by Limor Simhony Philpott, spiked
A new report has shed light on the disturbing networks behind the surge in anti-Israel activism.
Britain’s pro-Gaza marches have been sold to the public as a grassroots movement – a spontaneous outpouring of conscience by ordinary people appalled by war. A new report from the think tank NGO Monitor tells a very different story.
It turns out that Britain’s largest protest movement is not nearly as spontaneous or grassroots as it looks. Instead, a small number of well-organised groups, motivated by a common loathing of Israel, have spent years building the infrastructure that now drives much of Britain’s pro-Palestine activism. As soon as Hamas launched its attack on 7 October 2023, the activists were ready to hit the streets.
The report maps 40 organisations at the centre of the protests. Eleven are linked, or have leaders who are linked, to extremist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime. Ten of the organisations are charities, eight are companies, nine are hybrids and 13 – nearly a third – have no formal legal structure at all. Nineteen receive UK government money, via the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office or Gift Aid, while at least 11 take money from other governments, too.