The ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza has spurred a proliferation of US-based “charitable” organizations fundraising to support the Israeli military and violent settlers.
New York-registered organizations are at the heart of this, sending tens of millions of dollars to fund war crimes waged by Israeli military units devastating Gaza and emboldened settlers expelling Palestinians from their homes.
By allowing these groups to masquerade as charities, New York State is subsidizing Israel's illegal settlement expansion and state violence against Palestinians.
It’s more urgent than ever to stop this flow of money, which is why we launched the Not On Our Dime! Campaign.
We first introduced this bill in May of 2023, which was the most violent year on record for Palestinians in the West Bank, with an exclusive focus on prohibiting NY charities from funding Israeli settler violence.
In May 2024 – one year later – we are expanding the bill’s scope in light of the surge in NY-based charitable organizations fundraising to support the Israeli military, which both domestic and international courts as well as legal experts have said is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza.
The call has never been clearer: New Yorkers do not stand for funding war crimes or violations of human rights.
The Crisis
More than 35,000 Palestinians – mostly civilians and nearly half of them children – have been killed by the Israeli military since October 2023.
These horrors are the latest and most egregious amidst the violence of illegal Israeli settlements and the expulsion of Palestinians from their land that has been happening for over 75 years.
The settler project is, however, intensifying. 2023 was the most violent year on record for Palestinians in the West Bank – in the first half of 2023, almost 700 Palestinians were forced out of their homes by the Israeli government, and three Palestinian villages were abandoned after repeated Israeli settler attacks.
Since Israel launched its war on Gaza, the settler movement has been emboldened, threatening and expelling entire towns of Palestinians in the West Bank in record numbers. The military assault in Gaza and the intimidation and expulsion of Palestinian communities by settler groups in the West Bank are reinforcing strategies of genocide.
Since October, over 1,000 Palestinians have been forcibly transferred from their homes, often by means of brutal assault and torture, and with weapons provided by the Israeli government. The UN reports that in most of these attacks the Israeli army has accompanied – or actively supported – settler groups. The violence has been relentless and indiscriminate: attacking humanitarian aid trucks, killing children, and gunning down a Palestinian ambulance driver. This has led US President Biden to impose sanctions on a number of known settlers and settler groups through measures announced in February and expanded in March and April.
How the crisis connects to us
While it may feel far away, many of the settler organizations and military units responsible for these war crimes are actually funded by organizations here in New York State.
- The Long-Island-based One Israel Fund raised over $2 million – what they typically raise in a year –in just the last few months of 2023, for thermal drones and surveillance cameras for settlers. One of the individuals, who appears in a video thanking the One Israel Fund for a drone, is named by President Biden’s sanction of violent settlers.
- NY-registered Israel Gives is conducting tax-deductible crowdfunding for Israeli armed forces, including those currently in Gaza.
- JGives, a US- and NY-registered nonprofit, has also run fundraising campaigns for the IDF, including a fundraiser for the Yahalom unit fighting in Gaza.
Despite being in direct violation of international human rights laws, these organizations masquerade as charities, funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to fund war crimes. By allowing them non-profit status, New York State is effectively subsidizing these atrocities.
We must refuse this charade and stop rubber-stamping funding for human rights violations overseas.
It is within our power to put an end to this. Join us in uplifting the Not on Our Dime!: End NY Funding of Israeli War Crimes campaign to ensure not another dollar is spent on subsidizing Israel's illegal settlement expansion and state violence against Palestinians.
The Legislation
The bill (A6943A/S06992A), held by Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and Senator Jabari Brisport, clarifies that funding Israeli settlement activity and any violations of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by NYS charities is illegal. As such, it prohibits NY-based organizations claiming non-profit status from abusing this status to reinforce and further Israeli war crimes.
The legislation also supports the enforcement of any violations: allowing the Attorney General to dissolve the nonprofit status of, and fine organizations that knowingly fund settler activity a sum no less than 1 million dollars. It also explicitly empowers Palestinians who have been harmed by the violence funded by these New York-based charities to file a lawsuit against them.
Not on Our Dime! makes clear that New Yorkers do not support violations of international law. By explicitly naming war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza, this legislation responds to the crucial financial support for Israeli settler and military violence provided by New York registered charities, signals New Yorkers’ values, and directs enforcement priorities. This is a first-in-the-nation bill and would be a first under New York law.
Who We Are
We are a group of individuals and organizations who believe that our state should not be complicit in genocide or apartheid. For decades, Palestinians have called on the international community to identify the various ways jurisdictions are financially supporting Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian land, and to end them. Researchers and journalists have identified that money flows directly from U.S. organizations, including those based in New York State, to violent Israeli settler groups and military operations. New Yorkers heeded this call and launched Not on Our Dime!
The scope of the bill was expanded in May 2024 to reflect the additional fundraising for war crimes in both the West Bank and Gaza that has occurred since Israel’s assault on Gaza began in October 2023.
