Who is paying for this?

Today, we mark in Israel the eve of the national Holocaust Memorial Day. This year, in particular, triggers a longer retrospect of what the Jewish people went through in the last 91 years. As a second generation of survivors of the Holocaust, I can not overlook the fact that the worst disaster that we incurred as a nation and people since the Holocaust, occurred in Oct. 7th, 2023 in our sovereign land.

Israel has been at war with the Hamas movement since that day for 212 days. We have hostages held in captivity for 212 days. No one could have believed this to be possible before Oct. 7th.

"Terror as it appears now, has got a foothold in the US and is not intending to leave".

The Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) events in 1938 Nazi Germany, the expulsion of Jewish students and professors from academic institutions, and the burning of books seemed to be reenacted in the past months in America, the greatest proclaimed protector of freedom. The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave became the home of new movements, dressed up as Palestinian supporters, who promulgated and executed hatred, violence, terror, harassment, and more, against Jewish people in the US and on campus in a manner that resembles both Nazi Germany and the dark days of the South in the US.

In the months following the attack on Israeli civilians in their houses, the north front was maintained by Lebanese Hizballah who constantly fired at Israeli cities, villages, and army posts, there is the Gazan front, the Yeman front, and most recently the Iranian direct front which culminated in a massive attack of Israel by Iranian cruise and ballistic missiles and drones. To these fronts, a new one emerged in recent months. A front on American soil. A front against Israel, Jewish American citizens, and Jewish students in colleges and Universities. Supporters of Hamas and Islamic Jihadi terror as it appears now, have got a foothold in the US and are not intending to leave.

Is it spontaneous or sponsored?

Some people believe that these are spontaneous instigations of violence and hatred. Others feel there must be an invisible hand that funds all these movements, encampments, riots, violence, and propaganda. When you look at the level of organization, logistic support, and equipment there is only one conclusion to be drawn. There is a wealthy sponsor, or a few, behind these "innocent" "spontaneous" instigations of violence and intimidation terror. Well, one organization, NGO Monitor accepted the challenge and investigated this. Here are their findings.

Organizations Involved

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)

• Founded in 1993 at UC Berkeley.
• Known for anti-Israel propaganda and BDS initiatives on campuses.
• National SJP lacks transparency in funding and operations.
• SJP in different forms  is the campus organization most directly responsible for creating a hostile campus environment saturated with anti-Israel propaganda agendas and events, BDS initiatives, and intimidation.
• SJP founder Hatem Bazian is also the co-founder of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)

• Founded in 1996.
• Aims to divide the American Jewish community and end US support for Israel.
• Funded in part by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; the budget was $3 million in 2021.
• JVP refers to itself as the “Jewish wing” of the Palestinian solidarity movement and as “Jews against Zionism,” notwithstanding the fact that many of its activists are not Jewish.
• JVP’s declared agenda is to create “a wedge” within the American Jewish community while working toward the goal of eliminating U.S. economic, military, and political aid to Israel. 
• JVP’s anti-Israel and antisemitic activities and rhetoric include the “apartheid” and “genocide” libels, justifying Palestinian “resistance” (euphemism for the mass slaughter of October 7), embracing terrorists, and promoting antisemitic tropes such as a cartoon that depicted Israeli soldiers joyously drinking the blood of dead Palestinians.

Within Our Lifetime (WOL)

• Formerly known as SJP NYC until 2019.
• Advocates for armed resistance against Zionist forces.
• Funded by WESPAC Foundation; funding details are non-transparent.
• Headed by Nerdeen Kiswani, co-founder and former chair of SJP-NYC.
• Abdullah Akl, a WOL organizer, also serves as the Director of Advocacy & Civic Engagement for the Muslim American Society. According to a legal brief from federal prosecutors, MAS “was founded as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.” 
• Fatima Mohammed, a WOL activist, led CUNY Law School’s SJP chapter. In May 2023, Mohammed delivered a commencement speech at CUNY Law School calling for a “revolution” against America’s “oppressive” institutions and for her graduating class to “fuel the fight against capitalism, racism, imperialism and Zionism around the world.” During the speech, Mohammed also expressed her support for the Holy Land Foundation, whose founders were convicted of financing Hamas, and described them as “Palestinian political prisoners.”
• During an April 2024 protest, Akl led a chant calling on Abu Obaida, Hamas’ military spokesman, to bomb Tel Aviv.

