Marching Toward Violence: Background

Marching Toward Violence:
The Domestic Anti-Israeli Protest Movement (full report)
Executive Summary | Background | Four Overlapping Circles
Strategic Alliance | Conclusions | Countering the Movement
Table of Pro-Terrorist Groups | Appendix A: Pro-Terrorism Groups
Full report PDF

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This study of the groups involved in the disruptive anti-Israel protests on college campuses and elsewhere in the United States identifies over 150 groups in the movement as “pro-terrorism” and documents their support for and ties to terrorism and terrorist organizations.

This study has also established that significant militant elements within the movement are pushing the movement toward a wider and more severe campaign focused on property destruction and violence that can be credibly described as domestic terrorism. The primary targets of this campaign are law enforcement and targets associated with the U.S.-Israeli alliance and Zionism and the long-term revolutionary goals are typically the “dismantlement” of the U.S.’s “colonialist,” “imperialist” or “capitalist” system or even the abolishment of the U.S as a country.

The anti-Israel extremist groups espouse varying ideologies and have developed into two factions. One is a fusion of communists/Marxists, anarchists, and Islamist extremists. The other faction are anti-Israel extremist groups with white supremacist/nationalist ideologies. Sometimes components within either faction will express support for the other faction based on a shared Jew-hatred, anti-Americanism, and goal of sparking a revolutionary uprising or insurgency.

Such symbiosis and overlaps are common, such as when white supremacist leader Nick Fuentes said[1] he favors Hamas “over all these tricky Zionist Jews,” pro-Hamas[2] Minnesota Imam Asad Zaman was caught promoting[3] Nazi propaganda and Max Blumenthal,[4] editor of a “far-left” outlet named Grayzone that demonizes[5] Israel while whitewashing the West’s enemies, used[6] the white supremacist term “Zionist-Occupied Government” to refer to alleged Israeli puppeteering of American institutions of power.

These groups are listed and discussed in detail in Appendix A.

Background

On October 7, 2023, Hamas and various other terrorist organizations attacked Israel from Gaza, murdering more than 1,100 Israelis and foreign nationals, including about 800 civilians, dozens of children, and more than 30 Americans. Approximately 3,500 Israeli civilians and soldiers were wounded, and 251 were kidnapped and held hostage in Gaza. The October 7 attack is particularly notable for the extensive, horrific war crimes committed by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists.

Also of particular note are the dozens of organizations in the anti-Israel movement that reacted immediately, before the attacks were even over, to announce celebratory rallies portrayed as “pro-Palestinian” and protests opposing Israel’s alleged “genocide.”

Israel responded to the attack promptly with an intense bombing campaign of Gaza, followed by a ground invasion 20 days later with the goals of freeing the hostages, destroying Hamas, and minimizing the threat from Gaza-based terrorist groups. Anti-Israel protests grew as the conflict intensified and Palestinian civilian casualty estimates, often of dubious credibility, continued to rise.

More than 100 hostages have been returned to Israel to date—most through prisoner exchanges, some rescued by Israeli forces.

At present, the Hamas-Israeli war continues, and anti-Israel and pro-Hamas protests have returned to U.S. college campuses. The conflict has expanded to Lebanon[7] after “Hezbollah started attacking Israeli military posts along the border” in October, and Israel responded with increasing force[8] to stop Hezbollah attacks.

Defining “Pro-Terrorism”

Identifying a group as “pro-terrorism” is not done lightly. A group is designated as “pro-terrorism” only when justified by documentable evidence that is beyond reasonable dispute. The most common source of evidence is the group’s own statements and publications.

For the purposes of this research, “pro-terrorism” is defined as:

Endorsing, contributing to, or having substantive links to individuals or groups that

• Commit violent and criminal acts to further ideological goals or
• Are associated with or inspired by designated foreign terrorist organizations (including governments that sponsor terrorism such as in Iran).

This definition is based on the FBI’s definitions[9] of domestic and international terrorism.

