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del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 10:57 21/11/2007 Group 'Judaizing' East Jerusalem accused of withholding donor information By Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Silwan, East Jerusalem  The registrar of associations is considering demanding the dissolution of the Elad association, which promotes the "Judaization" of East Jerusalem. Elad has been operating in East Jerusalem for about 20 years. It has acquired and received many properties belonging to Palestinians in Kfar Silwan, adjacent to the Old City, and manages the national park in the City of David on behalf of the state. In recent years, the association has invested many millions to finance the archaeological excavations undertaken by the Antiquities Authority in Silwan. Palestinians in Silwan contend that Elad has "taken over" substantial sections of the village. The registrar claims the association is refusing to divulge the sources of donations totaling over $7 million that Elad received in 2005. Elad representatives claim that all they know about the bodies that donated funds is their addresses, and that the association is not obligated to provide any additional information about its donors. Advertisement Elad had revenues totaling NIS 41 million in 2005 - the last year it reported its figures to the registrar of associations. Of this sum, NIS 38 million came from donations. The association gave the registrar a list of all the donors who had given more than NIS 20,000, in keeping with the recently amended law designed to make donations more transparent. According to the list, however, the lion's share of the donations came from five undisclosed donors. Elad received a donation of $2 million from Farleigh International IT and a similar sum from Ovington World Wide Limited. Leiston Holdings donated $1.5 million to Elad, Dwide Limited gave the association $1.4 million, and a donation of $250,000 was received from Jacobson. This means that a total of over $7.1 million, or 75 percent, of Elad's revenues came from unknown sources. Farleigh International is the former name of Farleigh Consultants, a British investigations firm. This company's manager, David Bowen, told Haaretz he is unfamiliar with Elad and that his company did not donate any funds to the association. Attempts to locate the other four donors were unsuccessful. According to government sources, businessmen originally from Russia are among the main donors to Elad. At an event held by Elad two years ago, in honor of its new visitors center in the City of David, the guests of honor included Russian real estate tycoon Lev Leviev and Roman Abramovich, the owner of the Chelsea soccer club. Representatives of the two would not say whether they made donations to Elad. Despite a number of requests to the association concerning the identity of its donors, Elad still refuses, though the group did not even submit a request to preserve their confidentiality, as permitted by law. As a result, roughly two weeks ago, the registrar of associations announced that this refusal was "liable to arouse a suspicion that the association is not conducting itself in keeping with the Associations Law and the principles of proper management, and could be used as a basis for the registrar to exercise his discretion and withdraw the association's proper management certification or even to demand its dissolution." Such a move would prevent Elad from receiving government funding. Following Haaretz's queries, Elad responded in writing that according to the law, the association was obligated to provide only the name of donor and the date a donation was received. "The demands made by the registrar of associations are invalid, made without authorization," said Elad's written response, which also declared that the association has no other details concerning the donors that gave the $7 million, "apart from their addresses." Elad further claimed that Haaretz's communication to the registrar of associations is "part of a smear campaign that has chosen to use the registrar of associations as a tool to harm the association." Bookmark to del.icio.us The reek of hatred An ex-chief rabbi's recent remarks on Conservative Judaism may spark a legal fight. Natural bombardment A hailstorm set off hundreds of cluster bombs lying in the soil of southern Lebanese soil.   1.   What about Israel Peace Now Settlement Watch 07:21  |  ralphsrant1 21/11/07   2.   Eastern Jerusalem ALWAYS Had More Jews 07:58  |  Yishai Kohen 21/11/07   3.   reply # 2 East Jerusalem will be the capital of Palestine 09:41  |  SJ 21/11/07   4.   Self-hating Jews on the march... 10:02  |  emet 21/11/07   5.   ELDAD HAS NO REASON TO DIVULGE ITS SOURCES 10:17  |  Polly Ester 21/11/07   6.   Provocative, Biased Headline 10:53  |  Ben Israel 21/11/07   7.   Re emet #4 and self-hating jews.... 10:58  |  Esther 21/11/07   8.   # 3 # AMMAN IS THE CAPITAL 14:01  |  Lou Knee 21/11/07

Today Online U.K. radical left sees one-state solution to Mideast conflict Responses: 103 Akiva Eldar: Demand for recognition of Jewish State was made hastily Responses: 31 Amira Hass: Failure to free more prisoners is a blow to peace Responses: 24 PM okays provision of 25 armored vehicles to PA security forces Responses: 31 Rosner: Annapolis could be an unnecessary failure Responses: 9 Rosner's Domain More Americans ready to abandon Israel if support means more terror Guest: America's universities are failing a generation of students The Democrats are struggling with Iran (WTR) Poll: Should Israel "get used" to the Iranian bomb? More Headlines 11:58 Annapolis date set for November 27; Saudi Arabia, Syria to attend 13:49 Rightist MKs slam PM's move to transfer armored vehicles to PA 13:53 Israel okays renewal of flower, strawberry exports from Gaza 10:56 U.K. radical left wing sees one-state solution to Israel-Palestinian conflict 05:25 Holocaust hero Bielski accused of stealing $250,000 from elderly neighbor 13:54 Bank Hapoalim reports highest profit for third quarter of 2007 08:37 ANALYSIS: The importance of who attends Annapolis from Arab states 12:55 Gunmen rob Netanya branch of Bank Hapoalim, steal NIS 2 million 13:12 Allies of Jordan's king defeat Islamists in parliamentary elections 09:25 Israel offers to implement social service system for Palestinians Previous Editions Select Day 20 nov 19 nov 18 nov 16 nov 15 nov 14 nov 13 nov 12 nov 11 nov 09 nov 08 nov 07 nov

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