The Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC), also known as the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), was formed in 2024 upon the merger of POMED and the Freedom Initiative. MEDC advocates that the United States government to promote the development of democracy within the Middle East and North Africa, while calling for the Biden administration to cut military support for Israel while restoring funding for United Nations (UN) organizations allegedly tied with Palestinian terrorist organizations. From 2016 through 2023, MEDC received over $3 million in grants from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Activities and History

The Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC) was founded in 2024 upon the merger of the Project on Middle East Democracy and the Freedom Initiative. MEDC provides research into developing democratic frameworks within Middle East and North African (MENA) countries as well as advocating for policies meant to encourage the United States’ support for such efforts. ^{6 1}

MEDC claims to have three goals: to advocate freedom for the “unjustly detained and persecuted” within the Middle East and North Africa, ¹ to counter and expose MENA authoritarian governments, and to advocate for democratic institutions within the MENA region. ¹

In September 2024, MEDC advocated that the Biden administration restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA), which had previously been accused of collaborating with the Hamas terrorist organization. ^{2 3}

On October 7, 2024, one year following the Hamas terrorist attack against the State of Israel, MEDC released a statement condemning the attacks while calling for the United States to end all support for Israel during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war as well as Israeli military operations in Lebanon. ⁴

Leadership

The Executive Director of the Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC) is Tess McEnry. McEnry previously served in several positions with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) including an electoral assistance coordinator, an elections and political transitions advisor, and a senior democracy advisor. She also worked as the Director for Democracy and Human Rights in the Biden administration’s National Security Council and served as the Democracy and Human Rights Section Chief for the U.S. State Department in both the Trump administration and the Biden administration. McEnry was the executive director for the Project on Middle East Democracy before it merged with the Freedom Initiative to become the Middle East Democracy Center. ^{7 8}

Financials

According to tax filings, in 2022 the Project on Middle East Democracy, the main group that merged with the Freedom Initiative to become the Middle East Democracy Center, reported $1,894,194 in revenue, $1,853,836 in expenses and $2,205,409 in assets. That year, according to its tax filings, MEDC spent $663,864 to collaborate with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and regional think tanks to create policy recommendations for national policymakers outside of the United States. MEDC spent $532,961 on advocacy, including briefings and events for members of Congress and Congressional staff as well as to conduct meetings with executive branch officials. MEDC spent $468,475 on its research program to create policy briefs on democratic development in the Middle East. ⁶

Of its $1,894,194 in reported revenue in 2022, MEDC received $1,184,120 from gifts, grants, contributions, and membership fees. ⁶

From 2016 to 2023, Project on Middle East Democracy received 11 grants from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations amounting to $3,282,646, including $1.1 million in grants in 2022 and two $550,000 grants in 2018 and 2016, respectively. ⁵

1. “About.” MEDC. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://mideastdc.org/about/.
2. “MEDC and 104 Other Organization Urge U.S. Government to Restore UNRWA Funding.” MEDC. September 23, 2024. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://mideastdc.org/publication/13792-2/.
3. “U.S. Bans UNRWA Funding for One Year.” FDD. March 25, 2024. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/03/25/u-s-bans-unrwa-funding-for-one-year/.
4. “One Year of Bloodshed: End UU.S. Support for Israel’s War on Palestine and Lebanon.” MEDC. October 7, 2024. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://mideastdc.org/publication/one-year-of-bloodshed-end-u-s-support-for-israels-war-on-palestine-and-lebanon/.
5. “Awarded Grants: Project on Middle East Democracy.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=Project%20on%20Middle%20East%20Democracy&page=2
6. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). The Project on Middle East Democracy Inc. 2022.
7. “Tess McEnry.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tess-mcenery-11114013/.
8. “Tess McEnry.” MEDC. Accessed October 9, 2024. https://mideastdc.org/about/.