• On October 7, WOL published a statement declaring, “We must defend the Palestinian right to resist zionist settler violence and support Palestinian resistance in all its forms. By any means necessary. With no exceptions and no fine print.” 

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR)

• Founded in 2001.
• Advocates against alleged Israeli apartheid and supports BDS.
• Advocacy rhetoric includes accusations of “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” “genocide,” “war crimes,” and “colonialism.”
• Exploits the US civil rights struggle by accusing Israel of maintaining a “matrix of control” over the Palestinian population and enacting “laws that discriminate against [Palestinians], much as Black Americans had been treated during the Jim Crow era.”
• Largely funded by small donations; received significant funds from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

WESPAC Foundation

• Founded in 1974.
• Serves as a fiscal sponsor for various NGOs promoting Palestinian rights.
• Income sources are mostly undisclosed.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

• Linked to the terrorist group PFLP.
• In February 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense designated Samidoun a terrorist organization and “a subsidiary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).”
• In November 2023, Germany banned Samidoun for violating its Basic Law (Article 9(2)) and its Associations Act; namely, it “impairs and endangers the peaceful coexistence of Germans and foreigners,” “advocates and calls for the use of violence as a means of enforcing political interests,” and “supports associations that initiate, advocate and threaten attacks against people or property.”
• Advocates for armed resistance against Israel.
• According to media reports, in April 2024, the Belgian government accused Samidoun’s coordinator in Europe, Mohammed Khatib, of being an “extremist hate preacher” and moved to expel him from the country.
• Samidoun was incorporated in 2021 in Canada as a not-for-profit organization.
• Funded through the Alliance for Global Justice; faced payment processor bans.
• On October 7, 2023, Samidoun, wrote, “As the morning dawns on 7 October 2023, the resistance (euphemism for Palestinian terrorists) is rising throughout occupied Palestine, smashing the siege on Gaza with a comprehensive offensive confronting the occupier by land and air, taking control of Palestinian land, seizing occupation settlers and soldiers and launching thousands of missiles as Palestinian resistance forces fight to advance return and the liberation of Palestine

Legal and Funding Context

• Many of these NGOs are involved in legal battles and utilize fiscal sponsorship to manage funds, often lacking transparency and accountability.
• The Rockefeller Brothers Fund and other foundations play a significant role in financing these groups, despite non-transparency in some cases.
• Legal support for these groups is provided by entities such as the Center for Constitutional Rights and Palestine Legal, both of which have connections to larger, politically active funding bodies like the Tides Center.

Activities and Rhetoric

• These groups frequently employ rhetoric that includes terms like "apartheid," "genocide," and "ethnic cleansing" in their advocacy.
• They have been involved in numerous campus activities, legal actions, and public demonstrations advocating for Palestinian rights and opposing Israeli policies.

This document provides insights into the funding and operational structures of various NGOs involved in advocating for Palestinian rights and highlights the complexities of their funding sources and legal strategies.

The complete report can be viewed here: The NGO Network Orchestrating Antisemitic Incitement on American Campuses.

For those who haven't seen "𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞" directed by Anat Stalinsky and led by Sheryl Sandberg , I strongly recommend to see this powerful documentary.

6,000,000

Finally, we remember our 6,000,000 (six million) sisters and brothers who were exterminated by the Nazis during WWII, just because they committed the unforgivable sin of being Jewish.

We remember.

We are here to stay.

Never Again is not just a slogan for us.