 Logo of StandWithUs | |
| Formation | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit pro-Israel education and advocacy organization |
| 01-0566033 | |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles,California |
International Director | Roz Rothstein |
| Revenue | 17,848,945[1] (2019) |
| Expenses | $13,935,408[1] (2019) |
| Staff | 108[1] (2018) |
| Website | www |
StandWithUs (SWU) (also known asIsrael Emergency Alliance) is a nonprofitright-wing[2][3][4][5][6] pro-Israeladvocacy organization[7] founded in Los Angeles in 2001 byRoz Rothstein, Jerry Rothstein, and Esther Renzer.
StandWithUs has gained prominence as a leading pro-Israel advocacy group. It maintains a significant presence on university campuses throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Brazil. The organization aims to combat what it perceives asantisemitism andmisinformation related to Israel while promoting a positive image of the country. It trains students in pro-Israel advocacy, organizes protests, runs billboard and ad campaigns, and files complaints on the behalf of students. StandWithUs actively works to counterBoycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaigns on campuses and beyond. It has also engaged in collaborations with theIsraeli government on various initiatives.
StandWithUs has faced controversy regarding its tactics and positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Critics have accused it of misinformation,pinkwashing, stifling dissent, and limiting constructive dialogue about Israel, particularly in university settings.
StandWithUs was founded in 2001 byRoz Rothstein, a family therapist in Los Angeles whose parents wereHolocaust survivors, her husband Jerry Rothstein, and Esther Renzer.[8] She has said the turning point for her came during theSecond Intifada, when she observed what she perceived as distorted media portrayal of the conflict, specifically following themurders of Koby Mandell and Yosef Ishran.[9] After meeting with dozens of local Jewish leaders, Rothstein concluded that there was no organization with the resources to "explain Israel" so she decided to create her own.[9][10]
Rothstein remains SWU's executive director.[11] Due to her leadership, she has twice been named one of the 50 most influential Jews in America byThe Forward, andThe Jerusalem Post named her one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world in 2016.[11] In 2015, its board of directors includedNaty Saidoff andAdam Milstein.[12] The organization has a team of 80 lawyers who providepro-bono legal services to students and faculty confronting antisemitism or "antisemitism disguised asanti-Zionism".[13] Roberta P. Seid previously served as an education-research director.[14]
SWU is atrade name ordba name of "Israel Emergency Alliance".[1] According toJewish Voice for Peace, Israel Emergency Alliance is an IRS-registered nonprofit and SWU and Creative Community for Peace are alternate names for this entity.[15]
SWU is a member of theIsrael on Campus Coalition.[16] The Center for Combating Antisemitism is part of SWU.[17] In 2020, SWU and theIsraeli American Council (IAC) led a nonpartisan slate in theWorld Zionist Congress elections.[18]
As of 2022, SWU has 18 offices across the U.S. and branches in Israel, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South America, and South Africa.[19][20]
While SWU is often categorized asright-wing,[21][22][23][24][25] Rothstein rejects the label[8][26][27] and asserts that the organization isnonpartisan.[28][29] In terms of its position within a large range of American Jewish pro-Israeli movements, sociologistDov Waxman says that SWU lies on the right end of the spectrum of American Jewish groups, with such groups asThe David Project, theZionist Organization of America, theIsrael Project, and theJewish Institute for National Security of America.[30]
Rothstein says that SWU does not advocate specific policy positions[20][31][26] and that its goal is merely to inform[8] and "counter the vicious anti-Israel, anti-Semitic propaganda campaign" by educating the public about Israel.[26] According to authors Cronin, Marusek andDavid Miller, SWU does not believe theWest Bank is occupied and supportsIsraeli settlements.[32][33][34] In an interview withHaaretz, Rothstein acknowledged having an emotional attachment to what she called "Judea and Samaria", because it is where the Jewish people began.[13] She has said that Palestinian leaders have used the settlements as an excuse for "postponing negotiations and for rejecting all possible peace offers from Israel"[35] and that ceding parts of the territory for a future Palestinian state would require "serious negotiations". SWU views the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as territorial rather than existential.[36] Lessons by SWU have highlighted thatPalestinian refugees "were not the result of Israel's founding but of the war Arab nations launched against Israel", a position Israeli historians contest.[27]
