FCL-Closed Democracy Center’s Freedom House-ADL-Pritzker Links (2)

A few years before Anti-Defamation League [ADL] National Board Member Sharon S. Nazarian joined the Freedom House Board of Trustees, the president of the Foundation for Civil Leadership [FCL] which shut down Cambridge’s Democracy Center building in July 2024, Ian Simmons, was already sitting on a Freedom House Board of Trustees which included former Freedom House Board of Trustees Chair and current Freedom House Trustee Michael Chertoff.

According to the website of the Center for a New American Security, former Freedom House Board of Trustees Chair and current Trustee Chertoff is also “the Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of The Chertoff Group” who “served as the GOP Bush Cheney administration’s “Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security” from 2005 to 2009, before being later “named the chairman of the Board of Trustees for Freedom House” in 2018.

And like Freedom House Trustee and ADL National Board Member Nazarian, Freedom House Trustee Chertoff has also been historically involved with the ADL group that endorsed the IDF’s post-Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Palestinian people in Gaza.

As an article posted on the Atlanta ADL website on April 3, 2019 noted, “Michael Chertoff…will co-chair a new Community Safety and Security Task Force convened by ADL (the Anti-Defamation League)…and the Secure Community Network (SCN)…of The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations” (which has, historically, acted as a pro-Israeli government lobbying group within the USA).

In addition, Chertoff was, historically, the keynote speaker at the annual Palm Beach dinner of the Anti-Defamation League [DL] in March 2011.

Freedom House Trustee Chertoff was also, historically, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, between 2012 and 2021, of BAE Systems, Inc.--the U.S.-based subsidiary of BAE Systems PLC, which, according to the American Friends Service Committee website, “manufactures multiple weapon systems routinely used in war crimes against Palestinians.”

As the American Friends Service Committee website notes:

“BAE Systems supplies the Israeli military with a wide variety of weapons, including components for combat aircraft, munitions, missile launching kits, and armored vehicles. BAE technologies are also integrated into Israel's main weapon systems, including fighter jets, drones, and warships. These weapons are often gifted to Israel through the U.S. government's Foreign Military Financing program.

“For years, these weapons have repeatedly been used against Palestinian civilians, resulting in numerous casualties as well as mass destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and water and electric systems. These attacks include war crimes that Israel has committed during several major military offensives against the Gaza Strip, which has been illegally blockaded since 2007…

“BAE Systems provides weapon systems and components to the Israeli Air Force's fleet of F-15, F-16, and F-35 fighter jets. For example, it collaborates with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to develop the tail of the F-35 fighter jet, a combat aircraft that has been supplied to the Israeli Air Force since 2016.

“In 2018, BAE was contracted to manufacture $20.4 million worth of transmitters for Israel's F-35s through the U.S. government's Foreign Military Sales program. The Israeli Air Force has since used the F-35 to launch airstrikes in and around Gaza. For example, during its 2021 assault, the Israeli Air Force deployed 80 fighter jets, including the F-35I, to carry out "waves of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip."

“Additionally, BAE has provided the Israeli military with electronic missile launching kits and gunsight technology for F-16 aircraft…. Until 2021, BAE also developed and manufactured components for Israeli combat aircraft through its subsidiary Rokar International. Based in Jerusalem, Rokar is the Israeli Air Force's sole supplier of anti-missile defense systems installed on F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, as well as Apache attack helicopters. In 2021, Rokar was acquired by Elbit Systems.

“BAE partnered with Israeli state-owned weapon manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to upgrade Rafael's MK-38 Typhoon gun system, a remotely controlled naval weapon system installed on the Israeli military's unmanned Protector drone. The drone has been used to enforce Israel's illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip. Gazan fishermen, who are restricted by Israel to severely limited fishing areas, have reported being fired at by the Israeli Navy on an almost-daily basis.
“In 2015, in close collaboration with the Israeli military, BAE developed the Rokar Silver Bullet, a precision guidance kit used to transform large-caliber projectiles, fired, for example, by tanks and warships, into highly accurate munitions. BAE has supplied Israeli weapon manufacturer IMI Systems (owned by Elbit Systems since 2018) with its Silver Bullet for integration into M401 155mm cannon artillery.

“Israel has routinely fired 155mm heavy artillery into residential areas of Gaza City…For example, during Israel's 2014 assault on Gaza, the Israeli military fired 155mm artillery shells at a UN-run school, which was sheltering over 3,000 displaced people, in the Palestinian city of Jabaliya. The attack killed and injured more than 100 civilians, including children.” (end of part 2 of article. To be continued.)