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Charity watchdog urged to stop flow of UK donations to Israel army

June 13, 2024 at 12:04 pm

A pro-Palestine protester holds a placard which asks ‘How does it feel to be supporting genocide?’ during the demonstration in Aldwych, London on 08 June 2024 [Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]

The UK’s Charity Commission has urged to take action to stop donations being channelled to Israeli armed forces in open contravention of charity regulations.

A new report issued by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) highlights the activities of two UK charities that appear to be channelling money to the Israeli armed forces. In a statement, the IHRC said: “According to the Charity Commission, raising money for the armed forces of a foreign country does not qualify as a charitable purpose but IHRC has found that two charities registered with the Commission have been facilitating donations to the Israeli Defence Forces which have been used to buy military equipment including drones, anti-tank missiles bulletproof vests, night vision goggles.”

Of the two charities, UKGives Ltd and UK Toremet, the latter has already been the subject of a previous similar complaint in 2015 and an investigation by the Charity Commission, “begging the question as to why the UK charities regulator has allowed the situation to seemingly worsen,” IHRC said.

Both UK Gives and UK Toremet have been listed by fundraisers post-October 7, as being “the UK organisation through which UK donors can donate AND gift-aid that donation. Both seem to work as a portal for directing UK donors to partner organisations based in Israel,” the statement said.

One of the fundraising organisations using UK Toremet is One People, set up after 7 October 2023 to, in its own words, “provide IDF soldiers and rapid response teams with the bulletproof vests, helmets and other lifesaving equipment”.

Another, KEHgives (Kehillat Eretz Hemdah), openly boasts of having raised millions of dollars for equipment to support Israeli combat soldiers since 7 October 2003.

“This is an inexhaustive report looking at the activities of just two registered charities in England. A more detailed examination of the Zionist charity sector in England and Wales may yet expose more examples of funds being channelled to the IDF,” IHRC said.

Chair of IHRC, Massoud Shadjareh, said: “The information IHRC has compiled is sufficient for the Charity Commission to investigate both charities, particularly in view of the fact that they form part of a supply chain linking them to a state army that is currently on trial for genocide in the International Court of Justice. It is incumbent on the Commission to investigate this apparently flagrant abuse of charity status to carry out activities that are morally repugnant, legally dubious and potentially criminal.”

Neither UK Gives nor UK Toremet replied to MEMO’s request for comment at time of going to print.

WATCH: Fuelling Israel’s Genocide: MEMO in Conversation with Lydia de Leeuw & Misa Norigami