NEW YORK (JTA) – In October 2003, the Ford Foundation announced a five-year, $20 million grant to the New Israel Fund, an organization that promotes civil liberties and human rights in Israel. The grant was announced on the eve of publication of a JTA series, “Funding Hate,” which documented Ford funding of pro-Palestinian groups that vilified Israel and Jews at the anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.
Ford has promised NIF another $20 million grant, which it says will be delivered in the fall.
In the aftermath of the JTA series, Ford doled out millions more to other Jewish groups. Among the beneficiaries were:
* The Anti-Defamation League: nearly $1.5 million from 2004 to 2007 for an “online platform for delivering the teacher education programs of the ADL’s A World of Difference Institute.”
* American Jewish Committee: $400,000 in 2006 and another $550,000 for 2008 for its Berlin office “to counter anti-Semitism and other forms of bias in Germany and throughout Europe.”
* The Simon Wiesenthal Center: $600,000 from 2007 to 2009 for its Tolerance Center “to conduct a tolerance and diversity training program for New York and New Jersey criminal justice personnel.”
* Jewish Funds for Justice: $2.85 million between 2004 and 2008 for youth initiatives and leadership programs “to strengthen the development of and networking among social justice organizations.”
* The Institute for Jewish Policy Research: $935,000 between 2004 and 2008 for programs to help combat anti-Semitism and “foster dialogue among various ethnic and religious groups in Europe.”
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