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Edited by: Fern Sidman
A recent report in The New York Post has highlighted allegations of one of the largest left-wing dark money networks channeling over $10 million to support anti-Israel causes over the past five years. Arabella Advisors, a Washington, DC-based organization, is said to have contributed to a range of progressive nonprofits through several affiliated funds, including the New Venture Fund, Hopewell Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, North Fund, and Windward Fund, which collectively provided funding to anti-Israel groups since 2018, according to the Post report.
These allegations come at a time when Israel is facing renewed tensions and calls for its destruction from the Hamas terrorist organization. The Post report indicated that the dark money network’s donations are claimed to have indirectly supported Palestinian activist groups critical of US support for Israel, particularly in the aftermath of the heinous atrocities committed by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in over 1,400 casualties, including at least 33 Americans. Over 5000 were seriously wounded and among the dead were 309 members of the Israel Defense Forces.
The victims of the Hamas sadistic attack were shot, execution style, women were raped repeatedly, babies were murdered and beheaded and people were burned alive. Images of the grotesque carnage caused shockwaves around the world.
The largest share of the funding, according to records, was received by NEO Philanthropy, which collected more than $5 million from four of the five affiliated funds since 2018, as was noted in the Post report. This organization is known for running a project founded by virulently anti-Semitic activist Linda Sarsour.
MPower Change, one of Sarsour’s projects, has faced criticism for allegedly circulating false information from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry regarding casualties resulting from a missile strike on a hospital, despite US intelligence and the Israeli military confirming that the attack was initiated by an errant rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, the Post report said. MPower Change was also reported to have promoted a rally led by the Democratic Socialists of America, during which protesters were seen displaying anti-Semitic signs, including a Nazi swastika.
Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of Americans for Public Trust, which previously requested an IRS investigation into Arabella Advisors, voiced strong concerns over the alleged funding channel. The Post reported that she asserted that the dark money network’s donors should be concerned about their contributions being indirectly funneled to organizations accused of leading anti-Semitic rallies.
The allegations don’t stop with Arabella Advisors. Another activist group, One Arizona, is claimed to have received over $2 million from the New Venture Fund, Hopewell Fund, and Windward Fund since 2018, as indicated in tax filings collected by ProPublica, according to the Post report. This group reportedly sponsors the Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander for Equity, which called on its followers to “support Palestine and the fight against western imperialism.”
During past conflicts involving Israel, various groups associated with these funds, such as the Alliance for Youth Action and the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, have been accused of describing rocket attacks from the Hamas terror group in Gaza as a “fight for liberation” and referred to Israel’s actions as “genocide.” These accusations have raised concerns about the indirect financial support for organizations that take such positions on the protracted Middle East conflict.
One of the organizations, the Alliance for Youth Action, received $2.2 million from the Sixteen Thirty Fund since 2018, according to records. The Post reported that during Israel’s conflict with Hamas terrorists in May 2021, this group referred to rocket attacks from Gaza as a “fight for liberation.” Such statements have been met with criticism, as they are seen as taking sides in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Another organization, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, received $400,000 in 2019 and 2020. The Post reported that the group has been accused of describing “Israel’s occupation” and US support for its actions as “genocide” against Palestinians, as was noted in the Post report. These allegations have added to the controversy surrounding these financial contributions.
The Alliance for Global Justice, which has received $473,000 from the Windward Fund and New Venture Fund according to tax filings from 2020 and 2021, is also under scrutiny. The Post reported that despite its financial ties to these funds, the organization has sponsored the group Samidoun, which is designated by Israel as a terrorist organization. The Washington Examiner reported on these alleged terror links last year, leading to major credit card companies, including Mastercard, Visa, American Express, and Paypal, barring Samidoun from their payment processing services, the Post report added.
In response to recent Hamas terror attacks, the Alliance for Global Justice has been accused of circulating statements from Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, against Israel. According to the Post report, it also referred to Israel’s military response as a “Zionist onslaught,” further fueling the controversy surrounding these organizations’ activities and affiliations.
Another group, Grassroots for Global Justice, is said to have received $110,000 in funding since 2019 from the Windward Fund, as per tax filings. As was indicated in the Post report, the group allegedly funneled the money to organizations like the Palestinian Youth Movement, which has been critical of Israel and has held rallies in Washington, DC, and New York City. The Palestinian Youth Movement has made controversial statements, with one speaker at a protest in New York City making references to Hamas members paragliding into an Israeli music festival to cause harm.
The IfNotNow Movement, which has raked in $62,000 since 2020 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, helped organize protests earlier this month at the White House and US Capitol and has stated that “Israel’s apartheid system” provoked the recent attacks, as was reported by the Post.
The New Venture Fund also gave $40,000 to the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which shared a template on Instagram to help others denounce school administrators or employers who issue statements “in support of Israel.”
The Post report also said that Rep. Rashida Tlaib (R-Mich.), who refuses to retract a false statement of her own about the Gaza hospital explosion, will also be the keynote speaker at a CAIR Arizona banquet on Nov. 18.
Other groups like the Education for Liberation Network and Muslims for Progressive Values, which received roughly $60,000 from the New Venture Fund combined, have taught schoolchildren that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a “struggle against occupation” and suggested that reports of Hamas raping women and burning Israeli parents and children alive were false, as was included in the Post report.
Arabella Advisors reported more than $1 billion in revenue in 2020, according to its tax filings. Founded in 2005 by former Clinton administration official Eric Kessler, the for-profit firm is not required to disclose its donors, though left-wing billionaires George Soros and Pierre Omidyar have volunteered multimillion-dollar contributions to the fund, according to the Post report.
These allegations have sparked a broader discussion about the role of dark money networks and financial contributions in influencing political dynamics related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
