“the question of U.S. aid to Israel, in the words of Lara Friedman, the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, has remained ‘sacrosanct.’” and “The anti-Semitism charge, Lara Friedman told me, was a ‘sharp knife’ that Republicans could throw ‘and watch Democrats attack each other.’”

” Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, said she believed the lawsuits are intended to send a ‘chilling effect’ through the international NGO sector. ‘It’s letting organizations know that if you stick a toe in this Palestine work, it could take down everything you’re doing worldwide,’ she told the Guardian. ‘It could end up being a reputational weapon against you. It could end up taking time and money away from everything else. Even people that win end up getting dragged through the mud,’ she said. ‘So all the good work you do in the world, are you willing to risk it by doing a project in Gaza? And I think what they’re gambling is no, you’re not.’”

“Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), said she believed the aim of TZAC’s lawsuits was to send a ‘chilling effect’ through the international NGO sector. ‘It’s letting organisations know that: if you stick a toe in this Palestine work, it could take down everything you’re doing worldwide,’ she said. ‘It could end up being a reputational weapon against you. It could end up taking time and money away from everything else. And potentially if one of these cases comes up and somehow you’ve screwed up under US law because US law’s pretty complicated … it could shut you down. So all the good work you do in the world: are you willing to risk it by doing a project in Gaza? And I think what they’re gambling [the answer] is no, you’re not.’ …Friedman has compared aspects of Abrams’ lawsuits to Slapps – strategic lawsuits against public participation – usually deployed by the rich and powerful to harass, silence or intimidate. While Slapp suits were usually brought by billionaire oligarchs or companies and TZAC was very small, she added, the complaints appeared ‘a form of legal intimidation’. ‘Even people that win end up getting dragged through the mud with them,’ added Friedman.”

FMEP and Al Shabaka are delighted to invite you to  Normalizing and Peacemaking as Discourses of Violence Listen to this webinar as a podcast. Recorded…

In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin talks to Rabea Eghbariah, human rights attorney, doctoral student at Harvard Law School, and one…

In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” FMEP’s Dr. Sarah Anne Minkin talks to Dr. Yara Asi, Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida in…

1.Bills, Resolutions & Letters 2. Hearings 3. Media & Reports 4. Members on the Record (Palestine/Palestinians) 5. Members on the Record (Israel) 6. Members on…

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week. To subscribe to this report, please click here.…

” According to a database compiled by Lara Friedman at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, at least 34 U.S. states have passed laws targeting boycotts of Israel or its illegal Jewish-only settler colonies in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.”