Left-Wing ‘Dark Money’ Powerhouse Funded Group Linked to Holocaust Museum Protestors

The Tides Foundation, a left-wing organization known for its “dark money,” has provided funding to an organization linked to the protestors who planned to disrupt the Holocaust Museum in order to protest Israel’s military operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Doctors Against Genocide (DAG), an anti-Israel group formed in November, planned to launch the protest at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, on December 28. DAG apparently went so far as to plot to disrupt the facility from the inside. The protest was cancelled after an immense backlash.

DAG claims the controversy is due to a “misunderstanding” caused by its own “lack of clarity.” It claims they didn’t plan to protest “inside or outside” the museum, but the text of the protest’s announcement leaves no room for a credible denial. It clearly instructs attendees to assemble at the museum and to “please obtain free entry tickets.”

Doctors Against Some Genocides

DAG’s name infers that it actively opposes all forms of genocide. In actuality, the group’s activities have focused almost solely on Israel’s alleged “genocide” in the Gaza Strip. The only deviation is a brief statement on its website against the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Burma. Tellingly absent is any denunciation of the genocidal actions and intentions of Hamas.

The organization has previously organized protests with the anti-Israel groups Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow and Code Pink.

According to its website, DAG is a “program” of a nonprofit 501(c)(3) named Jetpac, which says its purpose is to increase the political influence of the Muslim American community.

Because DAG uses Jetpac as a fiscal sponsor, it is impossible for the public to know practically anything about DAG. Under such an arrangement, a registered nonprofit handles the donations of a group that does not have its own entity. Therefore, an unregistered group like DAG avoids the burden of complying with mandatory public disclosures. Donations are sent to Jetpac, and Jetpac decides what to reveal, if anything, about the funding funneled to DAG.

Jetpac’s Donors and Leadership

Jetpac itself has received funding from left-wing “dark money” powerhouses. It received $10,000 from the Tides Foundation in 2020. Proteus Fund provided $8,000 to Jetpac in 2018 for the purpose of “democracy.” Chicago Community Trust  also provided $17,500 in 2018.

Another interesting donor to Jetpac is the Barzinji Family Foundation, which gave $5,000 in 2018. It is operated by the family of Jamal Barzinji, one of the most influential Muslim American leaders until his death in 2015. At the time of his death, he was listed as the president of the Barzinji Family Foundation.

Barzinji has a long history of holding senior positions in organizations with origins in the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist parent organization of Hamas. For example, he was a co-founder and senior official of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, which had its offices searched by federal law enforcement as part of a counterterrorism investigation in 2002. The sworn affidavit of U.S. Customs Service Special Agent David Kane explicitly named Barzinji as “not only closely affiliated with PIJ [Palestinian Islamic Jihad] . . . but also with Hamas.”

Jetpac’s founder and chairman, Nadeem Mazen, was elected to the Cambridge City Council in 2013 and 2015, the year he created Jetpac. He opted against running for re-election in 2017, instead deciding to run for a Democratic Party congressional nomination, characterizing himself as President Donald Trump’s “worst nightmare.”

While he ran for Congress, he was simultaneously leading Jetpac, which should raise questions about the organization’s compliance with regulations prohibiting nonprofits from acting on behalf of political candidates. Jetpac’s website states that it was formed by Mazen’s campaign staff, boasting that they increased the number of Muslim voters by 300 percent.

Left-wing funders like the Tides Foundation will be enticed by the potential political dividends of Jetpac’s proclaimed ability to increase Muslim turnout, but it comes with a price. By acting as DAG’s fiscal sponsor, Jetpac helps alienate voters (especially Jewish voters) who don’t look fondly upon disrupting the Holocaust Museum for the purpose of appropriating the institution’s message for an anti-Israel cause.

If Jetpac objects to DAG’s inflammatory actions, then it should stop acting as its fiscal sponsor. If Jetpac does not, then its left-wing funders should strongly reconsider the ethical suitability and counter-productivity of supporting Jetpac.