Prominent Democratic donors, including Apple heiress Laurene Powell Jobs, Google founder Eric Schmidt, and the George Soros-backed Tides Foundation, are among the financial supporters of activist Kamau Franklin's charity, which has been accused of anti-Israel sentiments.
Franklin, who leads the Atlanta-based nonprofit Community Movement Builders, recently defended the alleged assassination of two Israeli diplomats in Washington, D.C. by Elias Rodriguez, describing it as a "morally righteous" act.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, Franklin's organization, which was established in 2015, advocates for the "liberation" of black Americans, Palestinians, and other groups. The group's radical rhetoric includes referring to police as "pigs" and labeling the state of Israel as "the result of a war crime."
Franklin recently endorsed an open letter defending Rodriguez's actions, describing them as "fully justified," "eminently defensible," and "morally righteous." The letter also suggested that Rodriguez's actions would "teach a lesson and set an example" for supporters of Israel.
The radical stance of Community Movement Builders may raise eyebrows among its high-profile donors, revealing that violent anti-Israel sentiments are closer to the Democratic Party mainstream than previously thought. The organization raised $2.9 million in 2023, with nearly $2 million coming from large donations from several Democratic donors, liberal philanthropies, and groups within the Arabella network, a Democratic dark money powerhouse.
Jobs, who owns The Atlantic magazine, donated $1 million in 2022 and 2023 to Community Movement Builders through her Waverley Street Foundation charity, as per tax filings. The Schmidt Family Foundation contributed $540,000 from 2021 to 2023, according to tax records. Both Jobs and Schmidt have made significant contributions to the Democratic National Committee and the campaigns of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.
Other notable donors include the Heising-Simons Foundation, funded by Democratic donors Mark Heising and Liz Simons, which gave $100,000 to Community Movement Builders. The Tides Foundation, heavily backed by Soros, contributed around $100,000 to the organization for "equity" programs.
Franklin also serves as treasurer for the Black Voters Matter Action Fund PAC, which has received $2.4 million from Soros. The PAC has spent heavily in support of Harris and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.). The New Georgia Project, an organization by Warnock and professional Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams, donated $50,000 to Community Movement Builders in 2021.
Despite its anti-Israel stance, Community Movement Builders received a $60,000 donation from the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, an organization that awards many grants to fight against anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, in 2022 and 2023.
Community Movement Builders has been accused of promoting anti-Semitic rhetoric. In November 2023, the group referred to "the illegal occupation of Palestine by the so-called i$raeli occupation entity," a common anti-Semitic trope about Jews and money. The group also expressed support for the terrorist group Hezbollah and criticized the Trump administrations assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
The organization is also heavily involved in the anti-police movement, often referring to Atlanta police officers as "pigs" in social media posts. It supports black separatists like Mumia Abu-Jamal and Assata Shakur, both convicted of murdering police officers.
Community Movement Builders advocates for the "Liberated Zones Theory," which aims to mobilize "the masses" to "embrace the unity and resistance struggles of African people at home and abroad."
The group criticizes the public school system for serving as a "propaganda machine for the capitalist, imperialist state," and calls for the teaching of "the true histories of Afrikan and Indigenous people and Amerikkkas historical and current global genocide."
Login