. . . “these amazing heroes”: FJC proudly advertising during the 2014 Gaza Massacre that it acts as a conduit for boosting the morale of enforcers of the colonial military dictatorship over Palestinians; 48%-60% of the “brave men and women” are non-Israelis, donning khaki as motivated mercenaries – ad in the NYC-area Jewish News, late July/early Aug 2014 (ad was culled from FJC’s ‘News’ section when website revamped in late 2020) . . .

FJC’s CEO, Sam Marks, on 18May2020 spoke at an event organised by a group, JLens Investor Network, that’s doing its best to defeat BDS, the non-violent reaction to the defeat of the Second Intifada (Uprising). Organised Palestinian civil society decided in 2005 on a strategy of boycott, divestment, & sanctions to try to end the de facto annexation of Gaza & eastern Palestine by Jewish-Israeli supremacists running the Israeli state. But FJC is happy to act as a conduit for those who come as colonists, immediately donning khaki to practise not just non-Pacifican values but anti-Pacifican values.

Here’s Mr Marks:

Mr Marks spoke at JLens Investor Network’s 2nd Jewish Impact Investing Summit. At the inaugural meet, 5Dec2017, there was a notable speaker, Itai Nixon. He spoke about BDS. He spoke as an Israeli state official. A prominent one: Director of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs & Public Diplomacy. The Anti-BDS Ministry. That’s why it was set up in 2006. It’s not an independent ministry but part of the Prime Minister’s office.

Nixon’s boss thought it important enough to send him to New York City, at Fordham University no less, to speak at the JLens event, in the session ‘BDS in the Responsible Investing/Business Arena’. It was organised by San Francisco’s Julie Hammerman, who wrote the 2013 puff-piece on FJC embedded at https://pacificaradiowatch.home.blog/realworld-disciplines-pacifica/principal-creditors/foundation-for-the-jewish-community-operating-as-fjc/origin-of-fjc-s-name-and-acronym/.

Mr Nixon spoke at 12:54, 29:05, & 38:48. He spills the beans in saying “the term ‘profiting from the occupation’ was raised […] I don’t think there’s a company that operates in Israel that in some way doesn’t – isn’t involved in some way in the occupation [lower case for him]” (38:51, emphases added):

Nixon’s potted bio (unpaginated; p. 5 of the PDF): https://484d9f93-8046-4f51-84bb-28f8035e8031.filesusr.com/ugd/3aa597_bed8bf3a4b2d410b8ed45856bd3e8a0b.pdf

The agenda of the 1st Jewish Impact Investing Summit, 5Dec2017: https://484d9f93-8046-4f51-84bb-28f8035e8031.filesusr.com/ugd/3aa597_f2371bafc17e46a38d85c429280cc714.pdf

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To return to the ‘lone soldiers’. Why ‘lone’? “A Lone Soldier is an immigrant or volunteer, who serves in the Israeli Defense Forces without having immediate family with him or her in Israel” – https://israelforever.org/programs/LoneSoldierProject/faq/. Depending on the (undated) source, non-citizens of Israel are either almost half or the majority: “6,300 lone soldiers in the IDF […] 3,300 lone soldiers from Israel” (all in upper-case – https://chayalelchayal.org/lone-soldier/); or “[a]pproximately 40% of the Lone Soldiers are Israeli – orphans, youth from broken homes or very low socio-economic backgrounds. They also lack familial support while in the army” (the Israel Forever link). They don’t even have to be a Jew: “Zakai Aliya is a non-Israeli overseas resident, not necessarily Jewish, who has at least one Jewish grandparent [so compared with religious law, a paternal gramps suffices]. This makes that person eligible for immigration to Israel under the Law of Return and also for IDF service” (emphases added) – http://www.mahal-idf-volunteers.org/about/faq.htm#documentationthatyouarejewish & #zakai-aliya.

Mercenaries to Israel has become a live issue as of late because of the campaign in Canada, directed especially against organisations that are charities & non-profits. This is where FJC turns up again, choosing to be a conduit to the IAF, the Israel Attack Forces.

