Fidelity Charitable Once Again Allowing Donations to UNRWA

The move comes less than two weeks out from a report by Important Context and Rolling Stone on the ban.

Last month, Important Context reported with Rolling Stone that Fidelity Charitable, the nation’s largest grant-making organization, had cut off funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Gaza’s most essential relief group—all while still allowing charitable gifts to hate and pro-Israel groups.

Less than two weeks later, however, Fidelity Charitable has restored UNRWA USA on its donor-advised fund platform, Important Context has confirmed. Donors using the platform can once again give to the relief group.

The decision to remove UNRWA USA in the first place followed allegations made by Israel that 12 of its 13,000 employees were involved in the deadly October 7 Hamas terrorist attack. In our report, we noted that various countries, including the U.S., had suspended donations to the organization over the claims, but several had resumed funding as Israel failed to provide evidence. Moreover, we noted that a report from UNRWA alleged that its employees detained by Israel had been coerced into involuntary confessions. 

A Fidelity Charitable spokesperson had initially provided us with a statement about the decision to cut off UNRWA, explaining that “Under policies set by its independent board of trustees, Fidelity Charitable conducts a robust review of each grant recommendation to ensure grants are made only to IRS-qualified public charities, that those public charities are not under investigation by governmental authorities regarding potential breaches of applicable law, and that those granted funds are used solely for proper charitable purposes, and without impermissible benefits to donors or any other person.” They added that “Fidelity Charitable looks at each grant at the time it is recommended to ensure the organization is in good standing.”

Fidelity Charitable did not respond to our request for comment on the decision to restore UNRWA on its platform.

However, advocates for funding the relief group are pleased. Muhi Khwaja of the American Muslim Community Foundation, who started a Change.org petition in late February to get Fidelity Charitable to reverse the UNRWA ban, garnering over 600 signatures, posted a celebratory announcement on Thursday.

“I want to thank each and everyone of you for signing the petition, calling customer service, and showcasing why UNRWA should have never been taken off of Fidelity Charitable and other giving platforms,” it read. “Your collective voice alongside UNRWA's staff made a strong case.”