Paul Larudee: The $10,000 Nakba Road Trip Fail

Paul Larudee has been on the outs of the social justice warrior club for quite a while. Even the regressive left knows to keep their distance from the piano tuner from El Cerrito. His  ties to the Iranian mullahs, his support of the Syrian  butcher Assad,  and his endorsements of notorious anti-Semites have contributed to his persona non grata status in the local activist community.

The failure of his Nakba tour surprises nobody. Paul took his show on the road, and  it was not a success.

A plea for money from terror apologist Paul Larudee :

Paul Larudee in happier times. Photo from Contra Costa Times

“You mean they will actually pay us to come and speak?” This was Amena’s reaction when I told her that the North America Nakba Tour would be self funding. In the Middle East and often in Europe, speakers are usually funded by philanthropists or institutions with deep pockets. We had no such backing, but plunged ahead, anyway.

We planned in reverse. How much can we raise? An honorarium of $500 plus travel expenses is quite reasonable, but we decided on $500 for two speakers from overseas, and we figured that we could make the travel fit into that. Next, we decided on our itinerary and filled in the events afterward. Finally, we decided on the expenses.

OK, not a perfect fit, but Allah Kareem (God is Benevolent), as they say. Someone will rescue us.
We were hoping to raise at least $17,500 (35 events x $500), and hopefully more from generous audiences. The reality is that although the scheduling was successful, two were canceled (one allowing us to keep the deposit), and five gave no more than half the requested amount. Fortunately, others exceeded the requirement, so that we expect to raise $15-16K.

Unfortunately, our expenses didn’t stick to the plan, and we have a roughly $10,000 deficit, as you can see in chart below. Can you help us? We would like to repeat this tour, with improvements, but if we can’t recover our costs, there’s little hope of this...

Expense (actual or estimated)	Amount
Visas (US & Canadian + second try on US)	$   1436
Airfare (speakers, with upgraded transatlantic, coordinator, attempts to bring Canadian visas)	6491
Vehicle purchase + tax, less estimated resale	4640
Extended warrantee	1400
Used luggage rack + lock	390
Auto Insurance	700
Car maintenance	300
Health insurance for speakers	1412
Gasoline (estimated for 12,000 miles @ $.15/mi.)	1300
Tolls & parking	200
Travel equipment	200
Speaker travel per diem	510
Road service	130
Gifts for homestay hosts	849
Telephone and mobile internet for speakers	380
Food, lodging, supplies on the road	2500
Entrance to parks and monuments	900
Medical	200
Driver compensation	2000
TOTAL	$  25938

Sorry, Paul. Failure to plan on your part does not  constitute an emergency on anyones part.

Incidentally, Paul's "nonprofit "Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees  EIN 20-5516191 reported  over $166,000  in contributions last year.  Where could all that money be vanishing to?