$81M in taxpayer dollars awarded to democratic dark money giant fueling anti-Israel protests
CCP-ALLIED CHARITY BEHIND ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS SEES DONATIONS SKYROCKET BY MILLIONS
An influential liberal dark money group propping up anti-Israel activism across the United States has pocketed massive amounts in taxpayer-backed grants and contracts in recent years, according to a Washington Examiner analysis of federal spending records.
The Tides Center, which funds organizations behind Hamas-sympathetic protests held after the terrorist faction’s deadly Oct. 7 attack against Israel, has long helped shape the progressive agenda with the financial backing of billionaire philanthropists such as Bill Gates and George Soros. But the Democratic-allied charity sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars in assets also retains another key supporter in the federal government, which directly or through subawards steered more than $81.2 million to the Tides Center between 2006 and 2023, documents show.
U.S. Government Support for Anti-Israel Movement
The U.S. government’s extensive support for the Tides Center is a window into how taxpayer dollars regularly flow to charities closely affiliated with the anti-Israel movement. The Tides Center has faced scrutiny from conservatives for facilitating a dark money pass-through system allowing wealthy Democrats to pour donations into initiatives housed under the nonprofit group, whose projects do not have to file their own tax forms with the IRS. This process, known as fiscal sponsorship, has the effect of obscuring sources for donations to and from the California-based charity.
Pro-Palestinian projects benefiting from the Tides Center’s tax-exempt status, including the Adalah Justice Project, Palestine Legal, and the Catalyst Project, have repeatedly justified and downplayed the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack — which killed more than 1,200 people in the Jewish state. The Tides Center and its sister group, the Tides Foundation, also have granted millions of dollars combined over the years to Alliance for Global Justice, a charity in Arizona revealed through a Washington Examiner investigation to share ties to Palestinian terrorism, and other entities that have celebrated convicted terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
“The Tides Center is a clearinghouse for funding far-left causes, including radical anti-Israel ‘resistance’ groups that have been spotted on college campuses chanting for the destruction of Israel,” said Benjamin Baird, director of Middle East Forum Action, a watchdog tracking terrorism-tied groups. “It does not need any help from the federal government, which is only subsidizing extremism by bankrolling a Marxist-Islamist piggy bank like Tides.”
Nearly half of the $81.2 million that flowed to the Tides Center was routed through a subcontract or subgrant, meaning the charity received the cash after the federal government first made a prime award to another entity, such as the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, City and County of San Francisco, and universities, the Washington Examiner found. During President Joe Biden’s time in office alone, the Tides Center has been awarded roughly $38.3 million in taxpayer money, either directly or through subawards, records show.
The Tides Center awards are sprawling in policy focus and come from many agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, State, Education, the Interior, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, among others.
For instance, the Agriculture Department has moved about $1.5 million to the Tides Center since 2021. Included in that sum is the more than $198,000 sent to the Tides Center for an “indigenous farm hub” in New Mexico working with the Navajo Nation “to protect and preserve land sovereignty, cultural sovereignty, and food sovereignty.” In June, the Labor Department began disbursing $2.9 million, which will continue until June 2024, to the Tides Center for an “early childhood education” initiative.
The single largest individual obligated amount, however, has come from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which awarded the Tides Center a whopping $24.6 million in September 2016 for a program called the Civil Society Innovation Initiative, records show. The program aims “to establish Innovation Hubs around the world that support, strengthen, and sustain civil society” and was launched in 2014 under then-President Barack Obama, according to archived White House documents.
“USAID uses a rigorous process to thoroughly vet all partner organizations for compliance with legal and policy requirements,” a USAID spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “USAID funded awards for the Tides Center, which supported the Civil Society Innovation Initiative, to strengthen the capacity and resilience of civil society through development. The awards ended on Nov. 30, 2023.”
