May 2024. BLUES Vol. 40 No. 5

For over one week, pro-

For over one week, pro- Hamas protesters have been occupying portions of Columbia University in downtown Manhattan. As of earlier this week, over 100 whiny college brats and outside agitators have been arrested, and the protests have tied up significant portions of the NYPD. The astroturf protests taking place at Columbia and other universities have taken on an ominous turn as they have evolved into anti-Semitic, anti-Jew, and, in some cases, anti-American demonstrations. Calls of “death to America” and “death to Israel” have been heard in New York City in a location only blocks from where Islamic terrorists took down the two towers of the World Trade Center in 2001. Many have noticed that the “protesters” carry professionally made signs, and in some cases, where they have established encampments on campuses, the tents used are mostly identical. That has led some to believe that these are not grassroots protests but rather organized demonstrations designed to sow chaos, much as the George Floyd riots in 2020 did. According to the Washington Examiner, the pro-Hamas occupation at Columbia called the Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” has been organized by a conglomerate of 116 different groups called Columbia University Apartheid Divest (we’ll call it CUAD). Most of the organizations are Columbia-specific groups or chapters of 78 The Blues - May ‘24 national organizations, including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace. According to the Anti-Defamation League, many of SJP’s chapters “explicitly endorsed the actions of Hamas and their armed attacks on Israeli civilians.” They have also called “for confronting and ‘dismantling’ Zionism on U.S. college campuses.” The group has repeatedly called for attacks on Israel. A chapter at CUNY School of Law said, “If you support Palestine, understand that necessitates supporting our right to defend ourselves and liberate our homeland by any means necessary.” [emphasis added] To further underscore their support for Hamas terrorists and the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed over 1,000 Israeli civilians, some chapters have adopted the image of persons on paragliders, which was clearly a reference to those Hamas terrorists who used paragliders as part of the October 7 massacre. CUAD is demanding Columbia to divest all of their finances, “including the endowment, from companies and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine.” They are also demanding the university “sever academic ties with Israeli universities.” The activists say they will not leave the campus until their demands are met. Both SJP and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) are behind other “solidarity” protests at universities such as Harvard, Ohio State, Boston University, and UNC-Chapel Hill. Influence Watch notes that SJP is a project of the Westchester People’s Action Coalition, or WESPAC, which supports leftist causes like BDS, the Green New Deal, and other “progressive” causes. It has assets of over one million dollars. SJP claims it is a “grassroots” organization, however, the Anti-Defamation League said it receives support from American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), a pro-Hamas organization. That group was identified by the ADL as the “leading organization providing anti-Zionist training” in the United States. The Washington Examiner previously reported that AMP is under investigation for fundraising and providing money and material support to terrorist organizations. Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) has over .8 million in assets and maintains an ideology similar to SJP. Influence Watch said the group has received .9 million from various donors, including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. It is also supported by George Soros’s Open Society Network, having raked in over 0,000 from Soros-connected groups over the past eight years. The CUAD coalition also includes the Columbia Queer Alliance (Hamas would throw their members off the nearest highrise), Columbia University Students for Human Rights, White Coats 4 Black Lives, and Muslim Students Association, according to its website. As a result of the occupation,

Columbia has canceled in-person classes for the rest of the semester and moved to virtual learning in order to “deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps,” Columbia president Minouche Shafik said. Meanwhile, Fox News reports that a left-wing dark money group tied to Soros is providing bail and legal support for pro- Hamas activists arrested last week when they blocked major roads and highways nationwide. Those protests were organized by A15 Action, a newly created group that promised to “coordinate a multi-city economic blockade on April 15 in solidarity with Palestine.” The group’s “resources” section notes the existence of a “bail and legal defense fund” hosted by ActBlue, a fundraising platform used by Democrats and leftist groups nationwide. If this sounds familiar, it’s a similar tactic used during the George Floyd riots in 2020 to bail out those accused of committing crimes. Those funds included the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which was touted by then Sen. Kamala Harris to assist those who destroyed cities such as Minneapolis. Contributions to that fund “will benefit Community Justice Exchange,” which is a project of the Soros-funded Tides Center. Last November, it was disclosed that the Soros-backed Open Society Policy Center donated .7 million through the Tides Center to groups supporting Hamas or justified attacks on Israel, including the October 7 atrocities, with a total of million donated since 2016. The April 15 demonstrations saw unhinged leftists blocking the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, and an access road to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. They also demonstrated outside the New York Stock Exchange and outside Philadelphia City Hall, blocking traffic and creating mayhem. In Philadelphia, local and state police arrested 68 agitators, while 40 people were arrested in Chicago. The Blues - May ‘24 79