A group’s opposition to Israeli or U.S. policy has no bearing on its designation. Its other extremist beliefs or actions, such as favoring the destruction of Israel or promoting anti-Semitism, were also not considered. A group’s exclusion from this list should not be interpreted as any kind of exoneration.

The sizes and influences of the groups vary. All operate within the United States but are not necessarily headquartered in the U.S. While extensive, this list is not exhaustive. This list will be expanded and updated as new information becomes available and as the organizations change and new ones are created.

Methodology

First, the organizations associated with the anti-Israel protests were noted based on the appearances of their names and logos on promotional material that was seen on social media or mentioned in news reports.

Research was then conducted on the identified groups’ histories and statements regarding terrorism and terrorist groups, prioritizing the groups that appeared to play the most significant roles in organizing and instigating protests. For each group, the gathered evidence was evaluated based on the stated working definition of “pro-terrorism.”

Launching the Movement

The group that is most responsible by far for the current anti-Israel protest movement is Students for Justice in Palestine[10] (SJP), and the organization most responsible for SJP’s success is American Muslims for Palestine[11] (AMP).

The Launching Pad.

The starting date of the current protests is usually identified as April 20 when SJP announced[12] its Popular University for Gaza campaign. In fact, the campaign is an escalation of a protest movement that began with groups’ expressing solidarity with Hamas as soon as the news of the attacks broke on October 7. Announcements of events, including protests demanding an end to Israeli military operations against Palestinian terrorists, went out before the Hamas attacks even ended on October 8.

SJP jubilantly celebrated the attacks, declared its allegiance to Hamas, and announced it would hold protests on October 12, for what it called a “national day of resistance.” It said the demonstrations would take place “across occupied Turtle Island,” terminology that is used to reject the United States’ right to exist as a country.

SJP distributed a toolkit[13] to its supporters for the event that stated:

Today, we witness a historic win for the Palestinian resistance: across land, air, and sea, our people have broken down the artificial barriers of the Zionist entity, taking with it the façade of an impenetrable settler colony and reminding each of us that total return and liberation to Palestine is near. As the Palestinian student movement, we have an unshakable responsibility to join the call for mass mobilization.

National liberation is near—glory to our resistance, to our martyrs, and to our steadfast people.

The first student group to officially sign on was Bears for Palestine at UC Berkeley, which is SJP’s chapter at the school and has a history[14] of supporting terrorists. It is the only student group whose official statement was promoted in SJP’s toolkit.

SJP endorses Hamas without specifically naming the group in the toolkit, but it clearly refers to Hamas (an acronym for “Islamic Resistance Movement”) when it mentions “the resistance” or “the movement” at war with Israel. SJP’s toolkit explains that it is not referring to the Palestinian “resistance” or “movement” in its broadest sense, which would leave room to deny that it supports Hamas in particular. Instead, SJP narrows its endorsement to specifically support the “resistance” or “movement” responsible for the October 7 attacks, which can only be Hamas.

That context is important for accurately understanding the text in SJP’s toolkit that declares, “We as Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement” (original emphasis).

The significance of this declaration cannot be overstated. SJP said it is Hamas. It also refers to “our resistance” when boasting about the success of Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel.

In other words, SJP declared itself to be a part of Hamas as a single entity. It committed to using its resources on behalf of Hamas. And it acknowledged that it is voluntarily operating under the direction and control of Hamas by responding to its calls for action.

Similarly, supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS) who carry out attacks are commonly referred to as “belonging to” or even being “members of” ISIS. An entity does not need to appear on an official membership roll to be treated as a member. The line between member and fully dedicated supporter is extremely blurry, if it exists at all.

In short, the backbone of the current protest movement is Hamas or at least can be reasonably characterized as Hamas.

SJP also signed[15] a declaration of the Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran that backs Iran’s direct attack on Israel and explicitly chooses the side of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance, which consists of the government of Syria, Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist groups including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Yemen-based Houthis, and the Iran-backed militias in Iraq that are trying to kill U.S. troops. It also sides with Russia by denouncing the “US and NATO proxy war in Ukraine.”

