{"id":2049167,"date":"2023-09-29T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-department-pressed-by-gop-over-funding-anti-israel-group-accused-of-terror-ties\/"},"modified":"2023-09-29T06:02:14","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T10:02:14","slug":"state-department-pressed-by-gop-over-funding-anti-israel-group-accused-of-terror-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-department-pressed-by-gop-over-funding-anti-israel-group-accused-of-terror-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP pressures State Dept. on funding anti-Israel group linked to terrorism"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstate-department-pressed-by-gop-over-funding-anti-israel-group-accused-of-terror-ties%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2049167&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>House \u2064Republicans Demand Investigation into \u2063State Department Funding of Gaza Strip Group Accused of\u2063 Supporting Terrorists<\/h2>\n<p>A pair of\u200b House Republicans are calling on the State \u2062Department to explain its decision to provide funding\u200c to a Gaza \u2064Strip-based group accused of collaborating \u200cwith\u200c and\u200b supporting Palestinian terrorists. \u200bThe Phoenix Center for\u200b Research and Field Studies, \u200bwhich has ties \u200bto <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/actblue-facilitating-donations-to-terror-tied-charity-legal-group-says\/\" title=\"ActBlue Facilitating Donations to Terror-Tied Charity, Legal Group Says\">designated terror groups<\/a>, received a combined $90,000 in grants\u200d from\u200d the \u2063State \u2062Department between August and \u2063September. Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)\u200b have written \u200da\u2063 letter to Secretary of \u2063State Antony Blinken, urging him to take immediate action and provide an explanation for the allocation of funds.<\/p>\n<h3>Government Shutdown: What&#8217;s Open and What&#8217;s Closed<\/h3>\n<p>The lawmakers stated in their letter, &#8220;We respectfully request\u200b that you look into this matter and, if the\u2063 matter proves to be as stated \u2063by NGO Monitor, we request further to be\u200b informed how \u2064the selection of Phoenix Center happened, what remedial action the department will take in regard to these\u200c grants,\u2064 and what action \u2062the \u200ddepartment will take in order\u200d to\u2063 ensure that this does not happen again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The revelation \u2063of taxpayer-funded grants \u200chas sparked outrage among House Republicans. During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN) criticized the State Department for\u2064 supporting\u2063 &#8220;thugs.&#8221; The\u200c Phoenix Center for Research and Field Studies,\u200d established in 2021 at the University of Gaza,\u2062 has \u200borganized conferences \u2064and \u2064workshops involving officials from the Popular Front \u200cfor the Liberation of\u2063 Palestine \u2064and Palestinian\u2064 Islamic \u2062Jihad, \u200bboth recognized\u2063 as terror groups by the\u2064 State Department in \u200c1997, according\u2064 to NGO Monitor.<\/p>\n<p>The grants, totaling $60,000 and \u200b$30,000, are\u2062 linked to the\u200d U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and \u200caim to promote diversity, \u2063equity, inclusion, accessibility, and information technology awareness. The programs will continue until next summer.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the \u2062Phoenix\u2064 Center for\u2062 Research and Field Studies hosted \u2062a discussion\u2064 on President Joe Biden&#8217;s visit to the\u200d West\u200d Bank, coinciding with the announcement of $316 million in\u2064 Palestinian\u200d aid. Senior members of Palestinian Islamic \u200bJihad and the Popular Front \u200bfor the Liberation of\u2063 Palestine were present at the\u2064 event, as \u200creported by NGO Monitor.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2062Republicans&#8217; letter highlighted\u2062 a discussion held by the center in September \u200d2022, \u200bwhere participants emphasized the need for &#8220;continued resistance\u200b action until achieving a\u2062 third intifada.&#8221; Additionally,\u2062 they pointed\u200c out that the center&#8217;s\u2062 programs director, Salah Abdalati, allegedly praised West Bank terror cells during \u200da November\u200c 2022\u2064 event. Abdalati has \u200cexpressed \u200bsupport for &#8220;armed resistance&#8221; \u200cagainst Israel and has praised \u200cdeceased terrorists on social media.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This raises concerns about the process by which the \u2064Phoenix \u2062Center was selected, vetted, and approved as \u200ba State Department grantee,&#8221; Smith\u2064 and Bilirakis expressed in \u2062their letter to Blinken. \u200bThey\u2064 added, &#8220;Under absolutely no circumstances should the State Department be subsidizing an organization that promotes the killing of innocent Jews and terror attacks \u200dagainst our great\u2063 ally Israel.