When Charities Betray America: How “Pro-Palestinian” Protest Groups Promote Anti-Americanism

When Charities Betray America:
How “Pro-Palestinian” Protest Groups Promote Anti-Americanism
(full report)

Executive Summary | Methodology
Examples of Anti-American and Anti-Police Hate Speech
Chronological Analysis | Analysis of Engagement Levels
Three Organizational Examples
Prevalence of Charities Among These Radical Groups
Conclusion | Endnotes
Appendix A: Organizations | Appendix B: Individuals

Executive Summary

A study of the online rhetoric from major “pro-Palestinian” groups and activists in the United States before and after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, concludes that the activists’ protests have morphed into an anti-American and anti-police movement with sharply radicalizing rhetoric that advocates terrorism and sedition on U.S. soil.

An analysis of thousands of social media posts by 496 of the most active “pro-Palestinian” groups and activists, many of them connected to “charities” and nonprofits, found a 3,000 percent surge in calls for violence and a 186 percent increase in the use of anti-American and anti-police keywords and phrases since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023.

These findings reinforce the conclusions of Marching Towards Violence: The Domestic Anti-Israeli Movement, a study published by the Capital Research Center in October 2024. The study identified 150 pro-terrorism groups behind the nationwide protests and warned of increasing militancy, particularly targeting law enforcement and perceived “Zionist” targets.

The term “pro-Palestinian” is put inside quotation marks because that is how the groups in question define themselves. We do not concede that such extremist groups are genuinely pursuing an agenda that would benefit innocent Palestinians.

The broadening of the “pro-Palestinian” movement’s agenda to include siding with Western adversaries in conflicts around the world and advocating for defunding the police indicates the movement has become a permanent presence. It will not fade when issues surrounding Israelis and Palestinians lose prominence.

Instead, it will attempt to preserve and expand its infrastructure by exploiting popular causes and inserting anti-Americanism, hatred of Israel, anti-Semitism, anti-Westernism, and anti-police bigotry into those causes’ narratives. Therefore, the observed radicalization will likely continue into the indefinite future and incite violence, hatred, bigotry, and criminality into other contentious causes. Shockingly, many of the groups and individuals who used the keywords denoting calls for violence or hatred of America or the police are officially “charities” or projects of charities, or they enjoy the benefits of official status as student groups at colleges that are either private charities or government institutions.

Key Findings

• During the 15 months following the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023, the “pro-Palestinian” movement’s use of hateful anti-American and anti-police keywords and phrases rose by 186 percent in comparison to the 15-month period preceding the attacks.
• The “pro-Palestinian” movement’s hateful anti-American and anti-police posts following October 7 had over 23 million views on X and TikTok and 4.2 million engagements in the form of comments, likes, and shares on those platforms.
• Hateful anti-American and anti-police posts endorsing violence skyrocketed 3,000 percent during the 15 months after the attacks in comparison to the 15 months prior to the attacks, indicating that the movement is rapidly radicalizing.
• The “pro-Palestinian” movement’s anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli tropes largely depict Israel as an appendage of a villainized United States. In other words, hatred of Israel is commonly rooted in anti-Americanism, anti-Westernism, and anti-capitalism.
• A mainstream belief of the “pro-Palestinian” movement is that the United States shares Israel’s illegitimacy because it is a “settler-colonial” state with no right to exist. The movement’s groups and activists frequently state that, just as Israel should be destroyed and replaced by Palestine, the United States and its “colonial borders” should be abolished and replaced by Turtle Island, a mythical land that some Native American traditions claim once encompassed North and Central America.
• The movement makes a concerted effort to equate American law enforcement with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) or “occupation forces,” as the groups in question often refer to them. Such rhetoric is dangerous because almost all these groups and activists support violent attacks on the Israeli military.
• The 78 groups and 30 activists described in Appendixes A and B had the most malicious speech in their posts. Of the groups, nearly half (35), were college chapters of national organizations, which means they receive recognition and likely student fees from private charitable colleges or government-chartered colleges. Two of the groups legally operate as 501(c)(4) “social welfare” nonprofits, 15 groups have an unknown legal status, and the remaining 26 groups are operating as 501(c)(3) “charities,” either as independent nonprofits or as a project of a sponsoring charity.
• Of the 30 activists described in the Appendix B, 19 are either employees of a private or public college or are in the leadership of 501(c)(3) “charities.” All of the charities tied to these activists and groups that support violence or anti-American, anti-police animus may be at risk of adverse legal consequences, including loss of tax-exempt status.

In the next installment, read the study’s methodology.