It brags,

The US no longer has control over West Asia. Put simply, the days of the US subjugating the nations of the region are over. This is owed to the steadfastness of Palestinian resistance and the growing deterrence capabilities developed by the Axis of Resistance from Palestine to Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

SJP’s “Day of Resistance” toolkit gave a preview of how the protest movement’s strategic messaging would quickly evolve. Although it provided responses to criticisms of Hamas and the October 7 attacks, such as how to justify the murder of civilians, SJP advised its supporters to focus on a broad theme “which centers [on] the legitimacy of resistance and the necessity of complete liberation.”

SJP is aware that someone who is unfamiliar with Middle East policy will likely be persuaded to the pro-Hamas side if that person accepts the premise of resistance and liberation. “Resistance” implies that the actions in question are acts of forced self-defense, and “liberation” implies that the goal of those actions is the unopposable objective of freeing a conquered people from occupation and oppression.

SJP began speaking[16] in the name of a new entity called the “Student Movement for Palestinian Liberation.” The rebranding allowed SJP to speak authoritatively through a new brand without a public record that could tarnish its prospects. The shifts in vocabulary and tone were part of the preparation for the upcoming larger and more diverse protests on and off college campuses.

American Muslims for Palestine. Intertwined with SJP is AMP. AMP President Hatem Bazian reportedly created the first chapter of SJP himself. He is also the chairman of Muslim Legal Fund of America,[17] which supports[18] the protests and provides legal support to student activists, an invaluable service to those who violate laws during their demonstrations. It is filing[19] legal complaints alleging that students are being discriminated against on the basis of race, religion and national origin.

AMP is widely credited with creating SJP in its current form in 2010. Congressional testimony[20] has described AMP as “arguably the most important sponsor and organizer” of SJP. The testimony by anti-terrorism expert Jonathan Schanzer outlined a “significant overlap between AMP and people who worked for or on behalf of organizations that were designated, dissolved, or held civilly liable by federal authorities for supporting Hamas.”

The initial[21] reaction of AMP and its associated Americans for Justice in Palestine Action to the October 7 attacks vaguely and indirectly justified the bloodshed by framing it as a reaction to Israeli crimes without any language suggesting any fault on the part of Hamas.

AMP then published a longer and bolder statement[22] that indisputably endorsed the attacks but clearly reflected a decision to avoid mentioning Hamas or any other terrorist groups, instead referring to “the acts of Palestinian armed groups”:

First of all, this was not an attack, it was a response. Expecting a besieged, occupied, brutalized, and colonized people to remain docile in the face of nearly a century of brutal oppression and colonial subjugation is inhumane and unjust…. The onus rests with the Israel apartheid regime to end the brutal siege on Gaza, or else the Palestinians will find themselves compelled to end it themselves as we’ve seen in the past 48 hours.

AMP has hired staff solely dedicated to campus activity and plays a critical[23] role in organizing SJP activity, training its student activists, outreach, putting together events, and providing unknown amounts of funding. AMP receives donations through its “charitable” arm, Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation.

Nine American and Israeli victims of the attacks on October 7 have filed a lawsuit[24] against SJP’s and AMP’s involvement in Hamas’s operations. It alleges, “AMP and NSJP are not merely organizing to assist Hamas’s ongoing terror campaign abroad—they are intentionally extending their aid to fomenting chaos, violence, and terror in the United States.”

