Establishes the "Not on our dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli settler violence act" to prohibit not-for-profit corporations from engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity; allows for recovery of a civil penalty by the state attorney general; creates a private right of action for violations.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6943 Revised 5/16/2023
SPONSOR: Mamdani TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the not-for-profit corporation law, in relation to
establishing the "Not on our dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli
settler violence act" to prohibit not-for-profit corporations from
engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity
PURPOSE:
This bill adds a new section to the not-for-profit corporation law
prohibiting not-for-profit corporations from aiding or abetting activity
in support of illegal Israeli settlements in violation of the Geneva
Conventions of 1949.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill amends the not-for-profit corporation law by
adding a new section 116 to make illegal support of Israeli settlement
activity by not-for-profits in New York State. This section elucidates
the meaning of settlement activity as aiding and abetting activity by
the government of Israel that is illegal under any of the international
treaties signed at Geneva on August 12, 1949, or any protocols, and
provides specific examples of such activity:
* Unlawful transfer of Israeli civilians into occupied territory
* Acts of violence committed by Israeli citizens against protected
persons living in occupied territory
* Forced transfer or eviction of protected persons within occupied
territory, or eviction from occupied territory
* Appropriation, expropriation, seizure, destruction, demolition,
dismantlement, or confiscation, in whole or in part, of private Palesti-
nian land or residential, business, social, or public structures or
infrastructure, inhabited or uninhabited
Parts C and D also assert civil recovery rights by the Attorney General
or private individuals against not-for-profit corporations or their
agents, officers or directors for knowingly engaging in violations of
this bill, which may be brought within 10 years.
Section 2 amends subparagraph 3-b of paragraph (a) of section 102 of the
not-for-profit corporation law to update the definition of "charitable
purposes."
Section 3 amends paragraph (a) of section 112 of the not-for-profit
corporation by adding a new subparagraph 11 to grant the Attorney Gener-
al the power to dissolve a non-profit corporation for violation of this
bill, section 116.
Section 4 sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention provides that an "Occupying
Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population
into the territory it occupies." It also prohibits the "individual or
mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons
from occupied territory." Article 53 and 147 of the Convention penalize
and prohibit the appropriation or destruction of property in the absence
of military necessity. However, contrary to this well-established law,
the State of Israel has engaged in a pattern of establishing illegal
settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since its mili-
tary occupation of the region in 1967. The European Union (EU) has
explicitly recognized that "settlement building anywhere in the occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, is illegal under inter-
national law," and "constitutes an obstacle to peace." Nonetheless, in
the words of Amnesty International, "Israel's policy of settling its
civilians in occupied Palestinian territory and displacing the local
population contravenes fundamental rules of international humanitarian
law." (1)
Indeed, the international consensus, since 1967, has been that these
Israeli. settlements are unlawful. As early as 1980, UN Security Council
Resolution 465 called on the State of Israel "to dismantle the existing
settlements and, in particular, to cease, on an urgent basis, the estab-
lishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territo-
ries occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem." The International
Committee of the Red Cross and the Conference of High Contracting
Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention have reaffirmed that settlements
violate international humanitarian law. The illegality of the settle-
ments was similarly reaffirmed by UN Security Council Resolution 2334,
passed in December 2016, which condemns the "flagrant violation" of
international law, and reiterates the Security Council's call on the
State of Israel to cease all settlement activities in the occupied
territories.
Despite the clear illegality of this pattern of conduct, which has led
to the expulsion and dispossession of Palestinians from their land
(often in a violent manner), this practice has continued. Moreover,
these illegal settlement activities have been funded by organizations
here in New York State. In fact, between 2017 and 2019 alone, organiza-
tions that are known to primarily fund illegal settler activities
fundraised over $144 million in New York State. This funding stream is
known to sustain illegal settler activity, and has enabled settlements
to significantly expand in recent years. Although they are in direct
violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, these
organizations masquerade as charities, and funnel hundreds of millions
of dollars to illegal settlement activities, while enjoying tax-exempt
status in New York. In short, New York State is effectively subsidizing
illegal activity abroad, and has been complicit in violent dislocations
of Palestinian people. This bill clarifies that New York State chari-
ties cannot subsidize such illegal activity, and prevents non-profit
corporations from abusing their tax-exempt status to reinforce and
further the State of Israel's illegal settlement expansion.
