Gaza and Charities at War: House Staff Report on Antisemitism Targets Nonprofit Organizations
Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson released the U.S. House of Representatives Staff Report on Antisemitism. The report compiles and summarizes information gathered by six different House Committee investigations of “an alarming surge in antisemitism” since October 7, 2023:
This effort, spanning multiple committees, reflects an unwavering dedication to combating antisemitism and ensuring the safety and dignity of Jewish Americans. The initiative has been spearheaded by the Committees on Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, Veterans Affairs, and Ways and Means. Together, these committees have undertaken investigations into federal funding, federal departments and agencies, foreign student visa programs, and tax benefits granted to nonprofit organizations and universities, all to address the troubling rise of hate and extremism.
Here is an excerpt from the Report’s summary of Ways and Means’ findings:
B. Findings
Over the course of its investigation, the Ways and Means Committee found that several American-based tax-exempt organizations have funneled or are suspected of funneling American taxpayer dollars to designated terrorist organizations like Hamas. At the same time, American based tax-exempt organizations have used taxpayer dollars to support, enable, and organize illegal encampments and/or protests that often resulted in violence, threats, and arrests. The Committee continues to investigate tax-exempt organizations engaging in activity that falls outside of well accepted tax-exempt purposes. Below are two case studies to illustrate some of the Committee’s findings to date.
The Report discusses four organizations to assert that “American based tax-exempt organizations” are supporting terrorism. It includes case studies of the Alliance for Global Justice and Samidoun, about whom I have previously blogged. I gotta tell you, though, that most of what the House has characterized as “support for terrorism” or antisemitism is more accurately described as speech and advocacy against Israel’s conduct of what is an otherwise legitimate act of national defense. No wonder Civil Society is in a full-on panic about HR 9495, the Stop Terror Financing Bill recently passed in the House. I support the Bill, by the way. It is the opposite of a “nonprofit killer bill.” I am one of the few people who admit that the Bill provides more protection for Civil Society than does current law. Passing the Bill is Ways and Means’ top recommendation. But my support doesn’t mean I have to parrot the party line that criticism of Israel’s siege of Gaza constitutes antisemitism or support for terrorism.
It is too bad that the investigations upon which the Report is based have been one sided propagandistic side show attacks on Civil Society — especially colleges and universities for not punishing or shouting down other nonprofit groups condemning Israel’s tactics in Gaza. Sorry, not sorry for saying so. Not a single Ways and Means hearing since October 7, 2023 has included witnesses or experts willing or even able to seriously contemplate the tension between advocacy and national security. There have been no First Amendment experts and nary a single tax exemption expert. Nor has a single Ways and Means hearing included witnesses or experts from that part of Civil Society labeled as terrorist supporters. The House heard from no witnesses in explanation or defense of any organization’s support of Palestinians or the right to protest on campus. Why not? Is there really nothing that can be said or learned?
The Report’s dangerously over-confident determination that Congress should enact laws punishing or restricting a broad swath of Civil Society — especially colleges and universities — would carry more weight had the investigations heard from people who might have defended, even if unconvincingly, the speech and advocacy Ways and Means too easily labels terrorism and antisemitism. The Report is instead akin to the Committee’s playing the proverbial and pejorative “race card.” The Report includes Ways and Means recommendations nevertheless:
C. Recommendations
Below are five recommendations from the Ways and Means Committee based on the Committee’s investigative findings to date.
1. Congress should enact legislation that was previously reported by the Ways and Means Committee and passed by the House, including H.R. 9495 and/or H.R. 6408. Both bills would help cut off funding for groups that provide material support for terrorism.
2. Congress should enact other bills previously considered and passed by the Ways and Means Committee that would support this effort and build on the Committee’s investigation including H.R. 8913, which would incentivize schools to prioritize enrolling American students, and H.R. 8914, which would give the IRS tools to hold tax-exempt colleges and universities accountable by imposing a significant tax penalty if they are found by a court of law to have violated a student’s civil rights.
3. Congress should also consider finding ways to incentivize colleges and universities to better protect students and secure their campuses. For example, many of the worst offenders this past year were the colleges and universities with the largest endowments in the country. It is worth exploring mechanisms that require colleges and universities to leverage their massive endowments to better secure their campuses. For example, Congress should consider legislation that changes the endowment formula and/or the endowment tax rate.
4. Congress should consider enacting various policies, including one that would prohibit individuals who are associated with organizations that have been shut down due to ties or suspected ties to known terrorist organizations from organizing and starting a similar or identical tax-exempt organization under a different name. This would help close loopholes that groups like AMP and SJP have taken advantage of in the past.
5. Congress should explore ways to ensure that tax-exempt organizations do not financially sponsor projects that do not further their tax-exempt purpose, organizational mission, or result in illegal activity. While many financial sponsorship relationships are genuine and beneficial for the country, others are used to shield bad actors from transparency and accountability. We must explore mechanisms to hold financial sponsors more accountable for illegal activity conducted by the projects they sponsor.
darryll k. jones