWords"
occurrence="1" data-skim-node-id="387:Thegroupsaysitalsopr_1">Minister
Yitzhak Rabin</a><span style="position: absolute;"></span><span
style="position: absolute;"></span>; an Israeli convicted of
murdering seven Palestinians at a bus stop; and an Israeli soldier
convicted of manslaughter and obstruction of justice after shooting
a British photographer in Gaza.<br>
<br>
The tax-exempt donations do not appear to run afoul of U.S. law. But
they do put U.S. taxpayers in the position of subsidizing aid to
Israelis convicted of politically motivated violence.<br>
<br>
Asked about the group's work, Honenu spokesman Eran Schwartz said
the organization "provides much help to Israeli police, soldiers and
citizens who are entitled, as are all people, to legal defense."
Schwartz declined to answer our other questions, including about the
group's financial support that goes beyond legal defense. (See their
full statement below.)<br>
<br>
Honenu's latest filing to the Israeli government shows it overall
budget for 2012 was nearly $600,000, about $120,000 of which went to
legal aid, $34,000 to "financial assistance," and the rest to
salaries and overhead. (Here is Honenu's filing, in Hebrew.)<br>
<br>
The group, which was founded in 2001, uses an American nonprofit as
conduit for donations. Honenu's website, which advertises that "your
contribution is tax-deductible," says checks should be made out to
"Central Fund of Israel," or CFI. As the New York Times detailed in
2010, the Central Fund of Israel serves as a "clearinghouse" for
donations to hundreds of groups in Israel, some of them supporting
settlements.<br>
<br>
CFI has grown almost continuously since it was founded in 1979 by
members of the Marcus family, who own a New York textile company.<br>
<br>
Operating from Manhattan's garment district, CFI received about $16
million in 2012, according to the Fund's latest filing with the
Internal Revenue Service. Jay Marcus, who now runs CFI, said
donations in 2013 reached about $19 million.<br>
<br>
In the Fund's filings with the IRS, it lists donations to Israeli
groups as going to "social services, humanitarian aid, and aid to
the poor."<br>
<br>
Marcus confirmed in a phone call that his organization transfers
donations to Honenu. "They are a legal aid society," he said.<br>
<br>
Honenu's filing with the Israeli government shows the group received
about $120,000 from CFI in 2012. The documents identify another
$12,000 coming from "Honenu USA." A nonprofit organization with that
name operated from Queens, New York and last filed a report to the
Internal Revenue Service in 2010, stating it had received
contributions of $33,000. It is not clear if Honenu USA is still
active.<br>
<br>
Marcus Owens, a lawyer who ran the IRS's nonprofit unit in the 1990s
said such donations can fall into a tricky area: "While providing
legal assistance to those accused of crimes is a long-standing
charitable purpose (e.g. the American Civil Liberties Union),
providing assistance to relatives of those convicted of crimes has
been viewed by the US government as potentially encouraging further
criminal action."<br>
<br>
The State Department's recent annual report on terrorism included,
for the first time, attacks by Israelis against Palestinians, citing
a rise in "violent acts by extremist Jewish individuals and groups
in retaliation for activity they deemed to be anti-settlement."<br>
<br>
If you have experience with or information about American nonprofits
supporting extremists in Israel, email Uri Blau or tweet him
@uri_blau. Blau is an Israeli investigative journalist specialized
in military and political affairs, corruption and transparency. He
was a 2014 <a style=""
href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ih/9781155376905"
class="skimwords-link" target="_blank" data-skimwords-id="1"
data-skimlinks-editor="0" data-skimwords-word="Nieman%20Fellow"
data-group-id="1957022" data-skim-creative="300004"
data-skim-product="1" title="Shopping link added by SkimWords"
occurrence="1" data-skim-node-id="326:Ifyouhaveexperiencew_1">Nieman
Fellow</a><span style="position: absolute;"></span><span
style="position: absolute;"></span> for Journalism at Harvard
University.<br>
<br>
Full response from Honenu<br>
<br>
As our article details, Honenu is an Israeli group that received
tax-deductible donations from the United States and supports
Israelis charged with or convicted of violence against Palestinians.
We asked Honenu for comment prior to our article. This is their full
response:<br>
<br>
Honenu's response to article by Uri Blau. The reporter, Uri Blau was
convicted of severe crimes of espionage against Israel which attests
to his motives and his anti-Israel and anti-Semitic interests. To
date, we have not heard him expressing regret for his criminal
actions. Honenu provides much help to Israeli police, soldiers and
citizens who are entitled, as are all people, to legal defense. We
will not cooperate with a convicted criminal whose goal is to damage
Israelis and Jews.<br>
<br>
The author of our article, freelancer Uri Blau, was convicted in
2012 in Israel of holding classified military documents he received
as a reporter. The International Press Institute condemned the case
against Blau as "undermining press freedom in general and
investigative journalism in particular" in Israel. Here is more on
Blau's case and press freedoms in Israel.
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