The Violet Jabara Charitable Trust is a private foundation founded in 2007 by Linda K. Jacobs. The Trust is named after Jacobs’ mother, Violet “Vi” Jabara Jacobs,¹ who founded the Jacobs Family Foundation in 1988, volunteered with the American Friends Service Committee, and supported economic and educational development in Lebanon. ²

The Jabara Charitable Trust supports a number of left-of-center causes, including abortion-rights organizations like the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and groups supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement to delegitimize the state of Israel like WESPAC Foundation.

Grantmaking

The Violet Jabara Charitable Trust makes grants to organizations working in the Middle East, in jurisdictions including Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, the Palestinian Territories, Yemen, Egypt, and North Africa. ³

The Trust makes grants in areas of International Economic Development, which may include environmentalism, support for abortion rights, and “peace initiatives,” among others. ⁴ This includes grants to groups like International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPFF), Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), and the Fund for Global Human Rights. ⁵

The Trust also makes grants to American organizations supporting issues in the Middle East, including the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement to delegitimize the State of Israel. ⁶ Most notable are the Trust’s grants to organizations like WESPAC Foundation and the Palestinian Youth Movement USA,⁷ both of which are involved in the. ^{8 9}

People

Linda K. Jacobs founded the Violet Jabara Charitable Trust as a private foundation in 2007. ¹⁰ Jacobs is an author, and scholar of the Middle East. She founded the Kalimah Press in 2010, ¹¹ with the intent purpose of publishing books exclusively about the Middle East in English. ¹²

Jacobs serves on the boards of both the Near East Foundation, and the Moise Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies. She formerly served on the board of the American University of Beirut. ¹³

1. “Welcome.” The Violet Jabara Charitable Trust. Accessed February 18, 2020. http://www.jabaratrust.org/.
2. “In Memoriam: Violet Jabara Jacobs.” NYU Tandon School of Engineering, January 16, 2015. Accessed February 18, 2020. https://engineering.nyu.edu/news/memoriam-violet-jabara-jacobs.
3. “Areas of Interest.” The Violet Jabara Charitable Trust. Accessed February 18, 2020.  http://www.jabaratrust.org/.
4. “Areas of Interest.” The Violet Jabara Charitable Trust. Accessed February 18, 2020.  http://www.jabaratrust.org/.
5. “Recent Grants.” The Violet Jabara Charitable Trust. Accessed February 18, 2020.  http://www.jabaratrust.org/.
6. “Areas of Interest.” The Violet Jabara Charitable Trust. Accessed February 18, 2020. http://www.jabaratrust.org/.
7. “Recent Grants.” The Violet Jabara Charitable Trust. Accessed February 18, 2020.  http://www.jabaratrust.org/.
8. Stoll, Ira. “‘Mysterious’ Westchester Foundation Collecting the Cash for This Weekend’s National Campus BDS Convention.” The Algemeiner, November 3, 2016. Accessed February 18, 2020. https://www.algemeiner.com/2016/11/03/mysterious-westchester-foundation-collects-cash-for-this-weekends-national-campus-bds-convention/.
9. “Home.” Palestinian Youth Movement, 2016. Accessed February 18, 2020. https://www.pymusa.com/.
10. “Welcome.” The Violet Jabara Charitable Trust. Accessed February 18, 2020. http://www.jabaratrust.org/.
11. “MES Presents: Linda Jacobs.” Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Accessed February 18, 2020. https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/events/MES_presents__Linda_Jacobs/.
12. “KalimahPress.” KalimahPress, 2016. Accessed February 18, 2020. https://kalimahpress.com/about/kalimahpress/.
13. “MES Presents: Linda Jacobs.” Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Accessed February 18, 2020. https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/events/MES_presents__Linda_Jacobs/.