(1)
HTTBS://WWW.AMNESTV.ORCI/EN/LATESTICAMPAIQNS/2019/01/ CHAPTER-3-IS-
RAELI-SETTLEMENTS-ANDINTERNATIONAL-LAW/
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
No prior legislative history.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6943
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 9, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MAMDANI -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the not-for-profit corporation law, in relation to
establishing the "Not on our dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli
settler violence act" to prohibit not-for-profit corporations from
engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "Not on our dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli settler
3 violence act".
4 § 2. The not-for-profit corporation law is amended by adding a new
5 section 116 to read as follows:
6 § 116. Unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity.
7 (a) Definitions. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
8 contrary, for the purposes of this section, the following terms shall
9 have the following meanings:
10 (1) "Unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity" means aiding
11 and abetting activity by the government of Israel, or citizen thereof,
12 that is illegal under any of the international treaties signed at Geneva
13 on the twelfth day of August, nineteen forty-nine, as amended, or any
14 protocol to such convention to which the United States is a party,
15 including:
16 (i) the unlawful transfer of Israeli civilians into occupied territo-
17 ry;
18 (ii) acts of violence committed by Israeli citizens against protected
19 persons living in occupied territory, including but not limited to homi-
20 cide, assault, and other acts of physical violence; use of firearms,
21 explosives, or other deadly force; the killing or harming of animals,
22 livestock, trees, or crops; the destruction, damage, or vandalism of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10667-04-3
A. 6943 2
1 Palestinian property; or blocking access to Palestinian lands by fencing
2 off land, erecting structures, or other means;
3 (iii) the forced transfer or eviction of protected persons within
4 occupied territory, or the deportation of protected persons from occu-
5 pied territory;
6 (iv) the unilateral acquisition and annexation of land in occupied
7 territory; and/or
8 (v) the appropriation, expropriation, seizure, destruction, demoli-
9 tion, dismantlement, or confiscation, in whole or in part, of private
10 Palestinian land or residential, business, social, or public structures
11 or infrastructure, inhabited or uninhabited, including but not limited
12 to homes, apartment buildings, retail shops, food markets, animal shel-
13 ters, walls, warehouses, water pipes, water storage facilities, sewage
14 systems, electrical lines, roads, medical facilities, and network facil-
15 ities.
16 (2) "Occupied territory" means the Israeli-occupied West Bank, includ-
17 ing East Jerusalem.
18 (3) "Protected persons" includes civilians in occupied territory in
19 accordance with international humanitarian law.
20 (b) Unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity prohibited.
21 Unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity by a not-for-profit
22 corporation shall be prohibited as against public policy and inconsist-
23 ent with any charitable purpose.
24 (c) Recovery of civil penalty by attorney general. The attorney gener-
25 al may bring an action in the name and on behalf of the state against
26 any trustee, director, manager, or other officer or agent of a not-for-
27 profit corporation, or against a not-for-profit corporation, foreign or
28 domestic, to recover a sum of not less than one million dollars for
29 knowingly engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activ-
30 ities in violation of paragraph (b) of this section. Such action shall
31 be brought no later than ten years after the commission of the act upon
32 which such action is based.
33 (d) Private right of action. An individual damaged by a violation of
34 this section may bring a civil action against any trustee, director,
35 manager, or other officer or agent of a not-for-profit corporation, or
36 against a not-for-profit corporation, foreign or domestic, to enjoin
37 unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activities by a not-for-pro-
38 fit corporation in violation of paragraph (b) of this section and
39 recover actual damages for knowingly engaging in such violations. Such
40 action shall be brought no later than ten years after the commission of
41 the act upon which such action is based. A court may also award attor-
42 neys' fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
43 § 3. Subparagraph 3-b of paragraph (a) of section 102 of the not-for-
44 profit corporation law, as amended by chapter 23 of the laws of 2014, is
45 amended to read as follows:
46 (3-b) "Charitable purposes" of a corporation means one or more of the
47 following purposes: charitable, educational, religious, scientific,
48 literary, cultural or for the prevention of cruelty to children or
49 animals. The term "charitable purposes" shall not include any acts
50 committed in violation of section one hundred sixteen of this article.
51 § 4. Paragraph (a) of section 112 of the not-for-profit corporation
52 law is amended by adding a new subparagraph 11 to read as follows:
53 (11) To dissolve a charitable corporation for violations of section
54 one hundred sixteen of this article.
55 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
