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The Haaretz of May 8th reports that the ‘Claims Conference – JCC’, “the world’s richest Holocaust restitution organization” has offered to give funds to Israeli Survivor organizations provided they stop criticism of the JCC. The umbrella group ‘The Centre of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel’ has rejected the offer and called it: “an insulting bribe meant to silence legitimate criticism.” Apparently. the ‘Centre’ had financial difficulties and the “Claims Conference offered a no-interest, 12-month loan of $200,000 to the Centre of Organizations in an internal, unsigned contract, obtained by Haaretz. The loan, intended ‘to prevent the Centre’s economic collapse,’ is conditioned on the Centre ‘aligning itself’ with the Claims Conference and refraining from voicing any criticism.”
The Haaretz further reports:
“The final clause in the proposed contract stated that, should the umbrella group take the money and then criticize the Claims Conference, it would be required to repay the debt immediately, and the Claims Conference would halt future funding.” And:
“Welfare organizations in Israel are on the brink of bankruptcy and the Claims Conference is trying to take advantage of this. Is worse than offering a bribe: It’s a dictatorial attempt to silence opposition.”
The Claims Conference does not deny having made this conditional offer, but contends it was necessary because of “irresponsible and damaging behavior” by people from the ‘Centre of Organizations’. The JCC also asserts that the ‘Centre’ had not asked for funding of welfare projects, as usual, but for funding of ‘operational costs’. A board member of the ‘Centre’ refutes this assertion and reveals that the JCC “had funded operation costs for years, before pulling the plug two years ago.” “Now it’s conditioned on servility” he said.
A spokesperson for the Claims Conference complains: “People from the Centre of Organizations have recently lashed out at the Claims Conference, damaging both bodies. It’s unthinkable for the Claims Conference to be expected to fund a body which behaves like this without making sure it acts responsibly for the common goal of helping survivors.”
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Editor: We applaud the board-members of the ‘Centre’ who rejected the debasing offer. In our opinion any attempt a stifling criticism is an outrageous affront to the survivor community. We believe in free, democratic expressions of opinion and in a free marketplace of ideas. We scorn and challenge the JCC’s attempts at authoritarianism and dictatorship. Today’s adults are quite capable of discerning where the truth lies and what to believe.
Furthermore, these funds are not private funds that the JCC magnanimously provides from its own pockets. These are funds that were merely entrusted to them – for the benefit of survivors – from German and other restitutions and compensations and from the sale of properties of other Nazi-victims that did not survive.
In our opinion, there never was as justification to use these entrusted funds according to the whims of the JCC. There is no justification to cover ‘operational costs’ of other organizations. How does the JCC record these expenditures? As Welfare benefits? As educational expenditures?
This practice of providing ‘operational funds’ has led to the formation of a number of small and servile survivor groups; afraid of expressing their honest beliefs; afraid of openly and effectively struggling for survivors’ rights; afraid of demanding full and transparent oversight over all financial expenditures. Now the JCC is attempting to extend its control over the entire survivor community; is arrogantly trying to stifle all voices of dissent. We must not, we will not let this happen! Never!
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