How American Philanthropy Secretly Bankrolled a Foreign Terrorist Network

U.S. tax dollars, billion-dollar foundations, and anonymous donor-advised funds created an opaque financial conduit feeding PFLP-affiliated front groups in the Middle East.

What we uncovered inside federal tax filings, declassified USAID audits, and corporate records exposes a massive tax-deductible pipeline to a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).

The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) operates as a Berkeley, California-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It has disbursed over $35 million in foreign grants since 2017. While marketing itself to Western donors as a child welfare charity, MECA has functioned for decades as a strategic financial pass-through for civil-society front groups created by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The U.S. Department of State designated the Marxist-Leninist terror faction in 1997.

Major progressive philanthropic institutions channeled millions into MECA. These include the Foundation to Promote Open Society ($600,000), the Rockefeller Brothers Fund ($220,000), and Neville Roy Singham’s Beijing-aligned network. Over $9 million moved through Donor-Advised Funds like the PayPal Giving Fund, Schwab Charitable, and Fidelity Charitable. This allowed donors to remain anonymous while claiming federal tax write-offs.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      THE PHANTOM FINANCIAL PIPELINE                     │
├─────────────────────────┬───────────────────────┬───────────────────────┤
│    ANONYMOUS DONORS     │  INTERMEDIARY / NGO   │  PFLP FRONT GROUPS    │
├─────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│ • Donor-Advised Funds   │                       │ • UAWC                │
│   (PayPal, Schwab)      │                       │ • UHWC / Al-Awda      │
│ • Mega Foundations      │ ──►  MECA 501(c)(3)  ──► • UPWC                │
│   (Open Society, RBF)   │     (Berkeley, CA)    │ • Afaq Jadeeda        │
│ • Singham Network       │                       │ • Never Stop Dreaming │
│   (People's Forum)      │                       │                       │
└─────────────────────────┴───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┘

The system hid end recipients. From FY2011 through FY2019, MECA disclosed the specific overseas non-governmental organizations receiving its funds on IRS Schedule F filings. Beginning in FY2020, MECA erased its partners’ names from public view.

Between 2019 and 2022, European governments and Israeli defense authorities exposed interlocks between MECA’s long-term grantees and PFLP operational cells. In August 2019, a PFLP cell detonated an improvised explosive device at the Ein Bubin spring in the West Bank, killing 17-year-old Israeli Rina Shnerb. Cell commander Samer Arbid simultaneously served as financial director for the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), a core MECA grantee. The Dutch government launched an investigation, identified 34 UAWC officials with concurrent PFLP ties, and terminated state funding by January 2022. Israel designated UAWC, the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC), and the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees (UPWC) as terror entities.

MECA altered its reporting. The charity wiped these six long-term PFLP-affiliated grantees from its IRS Schedule F program descriptions. Generic tax entries replaced detailed grant lines. In FY2019, zero percent of MECA’s foreign grant entries used generic descriptions. By FY2023, generic lines rose to 42 percent. By FY2024, generic entries accounted for 73 percent of foreign grant entries. Filings for 2025 stripped purpose descriptions across 100 percent of foreign grants.

(Credit: @DataRepublican first surfaced primary grant filings tracking these tax disclosures. H/T @PepesGrandma for archiving video evidence).

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              MECA'S SHIFT TO OPAQUE SCHEDULE F REPORTING                │
├───────────────────────┬────────────────────────┬────────────────────────┤
│      FISCAL YEAR      │   GENERIC GRANT LINES  │      CONTEXT / EVENT   │
├───────────────────────┼────────────────────────┼────────────────────────┤
│ FY2019 & Earlier      │           0%           │ Pre-investigation era  │
│ FY2020                │           3%           │ Dutch launch probe     │
│ FY2021                │          24%           │ Israel designates NGOs │
│ FY2022                │          22%           │ Netherlands cuts funding│
│ FY2023                │          42%           │ Pre-war baseline       │
│ FY2024                │          73%           │ Post-Oct 7 revenue surge│
└───────────────────────┴────────────────────────┴────────────────────────┘

MECA's overall revenue jumped from $3.5 million to over $20.7 million in FY2024. Foreign disbursements expanded to $10.7 million.

Inside these FY2024 filings lies a $3.15 million lump-sum line item listed as "stipend and expenses for work in Gaza". It spiked 38-fold from prior annual averages. MECA stated on its IRS forms that it retains detailed organizational profiles, names, and addresses for every foreign grant recipient.

Donors route tax-deductible checks through donor-advised platforms. MECA files vague tax entries to send cash overseas.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B, providing material support or resources to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization is a federal crime.

Federal authorities must subpoena MECA's foreign grant profiles, audit its Donor-Advised Fund conduits, and review its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

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