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Who Is Paying for the American Campus Protests?

(JNS) Shimon Sherman - Large groups of students, faculty and professional agitators have taken over major swaths of campuses across the U.S. as chants in support of Hamas, the Houthis, Iran, and bombing Israel have been the consistent soundtrack of the protests. The synchronized eruption of these protests, the use of common talking points and well-oiled logistics surrounding the supply of sleeping arrangements, food, water and medical support for the protesters have raised red flags surrounding the funding for this phenomenon. "What we are seeing is not a random emotional response but the fruition of 20 years of groundwork and preparation by several anti-Israeli, pro-terror groups," said Prof. Gerald Steinberg, head of the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor. A series of student groups are organizing these protests, including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Within Our Lifetime (WOL). "SJP has no U.S. revenue service (IRS) status and most of the money sources are hidden, which raises major concerns," Steinberg said. "There is simply no transparency about who is funding them." Hatem Bazian, the founder of SJP, was previously a major fundraiser for the nonprofit Kindhearts, which was censured in 2006 by the U.S. Treasury Department for giving money to Hamas. Bazian is also a co-founder of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which is currently under investigation by the Virginia Attorney General after being accused of being a reincarnation of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which shut down after it was found liable in civil court in 2004 for its support of Hamas. Another major financial backer of the student protests has been the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which has been "closely linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)," recognized as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU. Several members of Samidoun are also members of the PFLP, including chief coordinator Khaled Barakat and international coordinator Charlotte Kates. Another source of financial support for pro-Palestinian activism on campus is foreign governments including Qatar, aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2020, a report showed that Qatar had invested $5.6 billion in 81 American universities since 2007 to promote Islamic studies and to suppress the study of Middle Eastern minorities.
2024-05-07 00:00:00
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