Jewish Voice for Peace -- Hebron Fund Equivalent to KKK

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A local New York news report.

A fundraiser to support a Brooklyn-based Jewish group and its settlement in the Middle East is creating controversy in Queens. NY1's Ruschell Boone filed the following report.

The head of Jewish Voice for Peace offered up some harsh words Tuesday as she and other local pro-Palestinian supporters prepare to take their fight to the streets. They're trying to get the Mets to cancel The Hebron Fund's upcoming charity event at Citi Field.

About 600 people paying up to $300 a plate are expected to attend the event. The proceeds would benefit the Brooklyn-based organization and its settlers in the West Bank.

"The Hebron fund and Hebron in general is an extremely extremist organization," said Rebecca Vilkomerson of the Jewish Voice for Peace. "It's really as if the Mets was hosting the KKK."

About two dozen people are appealing to Major League Baseball officials after striking out with their letter-writing campaign to the Mets.

"You have about 700 Israeli settlers living among 150,000 Palestinians and if you were to go there you would see that the Palestinians are under constant threat of violent and racist attacks by these settlers and this is what the Hebron Fund is supporting," said Adalah New York spokesman Andrew Kadi.

The fund's executive director says the only thing they are supporting is their people.

"The fundraiser we're having is for humanitarian, religious and educational purposes in the city of Hebron to help the Jewish community there," said The Hebron Fund Executive Director Yossi Baumol.

The protesters call the settlements illegal and consider the people who live there are radicals who want to expand at all costs -- all charges the fund denies.

"I feel very sorry for them. And I don't like to be accused of racism. I would say to those who call settlements in Israel illegal, point out to me another place in the world where there is an illegal settlement. No one uses that term," Baumol said.

And while both sides continue to bicker, the Mets are trying to stay out of the fight.

In a statement released Tuesday, the team said, "Citi Field hosts a wide range of events that reflect the diversity of our hometown and the differing views and opinions of New Yorkers.... The beliefs of organizations holding events at Citi Field do not necessarily reflect those of the New York Mets."