MONITORING AND COMBATING ISLAMOPHOBIA

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Abstraction Fund

Type: Private Family Foundation

The Abstraction Fund is a national, tax-exempt private family foundation run by an heir of the Sears-Roebuck fortune, Nina Rosenwald. Rosenwald builds upon her grandfather Julius Rosenwald’s remarkable legacy of philanthropy — he served as a key bulwark of Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute, and provided critical assistance to Jewish refugees fleeing Europe for the United States., Unlike her family’s legacy of serving social justice, Nina Rosenwald has used the Abstraction Fund to fuel some of the country’s most vitriolic, paranoid, and toxic anti-Muslim institutions. The Abstraction Fund’s primary beneficiary is the Gatestone Institute, which she founded and where she serves as president.

The Gatestone Institute is an anti-Muslim hate group of which Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton served as chairman. Many of the Abstraction Fund’s grantees include conservative and pro-Israel groups, such as Turning Point USA and the Central Fund of Israel. From 2014 to 2016 the Fund had access to more than $4 million in revenue. It funneled 75 percent of this, nearly $3.2 million, toward anti-Muslim hate groups, including $1.87 million to the Gatestone Institute and $742,000 to the Middle East Forum. Through its grantmaking capacity, the Fund has fueled an “alliance between the pro-Israel mainstream and the Islamophobic fringe” that ranks among the most disturbing examples of the way in which American philanthropy is institutionally connected to the Islamophobia network.

American Freedom Defense Initiative

The American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) is an Islamophobic hate group led by Pamela Geller. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) identifies the organization as an anti-Muslim hate group. At one time, SPLC considered Geller “the anti-Muslim movement’s most visible and flamboyant figurehead.”  

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American Freedom Law Center

The American Freedom Law Center, Inc. (AFLC) is an anti-Muslim law firm co-founded and co-led by David Yerushalmi and Robert Muise.   The center often acts as the Islamophobia Network’s legal counsel and has represented Frank Gaffney’s Center for Security Policy and Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative.  

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Appearing as a key witness supporting Rep. Peter King’s anti-Muslim hearings in March 2011, Jasser criticized Muslim organizations for informing communities of the fundamental constitutional right to have counsel present during interactions with law enforcement.

American Islamic Forum for Democracy

American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is an anti-Muslim lobby group founded by Zhudi Jasser. Under Jasser’s leadership, AIFD has allied itself with institutions and legislative efforts that attempt to limit Muslims’ access to enumerated freedoms in the Bill of Rights.

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Americans for Peace and Tolerance

Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) is a Boston-based lobby group founded by Charles Jacobs that proliferates misinformation and conspiracy theories about Islam and Muslim-Americans. It is dedicated to undermining mainstream Muslim institutions and promoting Islamophobia within the media. 

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Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter, a conservative media personality, has gained notoriety for her unabashed Islamophobia. Her influence extends to the social media platforms, where she boasts over 2 million followers on X (formerly known as Twitter). 

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Bare Naked Islam

Bare Naked Islam is an anti-Muslim Internet blog and online community that portrays Islam as “a totalitarian political cult-like ideology.” Bannered with the line “It isn’t Islamophobia / When they really are trying to kill you,” the blog Bare Naked Islam is run by New York-based ‘Bonni’ Benstock-Intall.

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