Behind the mask: Who is funding America's Anti-Israel campus protests?

Recent protests on U.S. campuses have drawn attention for their strong anti-Israel stance. At universities such as Columbia, Yale, UCLA, and NYU, masked groups have organized “autonomous zones,” clashed with police, and harassed Jewish students, calling for divestment from Israeli-linked entities. While these protests may appear to be led by students, they are actually orchestrated by professional radicals, including anarchists, Marxist-Leninists, and Islamist activists.

The protests' organization mirrors past left-wing movements, such as the 2020 BLM protests. Tactics like setting up protest camps, blocking police attempts at arrests, employing strategies to maintain anonymity, and coordinating actions across campuses suggest a high level of professional involvement. For example, Lisa Fithian, a veteran protest consultant, has helped organize students, teaching them how to fortify protest sites and avoid arrest. Additionally, many of the detainees in recent protests were not affiliated with the universities involved, pointing to external organizers with a history of radical activism.

Leftist groups, including Antifa, the Revolutionary Communist Party, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), have been integral in the organization of these campus protests. These groups, often working with Palestinian and Islamist organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), have used their networks to push anti-Israel narratives and mobilize protests. For example, the People’s Forum, a venue tied to PSL and funded by wealthy donors linked to Chinese state media, called for protests at Columbia, further indicating the involvement of professional organizers.

The funding behind these movements is substantial, with progressive foundations like the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, George Soros's Open Society Foundations, and financial institutions such as Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Vanguard, and Morgan Stanley providing millions of dollars to groups like Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a key player in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. JVP has received large sums from these donors, further fueling anti-Israel campaigns.

Moreover, the groups behind these protests, such as AMP and SJP, have strong ties to Islamist networks. AMP, founded by Hatem Bazian, has been linked to Hamas and other extremist groups. SJP operates as a campus arm of AMP, further connecting the protests to pro-Palestinian, Islamist political goals.

These protests are not simply organic student movements, but part of a larger, coordinated effort with deep ties to radical organizations and financial backing from influential progressive donors. These groups use campuses as platforms for promoting anti-Israel sentiment, with funding and organization often coming from outside the university community.