New York-registered organizations are at the heart of this, sending tens of millions of dollars to fund war crimes waged by Israeli military units devastating Gaza and emboldened settlers expelling Palestinians from their homes.
By allowing these groups to masquerade as charities, New York State is subsidizing Israel's illegal settlement expansion and state violence against Palestinians.
It’s more urgent than ever to stop this flow of money, which is why we launched the Not On Our Dime! Campaign.
We first introduced this bill in May of 2023, which was the most violent year on record for Palestinians in the West Bank, with an exclusive focus on prohibiting NY charities from funding Israeli settler violence.
In May 2024 – one year later – we are expanding the bill’s scope in light of the surge in NY-based charitable organizations fundraising to support the Israeli military, which both domestic and international courts as well as legal experts have said is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza.
The call has never been clearer: New Yorkers do not stand for funding war crimes or violations of human rights.
The Crisis
More than 35,000 Palestinians – mostly civilians and nearly half of them children – have been killed by the Israeli military since October 2023.
These horrors are the latest and most egregious amidst the violence of illegal Israeli settlements and the expulsion of Palestinians from their land that has been happening for over 75 years.
The settler project is, however, intensifying. 2023 was the most violent year on record for Palestinians in the West Bank – in the first half of 2023, almost 700 Palestinians were forced out of their homes by the Israeli government, and three Palestinian villages were abandoned after repeated Israeli settler attacks.
Since Israel launched its war on Gaza, the settler movement has been emboldened, threatening and expelling entire towns of Palestinians in the West Bank in record numbers. The military assault in Gaza and the intimidation and expulsion of Palestinian communities by settler groups in the West Bank are reinforcing strategies of genocide.
Since October, over 1,000 Palestinians have been forcibly transferred from their homes, often by means of brutal assault and torture, and with weapons provided by the Israeli government. The UN reports that in most of these attacks the Israeli army has accompanied – or actively supported – settler groups. The violence has been relentless and indiscriminate: attacking humanitarian aid trucks, killing children, and gunning down a Palestinian ambulance driver. This has led US President Biden to impose sanctions on a number of known settlers and settler groups through measures announced in February and expanded in March and April.
How the crisis connects to us
While it may feel far away, many of the settler organizations and military units responsible for these war crimes are actually funded by organizations here in New York State.
- The Long-Island-based One Israel Fund raised over $2 million – what they typically raise in a year –in just the last few months of 2023, for thermal drones and surveillance cameras for settlers. One of the individuals, who appears in a video thanking the One Israel Fund for a drone, is named by President Biden’s sanction of violent settlers.
- NY-registered Israel Gives is conducting tax-deductible crowdfunding for Israeli armed forces, including those currently in Gaza.
- JGives, a US- and NY-registered nonprofit, has also run fundraising campaigns for the IDF, including a fundraiser for the Yahalom unit fighting in Gaza.
Despite being in direct violation of international human rights laws, these organizations masquerade as charities, funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to fund war crimes. By allowing them non-profit status, New York State is effectively subsidizing these atrocities.
We must refuse this charade and stop rubber-stamping funding for human rights violations overseas.
It is within our power to put an end to this. Join us in uplifting the Not on Our Dime!: End NY Funding of Israeli War Crimes campaign to ensure not another dollar is spent on subsidizing Israel's illegal settlement expansion and state violence against Palestinians.
The Legislation
The bill (A6943A/S06992A), held by Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and Senator Jabari Brisport, clarifies that funding Israeli settlement activity and any violations of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by NYS charities is illegal. As such, it prohibits NY-based organizations claiming non-profit status from abusing this status to reinforce and further Israeli war crimes.
The legislation also supports the enforcement of any violations: allowing the Attorney General to dissolve the nonprofit status of, and fine organizations that knowingly fund settler activity a sum no less than 1 million dollars. It also explicitly empowers Palestinians who have been harmed by the violence funded by these New York-based charities to file a lawsuit against them.
Not on Our Dime! makes clear that New Yorkers do not support violations of international law. By explicitly naming war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza, this legislation responds to the crucial financial support for Israeli settler and military violence provided by New York registered charities, signals New Yorkers’ values, and directs enforcement priorities. This is a first-in-the-nation bill and would be a first under New York law.
Who We Are
We are a group of individuals and organizations who believe that our state should not be complicit in genocide or apartheid. For decades, Palestinians have called on the international community to identify the various ways jurisdictions are financially supporting Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian land, and to end them. Researchers and journalists have identified that money flows directly from U.S. organizations, including those based in New York State, to violent Israeli settler groups and military operations. New Yorkers heeded this call and launched Not on Our Dime!
The scope of the bill was expanded in May 2024 to reflect the additional fundraising for war crimes in both the West Bank and Gaza that has occurred since Israel’s assault on Gaza began in October 2023.