SWU is opposed toJ Street, a self-declared "dovish" pro-Israel lobby.[37] In a debate with J Street PresidentJeremy Ben-Ami, Rothstein accused him of thinking that he knows "better than the Israelis" how to achieve peace with the Palestinians. She also complained that J Street primarily pressures and criticizes Israel and not the Palestinians. Ben-Ami faulted her for taking a black-and-white approach to the conflict and concluded that there was little common ground between them.[38] Rothstein is also opposed toBreaking the Silence, an organization of former Israeli soldiers opposed to the occupation.[13] She has described as disingenuous groups that profess love for Israel but blame it for the lack of peace while refusing to address Palestinian anti-peace behavior.[36] Rothstein believes supporters of Israel should support whatever government is elected in Israel and that Zionists who are publicly critical of the state of Israel for its treatment of Palestinians do not support the country.[27]
SWU actively opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement,[39] which it considers antisemitic.[40] SWU is a proponent ofanti-BDS laws,[41] which are intended to discourage boycotts of Israel by requiring state contractors to promise that they are not boycotting Israel,[42] and does not believe that they impinge onfreedom of speech.[43] SWU claims that BDS's true objective is "the elimination of Israel and the end of Jewish self-determination"[44] and calls the movement "a dangerous new front that has opened in the war against Israel".[45] SWU believes that anti-Israel views, often masked in "human rights language", risk gaining influence in the American political system, and that they are easier to spot on the far right than on the far left, according to the group's Midwest executive director Peggy Shapiro.[46]
In April 2021, SWU praisedThe Associated Press (AP) for changing the spelling of "anti-Semitism" to "antisemitism". They described it as an important move, saying that in doing so, the AP had joined the collective effort against Jew hatred.[47] The organization has endorsed and advocated for adopting theIHRA definition of antisemitism.[48][49]
The organization offers two one-year programs to train students in pro-Israel activism,[20][50] distributes pamphlets and "fact sheets" on Israel, and sets up pro-Israeli lectures. According toHaaretz journalist Judy Maltz, no organization compares with SWU for "turning up the heat on the Israel-Palestinian debate at universities", and its tactics in doing so are controversial.[8]
SWU established and funds its own network of "fellows", students trained to use cameras, videos, and robots[51][52] to film events that are considered anti-Israel at universities, and whose role is said to be one of acting as SWU's "eyes and ears" on campuses. According to Maltz, the presence of SWU activists at anti-Israel demonstrators has often provoked clashes that, in her view, serve the organization's interests.[8] Students are taught to warn anti-Israel demonstrators when their disruptions may be violating the law.[8]
TheEmerson Fellowship program, created in 2007, trains college student leaders from 90 universities throughout North America to be pro-Israel advocates on their campuses.[53] As of 2020, the program is offered to North American, British, and Brazilian students.[54][55] The number of students enrolled in the program has grown from 38 in 2007 and 2008 to 107 in 2020.[56][54] SWU also offered a Hispanic Emerson Fellowship.[53] A year-long UK Emerson fellowship, based on its American fellowship, launched in September 2018.[57] The fellowship launched in South Africa in November 2022.[58]
The group is also involved in training high school students. Created in 2012, the StandWithUs High School Internship is a program directed at North American high school students in 11th and 12th grade and had 125 students enrolled in 2020.[54] It prepares students for challenges potentially faced in college regarding pro-Israel advocacy.[53]
Other educational programs include Shagririm (meaning "ambassadors"), a program directed at young adultIsraeli-Americans in southern California with the objective of connecting people to generate pro-Israeli initiatives. In 2012, the program included 54 students from southern Californian universities. Unlike Emerson Fellows, Shagririm was open only to Israeli-Americans.[59] The program was sponsored and run by theMilstein Family Foundation's Israel Leadership Council, later rebranded as theIsraeli-American Council.[59]
SWU is a campus-oriented advocacy group[60][61] and is heavily invested in the recruitment and training of students in pro-Israel advocacy[62] and in media.[63] The organization is active on American, Canadian, British, and Brazilian campuses.[54] It has also run programs in Australia for more than a decade and plans to officially open an Australian office.[64] SWU has also worked with the Israeli government. In 2011,Danny Ayalon said SWU created leverage for theIsrael Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[27]
