An allegation has recently surfaced from Republican Congressman Mike Lawler regarding USAID spending, who claims he “uncovered over 3 million dollars to a rap artist in Gaza, producing anti-Israel, anti-Semitic songs”. Not only is this allegation blatantly false, but the grant given to the organization he incorrectly characterizes as “a rap artist in Gaza” was part of an AIPAC endorsed funding program that was approved by Congress.
In a clip that has gone viral across a range of social media networks, New York Rep. Mike Lawler made the claim on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program that USAID had funded a rapper in the Gaza Strip to the tune of over 3 million dollars, giving the impression that the funds were used to support the said artists so-called “anti-Semitic” songs. The allegation, that if true would be a rather shocking and unusual use of American taxpayer dollars, went unquestioned by MSNBC’s host Joe Scarborough and is continuing to gain traction on social media. Outraged Republicans and supporters of Donald Trump’s moves against USAID have also been using the claim to fuel their own pro-Israel arguments.
USAID paid $3 million to a rapper in Gaza to produce antisemitic rap songs.
What more do you need to know about USAID?
And Rubio has exempted lifesaving USAID programs like Pepfar from cancellation.
Thank you @realDonaldTrump @elonmusk and @DOGE for exposing the nightmare,… https://t.co/1gOwbPE0p7
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) February 13, 2025
An Insidious Lie
Following Lawler’s claims came an article from the Daily Mail, which claims to reveal that the total amount of funds provided by USAID to the “rap artist in Gaza” was nearly 3.3 million US dollars. The Daily Mail article, written by Alyssa Guzman, clearly demonstrates that at least some background research was conducted in the process of putting together the piece, which names the alleged rapper in question as Raffoul Saadeh. Yet despite linking to the grant in question, Guzman decides to omit a valid description of what the funds actually went to, instead focusing on the alleged “Jew hatred” in the rappers music.
So, what is the truth?
There was indeed a grant that was paid in two installments back in 2022 — the first for $1,790,851, and the second for $1,503,351 — to an organization called Tomorrow’s Youth Organization, that is registered in the US State of Virginia, not Gaza. It’s work is actually based in the West Bank, with its center located in the Khallet al-Amood neighborhood of Nablus and its Executive Director is Raffoul Saadeh, while it was founded by Hani Masri.
The rapper in question, Raffoul Saadeh, is a Catholic Palestinian who was born in the United States, grew up in occupied Jerusalem and volunteered at Interfaith Dialogue groups at Georgetown University. Alongside his charitable work, he has also made rap music. The three songs that have been cited for their alleged “Jew hatred” and “anti-Semitism” — Tears over Palestine, From the Ghetto, and Scars of Gaza — were all released well before the grant to the organization he works for was issued. On top of this, it is clear that Saadeh has his own record label called LXIV Entertainment for which he works on music projects, this is registered separately from Tomorrow’s Youth Organization where he works and there is no evidence that he has used the organization’s funds for his private music projects.
It is also clear from the lyrics that he never says anything anti-Semitic, rather he makes mention of the Nazi genocide of the Jewish people in the Second World War and connects it to Palestinian suffering in some of his lyrics. Although such comparisons may be deemed controversial by some, it is far from the vile kind of Jew hatred you would expect to hear given the descriptions of his music.
The Palestinian-American Christian is also not from Gaza, nor is he in the Gaza Strip, and there was no USAID funding provided for his rap music. The Tomorrow’s Youth Organization that he heads has been active since 2007 and is open on its website about its work, which runs programs for Eduction, Women’s Empowerment, Youth Development, Mental Health and Family Support, Emergency Relief, and an International Internship program. It notably provides support for struggling families in four refugee camps in the West Bank.
The USAID grant is very clearly labelled as “MEPPA AWARD: WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT“, which was granted for exactly what it is entitled. However, this story does not end here, as the Women’s development program grant is actually part of the much wider Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (MEPPA), which pledged a total of 250 million dollars over a five year span of time to Israeli, Palestinian, and foreign organization to help promote “Israeli-Palestinian peace-building” efforts.
Not only was this USAID grant program passed through US Congress with unanimous bi-partisan vote in 2019, but it was even supported and praised by every pro-Israel Lobby group from AIPAC to J-Street. However, the story behind this controversy goes even deeper, while Republican lawmaker Mike Lawler claims that he was the one who uncovered the alleged funds going “to a rap artist in Gaza, producing anti-Israel, anti-Semitic songs”, it is clear that the information he cites was actually first spread by Itamar Marcus of the Israeli-registered NGO called “Palestinian Media Watch”; which was covered in a story published by the New York Sun in March of 2024. The article makes sure to tie the issue to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements about “de-radicalising” the Palestinian people. According to a Haaretz article published in 2012, “Palestinian Media Watch” was associated with the Israeli right-wing establishment and was a project to outsource the Israeli military’s monitoring of Palestinians.
As for Mike Lawler, he is listed within the top 20 recipients of pro-Israel donor money for 2023-2024 and is said to have received at least $679,834. Unfortunately, these kinds of outlandish claims go widely unchallenged on both social media and mainstream corporate media and, despite the work done to debunk them, they will still register as true amongst many based simply upon their initial spread.
Gaza Condoms
Turns out, the United States did send $50 million for STD prevention to Gaza ($83 million to be exact).
Just so happens, it was sent to the province of Gaza in Mozambique, the country located on the southeastern coast of Africa. Hamas in Gaza, Palestine, did not receive $50… https://t.co/dogNzaVfG4 pic.twitter.com/afOuieHG0o
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) January 30, 2025
Another similar case of a blatant lie of this kind was the allegation made by US President Donald Trump, that 50 million in taxpayer dollars were designated by the American government to spend on “condoms for Hamas”. Not only is the claim that the US government would provide such aid to Hamas ridiculous, but there has never been anywhere close to this amount of money spent on condoms entering Gaza (or anywhere for that matter) in the territory’s history. It was simply made up, yet it then triggered a wave of coverage on Fox News and from social media commentators about how the US was sending condoms that were turned into explosive devices.
Also not a “DOGE investigation”, as Mario dutifully lies about. This was a screen shot “investigation” that went around & Elon simply commented on it. That got framed as “investigation” & they regurgitated the circulating (and incorrect) meme. Just like the #GazaCondoms story. pic.twitter.com/KUeaciF5Tf
— The Last American Vagabond (@TLAVagabond) February 13, 2025
To summarise, there is no proof that USAID sent over 3 million dollars to a Gaza based rapper to make “Jew hatred” music, it is a categorical falsehood. The man in question is an American Christian, the organization in question operates in the West Bank and it is registered in the United States, while the funding bill received bi-partisan support to pass through Congress was endorsed by AIPAC. Unfortunately, many will believe this falsehood as they did the Hamas condom hoax and it will be used to drum up resentment against funding to humanitarian efforts in Palestine, along with supporting the current Republican Party agenda.
