Why do gentiles give so little?

Joshua

Extracts from an article that appeared in 2003 in Jewish Journal: "Eli Broad, considered by many to be the most influential, public-spirited and generous Jewish citizen of Los Angeles, estimates that he and his wife gave away $350 million last year, of which $2 million went to specifically Jewish causes."..."The study found that between 1995 and 2000, of the $5.3 billion given by Jewish mega-donors ($10 million or above in one year), only $318 million, or a mere 6 percent, went to specifically Jewish causes, including support groups for Israeli universities. The $5.3 billion came from 188 gifts, of which 18 — 9.6 percent — went to Jewish organizations."..."The generosity of American Jews in general, and of the wealthiest ones in particular, is undisputed. While Jews make up 2.5 percent of the U.S. population at best, the Tobin study found nearly a quarter (24.5 percent) of all American mega-donors were Jewish." I am proud to say that I never give to charities from which gentiles might benefit. I'm basically a one-issue guy and that issue is the Jewish people.

dsquared

I disagree that giving money to the Labour Party could or should be referred to as "charitable".

Archon1953

As a gentile, my favorite charity is my church. I don't feel the least compunction to give to social charities.

Steve

Frankly, I doubt if donations directly to Al Quaida could do as much damage to the social fabric of Britain as donations to the Labour party. In any case the generalization from 3 people top all jews/all gentiles is fatuous.

Lee Jakeman

You're asking the wrong question. Giving money can be both charitable (selfless) and self-serving. Your question is based on the assumption that these rich Jews are being "charitable". Anyone who suggested that they were merely trying to buy influence would no doubt be labelled a cynic, an anti-semite or a conspiracy theorist. There is nothing new, or unusual, about self-serving Jews backing equally self-serving Gentile politicians.

Philip Gumbiner

In Judaism, Tzedakah is as important as all the other commandments combined. (Whether giving to political parties is ger Tzedakah is another question...)

Alan Hill

Taking the piss are we Stephen ?

Anthony Thomas Flynn

Your question seems to be in the context of a political situation. As such, I would not contribute a bent penny. Then, as a religious subject,Jews and Gentiles, name me one Religious man of the Cloth. It isn't the Christian Religion at fault. It is the Christian Church Leaders. And like Politics none of them is worth a "light". Regards, ATFlynn.

Mike

Joshua: What a self-righteous and sanctimonious guy you appear to be. Thank god the vast majority of the Jewish people don't think like you. However, those that do are presently hell bent on destroying America and all it used to stand for.

Lee Jakeman

Joshua: "I am proud to say that I never give to charities from which gentiles might benefit. I'm basically a one-issue guy and that issue is the Jewish people". It's amazing how such racism is tolerated by gentiles, especially as they would be prosecuted for making similar claims.

Verity

Lee Jakeman, I would argue that Joshua has an absolute right to discriminate about who he gives his money to. It's not racism, and even if it were, it is still his money and his choice. If he wants to give money to benefit his own folk, what is wrong with that? The rest of us have no call on him. Someone above beat me to it, but giving money to the Labour Party is not "generosity" and giving to "charity". As long as it is within the law, it is their business where they donate their own money, and why. But I don't believe they make large donations to Labour because they want to better the future of humanity. It is to buy influence. But so what? We do still believe in the right to dispose of our own property as we choose, surely? At the same time, the Jews who contribute so lavishly and generously to the arts and museums aren't buying anything to their own advantage. They are gifting us all.

G Tucker

The stupid Gentiles are making their sacrifices elsewhere, Irag, Afghanistan & soon Iran.

Mike

Verity: You are quite wrong that 'buying influence' doesn't matter. When it is used to influence the democratic process then it is known as 'corruption'. There are many 'fronts' for Zionists in the United states posing as 'Associations' or 'Foundations' which serve little or no purpose but to support 'Israel Right or Wrong'. This stranglehold on US Foreign Policy is fascism in action, and the American people are slowly waking up to it - hopefully before it's too late. I shall be very happy to debate this further if you wish.

ad

Gentiles? Piss off with your Jewish supremacism.