SWU has organized a number of anti-BDS conferences,[65][66] and has pushed for anti-BDS legislation in various U.S. states,[67] including a Texas bill passed in 2017.[68] It has condemned various divestment resolutions passed by universities, calling them discriminatory and hateful.[69]
In 2011, SWU helped organize theOlympia Food Co-op lawsuit. In 2010, the Olympia Food Co-op's board of directors instituted a boycott of Israeli goods. Five co-op members, aided by SWU, sued, alleging that the board had acted beyond the scope of its authority and breached its fiduciary duties.[70] According toMondoweiss andAli Abunimah, SWU denied running the case on behalf of the plaintiffs.[71][72] The court ruled in 2012 that the lawsuit was an illegalStrategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP), a decision upheld by the appeals court.[73] In 2015, theWashington Supreme Court ruled that the state's anti-SLAPP law was unconstitutional and returned the case to the lower courts. In 2018, the court gave summary judgment finding the plaintiffs had no standing to bring a case because they failed to show the co-op was injured.[74]
In 2015, SWU condemnedThe United Church of Christ, one of the United States' largest Protestant denominations, for calling for "divestment from companies that profit from Israel's occupation or control of Palestinian territories and boycott of products produced in such territories by Israeli companies". The group called those who promoted the resolutions "anti-Israel extremists within the U.C.C." and said they had "severely damaged the U.C.C.'s relationship with the vast majority of the Jewish community, promoted hatred and discrimination against Israelis, and undermined efforts to achieve a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians."[75]
In 2016, over 350 people attended a conference SWU organized with the purpose of devising strategies to combat the BDS movement.[76] The group was also involved in the Maccabee Task Force, an eight-college-campus initiative bySheldon Adelson with the goal of finding effective ways to combat BDS and antisemitism.[77]
In various countries, SWU has promoted billboard and poster campaigns for solidarity with Israel, often in opposition to ads run by other organizations.[78][79][80][81] These include a campaign depicting Palestinian leaders and institutions astutoring children to be terrorists.[82][83]
In May 2007, the pro-Palestinian U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation placed 20 poster ads in theWashington, D.C. subway system showing a tank with its turret pointing at a child with a school bag. The text on the poster read: "Imagine if this were your child's path to school. Palestinians don't have to imagine." SWU in response launched its own ad campaign with posters showing Palestinian children with military gear, with one ad reading "Teaching children to hate will never lead to peace."[78]
In August, the group launched a one-year campaign running pro-Israel ads in 98 buses inChapel Hill, North Carolina. The campaign was meant to counter an anti-Israel ad placed on the buses by the Church of Reconciliation calling for the end of U.S. military aid to Israel.[84] In October, SWU launched a transit campaign inVancouver buses and light rail stations, running two pro-Israel ads in opposition to ads run by the Palestine Awareness Committee. The ads depicted three maps purporting to show "Jewish Loss of Land" dated from 1000 BCE until "today", and another showed smiling Israeli and Canadian children alongside the statement "Shared Values & Freedom." The ads run by Palestine Awareness Committee had depicted "Disappearing Palestine" on a series of maps, illustrating Palestine shrinking through the years 1946 to 2012.[85]
In May 2019, SWU placed a billboard advertisement on a main Israeli highway in opposition to ads put up byBreaking the Silence. The Breaking the Silence ads targeted tourists visiting Israel to attend Eurovision, and juxtaposed an image of an Israeli beach with the West Bank security barrier.[86]
In February 2022, SWU partnered withJewBelong to launch a billboard campaign against antisemitism in Toronto.[87] In November 2022, SWU launched a campaign against theAlbanese government's decision to retract recognition ofWest Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. The group placed an advertisement inThe Australian urging readers to email Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese and Foreign Affairs MinisterPenny Wong to reconsider the decision.[64]
