June 29, 2006 | Read Time: 2 minutes
PRESS CLIPPINGS
After the Ford Foundation was accused of anti-Jewish sentiment three years ago, the grant maker made a number of questionable concessions to avoid increased scrutiny by members of Congress, says an article in The Nation (June 5).
In 2003, a Jewish news service published a series of articles that said the foundation gave money to Palestinian nonprofit groups that were anti-Semitic.
While Ford initially disputed the findings, eventually it acquiesced to its critics, including U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat from New York, says the article.
The foundation ended its financial support for the organizations in question, promised to devote more money to fighting anti-Semitism, and, in what The Nation finds most damning, rewrote the letter it requires its grant recipients to sign before they get funds.
By changing the letter’s language, Ford would now require its grant recipients to promise to “not promote or engage in violence, terrorism, bigotry, or the destruction of any state, nor will it make sub-grants to any entity that engages in these activities.”
The sweeping language drew criticism from several universities and nonprofit groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, and “triggered indignation and dismay from some Ford staffers,” the article says.
The Nation suggests that the Ford Foundation may shy away from controversial work in the future because it was not willing to stand up to its opponents in this particular instance.
In a letter to the editor published in a subsequent issue of the magazine, the foundation countered the assertions made by the article’s author, Scott Sherman.
Ford continues to support causes in “trouble spots around the world,” wrote Marta L. Tellado, the organization’s vice president of communications.
“To suggest, as Sherman does, that the foundation has backed away from these ambitions ignores our funding for the courageous individuals and institutions worldwide who invest their energy and their faith in our shared values.”
The article is available online at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060605/sherman.