Paul Weir

What an outrageous smear. Imagine the uproar if someone said something derogatory about Jews. At least half of the world's billionaires are Jewish and most of them are Zionist so I suspect that Israel gets most of their largesse. This is the kind of bullshit statistic all too often found in these pages. I am disappointed that the Spectator promotes crypto racism. Anti Goyism permeates its pages these days and it is disgusting the way the Spectator promotes wars handiwork of Zionist neo conservatism .

Verity

Mike - Americans tend to relate everything to their own circumstances, which are not applicable here. Better to comment on the Jewish influence in the United States rather than individual donations here. No, I'm not interested in debating it further with you because it is clear from your post that you don't understand that we are speaking of some donations made in the pursuit of honours as opposed to influence. The money being bruited about is small and is being used to try to purchase honours. Ad - your point was to be my next point. I am not a "Gentile" in my own country and I'm not an "Infidel" in my own country. Cool it with trying to define me against your religions in my own country.

AaroBoy

David Aaronovitch doesn't seem to understand how it works. Levy, Cohen, Abrahams and Co. get an extremely good return on their investment. If one didn't know David better one might almost think he were being dishonest.

Mike

Verity: Regrets but we seem to have misunderstodd each other. Indeed I was talking about the Zionist stranglehold on US Foreigh Policy. It didn't occur to me that you might think I was referring to the Abrahams case in the UK. I don't have a view on that situation at this time because I know very little about it. However, it is hardly a case of corruption, rather that the Labour Govenment have been extremely lax and negligent in not managing their affairs efficiently. But how can anyone expect such politicos to manage anything when they haven't experienced same in the real world? But that's another debate.

Lady Mary

I am a Gentile woman and a Christian as well. I'm delighted and thankful for being all three, specifically the latter, but even more so after reading this codswallop article. Being a Christian woman, enables me to NOT tell you in detail what I think of you and your blatant and immoral racism.

Michael N

Verity, Joshua does indeed have a right to discriminate in his giving. No argument there. But as a supporter of Israel and a lover of Jewish life and culture, I have the right to say that he's an asshole who makes me embarrassed. If he had said merely that he is proud to support his own community, that would be fair enough. But he says something else: he says he is proud that no gentiles benefit from his giving. He's a racist, an asshole, and an embarrassment to his people. (If I had said I was proud that no Jew benefits from my actions, you would rightly have no trouble applying those labels to me, so let's not play double-standards) In fact, were I an anti-Semite wanting to poison others against the Jewish people, I would pose as a Jew and write precisely what Joshua writes here.

Mike

Michael N: Well said! I only wish others were as honest and as straightforward as you appear to be. Hopefully you are not a supporter of Israel 'Right or Wrong', but stand for those values for which the Jewish people have represented down the ages, and for whom I have the utmost regard and respect.

Verity

Mike - Sorry to disagree with you after your gracious response to me, but the people handing wadges of cash to Lord Levy are corrupt, although they weren't necessarily looking to influence British foreign policy (as is the Zionist lobby seeking to influence American foreign policy), but seeking status illegally. It is against the law to buy or sell peerages and the like, and they were shovelling cash in the direction of Levy and Blair like stokers on a tanker. It's not comparable, though, with the Zionist lobby in the US and the type of influence it seeks to yield.

Michael N

Mike, to tell you the truth, I believe there are certain situations where supporting one party "right or wrong" is actually the lesser evil - not as a general principle, but in specific circumstances. For example, the Allies doubtless committed many acts of dubious morality in their efforts to destroy the Third Reich. One purpose of History is to dissect those actions once the issue is settled. We quibble over the rights and wrongs once the right side has beaten the wrong side. Right now I believe we in the West face a growing and vicious enemy - the same enemy that Israel faces - and we have successfully stupefied ourselves into a near-inability to prevail over that vicious enemy because our public discourse demands an absolute moral purity in the prosecution of war; for the first time ever, if a civilian child dies (and especially if its corpse or its family are shown on our screens), an entire conflict is delegitimised by the media. We have started doing the "history" during the fighting, in other words. And it is crippling us. Is Israel at the stage where she deserves our support regardless of the rights or wrongs of individual actions or policies? If she isn't, we might agree that she has been several times in the past, and is likely to be once again, very soon. Apologies - this has moved several miles off-topic.

Mike

Michael N: As the man said 'The only thing we learn from history, is that we don't learn from history'. Seasonal Greetings