The Abstraction Fund is a grantmaking organization headquartered in New York. ¹ The fund has given to a wide variety of organizations, including political and charitable groups. These include many pro-Israel groups, including the Central Fund of Israel, and American right-of-center think tanks, like the Hudson Institute and National Review Institute. ²

Nina Rosenwald has acted as Abstraction Fund president since 2011. ³ The fund’s support for national-conservative Middle East and Israel policy has led left-of-center commentators to accuse the group of anti-Muslim bias. ⁴

History

The Abstraction Fund was founded in 2006, as a private grantmaking foundation under the leadership of lawyer David P. Steinmann. ⁵ Nina Rosenwald, daughter of businessman and philanthropist William Rosenwald, took over as president and treasurer in 2011. ⁶ Although founded before its liquidation, the Abstraction Fund has largely served as a successor organization to the William Rosenwald Family Fund since it dissolved in 2012, when the Abstraction Fund took over roughly 14% of its assets. ⁷

Management

The Abstraction Fund is headed by Nina Rosenwald, a pro-Israel activist and heiress to much of the Sears-Roebuck fortune. She founded the Middle East policy organization. ⁸

Far-left writer Max Blumenthal, writing for The Nation, and other left-wing entities like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have accused Rosenwald of “anti-Muslim hate.” ⁹ This claim, and others of anti-Muslim bigotry by Rosenwald were reportedly denied by a number of Muslim associates of Rosenwald, most prominently M. Zuhdi Jasser who is a member of the board of directors at the Gatestone Institute and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. ¹⁰

Activities

As a grant giving organization the Abstraction Fund has primarily funded right-of-center organizations and causes. Like its predecessor, the Abstraction Fund has focused heavily on Jewish and Zionist causes. Many of the recipients have also included right of center groups like Turning Point USA and the David Horowitz Freedom Center. ¹¹

Perhaps most notable, has been the Abstraction Fund’s support of the Gatestone Institute, also led by Abstraction Fund head Nina Rosenwald. ¹² Gatestone publishes right-of-center and pro-Israeli commentary on Middle East policy and the consequences of Middle Eastern migration to Europe; left-of-center commentators have used Abstraction Fund’s support for and associations with Gatestone to criticize the Fund. ¹³

A report which centered on Trump administration National Security Advisor John Bolton’s role as chairman, published by NBC News, quoted the left-leaning Brookings Institution fellow Alina Polyakova accusing Gatestone of “putting out content that was clearly anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and was echoing some of the Russian disinformation propaganda.” ¹⁴ The Abstraction fund has supported the Foundation for Democracy in Russia, a small organization opposing political repression by the Putin regime. ¹⁵

In addition to supporting political organizations, the Abstraction Fund has also donated to philanthropic causes. In 2014 it donated $50,000 to The American Friends of the Open University. ¹⁶ In 2016 it donated $4,000 to ACE Programs for the Homeless. ¹⁷

1. Abstraction Fund, IRS Form 990, 2016
2. Abstraction Fund, IRS Form 990, Attachment 12, 2016
3. Abstraction Fund, IRS Form 990,2011
4. Goodstein, Laurie. “Pompeo and Bolton Appointments Raise Alarm Over Ties to Anti-Islam Groups.” The New York Times. April 06, 2018. Accessed April 16, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/06/us/pompeo-bolton-muslims.html
5. Abstraction Fund, IRS Form 990, 2006
6. Van Gelder, Lawrence. “William Rosenwald Dies; Benefactor to Many Was 93.” The New York Times, November 1, 1996, National ed., sec. B. Accessed April 7, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/01/us/william-rosenwald-dies-benefactor-to-many-was-93.html
7. William Rosenwald Family Fund, IRS Form 990, 2012
8. “Nina Rosenwald.” Gatestone Institute. Accessed April 17, 2019. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/biography/Nina+Rosenwald.
9. Blumenthal, Max. “The Sugar Mama of Anti-Muslim Hate.” The Nation, June 14, 2012. Accessed April 9, 2019. https://www.thenation.com/article/sugar-mama-anti-muslim-hate/
10. Paul Miller. “Islamic Scholars Blast CAIR for Trapping Muslims Into a ‘Trance of Victimhood.’” The Observer. May 27, 2015. Accessed May 10, 2019. https://observer.com/2015/05/islamic-scholars-blast-cair-for-trapping-muslims-into-a-trance-of-victimhood/
11. Abstraction Fund, IRS Form 990, Attachment 12, 2016
12. Gatestone Institute, IRS Form 990, 2016
13. Przybyla, Heidi. “John Bolton Presided over Anti-Muslim Think Tank.” NBCNews.com. April 23, 2018. Accessed April 16, 2019. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/john-bolton-chaired-anti-muslim-think-tank-n868171
14. Przybyla, Heidi. “John Bolton Presided over Anti-Muslim Think Tank.” NBCNews.com. April 23, 2018. Accessed April 16, 2019. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/john-bolton-chaired-anti-muslim-think-tank-n868171
15. Abstraction Fund, IRS Form 990, Attachment 12, 2016
16. Abstraction Fund, IRS Form 990, 2014
17. Abstraction Fund, IRS Form 990, 2016