David Horowitz Freedom Center

David Horowitz Freedom Center

Founded	1988
Founder	David Horowitz Peter Collier
Type	Conservative think-tank
Tax ID no.	95-4194642
Focus	Media
Location	Sherman Oaks, CA 91499[1]
Area served	United States
Product	FrontPage Magazine
Key people	David Horowitz, Founder & CEO Peter Collier, Vice President of Publications Michael Finch, President
Revenue	$5.4 million (2015)
Website	www.horowitzfreedomcenter.org
Formerly called	Center for the Study of Popular Culture

The David Horowitz Freedom Center, formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC), is a conservative^[2][3][4] anti-Islam^[5] foundation founded in 1988 by political activist David Horowitz and his long-time collaborator Peter Collier. It was established with funding from groups including the John M. Olin Foundation, the Bradley Foundation and the Scaife Foundation.

It runs several websites and blogs, including the anti-Islam website FrontPage Magazine and the anti-Muslim blog Jihad Watch.^[6][7][8] It has been described as a part of the counter-jihad movement.^[9] It is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.^[10]

Finances

DHFC is a 501(c)(3) charity. In 2005 it had revenues of $4.9 million, expenses of $4.0 million, 8.4% of which was $336,000 compensation for David Horowitz.^[1] For 2008 the DHFC reported on IRS Form 990 revenues of $5,466,103 and expenses of $5,994,547 with total compensation to David Horowitz of $480,162 and to vice-president Peter Collier of $228,744.^{[11][needs update]} In 2015, Horowitz made $583,000 from the organization – that same year, the organization received $5.4 million in donations.^[5]

Between July 2000 and February 2006, the center (under its old name) was the sponsor of 25 trips by United States senators and representatives, all Republicans, to six different events. Total expenditures were about $43,000.^[12] In 2014–2015, Horowitz provided $250,000 in funding to the Dutch right-wing nationalist Geert Wilders's Party for Freedom.^[13][14]

Activities

The center's activities have included:

• FrontPage Magazine – a political website edited by Horowitz that has been described by scholars and writers as right-wing,^[15][16][17] far-right,^[18] Islamophobic,^[19] and anti-Islam.^[20]
• Discover the Networks^[21] – a database of alleged left-wing agendas, activists and groups. After two years of development, they went online in February 2005, with a staff of two at a cost of about $500,000.^[22]
• Jihad Watch (formerly Dhimmi Watch) – a blog run by blogger Robert Spencer^[23][24] which has been described as one of the main homes of the Counter-jihad movement on the internet.^[25]

• Heterodoxy was a news magazine published in a tabloid format by the center, edited by David Horowitz and Peter Collier. Its focus was exposing the excesses of "political correctness" on college and university campuses across the United States, describing itself as “an irreverent monthly journal combating the folly of political correctness.”^[26]
• Truth Revolt - a political website with the mission of destroying what it referred to as the leftist media "where they stand."^[27] The editor-in-chief of the site was Ben Shapiro and the managing editor was Jeremy Boreing. Boreing was fired from the website in 2015, and Shapiro resigned shortly after.^[28] Mark Tapson took over as editor-in-chief. The site closed in March 2018.^[29]

Criticism

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has described the Center as a far-right organization^[30] and anti-Muslim hate group.^[31] According to Horowitz, the SPLC's designation resulted in the Freedom Center's donation processing being blocked by Visa and Mastercard.^{[32][better source needed]}

Chip Berlet, writing for the SPLC, accused Horowitz of blaming slavery on "black Africans ... abetted by dark-skinned Arabs" and of "attack[ing] minority 'demands for special treatment' as 'only necessary because some blacks can't seem to locate the ladder of opportunity within reach of others,' rejecting the idea that they could be the victims of lingering racism."^[33]

A 2011 report authored by Wajahat Ali, Eli Clifton, Matthew Duss, Lee Fang, Scott Keyes and Faiz Shakir of the Center for American Progress cited Horowitz as a prominent figure instrumental in propagating Islamophobia and spreading fear about an Islamic takeover of Western society.^[34] Horowitz responded, saying that the Center had "joined the Muslim Brotherhood".^[35]

In 2012, the Anti-Defamation League wrote that Horowitz sponsors a college campus project that promotes anti-Muslim views and arranges events with anti-Muslim activists.^[36] The DHFC was also a sponsor of the May 3, 2015, Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest in Garland, Texas,^[37] where two Muslim terrorist attackers were shot and killed by a school security guard.^[38]

