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The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Two UK charities donate millions to Israeli settlement in occupied West Bank
Two UK charities have transferred millions of pounds to an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank with the endorsement of the charities regulator, the Guardian can reveal. Documents show that the Kasner Charitable Trust (KCT), via a conduit charity, UK Toremet, has donated approximately £5.7m to the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva high school in Susya, in the Israeli-occupied territory. As the budget of the school increased significantly as a result of the donations, the number of pupils, employees at the school and Susya residents have all increased. Dror Etkes, an expert on Israeli settlement, said: 'The school is likely the largest single source of employment in the settlement, and constitutes one of the main elements of the entire settlement's existence.' Susya was established in or around 1983, south of Hebron, adjacent to and impinging on the pre-existing Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya (commonly known as just Susiya). In 1986, the Israeli authorities declared the main residential area of Susiya an archaeological site and evicted all of its residents, according to Amnesty International. In March, settlers launched an attack on the Susiya home of Hamdan Ballal, one of the directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. In 2016 the Charity Commission wrote to UK Toremet saying: 'A donation to a school in the occupied territories would be a donation for the advancement of education and therefore on the face of it a legitimate grant for UK Toremet to make.' The former Conservative party chair Sayeeda Warsi said: 'It's appalling that any British national should be engaged in funding illegal settlements on occupied land – and it's even more disturbing that this is being subsidised by all of us taxpayers. 'I'm sure the vast majority of my colleagues in Westminster will share my outrage that the Charity Commission is greenlighting these donations. Serious action must be taken so that settlements which are illegal under international law, and at the heart of a regime of discrimination and displacement, cannot benefit from charitable donations.' Andy McDonald, a Labour MP and a solicitor, said: 'The government must urgently take the steps necessary to ban the use of funds originating from the UK being used to support any aspect of the illegal occupation and ensure the Charity Commission is in no doubt about its duty in preventing such transfers and having the powers to do so. 'Donations to illegal settlements should invalidate charitable status and result in individual prosecutions. If legislation is needed, we must do it.' Concerns have previously been raised about charitable donations from the UK to Israeli settlements but this is believed to be the first time there has been a definitive paper trail of a major transfer of funds to an illegal settlement. In a written answer in parliament in 2015, the government said the Charity Commission, which covers England and Wales, had written to UK Toremet's trustees 'and will be meeting them to review … [its] governance, policies, procedures and operational activity'. The following year the commission confirmed it had an 'open case' and that UK Toremet had been issued with 'an action plan' and its compliance was being monitored. The £5.7m of donations were made subsequently, between 2017 and 2021. When the law firm Hickman & Rose contacted the commission about them in 2022 it replied that the issues raised were not within its regulatory role as they involved allegations of war crimes and advised the solicitors to report the matter to the police. The lawyers accordingly approached the counter-terrorism command, SO15, about individuals within the two charities. SO15 responded in March this year that it would not be pursuing a criminal investigation, based on reasons that the lawyers plan to contest, but said it would be highlighting the UK position on illegal settlements to the commission 'with our concerns'. A Charity Commission spokesperson said: 'We know this is a highly contentious issue about which there are strongly held opposing views. The commission can only operate within our legal framework, and the fact that a charity operates in the occupied Palestinian territories does not in itself constitute a criminal offence or breach of charity law.' It said it referred all potential criminal matters to the relevant law enforcement body, adding: 'Given the complex legal issues in relation to international law we are in the process of seeking renewed specialist advice from the attorney general.' A UK Toremet spokesperson said it was 'not driven by any political or ideological agenda: and grants were made within the scope of English charity law', highlighting the 2016 letter from the commission about educational donations. A KCT spokesperson questioned whether the settlement was illegal. Before ending the call, he said the donation was for a 'religious school, not for settlement purposes', denied KCT was in any way encouraging the settlement and said the commission had 'cleared' the donations.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Two UK charities donate millions to Israeli settlement in occupied West Bank
