AIPAC Paid $60K To Group That Peddles Anti-Islam Conspiracy Theories

Frank Gaffney Jr., president of the Center for Security Policy. Image by Getty Images

By Ron Kampeas March 15, 2017

WASHINGTON (JTA) – An AIPAC affiliate paid $60,000 during its campaign to thwart the Iran nuclear deal to a group that engages in anti-Muslim extremism.

Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran, which was launched in the summer of 2015 to rally opposition to the Iran deal, paid the money to the Center for Security Policy, according to a report by LobeLog, a Middle East policy site.

An American Israel Public Affairs Committee official confirmed the payment to JTA and said it was for ads against the Iran deal.

The Center for Security Policy and its director, Frank Gaffney, have drawn fire for sweeping generalizations about Muslims. In November, the Reform movement and other liberal Jewish groups urged Israel’s U.S. ambassador, Ron Dermer, not to accept an award from Gaffney’s group because of his statements, which the Reform described as “anti-Muslim bigotry.”

Gaffney accuses officials in the U.S. government and elsewhere of acting on behalf of radical Muslims, often with scant evidence or because of tenuous associations. He has suggested that former President Barack Obama, a Christian, is a Muslim.

Gaffney is close to Steve Bannon, a top strategic adviser to President Donald Trump.

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