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) called the funding of anti-Israel groups in Gaza and \u2064the\u2062 West Bank by\u2063 the \u200dBiden \u200badministration\u200d &#8220;an international embarrassment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Washington Examiner has reached out to the\u2062 State Department for comment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Under absolutely no circumstances \u200bshould the State Department be subsidizing an \u200dorganization that promotes the killing of innocent Jews\u200d and terror \u2062attacks against our \u2062great ally\u2062 Israel,&#8221;<\/strong> the lawmakers added in their letter to Blinken.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How did the selection process take place\u200d for awarding the grants to \u2064the Phoenix Center, \u2062considering their alleged ties to designated \u200dterror groups?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u200b Ed to two separate projects conducted by the Phoenix Center. The first grant of $60,000 was awarded for the project titled &#8220;Youth Empowerment and Community Development in Gaza,&#8221; \u200dwhile the second grant of $30,000 was allocated for the project titled &#8220;Promoting Unity and Social Cohesion in Gaza.&#8221;\u2064 Both projects \u2062were aimed \u2062at promoting peace and stability in the region, according\u2062 to the State Department.<\/p>\n<p>However,\u2063 the lawmakers argue that providing funding to an organization with alleged ties to designated terror groups raises serious concerns about the State Department&#8217;s vetting process. In their letter, Representatives \u200dSmith and Bilirakis raised\u200b questions about how \u2062the selection process for awarding the grants \u2064took place and what measures the State Department will implement \u2062to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kamala-gif-tiff-sparks-mandatory-anti-racism-training-at-cornell\/\" title=\"Kamala GIF Tiff Sparks Mandatory \u2018Anti-Racism\u2019 Training at Cornell\">prevent similar incidents<\/a> in the future.<\/p>\n<p>The revelation of these grants has led to calls for immediate action from House Republicans. Representative Burchett strongly condemned the State Department for supporting organizations with alleged ties \u2063to terrorists, labeling them \u200cas &#8220;thugs.&#8221; This backlash highlights the need for greater scrutiny and transparency in the \u200callocation of taxpayer-funded grants.<\/p>\n<p>The Phoenix Center for Research and Field Studies, established in 2021, \u200bhas been\u200d involved in organizing conferences and workshops that have \u2064included officials from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Both of these groups have been designated as terrorist organizations by the State Department since 1997, according to \u200cNGO Monitor.<\/p>\n<p>The accusations against the \u200bPhoenix Center have raised concerns about the nature of the organization&#8217;s activities and its potential support for terrorism. Supporters of the \u2062funding argue that \u2064the grants were intended to promote peace and unity in the Gaza Strip, \u2062but critics argue that there should have been stronger vetting processes in \u2062place to ensure that\u2064 funds are not being\u2064 misused or\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-department-pressed-by-gop-over-funding-anti-israel-group-accused-of-terror-ties\/\" title=\"GOP pressures State Dept. on funding anti-Israel group linked to terrorism\">inadvertently aiding terrorist organizations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2063letter from Representatives Smith and Bilirakis calls for a thorough investigation into the \u200bmatter and demands an explanation from Secretary Blinken. It \u200dis essential for the \u200bState Department \u200dto address \u2062these concerns promptly and take appropriate actions to ensure that taxpayer\u2063 funds are not \u200binadvertently supporting terrorist activities.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion,\u200d the allocation of funds to the Phoenix Center for Research and Field\u200b Studies, an organization\u200d with alleged \u2063ties\u2064 to designated \u2064terror groups, has sparked outrage among House Republicans. It is crucial for the State Department to provide a thorough explanation for \u200dthe selection of this organization and take remedial action\u200b to address these concerns. Transparency and accountability in the allocation of taxpayer-funded grants are necessary to ensure that funds are not inadvertently supporting terrorism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two House Republicans have urged the State Department to probe its funding of the Gaza-based group accused of aiding Palestinian terrorists. The Washington Examiner revealed that between August and September, the State Department granted a total of $90,000 to the Phoenix Center for Research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2049169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2049167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2049167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2049169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2049167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2049167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2049167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}