[Boycott - Zionist Lobby]

The Lewis Trust Group, its donations to Conservative constituency parties, think tanks and Palestinian Media Watch

Andrew Causon, Cheltenham & Gloucester Palestine Solidarity Campaign Group
3 April 2010

The donations to Conservative constituency parties from the Lewis Trust Group were mentioned in a pamphlet which accompanied the Dispatches documentary, "Inside Britain's Israel Lobby" broadcast on 16 November 2009 on Channel 4. The pamphlet can be downloaded from:

Dispatches - Pro-Israel Lobby Pamphlet (374kb, 42 pages)

The pamphlet mentions Conservative constituency parties who, in 2008 "received small donations to their constituencies from prominent CFI (Conservative Friends of Israel) sponsors". Most of the donations were given by just one sponsor, the Lewis Trust Group, whose donations totalled £23,500. All of these donations were declared, as can be seen by using the drop-down menus at the "Register of donations to political parties" webpage on the Electoral Commission`s website.

The other donations from the Lewis Trust Group are listed below

Lewis Trust Group: Donations to Conservative constituency parties

Who are the Lewis Trust Group?

The most political member of the family, it seems, is David Lewis (CBE, FCA) who has been on the board of the Jewish National Fund. The Institute for Jewish Policy Research (which describes itself as an independent think tank) describes David Lewis as "One of the founders of BIPAC" (British Israel Public Affairs Committee) in their Winter 2000 newsletter. The name invites comparison with AIPAC (before which Barack Obama felt compelled to genuflect), although in contrast, BIPAC went bankrupt in 1999. A brief history of BIPAC is given on this webpage (though there is no reference to David Lewis):

Lewis is currently President of UK Board of Governors of The Israel Center for Social & Economic Progress, ICSEP(www.icsep.org.il) This organisation describes itself as "an independent pro-market public policy think tank since 1984" and whose slogan is "Where there is no bread, there is no Torah". ICSEP is run by Daniel Doron, who the website spinprofiles.org describes as a "former Israeli intelligence officer and Special Consultant to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv".

ICSEP lists five pages of praise it has received which include these quotes:

"Daniel Doron is helping me fight the historic battle that is now taking place over the future of Israel’s economy."
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, Israel

"Daniel [Doron] has always been a staunch advocate of free market reform. In the United States, such advocacy may not seem extraordinary, but in an Israeli society long dominated by socialist economic thinking, decades of unabashed support for free market reform makes Daniel a very rare breed."
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, Israel

"Your materials are riveting, to the point, and analyse correctly what has taken place… Indeed, a free economy and true democracy march hand in hand, and they shall also lead to true peace…"
Shimon Peres, President, Israel

"The economic growth spurred by open markets is the engine to counter Islamist extremism. ICSEP is the beacon for the free market in the Middle East."
Mark Kenny, Rear Admiral, US Navy

Although the donations to Conservative Parliamentary candidates have been made directly from the The Lewis Trust Group, other donations to blatantly political entities like ICSEP and Palestinian Media Watch (see below) have been made in a more tax-efficient way through the LEWIS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST.

The Lewis Trust Group & Donations to The Israel Centre for Social & Economic Progress

Each TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS has a section entitled "Transactions with trustees and connected persons" but nowhere is the fact that David Lewis is a "connected person" by virtue of being President of UK Board of Governors of ICSEP referred to.

The amounts donated are listed below.
£25,552 -Trustees' Report And Financial Statements(Year Ended 31 May 2009)
£20,017 -Trustees' Report And Financial Statements(Year Ended 31 May 2008)
£9568 -Trustees' Report And Financial Statements(Year Ended 31 May 2007)
£9,342 -Trustees' Report And Financial Statements(Year Ended 30 April 2005)
£14,276 -Trustees' Report And Financial Statements(Year Ended 30 April 2004)

The Lewis Trust Group & Donations to Palestinian Media Watch

Palestinian Media Watch

www.neoconeurope.eu/Palestinian_Media_Watch:

PMW (not to be confused with Palestine Media Watch (PMWATCH)) is an Israeli NGO founded by 'counter terrorism analyst' Itamar Marcus. The organisation's website claims that "Palestinian Media Watch was established in 1996 to gain an understanding of Palestinian society through the monitoring of the Palestinian Arabic language media and schoolbooks. Palestinian Media Watch analyzes Palestinian Authority culture and society from numerous perspectives, including studies on summer camps, poetry, schoolbooks, religious ideology, crossword puzzles, and more." The banner on PMW's website, 'A Self Portrait of Palestinian Society' [emphasis added], appears to be a misnomer as it belies the organisation's Israeli credentials.

