Establishes the "Not on our dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli settler violence act" to prohibit not-for-profit corporations from engaging in…

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◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Jabari Brisport says this is needed

Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention provides that an "Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies." It also prohibits the "individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory." However, contrary to this well-established law, the State of Israel has engaged in a pattern of establishing ille- gal settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, particularly since its military occupation of the region in 1967. The European Union (EU) has explicitly recognized that "settlement building anywhere in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, is illegal under international law," and "constitutes an obstacle to peace." None- theless, in the words of Amnesty International, "Israel's policy of settling its civilians in occupied Palestinian territory and displacing the local population contravenes fundamental rules of international humanitarian law." Indeed, the international consensus since 1967 has been that these settlements are unlawful. As early as 1980, UN Security Council Resol- ution 465 called on the State of Israel "to dismantle the existing settlements and, in particular, to cease, on an urgent basis, the estab- lishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territo- ries occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem." The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention have reaffirmed that settlements violate international humanitarian law. The illegality of the settle- ments was similarly reaffirmed by UN Security Council Resolution 2334, passed in December 2016, which reiterates the Security Council's call on the State of Israel to cease all settlement activities in the occupied territories. Despite the clear illegality of this pattern of conduct, which has led to the expulsion and dispossession of Palestinians from their land (often in a violent manner), this practice has continued. Moreover, these illegal settlement activities have been funded by organizations here in New York State. In fact, between 2017 and 2019 alone, organiza- tions that are known to primarily fund illegal settler activities fundraised over $144 million in New York State. This funding stream is known to sustain illegal settler activity, and has enabled settlements to significantly expand in recent years. Although they are in direct violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, these organizations masquerade as charities, and funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to illegal settlement activities, while enjoying tax-exempt status in New York. In short, New York State is effectively subsidizing illegal activity abroad, including war crimes, and has been complicit in violent dislocations of Palestinian people. This bill clarifies that New York State charities cannot subsidize such illegal activity, and prevents non-profit corporations from abusing their tax-exempt status to reinforce and further the State of Israel's illegal settlement expansion.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.