The plaintiffs state:

American Muslims for Palestine (“AMP”) serves as Hamas’s propaganda division in the United States. AMP was founded from the ashes of disbanded organizations created by senior Hamas officials after those organizations and related individuals were found criminally and civilly liable for providing material support to Hamas and other affiliated terrorist groups. In 2010, AMP expanded its operation to American college campuses when it founded Defendant National Students for Justice in Palestine (“NSJP”) to control hundreds of Students for Justice in Palestine (“SJP”) chapters across the country. Through NSJP, AMP uses propaganda to intimidate, convince, and recruit uninformed, misguided, and impressionable college students to serve as foot soldiers for Hamas on campus and beyond. [original emphasis][25]

The only other organization with a similar capability to organize campus protests against Israel and in favor of its adversaries is the Muslim Students Association[26] (MSA), which has taken a much more cautious approach and seems to prefer having SJP out in front on the issue. MSA quickly rallied[27] behind SJP’s April 20 announcement[28] of its Popular University for Gaza campaign that vowed to “seize the university and force the administration to divest for the people of Gaza!”

After it launched the Popular University for Gaza campaign, SJP began radicalizing[29] students into more aggressive behavior. It posted tips for thwarting surveillance and urged activists to only “de-arrest” someone—that is, to physically intervene and remove a person from police custody—if the action can be done quickly before the “pigs” can surround and contain the crowd.

Posturing for Coalition Building and Political Capital

Many of the broader movement’s leaders clearly decided not to mention Hamas and to avoid or minimize any statements related to the October 7 attacks, Hamas, and terrorism.

Instead, most of the broader movement’s leaders have decided, together or independently, to focus messaging on the movement’s purportedly limited objectives of supporting a ceasefire that stops an alleged genocide aimed at liquidating the national liberation movement of a conquered and oppressed minority.

The uniformity of the vague and evasive statements responding to the October 7 attacks by almost every single major Muslim American group suggests a collective decision to message in support of Hamas while not implicating themselves as supporters of terrorism.

The clearest directive came from the Muslim American Society (MAS), which is one of the most powerful Muslim American organizations and has mosques and chapters across the country. MAS supports the protests and, according to a court filing[30] in 2008 by federal prosecutors in a counterterrorism case, was “founded as the overt arm” of the Muslim Brotherhood in America. Hamas is a self-admitted “wing” of the international Muslim Brotherhood movement.

MAS’s statement[31] on October 7 expressed its solidarity with Palestinians and demanded that the U.S. and international community force Israel to “halt its provocations” and its allegedly indiscriminate targeting of the Palestinian population. The framing indicates MAS sees the October 7 attacks as defensive and Israel’s military response as a “provocation.”

More privately, MAS instructed[32] its followers:

[W]e are not religiously obligated to mention any specific entity within the Palestinian resistance. We firmly support the right of Palestinians to resist illegal occupation, in accordance with UN resolutions. Hamas is a U.S. designated terrorist organization that we cannot legally support—the group should not be mentioned in your khutbahs [preachings]. This does not impact our obligation to stand for justice and to mobilize American Muslims and the American public in support of the Palestinian cause.

A similar approach was taken by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), another major organization intimately involved with MAS and a supporter of the current protests. ICNA carefully declined to take a substantive position and instead claimed[33] an increasing number of people do not believe Hamas is a terrorist organization or that the October 7 attacks were “unprovoked.” ICNA then provided a list of quotations from others who espoused the stances with which ICNA obviously agrees but did not state anything in its own name.

MAS and ICNA belong to the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations[34] (USCMO), the largest coalition of Muslim American organizations in the country, which has a large number of members with histories of supporting or being linked to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. The council’s press release[35] condemned Israeli airstrikes on targets in Gaza as “unprovoked,” speaking as if the October 7 attacks never even happened.

Although this word choice would lead any reasonable observer to conclude USCMO endorses the terrorist attacks, such manipulative semantics do minimize risk. For example, to make this study’s conclusions as incontestable as possible, the author declined to list USCMO as one of the pro-terrorism entities because a far-fetched argument could be made that its public statement does not necessarily qualify as an expression of support for Hamas or the October 7 attacks.

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In the next installment, the current pro-terrorism, anti-Israel movement is best described as four overlapping, concentric circles.

