House panel urges removal of tax-exemption for charity with alleged Palestinian terror ties

MECA is a Berkeley, Calif.-based charity that describes itself as working “to protect the rights and improve the lives of children” in “Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon.”

By Andrew Bernard, JNS

Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee urged the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of the nonprofit Middle East Children’s Alliance on Monday, alleging that the group’s foreign grants may have benefitted a foreign terrorist organization.

In a letter to Frank Bisignano, CEO of the IRS, the Republican committee members said that the nonprofit “has ties to foreign actors that raise concerns, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.

“For several years, MECA reported their work with Afaq Jadeeda and Never Stop Dreaming in Gaza, organizations assessed by researchers as connected to the PFLP’s military and political wings,” the committee wrote.

“MECA has also been linked to the Freedom Theatre in Jenin which was cofounded and led by Zakaria Zubeidi, a former commander of Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades who oversaw terror attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada and was responsible for numerous acts of terrorism, including a suicide bombing in the heart of Tel Aviv that killed an Israeli woman,” the lawmakers stated.

MECA is a Berkeley, Calif.-based charity that describes itself as working “to protect the rights and improve the lives of children” in “Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon.”

It routinely accuses Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and has alleged that the Jewish state imposed famine on the enclave. (JNS sought comment from the charity.)

According to the House Ways and Means Committee, the group’s foreign grantees became substantially more opaque after Oct. 7.

“In fiscal year 2024, MECA also carried approximately $3,010,000 on a single Schedule F line described only as ‘stipend and expenses for work in Gaza,’ with no beneficiaries named, an amount roughly thirty‑six times the prior annual maximum for the same purpose,” the Republican congressmen said.

“It appears that often, MECA’s largest disbursements contain the least amount of information related to the grantee and purported use of the funding,” they said.

The congressmen called for the IRS to closely examine “MECA’s foreign grant recipients to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not flowing out of the United States to benefit the PFLP.”