The Biden administration reportedly provided a $78,000 grant to a Palestinian activist group whose officials attended an anniversary ceremony honoring the birth of a terrorist group and honored the killer of a U.S. military attaché as a ‘hero’ according to a funding release.
The Community Development and Continuing Education Institute (CDCEI), an activist group based in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories, was awarded the grant in November to promote youth participation and accountability in local governance, according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
However, an anti-terrorism watchdog group is concerned about the funding after discovering that the activist group’s board chairman attended a celebration for the terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, while other board members lauded convicted terrorists as heroes and applauded Hamas missile attacks on Israel.
NGO Monitor, a watchdog organization that reviewed CDCEI financing, questioned the federal government’s grantee verification procedure.
The announcement of the USAID award comes as the Biden State Department has been chastised by Congress for sponsoring a journalism training program in Gaza sponsored by another charity, Fares Al-Arab, which has collaborated with terrorists and advocated anti-Israel sentiments.
Imad Al-Zeer, chairman of CDCEI’s board of directors since 2012, attended a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine event commemorating the terrorist group’s 52nd anniversary in December 2019.
Mike Salman, the deputy chairman of CDCEI’s board, commended “hero warrior” George Abdallah and asked for his release from prison in a Facebook post translated by NGO Monitor on April 2, 2020.
In France, Abdullah is serving a life sentence for the 1982 murder of US military attaché Charles R. Ray and an Israeli ambassador.
CDCEI is not the only Palestinian organization financed by the Biden administration that has come under fire in recent weeks.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) issued a letter this week requesting that the State Department halt financing to the Gaza-based charity Fares Al-Arab.
As recently as 2021, the company collaborated on a housing project with the Hamas administration.
The organization also handed a media award to an Islamic Jihad Movement radio network, and honored a self-described journalist from the Popular Front.
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