(NEWS) Jewish Groups Raise Concern Over Rutgers Student Fundraiser For Gaza Flotilla

"Jewish groups are raising concerns over a planned Rutgers University student fundraiser that was originally intended to collect money for a group that sends supplies to Gaza in defiance of the Israeli blockade.

Organizers from BAKA: Students United for Middle Eastern Justice, say their Nov. 4 fundraising dinner is meant to support the sending of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.



A spokeswoman for BAKA, Hoda Mitwally, said her organization was being maligned by groups opposed to the event who had issued press releases insinuating her group was somehow linked to terrorism, attempting to misuse school funds, or intentionally breaking the law.

'The way we are collecting the money is entirely legal,' said Mitwally, a Rutgers senior. 'Everything we're doing is essentially for a humanitarian mission, yet we're being accused of just the opposite by those who don't want to recognize there is a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.'

Members of the Jewish group Rutgers Hillel, who oppose the event and contacted the Anti-Defamation League with their concerns, said they want to make sure Rutgers is not used as a fundraising venue for organizations that violate international law or conduct illegal actions against Israel.

'We don't want to infringe on anyone's free speech rights, but when it comes to breaking the law, and using the resources of our state university to do that, that is where we object,' said Andrew Getraer, the executive director of Rutgers Hillel.



The fundraiser was originally slated to raise money for a group called U.S. to Gaza, a coalition that plans to sponsor a boat to deliver supplies to Gaza by defying the Israeli naval blockade, according to stories first reported on the Web site New Jersey Jewish News and in The Record newspaper.

Rutgers University spokesman Greg Trevor said the fundraiser had been approved by the university's Student Assembly Allocations Committee, but that organizers were told the proceeds could not go to U.S. to Gaza, because the group lacked the proper tax-exempt status to qualify as a charity.

BAKA hasn't filed to give the money to a new group yet, Trevor said. No funds will be released until the university determines that the recipient is legally registered as a nonprofit in the U.S., he added." (source)