References

1. "Charity Navigator Rating – The David Horowitz Freedom Center". Charitynavigator.org. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
2. Maureen Ryan. The Other Side of Grief: The Home Front and the Aftermath in American Narratives of the Vietnam (Culture, Politics, and the Cold War Culture, Politics, and the conservative David Horowitz Freedom Center). Univ. of Massachusetts Press. p. 213.
3. Asma Khalid (October 20, 2007). "Horowitz campus effort targets Islamic 'fanatics'". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
4. Michael Krebs (December 23, 2010). "Controversy in Seattle over anti-Israel outdoor advertisements". DigitalJournal.com. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
5. O'Harrow, Robert Jr.; Boburg, Shawn (June 3, 2017). "How a 'shadow' universe of charities joined with political warriors to fuel Trump's rise". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
6. Kazem, Halima (June 20, 2016). "Funding Islamophobia: $206m went to promoting 'hatred' of American Muslims". The Guardian. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
7. Yang, Jennifer (December 21, 2017). "Board member of anti-racism agency fired amid accusations of Islamophobic commentary". Toronto Star. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
8. John L. Esposito (2011). "Islamophobia and the Challenges of Pluralism in the 21st Century - Introduction" (PDF). Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 24, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
9. Perwee, Ed (2020). "Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 43 (16): 211–230. doi:10.1080/01419870.2020.1749688. S2CID 218843237.
10. Shah, Areeba (December 10, 2023). "The "dark money ATM of the right" is funneling money to hate groups while hiding donor identities". Salon. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
11. "2008 IRS Form 990" (PDF). The Tennessean.
12. "C-SPAN: Campaign Finance Database". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2006.
13. Ishaan, Tharoor (March 14, 2017). "Analysis - Geert Wilders and the mainstreaming of white nationalism". The Washington Post.
14. Hakim, Danny; Schuetze, Christopher F. (March 8, 2017). "Geert Wilders's Far-Right Dutch Party Sees Drop in U.S. Money". The New York Times.
15. Jenkins, Philip (2007). God's Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe's Religious Crisis. Oxford University Press. pp. 14, 182. ISBN 9780199886128. ultra-conservative [p. 14] ... right-wing [p. 182]
16. Lisa Wangsness (December 5, 2016). "An interfaith marriage of our times: Muslim and Jewish groups form coalition to fight bigotry". The Boston Globe.
17. Erdoan A. Shipoli (2018). Islam, Securitization, and US Foreign Policy. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 247.
18. David Kenner (September 10, 2013). "How Assad Wooed the American Right, and Won the Syria Propaganda War". Foreign Policy.
19. Ekman, Mattias (March 30, 2015). "Online Islamophobia and the politics of fear: manufacturing the green scare". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 38 (11): 1986–2002. doi:10.1080/01419870.2015.1021264. ISSN 0141-9870. S2CID 144218430.
20. Mathias, Christopher (January 13, 2017). "Ted Cruz vs. The Muslim Brotherhood Boogeyman". Huffington Post. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
21. "Discover the Networks". Discover the Networks. Archived from the original on July 3, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
22. Gorenfeld, John (April 12, 2005). "Roger Ebert and Mohammed Atta, partners in crime – Salon.com". Dir.salon.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
23. Beck, Glenn (October 23, 2006). "Seeds of Holy War Planted in Europe? Gridlock Coming to Congress?" (interview). transcripts.cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
24. Invitation to author upsets Muslims, Indianapolis Star, March 18, 2007 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
25. Hegghammer, Thomas (July 24, 2011). "The Rise of the Macro-Nationalists". The New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
26. Horowitz, David; Collier, Peter (January 1, 1994). The Heterodoxy Handbook: How to Survive the PC Campus. Regnery Pub. ISBN 9780895267313 – via Google Books.
27. "Our Mission". Truth Revolt. February 10, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
28. Jeremy Boreing | The Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special Ep. 102. Retrieved May 1, 2024 – via www.youtube.com.
29. "Announcement: TruthRevolt Closing Shop | Truth Revolt". April 3, 2019. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
30. "Dutch Lawmaker Brings His Anti-Muslim Spiel to U.S." Southern Poverty Law Center.
31. Rosenberg, Matthew (April 2017). "Michael Flynn Failed to Disclose Income From Russia-Linked Entities". The New York Times.
32. "Report: Visa, Mastercard blocked donations to conservative think tank on advice from SPLC". World Tribune: Window on the Real World. August 24, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
33. Berlet, Chip (2003). "Into the Mainstream". Intelligence Report. Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on May 10, 2006. Retrieved April 23, 2006.
34. Ali, Wajahat; Clifton, Eli; Duss, Matthew; Fang, Lee; Keyes, Scott; Shakir, Faiz (August 26, 2011). "Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America". Center for American Progress. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
35. George Zornick (August 29, 2011). "Fear, Inc.: America's Islamophobia Network". The Nation. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
36. "Stop Islamization of America (SIOA)". Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
37. "Meet Robert Shillman, the Tech Mogul Who Funds Pamela Geller's Anti-Islam Push". May 9, 2015.
38. Chandler, Adam (May 4, 2015). "A Terror Attack in Texas". The Atlantic. Atlantic Monthly Group. Retrieved June 28, 2016.

External links

• Official website
• "David Horowitz Freedom Center Internal Revenue Service filings". ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.