Blood and Money: US Tycoons, Charities and Israel’s Settlements

GLOBAL RESEARCH – Last month, Bassem al-Tamimi and 35 other Palestinians and Palestinian Americans sought legal services to take a range of charities, firms and tycoons in the US to court in what will be a $34.5bn law suit.  Their argument is personal, charging such figures as Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and philanthropist Irving Moskowitz for complicity in financing a particularly murderous, and dispossessing war machine.

Five counts of conspiracy, war crimes, aggravated trespass, pillage and racketeering are being made, encased in the legal miracle that is organised crime.  Central to this is the overall legal justification (or non-justification) for the Israeli settlements themselves, with a specific focus on development in Judea and Samaria.  Some of the plaintiffs have also lost relatives to the predations of the IDF, including Hiba Barghouti, whose Palestinian American brother Abdelrahman Barghouti was slain in the West Bank during an incursion.

Figures like Adelson have well minted form.  The casino billionaire tends to reek of his money and political projects. He can count himself a firm figure behind the fortunes of Benjamin Netanyahu and the US Republican Party.

That he has not always been scrupulous is also a lingering claim.  Former executive Steven Jacobs should know, having lost his job in 2010 for attempting to end what he suggested were Adelson’s endorsement of illegal payments to Chinese officials and ties to Chinese organized crime.  Adelson’s own response was predictable enough: Jacobs simply did not cut the mustard.

The suit also has Haim Saban, another donor, in its sights.  Saban’s curriculum vitae involves the donation of millions of dollars to that less than sterling character, Hillary Clinton.

John Hagee, a televangelist who has made a name on the Israel train of blood and glory, has also been named in the suit. In November last year, it was reported that 23 Israeli charities had received something in the order of $3.2 from John Hagee Ministries.

The website, Breaking Israel News, noted how the organisation had given “over 95 million in donations towards humanitarian efforts in Israel, cementing the strong bond between Christians and Jews.”

 Each “Night to Honour Israel” event is replete with Hagee’s feverish dedication to feeding the accounts of the Israeli “humanitarian” machine.  Much of this is dressed up in the form of donations to hospitals. CONTINUE READING