Charity boss accuses Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of 'choosing PR over principle' after they cut funding to her group

The boss of a charity that was previously supported by Harry and Meghan's Archewell foundation has accused the couple for 'choosing ...

The boss of a charity that was previously supported by Harry and Meghan's Archewell foundation has accused the couple for 'choosing PR over principle' after cutting their funding. 

Archewell has donated to the Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition since 2023 - but chose to cut funding last week after discovering the charity's head branded Israel an 'apartheid state' in a blog post last year.

Founder Janan Najeeb, has now said she was 'deeply disappointed' by the decision leading to  to cut funding and said the comments directed at her by Harry and Meghan's charity reps in response to the blog post were 'defamatory'. 

Writing in a letter addressed James Holt and Shauna Nep, of Archewell, she claimed the accusation that her comments on Israel were 'hate speech' was 'a profound misrepresentation' and said the Sussex's were 'choosing PR over principle'.

In 2023, The Archewell Foundation donated a sum of nearly $30,000 (£23,000), with a further donation having been sent a year later.

But last week, Archewell made the decision to retract their funding after the MMWC founder repeated the slogan, 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,' which is interpreted by some as calling for the total eradication of Israel. 

The Palestinian-American has also called for an end to the arming of Israel and 'the liberation of Palestine'.

The remarks came to light after they were discovered in an blog post authored by Najeeb last year.

The charity boss of a controversial Muslin group has accused Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of 'choosing PR over principle', following their decision to revoke funding

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex 's charity, The Archwell Foundation, had been donating to the Milwaukee Muslim Women¿s Coalition [MMWC] since 2023 - but chose to cut funding last week after the charity's head branded Israel an 'apartheid state' in a blog post last year

In response to the situation, Harry and Meghan's foundation decided to pull funding from the group after they being alerted to the blog post. 

In blog post, she wrote: 'Israel's 75-year occupation of Palestine and the genocide in Gaza are a grave injustice.'

'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever!'

In a letter to Najeeb, seen by US TV station NewsNation, James Holt and Shauna Nep, of Archewell, said: 'Janan, we've recently been notified of a blog post you wrote that goes against the values of the foundation.

'As a foundation, we celebrate different perspectives and backgrounds but we have zero tolerance for hateful words, actions or propaganda.'

They said the grant had been intended to help Afghan women integrating into the Milwaukee community.

'We remain committed to fostering partnerships that reflect and reinforce the values our foundation stands for,' they added.   

Responding to the letter on Thursday, Najeeb addressed the letter to James Holt and Shauna Nep, first thanking them for their initial financial contributions back in 2023, before launching into her response in which she attempted to justify her choice of words.

The letter was shared to the official Instagram page for the Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition. 

Writing in a letter addressed James Holt and Shauna Nep, of Archewell, she claimed the accusation that her comments on Israel were 'hate speech' was 'a profound misrepresentation' and said the Sussex's were 'choosing PR over principle'.

The remarks came to light after they were discovered in an blog post authored by Najeeb last year

The letter was shared to the official Instagram page for the Milwaukee Muslim Women¿s Coalition

In response to the situation, Harry and Meghan's foundation decided to pull funding from the group after they being alerted to the blog post

Responding to the letter on Thursday, Najeeb addressed the letter to James Holt and Shauna Nep, first thanking them for their initial financial contributions back in 2023, before launching into her response in which she attempted to justify her choice of words

Harry and Meghan have previously worked with humantiarian charities in Israel and Palestine.

In October 2023, they released a statement saying they are 'supporting our partners and organizations on the frontlines in Israel to provide the urgent aid needed, and to help all innocent victims of this unconscionable level of human suffering'.

King Charles makes a light-hearted joke about his health at Maundy Thursday service

News of the donations emerged as Prince Harry was accused of hypocrisy for flying to war-torn Ukraine while claiming in a High Court case that he and his family are not safe on the streets of Britain without taxpayer-funded security.

The Duke of Sussex met with met with dozens of wounded soldiers in Lviv on Thursday after two days at the High Court in London arguing that he, Meghan and their two children are not safe to come to Britain.

At least 33 people are believed to have lost their lives in bombings in the city since 2022.

Veteran royal correspondent and commentator Richard Palmer said: 'The reaction has been uniform. People are saying "hang on he's come over because he needs police protection because he's not safe in the UK. But then he's gone to a warzone in Ukraine.'

'While the city is not on the frontline - it is getting regular bombardments so is quite a dangerous place to go.'

Harry and Meghan founded Archewell in 2020. Its ‘mission’ is ‘show up, do good.’ 

As well as the not-for-profit charitable arm, the couple also own Archewell Productions, which develops TV and documentary ideas, and Archewell Audio, which has produced podcasts.

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