Anyone who has watched the pro-Hamas demonstrations at colleges across the country should not doubt that they were not spontaneous. These events were planned (at least for the short term): there are fields of tents with identical designs and hundreds of signs that have been pre-printed. This wasn’t created overnight.
Two Republican members of Congress asked Tuesday that the Treasury Department hand over any documents related to groups who may be funding these demonstrations.
James Comer, R., Ky. and Virginia Foxx, R., N.C .)–chairs, of House Committees on Oversight and Accountability and Committee on Education and the Workforce respectively, asked the Treasury Department to hand over immediately “Suspicious Activity Reports”, relating to a number campus groups and non-profits who are providing resources for anti-Israel campus activists. The federal government receives these reports if financial institutions detect potential money laundering and support for terrorism. These reports may provide evidence that some of the groups behind the anti-Israel protest movement are engaged in illegal financial activities.
The names of the groups listed in the request are a list of voices on the far-left who oppose Israel.
Among those named were Students for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Other groups include the Tides Foundation and Open Society Foundations. These groups are all either supporters or funders of the national protest movement that has seen college students set up anti-Israel camps. SJP, AMP, and other groups have been identified as leading organizers of anti-Israel demonstrations. Israeli terror victims are suing these groups, alleging that they serve “as collaborators, propagandists, and supporters for Hamas.”
Among the most generous funders of these pro-Hamas protests are the George Soros-backed U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) and the Rockefeller Brothers-supported group Defense for Children International-Palestine.
Comer and Foxx plan to use the results of the investigation to draft legislation that will increase scrutiny of foreign funding of campus groups and activities. However, it is difficult to imagine how such a bill could stop these ideologically driven groups from funding the protests. A large part of the outside support received by the protests in recent years appears to have been logistical as evidenced by the strangely similar tents and signs. This legislation will only push this funding underground.
Rep. Comer said in a press release:
He said that reports indicate leftist groups are funding and encouraging these hateful, illegal encampments. As part of an effort by the entire House to tackle this issue, House Oversight and Education and Workforce Committees have decided to follow the money trail – something that our committees excel at.
There’s no way to know how any law would affect the state sponsors of campus unrest. For example, Qatar has spent $6 billion on funding American universities and lobbying U.S. lawmakers.
