China-linked network funding key anti-Israel protest groups in US - report

Key radical left-wing organizations in the post-October 7 anti-Israel protest movement are funded by or connected to a Chinese Communist Party-linked network, according to a Monday Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) report.

Three convenors of the Shut it Down For Palestine coalition, Answer Coalition, The People's Forum, and the International Peoples' Assembly are linked by a complicated web of financial, personal, personnel, and ideological ties to CCP associates Neville Roy Singham and his wife Jodie Evans, according to NCRI.

Singham served as a consultant for Huawei, lives in Shanghai, and shared premises with Chinese propaganda firm Shanghai Maku Cultural Communications, NCRI explained. He has been spotted at CCP workshops and has been investigated by the US, Canada, and India for CCP operations. An August New York Times investigation described Singham as a known "socialist benefactor of far-left causes" and tracked the funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to Singham-linked groups engaging in pro-China progressive advocacy.

Socialist activist Evans is according to NCRI a board member of the People's Forum and is listed as a co-founder of CODEPINK, which is an official endorser of Shut it Down For Palestine and has been prominent in the post-October 7 protests and regularly challenges US congresspeople at the capitol.

Evans has co-written a book called “China is Not Our Enemy," which NCRI said was co-authored with a researcher from foundations tied to the CCP, Dongsheng News and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Signham's son Nate Singham works as a researcher at Tricontinental, and the elder Singham is the chairman of the organization's international advisory board

The People's Forum, which has been involved in major protest actions in New York City, such as the May 15 Nakba Day Manhattan Bridge closure and the April 15 economic blockades, admitted in a 2021 social media post that "Marxist comrade" Singham funded the organization. Codepink co-founder Medea Benjamin at the time praised Singham for his support of the Forum.

Cash flowing into pro-Palestinian protest movement from overseas

The Free Press in November claimed that the Forum received 20 million dollars from 2017 and 2022 from Singham funneled through the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund. According to NCRI, "GSPF appears to function as a dark money clearinghouse, obscuring the identity of donors while facilitating the transfer of substantial sums to American non-profits."

The Forum according to NCRI received a $64,500 grant from The Justice and Education Fund, which had been provided with $20 million through GSPF in 2019 and 2020. JEF's board members include People's Forum founder and Tricontinental researcher Manolo De Los Santos and People's Forum general manager David Chung. NCRI said that JEF also appears to facilitate the transfer of funds to other Singham-linked entities abroad, paying Maku $2.3 million and India-based outlet Newsclick $2.9 Million for contractors. The BBC reported in October that the Indian government raided Newsclick officials for illegal funds from China and served as a CCP propaganda mouthpiece in connection to Singham.

The United Community Fund, which reportedly received an $8.33 million grant from the JEF, allocated $3 million to thePeople’s Forum and $700,000 to Tricontinental. Tricontinental Institute art director and researcher and IPA contributor Tings Chak, was listed as United Community Fund director in 2022, according to NCRI. Alleged UCF treasurer Renata Porto Bugni also works at Tricontinental.

The Answer Coalition, which like the People's Forum has been involved in major protests across the country including in support of campus encampments, received funding from and shares an address with the Progress Unity Fund (PUF). NCRI said PUF gave ANSWER $244,000 over the past five years. PUF is a fiscal sponsor of Pivot to Peace, of which member Henry Liang was arrested for FARA violations as an agent of the Chinese government.

The International People’s Assembly, which serves as an international umbrella organization, includes Tricontinental as a partner, and Tricontinental researcher Mikaela Nhondo Erskog is also a regional coordinator for IPA. The IPA coordinating committee includes CodePink and PSL.

"All out to Columbia now!" People's forum said on Instagram on April 24 with a graphic emblazoned with the Shut It Down logo. "The student organizers of Columbia University are calling on all New Yorkers of conscience to immediately go to Columbia to stand with them after the University’s Administration threatened to call in the National Guard if an agreement isn’t reached before midnight."

Answer and People's Forum are working with major post-October 7 Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), Al-Awda, US Palestinian Community Network and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights to host a May 24 People's Conference for Palestine. NSJP, Al-Awda, and PYM are co-conveners in the Shut It Down coalition. Endorsers of Shut It Down include American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and Codepink.

NCRI measurement of the values of influence of each of the Shut it Down Convenors shows that the far-left Singham-associated groups were far more influential on social media than the Muslim and Arab groups when it came to sharing content with the #ShutItDown4Palestine hashtag. The hashtag, according to NCRI, was launched by Los Santos.  

The Singham network amplified anti-Israel activism not just through the NGOs' social media accounts, but through pro-CCP media outlets like BreakThrough News. BT News editor-in-chief Ben Becker was previously an ANSWER organizer, and host and producer Eugene Puryear is alleged by the Daily Beast to be a PSL founder. ANSWER director Brian Becker is a contributor to the outlet. BT News operated out of the same address as the People's Forum, which provided grants to the outlet in 2021 and 2022 according to NCRI. The outlet also received "$483,000 transferred from JEF, $15,600 from PUF, and $540,000 from GSPF since 2022."

NCRI's analysis of BT News' YouTube content through most frequently used terms showed an October 7 shift from a focus on China, the US and Russia, to Israel and Palestinians.

"The narrative shift to anti-Israel coverage was accompanied by an inexplicablyexplosive growth in its following across social media," said NCRI.

NCRI also highlighted the convergence of the CCP-linked network with Palestinian terrorist groups, notably the Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which through its subsidiaries has been influential in the protest movement.

Charlotte Kates, who is married to alleged PFLP leader Khaled Barakat, serves as the communications officer for Al-Awda. Kates is also the international coordinator of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which was banned by Israel as a PFLP subsidiary in 2021. Samidoun advocates on behalf of imprisoned PFLP terrorists, and often shares PFLP communiques. Samidoun is listed as one of the official endorsers of the Shut it Down coalition.

IPA hosted a conference with PFLP hijacker Leila Khaled and Del La Cruz. BT News also interviewed Khaled and PFLP Politburo member Marwan Abdul Al.

NSJP Founder Hatem Bazian was noted by NCRI to have fundraised for KindHearts, which was disbanded after a settlement with the US Treasury over material support to Hamas. NCRI also alleged Saleh Sarsour and Osama Abu Irshaid, who serve alongside Bazian on AMP's National Board, are being investigated for Hamas ties.

"The NCRI finds that the increase in direct-action, targeting infrastructure and public spaces, is in part driven by organizations connected to CCP foreign influence efforts," said NCRI. 'While nominally focused on Israel, the current protests can be better understood as a well-funded initiative driving a revolutionary, anti-government, and anticapitalist agenda, with the leading organizations serving as versatile tools for foreign entities hostile to the US."

NCRI noted that on October 8, a day after the October 7 Massacre, PYM, People's Forum, PSL, Al-Awda, and Answer were signatories to a statement that explained "we mobilize in the belly of the beast because we understand that we have a unique role to play in combating material support for Zionism, and weakening the handmaiden of US global imperialism.