Two UK charities have transferred millions of pounds to an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank with the endorsement of the charities regulator, the Guardian can reveal. Documents show that the Kasner Charitable Trust (KCT), via a conduit charity, UK Toremet, has donated approximately £5.7m to the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva high school in Susya, in the Israeli-occupied territory. As the budget of the school increased significantly as a result of the donations, the number of pupils, employees at the school and Susya residents have all increased. Dror Etkes, an expert on Israeli settlement, said: 'The school is likely the largest single source of employment in the settlement, and constitutes one of the main elements of the entire settlement's existence.' Susya was established in or around 1983 south of Hebron adjacent to and impinging on the pre-existing Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya (commonly known as just Susiya). In 1986, the Israeli authorities declared the main residential area of Susiya an archaeological site and evicted all of its residents, according to Amnesty International. In March, settlers launched an attack on the Susiya home of Hamdan Ballal, one of the directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. In 2016 the Charity Commission wrote to UK Toremet saying: 'A donation to a school in the occupied territories would be a donation for the advancement of education and therefore on the face of it a legitimate grant for UK Toremet to make.' The former Conservative party chair Sayeeda Warsi said: 'It's appalling that any British national should be engaged in funding illegal settlements on occupied land – and it's even more disturbing that this is being subsidised by all of us taxpayers. 'I'm sure the vast majority of my colleagues in Westminster will share my outrage that the Charity Commission is greenlighting these donations. Serious action must be taken so that settlements which are illegal under international law, and at the heart of a regime of discrimination and displacement, cannot benefit from charitable donations.' Andy McDonald, a Labour MP and a solicitor, said: 'The government must urgently take the steps necessary to ban the use of funds originating from the UK being used to support any aspect of the illegal occupation and ensure the Charity Commission is in no doubt about its duty in preventing such transfers and having the powers to do so. 'Donations to illegal settlements should invalidate charitable status and result in individual prosecutions. If legislation is needed, we must do it.' Concerns have previously been raised about charitable donations from the UK to Israeli settlements but this is believed to be the first time there has been a definitive paper trail of a major transfer of funds to an illegal settlement. In a written answer in parliament in 2015, the government said the Charity Commission, which covers England and Wales, had written to UK Toremet's trustees 'and will be meeting them to review … [its] governance, policies, procedures and operational activity'. The following year the commission confirmed it had an 'open case' and that UK Toremet had been issued with 'an action plan' and its compliance was being monitored. The £5.7m of donations were made subsequently, between 2017 and 2021. When the law firm Hickman & Rose contacted the commission about them in 2022 it replied that the issues raised were not within its regulatory role as they involved allegations of war crimes and advised the solicitors to report the matter to the police. The lawyers accordingly approached the counter-terrorism command, SO15, about individuals within the two charities. SO15 responded in March this year that it would not be pursuing a criminal investigation, based on reasons that the lawyers plan to contest, but said it would be highlighting the UK position on illegal settlements to the commission 'with our concerns'. A Charity Commission spokesperson said: 'We know this is a highly contentious issue about which there are strongly held opposing views. The commission can only operate within our legal framework, and the fact that a charity operates in the occupied Palestinian territories does not in itself constitute a criminal offence or breach of charity law.' It said it referred all potential criminal matters to the relevant law enforcement body, adding: 'Given the complex legal issues in relation to international law we are in the process of seeking renewed specialist advice from the attorney general.' A UK Toremet spokesperson said it was 'not driven by any political or ideological agenda: and grants were made within the scope of English charity law', highlighting the 2016 letter from the commission about educational donations. A KCT spokesperson questioned whether the settlement was illegal. Before ending the call, he said the donation was for a 'religious school, not for settlement purposes', denied KCT was in any way encouraging the settlement and said the commission had 'cleared' the donations.
