Jewish lobby group admits Soros support--J Street previously 'less than clear'

The Washington Times ^ | September 26, 2010 | Eli Lake

[jazusamo]

J Street, the liberal Middle East policy advocacy organization, on Sunday issued a statement acknowledging what the group had earlier denied: J Street received financial support from billionaire George Soros.

"I accept responsibility personally for being less than clear about Mr. Soros' support once he did become a donor," Jeremy Ben Ami, J Street's executive director, said in a note to supporters on the group's website.

The Washington Times first disclosed Friday that J Street, a group that portrays itself as a progressive alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), had received $750,000 from Mr. Soros and his family, despite previous denials from the organization that it accepted funds from the Hungarian-born financier and political activist.

The story set off a wave of reaction on the Internet and in the U.S. Jewish press. James Besser, Washington correspondent for New York Jewish Week, wrote Sunday that J Street deceived him about receiving support from Mr. Soros.

"I was one of the many journalists who asked the question and received in return something significantly less than the truth," Mr. Besser wrote. "Okay, it was a lie."

Tax forms obtained by The Times show that Mr. Soros and his two children, Jonathan and Andrea Soros, contributed a total $245,000 to J Street from one Manhattan address in New York during the fiscal year from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009.

The contributions represent a third of the group's revenue from U.S. sources during the period, which also covered the election season that brought Barack Obama to the White House. Nearly half of J Street's revenue during the time frame — a total of $811,697 — however, came from a single donor in Happy Valley, Hong Kong, named Consolacion Esdicul.

[davius]

ping

[mmercier]

why should a leftist jewish organization have to hide the reality that it is funded by communists and old nazi’s..?

[mia]

I guess money can buy anything, including your honor.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks jazusamo.

[jazusamo]

Sadly, to some it can. A person who has no self respect has nothing.

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

[bmwcyle]

I guess Nazi collaborator Soros’ money is OK.

[justiceseeker93]

The story set off a wave of reaction on the Internet and in the US Jewish press. James Besser, Washington correspondent for the New York Jewish Week, wrote Sunday that J Street deceived him about receiving support for Mr. Soros.

"I was one of the many journalists who asked the question and received in return something significantly less than the truth," Mr. Besser wrote. OK, it was a lie."

Let's not get the wrong impression about Besser's reaction to this. It's not that Besser is particularly teed off at Soros or J Street. It's just that Besser is concerned that J Street's image, one that Besser and the rest of his cohorts on the Jewish left have been doing their best to build up in the last 2 to 3 years, will be tarnished.

Here is Besser in his own words:

"I don't happen to think that Soros in the evil incarnate; his philanthropy has done a huge amount of good in the world. He has become a favorite whipping boy for the right, and a lot of that has seeped into the general political culture.

"I don't think he's anti-Israel, either - but there's little question his views on Israel are outside the mainstream that J Street claims to represent."

[Eleutheria5]

No. How could robbing people on their way to Auschwitz via the cattle-car express be evil incarnate? It was just a job he had when he was 14. I can’t understand how he became a whipping boy for the right.

[ssaftler]

Here is Besser in his own words:

"I don't happen to think that Soros in the evil incarnate; his philanthropy has done a huge amount of good in the world. He has become a favorite whipping boy for the right, and a lot of that has seeped into the general political culture.

Don't tell me, let me guess. James Besser's father was Joe. Only a Stooge (or a son-of-a-stooge) could believe this crapola.

[rmlew]

And Besser is an arrogant leftist.

[dennisw]

"I accept responsibility personally for being less than clear about Mr. Soros' support once he did become a donor," Jeremy Ben Ami

Go f yourself and die, may your name be blotted out. You lied lied lied lied. Drop dead creep. Your last name is very Jewish but you need to see a psychiatrist because all you do at J Street is betray the Jewish homeland.

[SharpRightTurn]

The commie Soros we know about.

But what’s the background on the “single donor in Happy Valley, Hong Kong, named Consolacion Esdicul”?

Very odd.

[jazusamo]

I haven’t a clue on this Esdicul, never heard of him before this and it is odd.

[dennisw]

Consolacion Esdicul....she is a conduit/cutout. Such a name shows Catholic background and Portuguese (Macao?) or Filipino thing. Maybe she married one.

She gave J Street ~half of their operating funding. Why and who is she?

[dennisw]

should have pinged you on #16

[jazusamo]

Thanks, I had posted a piece on this the day before by Lifson at the American Thinker and he’d never heard of Esdicul either.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2596209/posts

[dennisw]

 

As for this Consolacion Esdicul

Legal Insurrection has more. As reported by Ben Smith:

Perhaps the strangest thing in Eli Lake's story on the funding of the liberal group J Street is that it got half of its money in 2008-9 from a single, obscure woman in China.

The group's 990 forms -- which I've also obtained and put online for the first time here -- show the group's single largest contribution, in the odd sum of $811,697 coming from one Consolacion Ediscul of Happy Valley, a Hong Kong suburb. Ediscul, whose name is Filipino, has no presence on Google or Nexis aside from this story, and people I spoke to in Jewish groups left and right had never heard of her. According to Smith, a J-Street spokeswoman says that Ediscul is an associate of a well-known and successful gambler, but provided no other information.

and here being photographed with Jackie Chan at a charity event in Hong Kong:

The commenter who noted these pages referred to The Advantage Trust as being related to Blackrock investments, but it appears to be controlled by or at least related to William Benter, the successful businessman / gambler mentioned in the Ben Smith post.  So if the elusive Ms. Esdicul contributed to the charity in Honk Kong on behalf of The Advantage Trust, was her contribution to J-Street also using money from The Advantage Trust and/or Benter?

And this from a commenter:

The mysterious large donor, Consolacion Esdicul, is better known as "Connie Esdicul" and even has a Facebook page. She appears to be a middle-aged woman who lives in the wealthy Happy Valley area of Hong Kong.

Ms.Esdicul has some unknown relationship with the New York hedge fund Black Rock and represented them at a charity event in HK. She presented a donation for Quality Camp to actor, Jackie Chan, from the Black Rock Advantage Fund in HK.

Black Rock has close ties to Soros ever since one of its founders, Keith Anderson, was appointed Chief Investment Officer of Soros Fund Management 2 years ago.

[kcvl]

so it was no surprise when White House visitor logs had J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami as a frequent visitor

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/09/25/index.html