Who is Behind NoTaxDollarsToIsrael.com ?

The bus wars continue.  Spotted in San Francisco today

NoTaxDollarsToIsrael.com is run by Paul Larudee of the Free Palestine Movement. Paul is a proud member of Jewish Voice for Peace  and  was personally invited to Gaza by Hamas.  He has been involved in a variety of assaults on Israel's borders and sovereignty, including  the Global march to Jerusalem, and various flotillas

NGO Monitor has assembled a factsheet  highlighting the extremist rhetoric of Paul Larudee

From the NGO Monitor Factsheet

The domain ‘NoTaxDollarstoIsrael.com’ is registered to Paul Larudee who is also the website’s administrator.

Larudee’s extremism includes the promotion of antisemitic themes, rationalization and justification of terrorism, and meeting with and receiving a medal of honor from leaders of Hamas.  Hamas is listed as terrorist organizations by the EU, the US, the UK, Canada, and many other countries.

Larudee has written of Jewish/Zionist “control” over US “media” and “government”:
In his article Strangler Fig Nation, Larudee’s main theme is that Israel, through the American Jewish community, is a “parasite” 1  feeding off the host/victim nation – the United States – by “controlling” key U.S. institutions. The article includes the following points (links in the original):

“the Israel Lobby has grown with few constraints, fed by its domination of the American Jewish community, extensive control of publishing and the media, the establishment and control of strategic think tanks that provide governmental advisers, and by a well-coordinated and lavishly funded political campaign machine.”

 “Israel now controls US policy in the Middle East.”

  “Israel has thus constructed a strangler fig network of roots and vines that is feeding itself from the resources of world’s most powerful nation while gradually starving that nation… if a strangler fig is allowed to thrive, its host will wither and die, and only its form will remain as an empty shell for as long as the parasite continues to survive.”

Larudee linked the phrase “domination of the American Jewish establishment” to the website of the Institute for Historical Review (IHR). IHR is described by the Anti-Defamation League as “the world's single most important outlet for Holocaust-denial propaganda.” The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the IHR’s “real purpose is to promote Holocaust denial and defend Nazism.”

In an interview on official Iranian media outlet Press TV Larudee “noted that the Western media is controlled by pro-Zionist propagandists and this is why the international community does not react to the Israeli crimes.”

In another Press TV interview (Dec 1, 2013) Larudee said, “Well, any non-Jew is a threat to Israel. So they need to be gotten rid of one way or another.”

In another Press TV interview (July 6, 2014) Larudee said, “I think I can say with confidence that the United States will defend its citizens to the extent that it is permitted to do so by the Israeli government. The United States never goes any farther than Israel is willing to accept.”
Larudee has expressed support for terrorism, euphemistically called “armed resistance”:

In an interview on the Berkeley, California radio station KPFA, Larudee said:

“Although we 2 are totally dedicated to non-violence, we recognize that not everybody that we work with in the Palestinian community is necessarily devoted to non-violence. And under international law, it is permitted for oppressed and occupied peoples to resist using armed resistance. This is permitted and we recognize their right to do so.”

The latest bus ads on MUNI are just another ugly, inaccurate attempt to demonize Israel by enablers of terror and anti-Semitism hiding behind the veneer of "Peace activism'

Read NGO Monitor's full report on Paul Larduee here

An Open Letter to the Arab Resource Organizing Center

First, some background:

Pam Geller, a New York activist decided to run offensive ads on our local bus system. The message was uncomfortable to those in the Jewish community who believed our best hope for peace is a Jewish State of Israel living side by side with an Arab state of Palestine. The ads did nothing to further the cause of peace, and were damaging to the cause of community building and interfaith relations. The MUNI system clearly felt their hands were tied- they’ve issued their own disclaimers on the buses, and have pledged to donate the proceeds of the ads to the SF Human Rights Commission for educational purposes

The Jewish community took a principled stand and denounced the ads. Additionally, the Jewish Federation has pledged to match funds donated to the HRC

The response from the Arab Resource Organizing Center rivals Pam Gellers' ads in its intractable hatred, shrilly claiming "The reality is that Zionism and structural racism have the same impact whether couched in JCRC's politesse or AFDI's vulgarity." and asserting "we cannot allow HRC to accept Zionist money".

Please read an Open Letter to the Arab Resource Organizing Center crossposted at Bluetruth Written by DrMike

The recent condemnation of Pamela Geller’s MUNI ads by the Jewish Community Relations Council and the American Jewish Committee could have provided an opening for dialogue, given the shared sentiments about those ads.  Yet AROC has chosen not to use this as an opportunity to build bridges but rather to throw gasoline onto hot ashes and inflame the situation further.

