The Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition (MMWC), a nonprofit organisation that had its funding pulled from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s foundation earlier this month, has issued a statement in response and has asked their foundation to “retract” their “defamatory statements” in an Instagram Post.
“As many of you know, the Archewell Foundation, led by Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan, recently withdrew financial support for our programs due to external pressure from an anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian journalist,” the Post written by the coalition’s founder and executive director Janan Najeeb began.
The coalition’s Instagram Post. (Source: Instagram/@mkemwc)
“This individual threatened to publicly defame the foundation over two grants totaling $55,700 that were intended to empower Afghan women as they rebuild their lives after fleeing violence.”
The post also mentions that the backlash against the charity stemmed from an opinion piece written by Najeeb, which expressed support for students protesting against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
In the article, Najeeb mentioned that a lot of Jewish “justice-oriented” activists were “at the forefront” of the pro-Palestinian movement.
“In it, I called for compassion and humanity in the face of immense suffering. To equate this advocacy with hate speech is a dangerous and deeply troubling misrepresentation, especially when all credible human rights organisations, including some Israeli organisations, have identified the crisis in Gaza as one involving significant human rights abuses and apartheid,” Najeeb continued in the Instagram Post.
Najeeb received an email from the Archewell Foundation, which Najeeb described as “vague” in an interview with local news organisation TMJ4.
“They said that effective immediately, they were no longer going to fund the Afghan Women’s Sewing Circle due to this article that I had written,” said Najeeb.
The email sent to Najeeb stated that the opinion piece “went against the values of the foundation”.
The Archewell Foundation pulled funding for the charity following Najeeb’s op-ed. (Source: Getty Images)
In the Instagram Post, Najeeb mentioned that while the charity faced plenty of “adversity”, she also stated that they have also experienced “an extraordinary outpouring of solidarity and support” following Archewell Foundation’s departure.
In an earlier Instagram Post discussing the incident, Najeeb asked the Archewell Foundation to “retract their defamatory statements and issue a public apology” to the MMWC.
“With MMWC’s proven track record — driven by Jewish, Muslim and Christian staff — we are confident that more credible foundations and generous donors will continue to support this vital work.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have not yet responded to Najeeb’s comments.
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