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[1] DelGroyp, “I Think I’ll Go with Hamas over All These Tricky Zionist Jews,” X, October 27, 2023, 11:05 PM https://x.com/DelGroyp/status/1718101564207030594.

[2] AOL, “News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines,” AOL.com, accessed September 24, 2024, https://www.aol.com/?err=404&err_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aol.com%2Fmuslim-cleric-praised-adolf-hitler-015843107.html.

[3] Bradford Betz, “Muslim Cleric Who Praised Adolf Hitler, Hamas Spoke at Harris Running Mate Tim Walz’s 2019 Inauguration,” Fox News, August 14, 2024, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/muslim-cleric-who-praised-adolf-hitler-hamas-spoke-harris-running-mate-tim-walzs-2019-inauguration.

[4] InfluenceWatch, “Max Blumenthal,” May 1, 2024, https://www.influencewatch.org/person/max-blumenthal/

[5] Michal Perach, “Masterclass in Manipulation: Exposing Max Blumenthal’s Lies about Israel and October 7: Opinion,” Haaretz.com, November 27, 2023, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-11-27/ty-article-opinion/exposing-max-blumenthals-deceptive-claim-israel-is-responsible-for-most-october-7-victims/0000018c-102f-d65f-a7dd-f0ff7b550000.

[6] Andy Vitek, “X.Com,” X, August 12, 2024, https://x.com/Vitek2288/status/1822870526953505054

[7] Associated Press, “Israel-Hamas War Latest: Oct. 7 Mastermind Thanks Hezbollah Leader for His Help Attacking Israel,” AP News, September 13, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-latest-13-september-2024-14befa272bc68b53b419c1398d2e8970.

[8] Josef Federman and Julia Frankel, “Israel Says Halting Hezbollah Attacks Is Now a War Goal as Officials Warn of a Wider Operation,” AP News, September 17, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-lebanon-39f6bdbacb2d4d0743f78a85bd138708.

[9] Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Terrorism,” May 3, 2016, https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/terrorism.

[10] InfluenceWatch, “National Students for Justice in Palestine,” June 3, 2024, https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/national-students-for-justice-in-palestine/.

[11] InfluenceWatch, “American Muslims for Palestine (AMP),” July 17, 2024, https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/american-muslims-for-palestine/.

[12] National SJP, “Popular University for Gaza,” accessed September 24, 2024, https://nationalsjp.org/popular-university-for-gaza

[13] [Students for Justice in Palestine], “Day of Resistance Toolkit – imgix,” October 12, 2023, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/DAY-OF-RESISTANCE-TOOLKIT.pdf.

[14] Kunal Dey, “Who Are the Bears for Palestine? Anonymous UC Berkley Group Under Spotlight for pro-Hamas Stance [Incl.. Hatem Bazian],” Middle East Forum, October 15, 2023, https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/who-are-the-bears-for-palestine-anonymous-uc.

[15] Anti-Imperialist Solidarity with Iran, “CASI Statement: No War on Iran, Stand with Resistance,” April 18, 2024, https://solidarityiran.org/2024/04/18/casi-statement-no-war-on-iran-stand-with-resistance/.

[16] Tawnell D. Hobbs, Valerie Bauerlein, and Dan Frosch, “Activist Groups Trained Students for Months Before Campus Protests,” MSN, May 3, 2024, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/activist-groups-trained-students-for-months-before-campus-protests/ar-AA1o76g0.

[17] InfluenceWatch, “Muslim Legal Fund of America,” April 9, 2024, https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/muslim-legal-fund-of-america/.

[18] Muslim Legal Fund of America, “Gaza Solidarity Encampments,” accessed September 24, 2024, https://mlfa.org/gaza-solidarity-encampments/.

[19] Muslim Legal Fund of America, “MLFA Advises Students Re Gaza Solidarity Encampments,” April 19, 2024, https://mlfa.org/videos/mlfa-advises-students-re-gaza-solidarity-encampments/.

