Jewish Group: IRS Targeted Us Because ‘They Thought We Might Be Funding Terrorism’

Z Street

Lori Lowenthal Marcus, President of Z Street, appears on "On the Record." (Photo: Fox News)

Soon after the Internal Revenue Service admitted it had been targeting conservative organizations applying for 501 (c) (4) status around the 2012 election -- though it was later discovered it had been happening since at least 2010 -- it was learned that Jewish groups had also faced similar scrutiny.

Now, we are learning that at least one group was told it was because of purported worries they were funding terrorism.

Z Street has been vocal about the treatment it received after battling with the IRS for years.  It filed a lawsuit against the government entity in 2010 alleging viewpoint discrimination after applying for 501 (c) (3) status in 2009 (processed through the same office as 501 (c) (4)).

Lori Lowenthal Marcus, president of Z Street, appeared on "On the Record" with Greta Van Susteren Tuesday to explain the situation.

"After we filed our lawsuit, the IRS began having several different positions on why it was taking so long, one of which was because terrorism happens in Israel.  Therefore, they had to look into our organization, because they thought we might be funding terrorism.  We are a purely educational entity.  We didn't fund anybody; we barely funded ourselves!"

When Greta asked whether anyone in her group has been arrested for terrorism, whether their assets have ever been frozen in connection with terrorism, or whether the group has ever even been accused of promoting terrorist activity, the president incredulously replied, "No!"

If that's not enough, the group only filed the suit after their lawyer was told by the IRS that groups connected to Israel receive special scrutiny, and that some are sent to a special unit to determine whether the organization's positions contradict those of the administration's."

"At that point we knew that is classic viewpoint discrimination, and we had to [take] action," she said.

Their group has still not been approved for the 501 (c) (3) status it applied for in 2009.

Watch the entire interview, below:

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The POLITICO did some investigating on the matter, writing:

Legal filings show that the problems for Z Street -- and apparently for other Israel-related groups -- stemmed from an obscure unit in the Cincinnati IRS office: the "Touch and Go Group." One of the so-called TAG Group's duties was to weed out applications that might be coming from organizations which might be used to fund terrorism. In response to Z Street's lawsuit, an IRS manager acknowledged that applications mentioning Israel were getting special attention. "Israel is one of many Middle Eastern countries that have a 'higher risk of terrorism,'" wrote Jon Waddell, manager of the IRS's Exempt Organizations Determinations Group. "A referral to TAG is appropriate whenever an application mentions providing resources to organizations in a country with a higher risk of terrorism."

A spokesman for the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration declined to say Monday whether that office had reviewed the issue of scrutiny of Israel-related groups as part of the review of how the IRS handled political groups, or separately. "I don't have any information for you one way or the other on that," said the spokesman, David Barnes. [Emphasis added]

When Z Street went to court though, the government denied its views on Israel or the Obama administration had anything to do with why it was transferred to the TAG Group.

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Related:

• Did the IRS Also Target a Pro-Israel Group?
• Local News Reporter: IRS Started 'Hammering' Me After Tough Obama Interview
• 'Submit!': Beck's Passionate Break Down of the IRS 'Inquisition' of Conservative Groups -- and What's Coming Next in the Case

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Jewish group warns of neo-Nazi parties in Europe

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The World Jewish Congress said Tuesday it is greatly concerned about the emergence of neo-Nazi parties such as the Golden Dawn in Greece, Jobbik in Hungary, and Germany's National Democratic Party.

A study presented at the WJC assembly in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, highlighted the links regarding the strengthening of such extremist groups, the European economic crisis and latent Nazi-type tendencies.

"Although neo-Nazi style movements and ideologies are present in other parts of the world, it is unsurprising that an ideology that was born in Europe should be most likely to show a resurgence in Europe inside the party political system," the study said.

Among its recommendations, the study said mainstream parties should quarantine neo-Nazi groups by refusing to appear with them at public events or meeting with them in private.

The "economic crisis, which has nurtured the neo-Nazi cause, may endure or worsen," the document said. "We must be prepared for all eventualities."

In a resolution adopted by the World Jewish Congress at the end of its three-day meeting, the group led by U.S. businessman Ronald Lauder urged countries whose constitutions allow it to urgently consider banning neo-Nazi parties or organizations "posing a threat to the safety and well-being" of minorities.

One concern of the group is Golden Dawn, Greece's third most popular party. The party, which was once marginal, is fond of Nazi literature and symbols but rejects the neo-Nazi label. Hungary's Jobbik is the second-largest opposition group in parliament, having won 16.7 percent of the vote in 2010. Germany's far-right National Democratic Party has deputies in two of Germany's 16 regional assemblies but no representation at the federal level.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's speech at the start of the WJC meeting on Sunday was criticized by the Jewish organization for failing to specifically mention the threat posed by Jobbik.

On Tuesday, however, Lauder said he was told about a recent interview Orban gave to the Yedioth Ahronoth Israeli newspaper in which the prime minister called Jobbik "an increasing danger" to Hungarian democracy.

"This was a strong statement about Jobbik," Lauder said, apologizing for not knowing sooner about the interview published last week. "I would like that to be put in the record that the prime minister really did take a stand against Jobbik and I appreciate that."

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New leader to head Egypt's Jewish community

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Jewish community has announced that it has elected the daughter of a well-known leftist and nationalist icon to protect its heritage and care for its dwindling, elderly membership.

Magda Haroun, 60, told The Associated Press Tuesday she aimed to continue the work of her predecessor, Carmen Weinstein, who died Saturday at the age of 82. Weinstein was known for her efforts to preserve synagogues and a Jewish cemetery.

"My new priority is to preserve the Egyptian Jewish heritage ... to give it back to Egypt, because it belongs to Egypt," Haroun said.

Haroun, an Egyptian who is fluent in Arabic, French and English, was born in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city. She attended school in Cairo, and graduated from Cairo University with a degree in Applied Arts. She runs a patents and legal affairs firm with her sister Nadia.

Haroun said she considered herself Egyptian before Jewish, born and raised in the country.

Her father Chehata Haroun was a prominent Egyptian nationalist, one of the founders of the leftist Al Tagammu Party. He was known for his anti-Zionist politics and his defense of Egyptian Jews against accusations of having greater loyalty to Israel than to Egypt, at the peak of the Mideast wars.

Haroun had previously told the AP that only around 40 Egyptian Jews remain in the country, a far-cry from the once-thriving Jewish community that largely left more than 60 years ago at a time of hostilities between Egypt and Israel.

"I will continue taking care of them, socially, medically, gathering them for the holidays, and burying them with dignity," Haroun said.

Haroun was unanimously elected as community president at an extraordinary general assembly meeting held on Monday, following Weinstein's death.

Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, an estimated 65,000 Jews left Egypt — most of them traveling to Europe and the West. Few of them settled in Israel. The remnants of the community are split between Cairo and the Mediterranean city of Alexandria that was also once a thriving multicultural and cosmopolitan hub.

Considerable hostility persists in Egypt, where radical preachers and others regularly denounce both Israel and Jews in general. However, Haroun said that Egyptians were kind-hearted and what ultimately mattered was social interaction. "If you treat others well, you will be treated well," she said.

Haroun dismissed any fears from the rise of Islamists to power in Egypt after the 2011 overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising. "The community size is still the same, and they keep dying one after another, what's the difference?"

But she said that the ensuing political turmoil around the community had made members fearful.

"Don't forget that most of the community is elderly women and housewives, uninvolved in everyday life," she added. "When they see the intolerance around them, they become more anxious."

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