![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26132728698795.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The\u00a0major human rights funder\u00a0pledged Wednesday to strengthen interfaith partnerships and protect those facing heightened threats in response to the rising levels of\u00a0hate against both Jewish and Muslim communities, coinciding with the\u00a0Israel-Hamas war\u00a0and the\u00a0current fragile ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Last year saw the highest level of deadly violence against Jews worldwide in over three decades, according to an\u00a0annual study released last month\u00a0by Tel Aviv University, including the\u00a0December shooting at a Hanukkah celebration\u00a0in Australia. Meanwhile,\u00a0anti-Muslim rhetoric has intensified\u00a0against the backdrop of the Iran war, with one congressional Republican saying Muslims \u201c\u00a0don\u2019t belong in American society.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe deep injustices occurring in the Middle East are fueling indiscriminate prejudice, dehumanization, and violence directed against both Muslims and Jews,\u201d Open Society Foundations President Binaifer Nowrojee said in a statement. \u201cEntire communities cannot be targeted simply because of their religion. Bigotry and intolerance in any form must be called out and confronted.\u201d<\/p>\n
The announcement marks the foundations\u2019 most visible campaign since last fall\u2019s reports that the U.S.\u00a0Department of Justice was considering possible charges\u00a0against Open Society Foundations. President Donald Trump specifically named Soros as he\u00a0ordered the FBI to crack down\u00a0on what he called \u201cleft-wing terrorism\u201d \u2014 an accusation that OSF has denied in statements emphasizing their mission to strengthen democracy.<\/p>\n
Alex Soros, who\u00a0took over leadership of his father\u2019s foundations\u00a0in late 2022, noted that \u201cdiscrimination and hate\u201d aren\u2019t abstract concepts for him as the son of a Holocaust survivor and husband to a Muslim American. The foundation added that George Soros, who holds significant influence as a liberal megadonor with vast financial investments and philanthropic ties, is frequently targeted by conservative conspiracy theories that twist those powerful connections into antisemitic tropes about behind-the-scenes puppet masters.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a moment like this we need to stand together and act,\u201d Alex Soros said in a pretaped video posted on social media. \u201cThis investment is about keeping people safe and pushing back against hate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The commitment is aimed broadly at expanding education on forms of discrimination, supporting cross-community leaders who build trust and safeguarding free speech rights to lawful expression. The foundations have already selected some grantees and are inviting other nonprofits to apply for funding. Recipients include the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the Nexus Project. Shoulder to Shoulder, a multifaith alliance that prepares religious leaders to address anti-Muslim discrimination, is among those leading the work on Islamophobia.<\/p>\n
Will the strategy work?<\/p>\n
Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, welcomed the strategy to tackle both matters together. The grant will allow JCPA to build upon its solidarity work with Muslim and Arab American communities, Spitalnick said, which have deepened since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. She pointed to a fellowship and a Capitol Hill discussion on Jewish-Muslim solidarity that were both launched with the Muslim Public Affairs Council.<\/p>\n
She emphasized that hate is interconnected. The normalization of Islamophobia, racism and broader anti-democratic extremism creates the conditions for antisemitism to flourish, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need funders and others to recognize that treating any of these issues in silos doesn\u2019t get at the root cause, doesn\u2019t get at the broader resiliency we need right now,\u201d Spitalnick said. \u201cThe fact that Jewish safety requires Muslim safety, that Muslim safety requires Jewish safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Soros\u2019 announcement did not say how the foundations will define antisemitism \u2014 a point of contention on college campuses and in state legislatures where debates have raged over whether criticism of Israel amounts to hatred of Jewish people. The shortlist of Open Society grantees suggests a more nuanced definition than the Anti-Defamation League, which\u00a0releases an annual audit of antisemitic incidents\u00a0in the United States. The ADL holds that vilifying Zionism, or the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state in Israel, is a form of antisemitism.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the Nexus Project promotes definitions of antisemitism that do not include opposition to the Israeli state\u2019s policies. Similarly, in opposition to a National Education Association resolution prohibiting the use of the ADL\u2019s educational resources, Spitalnick emphasized that \u201cone does not need to align with the ADL on every issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andr\u00e9s Spokoiny, the president and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, estimated that the philanthropic sector has dedicated hundreds of thousands of dollars to countering antisemitism \u2014 regardless of its definition. Other high-profile efforts include the $25 million \u201cStand Up to Jewish Hate\u201d ad campaign\u00a0launched by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft\u00a0in March 2023 through his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.<\/p>\n
But the persistence of antisemitism has left some members of Spokoiny\u2019s group questioning their approaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of perplexity around what actually works,\u201d he said. \u201cSo many funders are very frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP\u2019s philanthropy coverage, visit\u00a0https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/philanthropy.<\/p>\n
#Soros #foundation #answers #Trump #million #bet #fighting #antisemitismand #Islamophobia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The\u00a0major human rights funder\u00a0pledged Wednesday to strengthen interfaith partnerships and protect those facing heightened threats…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[245],"tags":[979,11925,157,9895,518,808,4518,11920,11926,1830,11921,1408,11922,11923,438,11924,721],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}