I visited Palestine for the first time last April, at the end of Ramadan. Just a few days before my arrival, the occupant Israeli Defense Forces used stun grenades and rubber bullets to clean up the Al-Aqsa compound, home to the Islamic mosque and prayer hall atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Even the faithful were arrested.
With my American passport, I could move around the region more easily than the locals. As I passed through checkpoints in the West Bank, I saw surveillance cameras, IDF soldiers armed with rifles, and the separation wall that prevents Palestinians from moving freely within their own country.
I also saw moments of serenity as people gathered to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque. This is because the Palestinians still have their faith. This is what connects all Muslims, including me, to Palestine.
Many compare Gaza to an open-air prison – and Palestinians in Gaza to innocent prisoners. This description has rarely been more accurate as Israeli bombs continue to kill and injure thousands of trapped civilians in response to Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.
Killing innocent civilians is never the solution and must be denounced anytime and anywhere. For any philanthropic person committed to human rights, this should mean standing up for the Palestinian people and against what a top United Nations human rights official – who resigned last month – called of ” “textbook case of genocide”.
The Palestinian people need non-Arab and non-Muslim allies to express their opposition to the extremist policies of the right-wing Israeli government. Philanthropy leaders should discuss the issue with staff and invite Palestinians in their communities to participate. Make a public statement, demand a ceasefire, and fund organizations that help Palestinians.
Philanthropy regularly stands up for what is right, including the Black Lives Matter movement, and the people of Ukraine. Why then have donors responded largely with silence to the relentless assault on Gaza?
For me, this disaster is both personal and professional. In my work as co-founder of American Muslim Community Foundation I have formed friendships with people whose families are hurting and whose stories need to be told.
They understand Bassim Elkarra, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, for Sacramento Valley, who lost more than 20 family members in Palestine. Several relatives of the former American representative. Justin Amash of Michigan, a Christian Palestinian, were killed during the bombing raid from St. Porphyry Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza last month. There are many other stories like theirs.
My activism for the Palestinian people began at a very young age near Detroit, where, in the 1990s, my youth group and community raised funds to purchase an ambulance for Palestine and support other countries in need through Islamic Relief USA. The first rally I attended was for Palestine in 2000 in Washington, DC. A few years later, when I was a student senator and later student government president at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, we distributed petitions demanding that the school divest from Israel because of its aside Strategies.
Many of the feelings I felt growing up around the time of 9/11 have returned, including the dehumanisation Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians. Rising levels of Islamophobia have resulted in unthinkable acts, such as stab death of six-year-old Palestinian American Muslim Wadea Al-Fayoumi in Illinois last month.
Philanthropy regularly stands up for what is right, including the Black Lives Matter movement, and the people of Ukraine. Why then have donors responded largely with silence to the relentless assault on Gaza?
An effective response
The Ford Foundation set an example of what an effective response from a major donor can look like, by issuing a statement of President Darren Walker who pledges to send humanitarian aid to Gaza and calls for a “shared commitment to our collective humanity”.
Seen Le, nonprofit activist and blogger, last week appealed to the associative and philanthropic sector to demand a ceasefire, donate to the Gaza emergency response, and boycott businesses that support Israel.
Some donors are hesitant to give to Muslim-led humanitarian efforts because of a narrative that these organizations are linked to Hamas. The crowdfunding platform for Muslims LaunchGoodfor example, is facing allegations from the Israeli government that some of the more than $7 million it has raised to support campaigns for Gaza could end up in the hands of Hamas.
LaunchGood denies the accusations, telling Jerusalem Post that all of its campaigns are “strictly monitored” using “state-of-the-art compliance procedures.” As Amany Killawi, co-founder and COO of LaunchGood, told me: “It’s quite sad to see humanitarian aid stuck at the intersection of political misinformation and crisis. »
As a student of philanthropy, I believe in the love of humanity. As a Muslim, I believe in compassion for all. My Jewish friends and colleagues believe in tikkun olam – repair the world. But Israel’s actions in Gaza are having the opposite effect.
A wide range of potential giving options are available to donors. THE Backers for a ceasefire now The campaign coordinates the efforts of more than 112 institutional funders and more than 240 individual donors and philanthropic professionals. The American Muslim Community Foundation, AMCF, has distributed more than $11 million since 2017 to numerous organizations supporting Palestine, with nearly half of our funds going to U.S.-registered charities operating internationally. These include American aid to the Middle East, Doctors Without Borders and the United Nations Relief and Work Agency – all of whom have been criticized for providing aid to the Palestinians.
The latest from the AMCF Declaration on Palestine highlights resources for donors and individual donors who want to take action. And our national Circle of interfaith donations in the face of hatredwhich aims to promote understanding and denounce xenophobia, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, offers donors the opportunity to put their money where their heart is and join interfaith leaders across the country engaged in the fight against hatred.
Additional funds are also needed for research into donation practices that harm Palestinians. In 2019, faced with the rise of Islamophobia under the presidency of Donald Trump, the AMCF worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center And CAIRO produce a report on how philanthropy helps fund Islamophobia. The study found that 1,096 organizations with a total revenue of at least $1.5 billion were responsible for funding 39 groups promoting Islamophobia over a two-year period. Many were traditional charities, including donor-advised funds like the Fidelity Charitable Fund and the National Christian Foundation.
The war between Israel and Hamas has made one thing clear: the philanthropic world can no longer turn a blind eye to the collective punishment Palestinians face. As a student of philanthropy, I believe in the love of humanity. As a Muslim, I believe in compassion for all. My Jewish friends and colleagues believe in tikkun olam – repair the world. But Israel’s actions in Gaza are having the opposite effect.
Malcolm » As Palestine fights for its survival, philanthropy must defend the peace and freedom of its people.
This article was originally published in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