[screenshots from the Canadian materials of FJC as the designated conduit: from https://lonesoldiercenter.com/donate/ it’s https://lonesoldiercenter.com/donate-by-wire-19/ & https://lonesoldiercenter.com/donate-by-check-19/ (presumably alphabetically, FJC then PEF Israel Endowment Funds, Inc. … & yes, PEF stands for Palestine Endowment Funds, Inc. – p8 of https://pefisrael.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PEF-11-30-20-AUDITED-FINANCIALS-PUBLIC-VERSION.pdf (their latest a’s r, 12Apr2021, YE 30Nov; founded in 1922 by Stephen Wise, Nathan Straus (son Peter inherited WMCA in the Good Guys days), Louis Brandeis, Judge Mack; the 1989 Philip Goodman official book, 204pp – @ google) *Yves Engler, 19Oct2020 https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/why-is-the-israeli-military-still-recruiting-in-canada *https://lois-laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/F-28/FullText.html “[Recruiting:] Any person who, within Canada, recruits or otherwise induces any person or body of persons to enlist or to accept any commission or engagement in the armed forces of any foreign state or other armed forces operating in that state is guilty of an offence.” (Foreign Enlistment Act of 1985, § 11(1)) *Paul Jay interviews Engler & Karen Rodman, 20May2021 https://theanalysis.news/canada-allows-illegal-volunteers-to-fight-for-israel/ * Engler, 22Aug2014 https://electronicintifada.net/content/canadas-tax-deductible-support-israels-crimes/13789 *https://lonesoldiercenter.com/ & https://michaellevinlonesoldier.org/ *45mins film on Levin, A Hero in Heaven https://michaellevinlonesoldier.org/documentary-film/ (a staple at Jewish summer camp – https://www.jewishexponent.com/2019/07/19/lone-soldier-michael-levin-camp-ramah/) *10mins clip of the film (We Stand With Israel YT channel) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCMNqZwweaM * https://yvesengler.com/tag/heseg-foundation-for-lone-soldiers/ *https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0722/How-many-Americans-have-joined-the-Israeli-military * ]

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Besides FJC helping those who are, for some, the ‘right’ sort of settlers – not those nasty religious nuts in Judea & Samaria – the Israeli state does their bit too:

Addressing the 1,500 Lone Soldiers at the event, Finance Minister Moshe Kachlon stated: ‘It is not a given that an 18-year-old would leave everything they know and come alone to serve in an army across the world. The State of Israel is the home of all the Jewish people, and your home too, which is why you’re here with us today. We love you and appreciate your service. This appreciation goes beyond mere words, which is why we increased your salary by 50%. It is not easy being away from home while serving in the army, not for native Israelis, and certainly not for Olim [immigrants – the ‘right’ sort]. We as a country will make every effort to assist you in your military service – and settle in the country to build your home with us here in Israel.’

17Feb2017 – https://matzav.com/over-1500-lone-soldiers-from-around-the-world-gather-for-yom-siddurim/

[IAF recruitment webpage: https://draftidf.co.il/mahal/ – ‘mahal/machal‘ is the acronym of the Hebrew Mitnadvei Hutz LaAretz (‘volunteers from abroad’; Hebrew word used 1948-9 (& late 1947, if not before?)) *http://www.mahal-idf-volunteers.org/ *”Sar-El is an acronym for the Hebrew words Sherut L’Yisrael (Service to Israel)”: https://www.sar-el.org/, & its Mar2021 newsletter, https://www.sar-el.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Sarel-newsletter-03.2021.pdf *https://vfi-usa.org/: (“VFI partners with the Israeli organization Sar-El to process and prepare Americans to volunteer on Israel Defense Forces (IDF) supply/logistics bases. Sar-El is an acronym for the Hebrew words Sherut L’Yisrael (Service to Israel)”; re Netanyahu quote, ‘Operation Peace for Galilee’ was the Israeli gvt./military cynical euphemism for the 1982 invasion of Lebanon) *lone soldier, chayal boded]

[will be fully written-up June-July2021]