When Charities Betray America: Methodology

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

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Methodology

The data collection process consisted of analyzing thousands of online posts published by 496 U.S.-based, “pro-Palestinian” groups and activists with significant audiences and involvement in protests.

The scope included X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Telegram. (See the Appendixes for a list of the organizations and activists whose posts contained the keywords described below.)

The posts were published during the 15 months prior to the attacks on October 7, 2023, and the 15 months after the attacks so that a comparative analysis could be performed. The two date ranges are July 6, 2022, to October 6, 2023, and October 7, 2023, to January 7, 2025.

We chose 14 commonly used keywords and phrases that express clear, inherent hatred of the United States, the U.S. government in its entirety (not just a particular administration), and/or U.S. law enforcement that are consistently included in posts expressing such sentiments. Harsh condemnations limited to specific U.S. policy decisions, such as providing aid to Israel, were excluded.

Keywords and posts had to meet at least one of four criteria to be included:

• Demonizing the United States and/or police as a villainous entity,
• Rejecting the right of the United States to exist as a country,
• Advocating for the abolishment of police directly or indirectly through defunding, or
• Promoting acts of sedition or insurgency within the United States, particularly acts of violence and destruction.

The selected terminologies are as follows:

• “AmeriKKKa”
• “So-Called United States”
• “Belly of the beast”
• “Turtle Island”
• “Bring the war home”
• “Globalize the intifada”
• “Imperial core”
• “The American Empire”
• “U.S. imperialism”
• “U.S. war machine”
• “American imperialism”
• “Pigs” (as a derogatory, bigoted term to demonize police officers)
• “Abolish the police”
• “Defund the police”

The list of keywords can be categorized by three main topics within the anti-American agenda:

Topic 1: Delegitimization of U.S. Domestic and Foreign Policy. Undermining trust in and credibility of the United States as a legitimate, sovereign domestic power and global leader

Keywords: American Imperialism/U.S. imperialism, U.S. war machine, the American empire, belly of the beast, imperial core, pigs (in relation to police officers), defund the police, abolish the police, AmeriKKKA

Topic 2: Denial of the United States’ Right to Exist. Undermining the moral standing of the United States in the eyes of its own people by echoing stereotypical anti-colonial tropes, and the rejection of the United States’ right to exist as a country

Keywords: Turtle Island, so-called United States

Topic 3: Domestic unrest:

Promoting and intensifying domestic unrest and resistance to United States policies, public figures, and institutions through disruptive and violent actions

Keywords: Globalize the intifada, bring the war home

The data analysis found that during the 15-month period before the October 7 terrorist attack, 518 posts with at least one of the 14 anti-American terminologies were published by the “pro-Palestinian” cohort of approximately 500 groups and individuals in the United States.

During the 15-month period following the attack, 1,482 posts with the anti-American terminologies were published. This amounts to a 186 percent increase in anti-American vitriol.

A comparative examination of the keywords used after the attacks shows particularly sharp rises in the appearances of “AmeriKKKa” (+3,400 percent), “bring the war home” (+3,000 percent), “belly of the beast” (+1,154 percent) and “pigs” in the context of dehumanizing police officers (+1,088 percent).

The top three anti-American keywords were the same before and after the attacks: “Turtle Island,” “belly of the beast,” and “U.S. imperialism.”

These figures show that anti-Americanism—specifically refusing to acknowledge the United States’ right to exist—was a feature of the “pro-Palestinian” movement before the October 7, 2023 attacks.

However, expressions of this anti-Americanism massively increased after the attacks, and a greater proportion included calls for waging war on U.S. soil, equating the United States with the KKK, and bigoted dehumanization of police officers as “pigs.”

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In the next installment, read about the examples of anti-American and anti-police hate speech.

Source: https://capitalresearch.org/article/when-charities-betray-america-2/