In September 2007, SWU sponsored a protest againstColumbia University, which had invited Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak as part of its World Leaders Forum. SWU Campus Director Dani Klein said that inviting Ahmadinejad went "above and beyond the issues of free speech" and that giving him a platform was "honoring him". Columbia PresidentLee Bollinger defended the decision to invite Ahmadinejad as giving the students a chance to hear an adversary's views.[88]
In January 2009, following Israeli air strikes on Gaza, SWU co-organized at least a dozen pro-Israel rallies throughout the United States.[9] In April, the group organized protests against theDurban II conference inGeneva, which it claimed were anti-Israel. A small group rallied in New York and SWU sent 15 delegates to the conference itself. Three French students donned clown costumes and heckled Ahmadinejad during his speech. According to Rothstein, the clown image was supposed to illustrate the absurdity of having countries that violate human rights at the event.[82][89]
In November 2016, to protest the resolutions passed byUNESCO which denied Jewish and Christian connections toJerusalem, SWU erected a massivePinocchio effigy near theUnited Nations headquarters inNew York City. Rothstein expressed concerns that the resolutions not only disregard thehistorical Jewish roots in Jerusalem but also deprecate and belittle Judaism itself.[90]
In April 2021, SWU organized a protest outside the French Consulate in Los Angeles demanding justice forSarah Halimi after the man who killed her was acquitted.[91]
Four Roman Catholic orders of nuns and the pro-Palestinian groupJewish Voice for Peace planned in 2005 to introduce a resolution at aCaterpillar shareholder meeting. The resolution asked for an investigation into whether Israel's use of the company's bulldozer todestroy Palestinian homes conformed with the company's code of business conduct. In response, SWU urged its members to buy Caterpillar stock and to write letters of support to the company. SWU representatives also planned to attend the shareholder meeting and speak out against the resolution. SWU and other Jewish organizations said that Israel was being unfairly singled out.[92]
In October 2009, SWU campaigned against a conference organized byJ Street. The organization distributed literature accusing J Street of endorsing "anti-Israel, anti-Jewish narratives" and of demonizing Jewish settlers in the occupied territories. J Street's president Jeremy Ben-Ami responded that SWU was engaged in "thuggish smear tactics".[93] The campaign was not perceived to be effective in discouraging policymakers from attending, given the conference's greater-than-expected turnout, with the attendees including several members of Congressmen andNational Security Advisor GeneralJames Jones.[94]
SWU has said that its objection to J Street is based on its support for efforts that demonize Israel, such as theUnited Nations Goldstone Report, and its advocacy for specific policies that Israeli voters democratically rejected, rather than solely on its criticism of the Israeli government's policies.[26]
On November 14, Robin Dubner, Michael Harris, and eight other SWU activists disrupted a local Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) meeting inBerkeley. They heckled the speakers and prevented the meeting from taking place. One activist pepper-sprayed two JVP members but said she was "physically attacked". JVP members said the pepper-spraying was unprovoked. The SWU activists said that the action was in retaliation for heckling of Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu by JVP members the week before. Harris said they acted as individuals and not as part of an organized SWU action.[95][96]
In 2020, SWU filed an amicus brief in support ofFordham University's decision to denyStudents for Justice in Palestine's (SJP) application to become an official student group, leading SJP to file a successful lawsuit.[97] The organization argued that the courts had limited jurisdiction in dictating private universities' decisions, that the decision was consistent with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and that SJP violated theIHRA definition of antisemitism.[97] The New York State Appellate Division eventually ruled in Fordham's favor and overturned the earlier ruling.[98]
SWU and theCenter for Combatting Anisemitism sent a letter toUC Merced asking it to take action regarding a professor who made tweets they labeled as antisemitic. One tweet had an image of the "Zionist Brain", in another tweet he wrote, "the Zionists and IsraHell interest have embedded themselves in every component of the American system, media, banking, policy." SWU expressed support for his constitutional right to free speech but expressed concerns that he'd publicly expressed hatred toward some of the people he was teaching.[99] A formal investigation was launched and the professor was removed from the teaching roster for the spring semester.[100]
