CAP Report Exposes $42 Million in Funding for Anti-Islam Industry
When the manufactured controversy over the Park 51 cultural center in New York came to a head this time last year, many were surprised by the scope and coordination of the anti-Islam activists involved in propagating the story for political ends.
Since that time, expert analysts have worked hard to help uncover the truth behind these activists and bring their extremism to light. Included in these efforts has been Bob Smietana’s exposes on Steve Emerson and ACT! for America, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Robert Steinbeck’s detailed illumination of the anti-Muslim “inner circle,” and People for the American Way’s description of the right-wing playbook on anti-Muslim extremism.
Today, the Center for American Progress makes another key contribution to this growing body of research with a wide-ranging report on the anti-Islam industry. The result of a six-month investigation, the report documents the flow of money from conservative foundations to right-wing Islam “experts” and grassroots groups whose arguments are then picked up in right-wing media and eventually by conservative elected officials. In particular, the report finds that seven foundations are responsible for $42 million in funding to make this industry work.
The full report is available on the CAP website, and you can watch the video below for an introductory summary: