Ask the Treasury to review the tax-deductibility of donations to groups aiding settlement expansion and Palestinian dispossession

While the US has consistently opposed illegal settlement expansion, it has allowed Americans to make tax-deductible contributions to groups actively engaged in dispossessing Palestinians of their land and aiding the spread of settlements. Today, we're calling on the Treasury Department to review whether tax-deductible treatment for donations to such groups meet the relevant requirements -- and, if not, to cut off the flow of tax-deductible US dollars.

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    To: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew

    Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements are clear about the criteria organizations must meet to benefit from tax-deductible, charitable donations: Their activities must not be “illegal [or] contrary to a clearly defined and established public policy.”

    Under Democratic and Republican administrations, opposition to settlement expansion has been a clearly defined American policy. Furthermore, the US and the international community have determined that settlements are illegal under international law. Yet, organizations engaging in activities which are helping to dispossess Palestinians of their land and aiding the spread of settlements continue to benefit from tax-deductible American contributions.

    I am calling on the Treasury Department to review whether such donations should benefit from tax-deductible treatment under existing IRS requirements and, if not, to end their tax-deductibility.