Type of Organization: Media, Politics
According to its website, the Gatestone Institute claims to be “a non-partisan, not-for-profit international policy council and think tank, dedicated to educating the public about what the mainstream media fails to report in promoting human rights, institutions of democracy and the rule of law, etc.” Gatestone’s founder, Nina Rosenwald, is the heiress to the Sears Roebuck fortune, and has used it to further Islamophobia through the William Rosenwald Family Fund. In fact, a report titled “Fear Inc.” by the Center for American Progress found that the fund is one of the “top seven contributors to promoting Islamophobia in our country” and has put forth $2.8 million to “organizations that fan the flames of Islamophobia” since 2000.
The Gatestone Institute employs false information regarding Muslim refugees in Europe to stoke fear and hatred of Muslims in the West, including the fabricated idea of “no-go zones.” A 2018 report by NBC quoted the Brookings Institute fellow, Alina Polyakova, who found that the Gatestone Institute is “putting out content that was clearly anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and was echoing some of the Russian disinformation propaganda.” For example, in a 2015 article, Gatestone contributor Burak Bekdil stated that “Muslims in this part of the world view the Christian West as ‘evil;’ yet they know Christian lands are the most decent places to live economically and politically. Wealthy Arab states rigidly turn their back on the plight of fellow Muslims who are in need of a helping hand; and Islamist hypocrites blame it all on the West.”
The organization is perhaps most well-known through its former chairman, current U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, who received more than $310,000 in payments for Gatestone. The Gatestone Institute publishes “an online daily report” on their website, in which previous editions have featured articles from Geert Wilders, who has stated “I hate Islam,” and David Horowitz, a prominent anti-Muslim figure. Various article titles have included “Sweden: Rape Capital of the West” and “Are Jihadists Taking over Europe?” Several other publications on the Institute’s website contend that the Obama administration’s refugee policy “exposes Americans to the jihad,” that Muslim migrants are hosts of “highly contagious diseases,” and that Europe is facing a looming “Great White Death” as a result of new immigration and abortion policies.
