My work experience that is relevant to my quest to turn ILI into a functioning nonprofit

Through the ILove Israel Seed Capital Crowdfunding Campaign (“the Campaign”), I seek to raise money to help me turn ILoveIsrael from a website a functioning, professionally-staffed nonprofit.

To validate my qualifications to perform the work I describe in the Campaign as being necessary to achieve this goal, I submit the following tangible excerpts from my work experience, and client reactions:

(1) Examples of my work to combat the mass incitement of anti-Semitic & anti-Israel hatred, through investigative reports and documentary videos

(2) Examples of my work in consulting on and developing business plans and related materials for complex enterprises


(1) Examples of my work to combat the mass incitement of anti-Semitic & anti-Israel hatred, through investigative reports and documentary videos

(1.1) Documentary: “The Huffington Post’s Anti-Semitic Bias and Incitement During the Third Intifada” (2016)

(1.2) Documentary: “HuffPost’s Dehumanization of Capt. Taylor Force” (2016)

(1.3) Report: “Exposing the NY Times’s latest blood libel against the IDF & its research unit” (2020)

(1.4) Report: “The LGBT filmmaker boycott of Israel is anti-Semitic and hypocritical” (2020)

(1.5) Infographic: “Is Israel an apartheid nation?”


(1.1) Documentary: “The Huffington Post’s Anti-Semitic Bias and Incitement During the Third Intifada” (2016)

This 44-minute documentary, which I wrote, designed, produced and narrated, was hailed by the watchdog group CAMERA, author Melanie Phillips, terrorism analyst & professor Ryan Mauro, and other notable figures, in this 2-minute video.  Also see trailers 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The documentary was released on March 1, 2016. Here is the full version:

I also produced several slide shows that contain key source evidence (more documentation here):

(1) This slide show exposes how HuffPost showers personalized, graphic, name-specific global sympathy on Palestinians who allege they were victims of unprovoked Israel aggression:

(2) This slide show illustrates some of the Jewish victims of the Third Intifada, not one of which HuffPost covered:


(1.2) Documentary: “HuffPost’s Dehumanization of Capt. Taylor Force” (2016)

This 17-minute documentary, which I wrote, designed and directed, exposes how HuffPost dehumanized a beloved U.S. combat veteran who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist — while at the same time, super-humanizing ISIS terrorists, sad celebrities, and animals.  It also shows how HuffPost ignored the broader wave of Palestinian terrorism against Jews occurring at the time, while whitewashing and championing the Palestinian terror narrative.

This documentary was released on April 13, 2016 — barely six weeks after the release of my earlier documentary, “The Huffington Post’s Anti-Semitic Bias and Incitement During the Third Intifada” (above).  Here is the full video:


(1.3) Report: “Exposing the NY Times’s latest blood libel against the IDF & its research unit” (2020)

In this investigative report, I document a NY Times Tweet that opened with a factual assertion that could well have been by Hamas, or ISIS:

“The Israeli Defense Ministry’s research-and-development arm is best known for pioneering cutting-edge ways to kill people and blow things up.”

At the time this incident occurred, I was already deep into developing an information-packed resource page for ILoveIsrael.me: Israel’s humanitarian benevolence – even for enemies. Section 3 on that page documents some of the super-human, little-known lengths to which the IDF goes to figure out how to protect innocent civilians, even when terrorists are using them as human shields (or they are acting in that capacity voluntarily). One of the items on this page is this interview that I conducted with a former IDF special forces soldier, Doron Keidar, focusing particularly on this aspect of IDF ethics:

“[W]e have what are called ‘purity of arms’ (טוהר הנשק) instructions, which we receive when we are first issued our weapons. They are basic principles about when and how we can use our weapons. It is the ethical code that clarifies that our weapon is the last option and mainly for defense.”

As an experienced investigative journalist and researcher, I believe my utilization of this ILI resource page reduced the time necessary to create my report by 70-90%.

This is the title graphic I produced for my report:


(1.4) Infographic report: “Hate Crimes In America” (2015)

My purpose in creating this report was to:

    • Expose the lie that had become popularized in recent years, that America is an “Islamophobic” nation, in which Muslims face uniquely high risk of being victims of hate crimes
    • Demonstrate the fact that then, as now, Muslims are among the least-likely victims of hate crimes, while in New York City alone, Jews are targeted more than all minority groups combined. (This report needs to be, and will be updated, for ILoveIsrael).