Your dismissal of the JCRC’s statement begins with a statement that you reject in other contexts: “We must not equate support for free speech with support for hate speech.” I completely agree.  Can I assume that you then also condemn these exercises of free speech in San Francisco?  I'm sure the leaders of your group saw these in person at some of the many anti-Israel demonstrations held here.

What about the new University of California report on campus  anti-Semitism which explicitly states “The Principles of Community operate under the assumption that not all speech is protected. Words and accusations which at their core demean, defame and degrademust be addressed and denounced.”  Will you join me in endorsing this statement, and condemn the repeated invitations by the Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine to hate speaker Amir Abdel Malik Ali?

Unfortunately it appears that your answer will be in the negative, since your statement then moves sadly but predictably on to rhetoric that far exceeds Geller’s in explicit hate. Phrases such as “the racism that drives Zionism” are dropped throughout the rest of the statement, which labels any support of Israel,whether by JCRC or by Geller’s AFDI, as “based on racism andIslamophobia”.  Any review of JCRC’s statements, whether on Israel or any other topic, is of course notably absent of any trace of either racism or Islamophobia, unless one adheres to your insistence that the very existence of a Jewish state is a racist endeavor.

Since that appears to be your position, you might want to review the Working Definition of Anti-Semitism prepared by the European Union in 2002; I’m sure you agree that many Europeans are not the strongest friends of Israel and you might even be aware that the EU funds NGO’s in Israel and overseas that promote BDS and similar anti-Israel activities.  

The EU stated: 

“Examples of the ways in which anti-Semitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel taking into account the overall context could include:

Denying the Jewish people their right of self-determinatione.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor

Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior notexpected or demanded of any other democratic nation

Using the symbols and images associated with classicanti-Semitism (e.g. claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) tocharacterize Israel or Israelis

Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to thatof the Nazis.”

You close by saying that “we cannot allow HRC [the SanFrancisco Human Rights Commission] to accept Zionist money.”  When “Zionist” gets thrown around repeatedly as an epithet, the words of Dr Martin Luther King spoken in 1968 come to mind:  “When people criticize Zionists,they mean Jews. You are talking anti-Semitism.”

Sadly, you have lived up to the expectation that you will apply blatant hypocrisy and double standards not only to any issue involving Israel, but to concepts such as free speech as well.  Not that this a surprise coming from AROC.  After all, it was AROC's own program director, Lily Haskell, who exercised her free speech rights in December 2008 (a few weeks after the untimely and tragic death of Dan Kliman z"l in an elevator accident) by threatening the lives of Israel advocates by leading chants of "Israel Supporters watch your backs, or we'll push you down a shaft!"

The Bay Area Jewish Community Condemns Anti-Muslim Muni Bus Ads

The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is the central public affairs and community arm of the organized Jewish community. Representing synagogues and Jewish institutions throughout the Bay Area, JCRC promotes a just society and secure Jewish future. American Jewish Committee (AJC) has, for over 100 years sought to advance the peace and security of the Jewish people around the world. Through high-level diplomacy, strong legislative advocacy, and effective interreligious and interethnic coalitions, AJC has made a significant impact on issues critical to the Jewish people. Together, they have issued a press release condemning the recent Muni Bus ads paid for by New York Blogger, Pam Geller.

Press Release from the Jewish Community Relations Council and the American Jewish Committee regarding Pam Geller's Muni Bus ads

San Francisco – Last week, a new advertisement appeared on Muni buses in San Francisco, placed by the American Freedom Defense Initiative. The Bay Area’s organized Jewish community takes great offense to the ad’s inflammatory and anti-Muslim language. We are steadfast in our support of Israel and our concern about the growing threat of Islamic radicalism, and steadfast in our opposition to anti-Muslim stereotypes.

We have long been concerned that the repeated appearance of offensive anti-Israel ads would turn our local public transit system into a battleground for the Israeli-Arab conflict; we are no less concerned by offensive anti-Muslim ads. We urge all transit authorities to reassess their policies and to construct advertising policies consistent with laws governing protected speech that preserve public transit as a safe space for all passengers.

From the Anti-Defamation league, as quoted in Mother Jones

"AFDI presents itself as a pro-Israel group. Our sense is that it's just a mischaracterization of who they are. They are an anti-Muslim activist group, and you don't have to be anti-Muslim to be pro-Israel," says Michael Salberg, director of international affairs for the Anti-Defamation League. "The ads are offensive and inflammatory."