In light of recent news that Democrat mega-donors are bankrolling pro-Palestine protests and encampments on college and university campuses, one expert is warning that this is a case of the Left manipulating students.
On Monday night’s episode of “Washington Watch,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins commented of the ongoing protests, “They kind of all look the same. They have all these indicators of a well-funded, highly coordinated effort.” He continued, “Well, recent reporting has revealed that student groups organizing the protests have received financial backing from many of the largest funders of Democratic election campaigns, including top donors of President Joe Biden’s reelection bid.”
Cheryl Chumley, writer and online opinion editor at The Washington Times, told Perkins, “A lot of people have kept their eyes on how the funding is flowing into some of these student groups, and really it’s your usual suspects.” She explained, “George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, the Tides Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund — formerly the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — had some ties to this, too, though they’ve said that they’ve pulled out of funding certain groups that are now funding these pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests.”
She continued, “Susan and Nick Pritzker — they are the heirs of the Hyatt hotel chain — and they not only have their hands in this funding of these groups, but have donated to Joe Biden’s campaign just a couple of years ago to the tune of $300,000.” Chumley added, “So if you start looking at some of these curious ties, there really does seem to be very many links between the funders of these anti-Semitic displays and the Democratic Party.”
Previously, Chumley wrote for The Washington Times on the ties between Democratic Party mega-donors and the funding fueling protests and encampments across college and university campuses. Referring to the anti-Israel and pro-Palestine nature of the protests, Chumley wrote, “But with Democrats — with Biden — it’s clear: They can’t speak too loudly against Jew hatred because too many of their political campaign funders are simultaneously funding the Jew hatred.”
“If you’re looking at whether these protests are just springing up based on student concerns for the poor Palestinian civilians, then I would have to disagree with that,” Chumley commented to Perkins. “I would have to say that it appears to me that this is yet another leftist-type strategy to take advantage of the ignorance of youth that have been purposely dumbed down by Democrats in the public school system for years.” She added, “And now they are using these youthful protesters on college campuses to advance a political agenda that is very anti-Semitic at root.” Chumley explained further:
“But the bigger theme here, the bigger issue that we need to concern ourselves with is: why this is taking place? And it’s not so much about [an] Israel and anti-Israel agenda, which is part and parcel of it. But the bigger idea is to tear down America, to divide and conquer, which is sort of the Democratic Party playbook that we’ve seen since Barack Obama’s day, since the Democratic Party took a turn from being the pro-America, blue-collar working party to really one that is filled with Marxists and communists and collectivists and those who hate America. And one way that they can tear down America from within is to create chaos, division, and violent outbursts.”
Perkins observed that recent polling has shown that the conflict between Israel and Hamas is rated as the lowest issue of importance or concern among American college students. A recent Generation Lab survey found that only 13% of college students named “The conflict in the Middle East” in their top three issues of concern. In comments to The Washington Stand, Perkins explained, “The Left is getting a great return for their investment in these political protests. A few million dollars and they are getting hundreds of millions in media air time to cover up the failures of the Biden administration.”
As Chumley noted, protests on college campuses are being funded primarily by two organizations: Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. Both are funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros and previously received funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Jewish Voice for Peace is also supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The Pritzkers have funded other pro-Palestine organizations involved in campus protests. All the bankrollers are major Democratic Party donors and have contributed to Biden’s 2020 campaign, his 2024 reelection effort, or both.
According to The Wall Street Journal, campus protestors at Columbia University previously consulted with Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), former Black Panthers, and other veteran protestors and activists before launching their own protests. NSJP has reportedly been encouraging campus protests since October, when Israel first responded to attacks by Palestine-based Hamas forces. Sueda Polat, a Columbia University graduate student and one of the organizers of the campus protest, explained that students also learned about orchestrating protests from participating in Black Lives Matter events in 2020. At other universities, some pro-Palestine encampments have actually set up “self-defense teams.”
In her remarks to Perkins, Chumley observed, “It’s really time to turn back to God in this nation because we are fighting so many battles in the political realm right now. And if we see these youth emerging to be America’s next leaders, we are in deep, deep trouble and we need God more than ever.”
S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.