SWU called on Rep.Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) to apologize for his participation as the keynote speaker at theAmerica First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) in Orlando, Florida. The event was organized by white nationalist andHolocaust denierNick Fuentes. SWU's CEO stated that a sitting U.S. member of Congress attending a white-supremacist conference legitimizes racism and antisemitism, and she urged the Republican Party leadership to distance itself from Gosar, paralleling the actions taken against former CongressmanSteve King for his racist comments.[101]
SWU filed a complaint with theU.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights againstGeorge Washington University. The complaint stemmed from an extracurricular event organized by psychoanalytic therapist and psychology professor Lara Sheehi featuring a talk byNadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a Palestinian law professor at theHebrew University of Jerusalem who is critical of Israel's policies. Some Jewish students felt unsettled by the talk and raised their concerns in Sheehi's class, accusing her and Shalhoub-Kevorkian of antisemitism. SWU took action by filing the complaint to address what they perceived as harassment of Jewish students. They alleged that the talk was a "two-hour diatribe" against Israel that left students feeling vulnerable and unsafe and that Sheehi had made offensive comments to a Jewish Israeli student earlier in the semester, telling her, "It's not your fault you were born in Israel", an allegation Sheehi denied. SWU also alleged that the university failed to properly investigate previous complaints against Sheehi, and cited private tweets of hers critical of Israel and Zionism, which she defended as a reflection of her anger at Israeli military actions and occupation.[102][103] Sheehi disputed the allegations and claimed she was targeted as "an Arab woman whose scholarship and activism advocates for Palestinians".[103]
The complaint prompted the university to hire law firmCrowell & Moring to investigate the allegations. The subsequent administrative investigation cleared both GWU and Sheehi of wrongdoing and concluded that her comments were misrepresented.[104] Despite this, Sheehi accused the university of failing to defend her, and the controversy surrounding her involvement in the event and the ensuing accusations of antisemitism caused significant division within the psychoanalytic community and sparked broader debates about the role of psychoanalysts in activism and politics[102][105][106] and the limits of academic freedom.[107]
In 2009, following Israeli air strikes on Gaza set up a "Web Situation Room" to counter online criticism of Israel.[9]
In January 2010, SWU sent a group of seven delegates toHarbin, China to showcase an exhibition entitled "Inside Israel", in the organization's first outreach venture in the country.[108]
In May 2010, SWU invitedElvis Costello on a free VIP tour to Israel "designed to show Mr Costello the diverse nature of Israeli society and highlight the challenges Israel faces in its efforts to promote peace."[109] In 2016, the group dispatched an airplane that flew over the venue of aRoger Waters' set atDesert Trip, displaying the message, "Support Israel-Palestine Peace — Not Hateful Boycotts."[110]
In 2020, SWU criticizedPresidentDonald Trump's choice of retired Army Col.Douglas Macgregor to oversee US-German relations and called for a new nominee to serve as ambassador. They referred to Macgregor's 2012 remarks where he claimed that Jewish individuals, known as neocons, unconditionally support the Israeli government. SWU CEO Rothstein criticized this as a rehashed antisemitic conspiracy theory suggesting Jews prioritize Israel over their own countries.[111] Later that year, SWU successfully urgedZoom to prevent a conference from using the videoconferencing platform to hostLeila Khaled, invoking the platform's terms of service and anti-terrorism laws.[112]
In February 2021, SWU launched letter-writing campaign to Che andSaturday Night Live condemning a joke made about Israel only vaccinating "the Jewish half" of its population.[113] In April, fashion houseArmani removed a blazer resembling a Holocaust concentration camp uniform following a request by SWU.[114]
SWU holds a number of annual gatherings, including a "Festival of Lights" gala, which raises funds to combat antisemitism and has drawn over a thousand attendees each year,[115][116] and an "Israel in Focus" International Conference.[117]
SWU has conducted nation-wide tours for Israeli army veterans[118][119] while opposing Jewish communities who host speaking tours ofIsraeli soldiers who speak out against the occupation.[27]
In 2020, SWU launched a new platform called "StandWithUs TV" that would produce content to "inform and inspire people of all ages". With the globalCovid-19 pandemic impacting in-person activities, SWU decided to move more of its focus into the digital realm.
