Yes, really. The US State Department has awarded a $200,000 grant to the right-wing Zionist propaganda organisation the Middle East Media Research Institute. What were they thinking? Even leaving aside its reputation for attacking Muslim critics of Israel, and the inspiration this provided for Anders Breivik, MEMRI notoriously intervened in the 2004 US presidential election with the baseless claim that Osama bin Laden was supporting the Democrats’ campaign by offering to refrain from attacking US states that voted for Kerry rather than Bush.

See Jim Lobe and Philip Weiss. Also Ali Gharib at Think Progress.