Beyond the moderate rhetoric of its official remit of 'gain[ing] an understanding' and 'analyz[ing]...culture and society from numerous perspectives', PMW's recent extra-curricular activities include alleging that Norwegian aid money is used to fund Palestinian childrens' television programmes, the purpose of which, according to Marcus, 'is to get hold of children while they are young and shape them in the way they [the Palestinian Authority/Fatah] want.' Marcus continues, 'No, it does not seem like Jonas Gahr Støre [Norwegian Foreign Minister] knows what he helps financing' [sic].

Criticism

"In recent years Marcus has been making a living translating and disseminating defamatory communications against Israel, extracted by his staff from Palestinian publications. Marcus, a settler, used to work for David Bar Illan, Benjamin Netanyahu's PR chief, and served on the Joint Israeli Palestinian Anti-Incitement Committee. Marcus's center routinely feeds the media with excerpts from "Palestinian" textbooks that call for Israel's annihilation. He doesn't bother to point out that the texts quoted in fact come from Egypt and Jordan.

Users of PMW materials - UK

Making a Difference - Media uproar in Britain over funding of PA hate education (Jan. 31, 2008)

In January 2008, PMW was instrumental in bringing about a media uproar in Britain. At PMW’s initiation, and with PMW supplying the documentation and participating in the writing, the British Taxpayers’ Alliance presented a report to the British Parliament showing how British aid to the Palestinian Authority had been spent to help fund Palestinian hate education against Jews and the West, including incitement to kill Jews and British troops.

The following are all headlines from British press articles responding to the report:

Daily Express main front page headline: “Our taxes pay for lessons in terror: Britain gives £47M to finance classes on suicide bombing.â€�

News of the World: “You pay £47M to fund terror. Aid used to promote murder of British troops.â€�

The Daily Telegraph: “Aid to Palestine ‘funds extremism’�

Daily Mail: “Taxpayers ’fund hate textbooks’�

The Press Association: “UK funds 'used for indoctrination'�

Daily Express: “Stop terror cashing in�

The Jewish Chronicle: “Your tax money boosts terror’�

PMW has since continued to supply British MPs with the latest hate education summaries from the PA media. PMW has been in close contact with the parliamentary group Conservative Friends of Israel, and a follow up in parliament is being discussed.

Users of PMW materials - Canada

This research was carried out by Andrew Causon of Cheltenham & Gloucester Palestine Solidarity Campaign Group

Source: http://gloucestershirepsc.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/donations-received-by-cheltenham-stroud-conservative-constituency-parties-after-mark-coote-and-neil-carmichaels-trip-to-israel-2/

Tribute to Englishman who put Eilat on map

Jan Shure, Jewish Chronicle
12 March 2009

Ruth Lewis cuts the ribbon
to the Eilat promenade named
in honour of her husband,
David (left)

As President Shimon Peres, addressing Mr Lewis at the main Eilat Day anniversary event the evening before, pointed out, it was Mr Lewis’s vision which began the transformation of Eilat into the resort it is today. The city now has a population of 65,000, more than 50 hotels — eight belonging to Mr Lewis’s Isrotel group — five shopping malls, bars, nightclubs, diving centres, a yacht marina and countless restaurants and cafes.

When, 29 years ago, the then tourism minister, Gideon Patt, invited Mr Lewis to build his first resort hotel in Eilat — King Solomon’s Palace — Eilat’s population of 15,000 relied for its economy on the port and fish farming.

According to Eilat’s mayor, Meir Yitzhak Halevi, addressing guests on Friday, the opening of King Solomon’s Palace in 1984 was “such a significant event� in the city’s history that Eilat residents “separate their history into pre-Lewis and post-Lewis chapters�.

Mr Halevi also thanked the hotelier for his commitment to the life of the city, declaring: “Mr Lewis’s worldview lies in an awareness that every business is rooted in the surroundings in which it operates, so the prosperity of the city of Eilat is no less important to him than that of the Isrotel chain.�

Representatives of the many organisations in Eilat which receive support from Mr Lewis also spoke movingly of his commitment to them. Among them is the Orim special needs school, one of whose pupils, 17-year-old Uria Zuckerman, thanked him for “the connection of generosity and friendship�.

A visibly moved Mr Lewis responded with his own tribute, “as an Englishman, to the Israeli people and the residents of Eilat�.

He told them: “You have faced so many difficulties — wars, terrorism, intifadas — but I have to express my admiration for the way you face up to these difficulties, and how, through your resilience and hard work you have achieved so much. Not just in Eilat, but throughout Israel.�

Mr Lewis, accompanied by his wife Ruth, some close family members, the mayor and a couple of rabbis, walked to the new promenade where, before a large, noisy crowd and a military band, Ruth Lewis cut a ribbon to open Eilat’s David Lewis Promenade.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/tribute-englishman-who-put-eilat-map

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