Shows produced on the platform include "Standing with Israel", "Combatting Antisemitism", "Jewish Refugees in the Middle East", and "Walk Through Israel". Guests have included BritishChief RabbiLord Sacks and Israeli Ambassador to the UKMark Regev.[120][121]
In 2008, in collaboration withThe Jerusalem Post, SWU began publishing a monthly newspaper,Campus Post, to be distributed on university campuses. The short-lived paper included articles byThe Jerusalem Post writers on the topics of Israeli news, society, and culture, while students and others in North America contributed articles about pro-Israel activism.[56]
According to Cause IQ, SWU's revenue and expenses for the 2019 fiscal year were $17,848,945 and $13,935,408 respectively.[1] In 2012, theJewish Journal described SWU as "a $4 million-a-year operation".[23]
Major donors includeAdam Milstein, who donated $851,500 to SWU between 2004 and 2016.[122] SWU's educational program, the Emerson Fellowship, is funded by J. Steve and Rita Emerson.[56] The UK chapter of the group has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds in various fundraisers, including a November 2021 crowdfunding event that raised £750,000[123] and a May 2023 campaign that raised over £600,000.[124]
In 2009, over half of SWU's budget was allocated to fund student activities on U.S. campuses.[10] and nearly 15% of the group's budget went to the Israeli office, which trains 150 Israeli students each year in advocacy skills in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[10]
In January 2015, the investigative Israeli websiteThe Seventh Eye reported that SWU would receive $254,000 from thePrime Ministers Office,[125] to set up a "Social Media Ambassadors" program to educate young people on how to use social media to promote Israel.[126] However, according to SWU, the project did not go ahead.[127]
SWU is widely perceived as right-leaning.[128][129][130][131][132] It has been described as a leading pro-Israel advocacy group,[133] as "one of the world's prominent Israel-advocacy groups",[134] and as a leading and effective force on American campuses,[9][135] with a presence "difficult to ignore".[8] Judy Maltz ofHaaretz has noted that "of all the pro-Israel forces active on U.S. college campuses today, none has poured as much energy, resources and sheer audacity into the battle for the hearts and minds of young Americans as StandWithUs".[8] The organization is said to hold "significant sway both in Congress and among the American public".[136]
In 2017,Bethany Mandel praised SWU for being the only national Jewish group to express discontent over JVP's decision to feature Leila Khaled as a speaker at one of its conferences, and suggested that other groups follow SWU's lead if they wished to maintain credibility.[137]
SWU has a large social media presence and is widely reposted by pro-Israel accounts.[138] It has been praised for "fighting for the legal rights of pro-Israel students and arming them with facts to defend themselves from anti-Semitism while remaining true to their liberal values while still defending the US-Israel relationship".[139]
Steven M. Cohen, Professor of Jewish Social Policy atHebrew Union College, has expressed his concern over the negative impact of SWU's attitude on Israel. He believes that by adhering to a stance that unquestioningly supports everything Israel says, the organization risks impeding Israel's ability to benefit from constructive input and discouraging engagement fromJewish Americans in discussions related to Israel. Cohen emphasizes the importance of having vocal Zionists from diverse ideological backgrounds, including those on the far left, as well as right-wing groups such as theHilltop Youth, in order to succeed in the public relations battle.[27]David Biale has stated that apaternalistic approach worsens the situation as it prevents students from learning to stand up for themselves and makes them feel as if they're being manipulated.[8]
In their 2009 publicationThe Trial of Israel's Campus Critics,David Theo Goldberg andSaree Makdisi assert that the thirty-three organizations comprisingIsrael on Campus Coalition, which include SWU along withAIPAC, theZionist Organization of America, theAmerican Jewish Congress, theJewish National Fund, are not interested in "the niceties of intellectual exchange and academic process", and that they prioritize tactics such as insinuation, accusation, and defamation over fostering intellectual dialogue and academic processes when responding to arguments and criticisms related to Israeli policies.[140] The organization has been associated with a trend observed among various right-wing and pro-Israel organizations, which some perceive as silencing dissent at campuses in the United States.[141][142]
In 2014 Israeli columnistBradley Burston criticized SWU for what he considered question-begging assertions passed off as facts in materials used by the organization to teach college students about Israel. In his view, the group's assertions about thelegality of settlements, and the reasons why Israel refuses to allow Palestinians room for their capital in Jerusalem were in his view lies.[143]