[20] Jonathan Schanzer, “Israel Imperiled: Threats to the Jewish State,” testimony before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, April 19, 2016, https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA18/20160419/104817/HHRG-114-FA18-Wstate-SchanzerJ-20160419.pdf.

[21] American Muslims for Palestine, “Israeli Violence Is the Root Cause of Violence and Unrest in the Region,” October 7, 2023, https://www.ampalestine.org/media/media-room/statements/israeli-violence-root-cause-violence-and-unrest-region.

[22] American Muslims for Palestine, “Reality vs. Propaganda: Changing the Discourse on Gaza,” October 8, 2023, https://www.ampalestine.org/media/media-room/statements/reality-vs-propaganda-changing-discourse-gaza.

[23] American Muslims for Palestine, “AMP Seeks to Coordinate Student Anti-Israel Activity,” December 21, 2010, https://www.adl.org/resources/news/amp-seeks-coordinate-student-anti-israel-activity.

[24] Richard A. Rosenbaum, “Greenberg Traurig, National Jewish Advocacy Center, Schoen Law Firm, and Holtzman Vogel Represent American and Israeli Victims of Hamas Oct. 7 Terrorist Attack in Lawsuit against AJP Educational Foundation, Inc. a/K/a American Muslims for Palestine and National Students for Justice in Palestine,” Greenberg Traurig LLP, May 1, 2024, https://www.gtlaw.com/en/news/2024/05/press-releases/greenberg-traurig-national-jewish-advocacy-center-schoen-law-firm-and-holtzman-vogel-represent-american-and-israeli-victims-of-hamas.

[25] Complaint for the Plaintiffs, Parizer et al. v. AJP Educational Foundation et al., Case 1:24-cv-00724 (D.Va. 2024), filed May 1, 2024, p. 2.

[26] InfluenceWatch, “Muslims Students Association (MSA),” https://www.influencewatch.org/organization/muslims-students-association-msa/.

[27] Muslims Students Association, “Popular University for Gaza Endorsement,” Google Docs, April 2024, https://docs .google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vS1DcALe1C4OmHlgiEUV7NxRw-44TJzbrn-A38IkwDz3uaQtY8rwqz_54_LgKeCSt-gnMhvLV5P0YCl/pub.

[28] National SJP, “Popular University for Gaza,” https://nationalsjp.org/popular-university-for-gaza.

[29] Tawnell D. Hobbs, Valerie Bauerlein, and Dan Frosch, “Activist Groups Trained Students for Months Before Campus Protests,” MSN, 2024, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/activist-groups-trained-students-for-months-before-campus-protests/ar-AA1o76g0.

[30] Investigative Project on Terrorism, “IPT Exclusive: Under Oath, Alamoudi Ties Mas to Brotherhood,” March 12, 2012, https://www.investigativeproject.org/3486/under-oath-alamoudi-ties-mas-to-brotherhood.

[31] Muslim American Society, “MAS Stands in Solidarity with Palestinians Against Israeli Attacks,” Instagram, October 7, 2023, https://www.instagram .com/p/CyHLdC6guqa/.

[32] Muslim American Society, “Israel’s Genocide Campaign & The Palestinian Cause,” 2023, https://muslimamericansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MAS-Khateeb-Notes-Template-1.pdf.

[33] Samya Ali, “On Palestine and Israel: Correct Information Is Getting Through to More Americans,” Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), December 22, 2023, https://icna.org/on-palestine-and-israel-correct-information-is-getting-through-to-more-americans/.

[34] InfluenceWatch, “United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO),” April 2, 2024, https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/united-states-council-of-muslim-organizations-uscmo/.

[35] Oussama Jammal, “USCMO Stands in Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Calls for Immediate End to Atrocities in Occupied Territories,” USCMO, November 7, 2023, https://uscmo.org/2023/10/07/uscmo-stands-in-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-people-calls-for-immediate-end-to-atrocities-in-occupied-territories/.

Source: https://capitalresearch.org/article/marching-toward-violence-part-2/