Irish Times
30-06-2025
- Irish Times
Room for discussion: Israeli settlements and tourism platforms in the West Bank
Marketed as an 'escape into nature' 25 minutes by car from Jerusalem, the air-conditioned cabin has a Jacuzzi looking out on the semi-arid Judaean desert and access to a communal fire pit. The boutique holiday home promises 'a world of comfort, luxury, and endless possibilities' for about €230 a night on the tourism websites Airbnb and The cabin is part of a collection of outposts that form the rural settlement of Kedar which was established by religious Israeli settlers in the 1980s in the occupied West Bank. The Airbnb profile does not mention that the cabins are located on Palestinian land, while the profile describes the location as 'Palestinian Territory, Israeli settlement'. The desert guest house is accessible via a modern bypass built predominantly on expropriated Palestinian land and which was mostly empty when The Irish Times drove along it, accompanied by Dror Etkes, an Israeli expert on settlements and land policy in the West Bank and head of the NGO Kerem Navot. The 1,600-strong settler community in Kedar has repeatedly protested against plans to open the highway to Palestinian drivers who they claim could pose a security risk. Instead, Palestinian drivers are required to travel through the town of Elazariya which can take four times longer. The owner of the cabin said by email that travelling to the remote holiday site in a Palestinian car would cause issues with 'authorities'. READ MORE Armed with maps, cameras and video drones, Etkes has spent the past two decades driving across the West Bank monitoring settlement activity -'what we are seeing in the West Bank since [the Hamas attacks on Israel in] October 7th, 2023, we haven't seen ever before,' he says. Dotted on several hill tops in the area are white caravans and construction sites. Israel announced plans in 2024 for 3,300 new homes in Kedar, as well as the larger nearby settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, while Palestinians in the wider area have faced further road closures , home demolitions and mass displacement . Dror Etkes, an Israeli expert on settlements and land policy in the West Bank and head of the NGO Kerem Navot. Photograph: Hannah McCarthy In 2024, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion stating that Israeli settlements were illegal; all countries should cease trade with them; and Israel should evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territories. Later that year, the Palestinian human rights NGO Al Haq published the results of an investigation into how Israeli settlers use resources and infrastructure which is denied to Palestinians, including through accommodation platforms such as Airbnb and The report said 'short-term rental platforms create a lucrative business model that sustains the presence of settlers in remote areas far from the main settlements' infrastructure. These platforms also provide financial opportunities for the development of secondary illegal outposts as offshoots of larger settlements, further sustaining settlement expansion, and the settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as a whole.' [ 'Groundbreaking' case over Airbnb lettings in West Bank will set precedent for Irish companies, says Senator Opens in new window ] did not respond to a request for comment, while Airbnb provided a link to a 2019 statement made after the tourism company faced several lawsuits when it announced in 2018 that it would 'remove listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians. (Settlements in East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, which was annexed from Syria, were not included.) After the 2018 announcement, Airbnb quickly faced litigation from Israelis and Jewish Americans who accused the company of discrimination in Israeli and US federal courts , while Airbnb faced sanctions under anti-boycott laws in several US states. Kerem Navot was also sued by a settler for authoring a report with Human Rights Watch entitled Bed and Breakfast on Stolen Land which was critical of Airbnb and operations in the West Bank. Israeli anti-discrimination legislation was amended by the Israeli parliament in 2017 to discourage discrimination on the basis of place of residence. This limits the manner in which Israeli business can deny goods and services to settlers living in the West Bank, despite Palestinian citizens of Israel facing a risk of violence or harassment if they enter settlements, while some Jewish Israelis are ideologically opposed to doing business with settlements. In more than a dozen US states, pro-Israel and Christian Evangelical groups have successfully lobbied for anti-boycott legislation which penalises American companies that refuse to do business with Israeli settlements, not just Israel. Israel's 2011 boycott law, which applies to Israeli citizens and companies, provides that anyone who calls for an economic, cultural, or academic boycott of Israel or 'Israeli-controlled territory', including Israeli settlements, is committing a civil offence. 'Unfortunately Airbnb reversed their decision and the settler who sued us asked to dismiss her lawsuit,' says Etkes, who wanted the case to go ahead to highlight Israel's conduct in the West Bank. ''Right now I don't think that we are under any specific risk of being sued because there are no big companies that are officially boycotting the settlements.' After settling the various lawsuits, Airbnb announced in 2019 that it had 'always opposed the BDS movement' and it would continue all listings in the West Bank but that 'any profits generated for Airbnb by any Airbnb host activity in the entire West Bank will be donated to non-profit organisations dedicated to humanitarian aid that serve people in different parts of the world.' Airbnb has implemented the same approach for listings in the disputed Caucus regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, while the company suspended operations in Russia and Belarus after financial sanctions were imposed on the two countries in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Israeli NGO Who Profits, which is financially supported by Irish NGO Trócaire, has said that AirBnB's 'decision to donate the profits to non-profit organisations is a clear attempt to whitewash its involvement in promoting tourism on occupied land and providing services to settlements.'