According to an October 2009 investigation byInter Press Service, SWU has received funds from a "web of funders who support organisations that have been accused ofanti-Muslim propaganda and encouraging a militant Israeli and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East."[144]
In 2018, the right-wingZionist Organization of America (ZOA) criticized SWU for claiming that Israel "officially supports thetwo-state solution". ZOA stated that Israel opposes a Palestinian state and slammed SWU's claim as "extremely harmful" and a "serious falsehood".[145][146]
SWU's approach has been dismissed as "too apologetic" by Israeli diplomatAlon Pinkas, who states that "presenting Israel as the victim of Arab aggression is impossible."[147]
SWU has usedIsrael's policy on LGBT rights to promote Israel toanti-Zionists,[148] including in a 2005 tour that was allegedly part of a government campaignBrand Israel, leading to accusations ofpinkwashing Israel to divert attention away from its human rights violations.[a][150][151]
Ian Lustick has argued that StandWithUs manipulates statistics on Palestinian demography in order to buttress continuedIsraeli occupation and settlement of the West Bank.[152] The group has also been accused of dehumanizing Palestinians and depicting them as terrorists.[153]
SWU gave a 'Guardians of Israel' award to a person who was said to have intervened to defend Jewish diners against an assault by antisemites. The two men indicted were brought to trial, and sentenced to an obligatory visit to theMuseum of Tolerance and 80 hours training in cultural sensitivity. According to a senior editor ofThe Forward, no antisemitic assault by pro-Palestinians had taken place. Roz Rothstein expressed disappointment with the verdict, and stated that the two men deserved a period of imprisonment.[154][155]
it has partnered with StandWithUs, a group widely perceived as being on the far right of the pro-Israel spectrum.
the right wing Zionist group StandWithUs
StandWithUs, a right-leaning, pro-Israel group that celebrated its 10th anniversary in January...
StandWithUS a right-wing US-based Israel support group
the right-wing Israel-advocacy group StandWithUs
Creative Community for Peace and Israeli government-linked StandWithUs are simply alternate names for a single IRS-registered non-profit: Israel Emergency Alliance.
the right-wing Israel-advocacy group StandWithUs
the right wing Zionist group StandWithUs
StandWithUs, a right-leaning, pro-Israel group that celebrated its 10th anniversary in January...
StandWithUS a right-wing US-based Israel support group
it has partnered with StandWithUs, a group widely perceived as being on the far right of the pro-Israel spectrum.
In stark contract the right-wing lobby—which includes...StandWithUs...is very hawkish, skeptical of the value of diplomacy and negotiation, suspicious of engagement, and opposed to Israeli concessions to its enemies. It embraces the use of military force and believes that it should be applied ruthlessly and devastatingly when necessary. Above all, it supports Israel's control of the West Bank and opposes a division of Jerusalem and the establishment of a Palestinian state. The right-wing lobby tends to regard the Palestinians not as potential partners for peace, but as implacable foes of Israel.
Though the specific provisions of anti-BDS laws vary widely, they have taken two primary forms: (1) contract-focused laws that condition the receipt of government contracts on an entity certifying that it is not boycotting and will not boycott Israel; and (2) investment-focused laws that mandate public investment funds to divest from entities involved in boycotts of Israel.
The brief further argues that the Arizona law is constitutional and does not curtail anyone's First Amendment rights, according to a StandWithUs press release. "The Act does not constrain... expression of political views; it addresses nonexpressive conduct not entitled to First Amendment protection."
{{cite news}}:|last3= has generic name (help)Officials from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, StandWithUs, EMET and the Middle East Forum – all groups that hew to the right on the political spectrum – will also make presentations.
Some center-right groups like B'nai Brith International, StandWithUs and the World Jewish Congress, praised the strategy while expressing regret at the inclusion of Nexus.
Hadar Susskind, American for Peace Now's president, said the gulf was too wide between groups like his and sponsors on the right such as the Zionist Organization of America and StandWithUs.
The groups at the Israel Summit ranged from centrist to far right. While relatively mainstream think tanks, such as the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, pitched a Middle Eastern public opinion project, they were an ideological minority. Groups further to the right, such as StandWithUs, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and even Christians United for Israel, dominated the attendance.
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