The JCF, located in New York City, holds a level of accountability for financing prominent promoters of Islamophobia.
The JCF operates as a donor-advised fund, providing donors with the opportunity to receive an immediate federal income tax deduction by depositing money. Afterward, the group allocates the funds to eligible non-profit organizations based on the donors' guidance. However, it is important to note that the JCF has guidelines in place and "all grant recommendations are nonbinding," as stated in their handbook.
The JCF has been providing funds to prominent anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller. Geller is most recognized for displaying anti-Islamic ads on public transportation, such as one that stated "Islamic Jew-hatred: It's in the Quran." From 2012 to 2013, the JCF donated $100,000 to Geller's American Freedom Defense Initiative.
However, JCF's funding of Islamophobia isn't limited to Geller. An examination of JCF's tax filings from 2001 to 2013 shows that approximately $1.5 million was given to groups that spread Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment.
From 2006 to 2013, the JCF donated $477,190 to The Investigative Project on Terrorism, led by Steve Emerson. Emerson has gained notoriety for making several blunders after terrorist attacks. Most recently, in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack, he falsely stated that Birmingham, England was a "Muslim-only city" where non-Muslims do not venture. This caused British Prime Minister David Cameron to label him as "a complete idiot."
This event was simply the most recent of Emerson's missteps. In 2013, he made the mistake of stating that a "Saudi national" was responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings. However, when it was proven to be untrue, he accused the authorities of hiding the Saudi involvement. Back in 1995, he also told CBS News that the Oklahoma City bombing had a "Middle Eastern trait" due to its intent to cause numerous casualties.
From 2005 to 2013, the JCF donated $250,020 to the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Horowitz's views on "Islamo-fascism" and Palestinians are well-known, as he often expresses a strong animosity towards them, referring to them as "sick, nasty terrorists" who are unable to coexist with non-Muslims.
In a National Review column titled "Thank you, ISIS," David Horowitz made controversial claims, asserting that virtually every major Muslim organization in America is an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, which he referred to as the fountainhead of Islamic terror. He further accused Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin of having family ties to Muslim Brotherhood leaders and concluded by suggesting that Barack Obama is aligned with the Islamic world to destroy America. These claims are widely criticized, and it's important to approach such statements with a critical perspective, considering diverse opinions on the matter.
Between 2001 and 2013, the JCF (Jewish Communal Fund) contributed $659,060 to Daniel Pipes's Middle East Forum. In the Washington Times last Friday, Pipes criticized Donald Trump's plan to ban Muslims, but only to suggest that Trump got his wording wrong. Pipes wrote that Trump should have called for a ban on "Islamists" instead of "Muslims" because "they are the barbarians who 'believe only in Jihad.'"
Pipes has a long history of making Islamophobic and anti-Muslim comments. In 2010, Pipes attacked Obama for speaking out against Florida Pastor Terry Jones's plan to burn copies of the Quran, an act that senior Pentagon officials and the White House feared could lead to violence against Americans in the Middle East.
"Mr. Obama, in effect, enforced Islamic law, setting a precedent that could lead to other forms of compulsory Shariah compliance," wrote Pipes.
Pipes's concern about Muslim immigration, coupled with sweeping generalizations about Muslim immigrants, is a recurring theme in his writing. In his 2002 book, Militant Islam Reaches America, Pipes asserted: "All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most. Also, they appear most resistant to assimilation. Elements among the Pakistanis in Britain, Algerians in France, and Turks in Germany seek to turn the host country into an Islamic society by compelling it to adapt to their way of life."
In 2001, the JCF donated $10,000 to the Center for Security Policy, led by Frank Gaffney. This organization was cited by Donald Trump for a poll that claimed 25% of American Muslims believed violence against Americans was acceptable. However, this particular poll had significant issues. It was a survey of 600 self-selected participants, a detail that Gaffney's group failed to mention at the time of its release. Such opt-in polling methods are not considered reliable by the American Association for Public Opinion Research due to potential unmeasurable errors.
The Anti-Defamation League strongly criticized the Center for Security Policy, a group that was cut off from its funding by the conservative Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation in 2013, for promoting "anti-Sharia hysteria." Two years earlier in 2011, Gaffney's attendance at the Conservative Political Action Conference was banned due to his accusations against two of the event's organizers, Suhail Khan and Grover Norquist, claiming they were operatives of the Muslim Brotherhood.
While JCF's $10,000 donation to Gaffney may appear insignificant, the Middle East Forum has been a substantial backer of his efforts with a total funding of $659,060. According to tax records from 2008-2012, the Middle East Forum donated $300,000 to the Center for Security Policy.
The funds provided by JCF to these groups bring into question the potential endorsement of Geller, Emerson, Horowitz, Gaffney, and Pipes' anti-Muslim statements and positions by either JCF or UJA-Federation of New York.