The Tides Center notably received more than $32.5 million between 2022 and 2023 from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for healthcare programs, and, in 2019, was handed $15,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice for an “implicit bias training” so employees in the agency “can better understand issues concerning justice,” according to grant records.
To Adam Andrzejewski, CEO of the federal spending watchdog Open the Books, money is fungible, and the awards mean the U.S. government is “indirectly helping” to boost anti-Israel projects linked to the Tides Center.
“We have already seen this playing out on university campuses which enjoy billions of dollars in grants, contracts and tax benefits from the federal government,” Andrzejewski told the Washington Examiner. “This latest revelation is part of an unfortunate pattern in which a sprawling federal government finds itself spending money against its own strategic interests.”
In 2022, the U.S. Department of Education gave $2 million to the University of Michigan to evaluate “the impact of trails on academic and behavioral health outcomes in Detroit public school students” — a project that saw Tides receive a subgrant. The University of Michigan has come under fire from Republicans for prioritizing initiatives related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, while some students after Oct. 7 have protested to support Hamas.
Other Tides Center awards include $94,000 from the National Science Foundation to study “next generation scientists,” $1.5 million from HHS for “nurse education, practice, quality and retention,” as well as $4 million from HHS, routed through the University of California, Los Angeles, for a project with the description, “disorders of sex development: platform for basic and translational research,” records show.
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The Tides Center did not return a request for comment.
What concerns have been raised about the Tides Center’s funding practices and their impact on transparency and accountability?
Has also been a recipient of funds from local governments and universities for various projects and initiatives. These taxpayer-backed grants and contracts have allowed the Tides Center to amass significant wealth and influence in the realm of progressive activism.
Critics argue that the Tides Center’s funding practices raise concerns about transparency and accountability. The charity operates as a fiscal sponsor, allowing wealthy donors to make contributions to specific initiatives without disclosing the true source of the funding. This process has the potential to obscure the origins of donations and leaves room for abuse or the funneling of funds to less reputable causes.
Of particular concern is the Tides Center’s support for anti-Israel initiatives. Pro-Palestinian organizations that benefit from the Tides Center’s tax-exempt status have been known to downplay or justify acts of violence against Israel, including the deadly attack carried out by Hamas on October 7th. The Tides Center’s connections to entities with ties to Palestinian terrorism have also come under scrutiny, leading to accusations that the charity is indirectly supporting extremists.
Benjamin Baird, director of Middle East Forum Action, a watchdog organization, spoke out against the Tides Center, stating that it serves as a “clearinghouse for funding far-left causes” and accuses it of promoting extremist ideologies. He argues that the federal government should not be subsidizing an organization that is effectively a “Marxist-Islamist piggy bank.”
The Washington Examiner’s analysis revealed that a significant portion of the funds received by the Tides Center were funneled through subcontractors or subgrants. In some cases, the charity obtained the funds after the federal government had awarded them to other entities. This convoluted funding process raises questions about the efficacy and transparency of taxpayer dollars, particularly when it comes to supporting organizations like the Tides Center.
Government support for the Tides Center spans multiple agencies and policy areas, with millions of dollars being allocated for projects ranging from indigenous farm hubs to early childhood education initiatives. The largest individual grant came from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which awarded the Tides Center $24.6 million for the Civil Society Innovation Initiative. While these funds were intended to strengthen civil society, critics remain skeptical of the Tides Center’s overall agenda and its potential influence on policy and public opinion.
In response to inquiries about funding practices, a spokesperson for USAID emphasized that the agency follows a rigorous vetting process to ensure compliance with legal and policy requirements. However, concerns still linger regarding the transparency and oversight of taxpayer-funded grants and contracts, particularly when they support organizations like the Tides Center.
The growing influence and financial resources of the Tides Center raise important questions about the use of taxpayer dollars and the potential for political manipulation. As the organization continues to fund and support initiatives that some argue promote extremist ideologies, it is essential that greater transparency and accountability measures be put in place to ensure that taxpayer funds are used in a responsible and ethical manner.
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