Here is the summary slide show (see more of my infographics here):


(1.4) Report: “The LGBT filmmaker boycott of Israel is anti-Semitic and hypocritical” (2020)

My purpose in creating this report was to respond to an anti-Israel boycott mounted by LGBT actors, directors, producers & artisans that claimed the Jewish state oppresses Palestinians, and thus does not deserve to have an LGBT film festival. At the time news of this boycott emerged, I was nearing completion of this resource page for ILoveIsrael.me:

Israel’s LGBT inclusion & protection

As an experienced investigative journalist and researcher, I believe my utilization of this ILI resource page reduced the time necessary to create my report by 70-90%.

This report exposes the following:

      • The Palestinian LGBTQIA+ community is being oppressed — but not by Israel. To the contrary, Israel is the lone refuge in the entire Middle East for those in the Palestinian LGBTQIA+ community, to escape the systematic governmental and cultural terror inflicted on them in Muslim-majority environments.
      • The anti-Semitic nature of this myopic boycott is revealed by the fact that these film professionals have said nothing about, let alone organized a boycott against China, which holds more than 1 million Uighur Muslims in bondage, and is both using them as slave labor, and forcibly “re-educating” them.
      • This insidious, anti-Semitic, Islamist-protecting boycott can survive and gain support only so long as the general public remains unaware of these realities — especially who and what are actually the Palestinian peoples’ primary oppressors — and it is not Israelis.

(1.5) Infographic: “Is Israel an apartheid nation?”

I was commissioned to produce this infographic by a now-defunct Israel-focused nonprofit. They opted to not use it. I do.


(2) Examples of my work in consulting on and developing business plans and related materials for complex enterprises


(2.1) I helped a small Virginia homebuilder to win the most prestigious national award in its industry (business plan and application materials)

(2.2) I helped a freedom-oriented Muslim think tank with business writing, strategic analysis, and marketing media consulting


(2.1) I helped a small Virginia home builder to win the most prestigious national award in its industry (business plan and application materials)

As Gaffney Homes, a small home builder in Central Virginia, approached its twentieth year in business, it decided to enter the annual America’s Best Builder (ABB) competition, the most prestigious in the home building industry.  In addition to detailed responses to a series of marketing and operational questions, the ABB application for consideration also requires disclosure of each competitor firm’s business plan.

I was retained by Mike Gaffney, the firm’s founder & president, to consult on, design, write/edit and produce the firm’s first comprehensive business plan and all ABB application materials, and conduct a thorough marketing program assessment.

Gaffney Homes won the America’s Best Builder Award.

As Mike later attested, in his letter of recommendation for me, the business materials I produced were, according to one of the ABB judges, helpful in securing Gaffney Homes’ victory:

“Jon assured us at the onset that he would assist us in producing a business plan and application that would be immediately distinguishable from others […] One judge specifically cited the easy to follow layout of our business plan as being a critical factor in helping to put us over the top.”

– Mike Gaffney, founder & President, Gaffney Homes

See the complete project profile here.


(2.2) I helped a freedom-oriented Muslim think tank with business writing, strategic analysis, and marketing media consulting

Zuhdi Jasser, MD is a nuclear cardiologist who founded and leads the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD), a pro-American, anti-terrorism, anti-Islamist (Muslim supremacist) think tank. For background on Dr. Jasser and the monumental challenges he faces, see his bio, the documentary “The Third Jihad,” and his recent book, “A Battle For The Soul Of Islam.”

From 2007-2012 I provided a wide variety of creative consulting, graphic design, writing-editing and research services to the AIFD, ranging from redesigning the AIFD’s logo (finished version at right) to operational assessments, strategic counsel and more.  One of the great privileges of my life was to deal almost exclusively with Dr. Jasser, and to call him a friend and ally, nearly 10 years after I last worked for him.

Here are excerpts from Dr. Jasser’s letter of recommendation for me:

“Jon has an uncanny grasp of the challenges facing those wishing to advocate liberty in the public square, which are even more significant and complex, given the AIFD’s mission to do so in an environment that encompasses religion, law, philosophy and national security. We found his input on our (existing) website, logo, and the body of other visual and written media we have developed and employ, to be uniquely on-point, and well thought-out. […]

“His expert contributions to the AIFD grew not only from just our media, but into his development of a powerful assessment of our organization’s intellectual positioning in the ‘marketplace of ideas,’ and an invaluable, graphical ‘force-field analysis,’ which Jon recommended, and created for us. […]

Jon’s combination of marketing, graphic design, writing, editing and research abilities and knowledge, along with his deep understanding of the ideas of liberty and security, upon which the AIFD is focused, made his contributions not only superb, but unique.  He was clearly not only working on our project as a job, but as an individual who loves what he does, and loves the ideas of liberty.”

– Zuhdi Jasser, MD, founder and president, American Islamic Forum for Democracy

See the complete project profile here.


 

 

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