A well-funded pro-Israel college campus organization is running a “microgrant” program offering $250 for college students to attend a pro-Israel rally in Washington D.C. on Nov. 14, sparking backlash online.
The organization, Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC), describes its mission as inspiring “American college students to see Israel as a source of pride and empower them to stand up for Israel on campus.”
They “envision the American college campus as a place where supporters of Israel feel confident about openly celebrating the Jewish state … where the anti-Israel movement is marginalized, and where the entire campus community appreciates Israel’s contributions to the world.”
In the wake of the outbreak of war between Israel and Palestine, college campuses and their student bodies came under fire as young, pro-Palestinian groups and protesters were routinely dubbed antisemitic by commenters and columnists in the media.
The microgrant offered by the ICC was for reimbursement for up to $250 for expenses to get to the March For Israel rally in D.C. That rally, organized by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), has three goals, JFNA CEO Eric Fingerhut told the Times of Israel.
“Participants will be demanding the return of the estimated 240 hostages Hamas terrorists abducted during its October 7 onslaught on Israel,” the newspaper reported. “They will also be calling for efforts to combat antisemitism, which has spiked worldwide since the attack. And they will be demonstrating their support for the unabashed backing Israel has so far received from both parties in Congress and the Biden administration.”
The ICC microgrant web page now says that the application page is temporarily closed.
“We are pleased to announce that we have successfully allocated funding to help thousands of students attend the event,” the page reads. “The ICC Microgrant application is temporarily closed.”
It also encourages students looking for transporation to the rally to get in touch with their local Hillel, Chabad, or Federation groups, which are Jewish civic organizations. Hillels in particular focus on Jewish college life.
An archived version of the page shows that the microgrants are specific to the rally, and include fields in a form to describe pro-Israel campus initiatives.
According to a 2021 non-profit filing, the group spent just under $40,000 in microgrants to campus Hillel organizations towards microgrants for “Israel Education,” and just under $30,000 to Chabad organizations for the same purpose.
In total, they spent over $10 million in program operating expenses, including over $3 million to “students and professionals seeking to educate their campus communities about Israel.”
If it indeed paid out thousands of microgrants, the cost to ship students to the rally could push up toward $1 million.
Tens of thousands of people have turned out organically at pro-Palestine marches in the past few weeks across the world. Online, some posters saw the microgrant offer as proof that support for a similar pro-Israel rally wasn’t authentic.
“Y’all. Israel supporters have to pay people to come out to their protest,” wrote one poster on X.
“As my GenZ son says, cringe,” wrote another.
Others proposed just taking the money and running.
“take the money and bring Palestinian flags 🤫” wrote one.
ICC didn’t respond to questions about their funding sources or how many students had received the grants beyond the statement on their webpage referencing “thousands” of applicants having been allocated.
