The surprising size, frequency and organization of so many of the demonstrations against Jews and Israel since October 7 – following closely with what has been going on in our college and university campuses – suggest that they are far from being, as the media would have it, discrete and spontaneous events reflective of a broad, widespread antipathy towards all things Jewish. Rather, they could also be explained by some serious money being behind some serious networking, coordination and cooperation involving a coterie of fanatical ideologues whose exposure could be enormously helpful. Yet those of us who are interested in connecting the dots, if any, have been frustrated by a virtual wall of silence that has obscured what has been in play. But this may now be changing with the commencement of various lawsuits, federal investigations and investigative reporting.
Most recently, as investigative reporter and public relation executive Ronn Torossian has noted the day after hundreds of pro-Hamas protesters rallied outside of Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, it was learned that it and a number of other similar rallies throughout NYC since October 7 have been organized by a group called The People’s Forum.
According to a New York Post article on Congressman Ritchie Torres’ comments regarding the organization, The People’s Forum’s agenda includes calls for “more marches, walkouts, sit-ins and other forms of direct action directed at the political offices, businesses, and workplaces that fund, invest, and collaborate with Israeli genocide and occupation.”
The Post also reports that just prior to the Sloan-Kettering rally, The People’s Forum executive director was captured on video as declaring,
When we finally deal the final blow to destroy Israel, when the state of Israel is finally destroyed and erased from history, that will be the single most important blow we can give to destroying capitalism and imperialism in our lifetime.
And to boot, both The New York Post and Torossian report that over the years Goldman Sachs – one of the largest banks in the world – has funneled approximately $18 million to The People’s Forum!
To be sure, Goldman Sachs says it never contributed its own money to The People’s Forum. They claim they just administer a Donor Advised Fund which forwards funds contributed by clients to tax exempt charities at the direction of the donors. Plainly though the problem is a real one that needs to be pursued.
In a similar vein, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of California system, Rutgers, University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley, NYU and Cornell are some of the top tier schools that have already been sued or are about to be sued over allegations of antisemitism. And as we understand it, central to those cases are claims that campus ferment is organized and funded by radical groups and individuals and, in some cases, by foreign governments. The results of discovery requests in those cases should be eye openers.
Perhaps most significant is the congressional investigation of Harvard’s responses to student complaints of antisemitism. As reported by CNN, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce has given Harvard a deadline to produce a mountain of documents it wants. The list of documents includes: all reports of antisemitic incidents and related reports since January 1, 2021; documents on how the university responds to such incidents; settlements by Harvard of discrimination, harassment or free speech violations since January 1,2018; all communications linked to the anti-Israel student organization letter (which tripped up ousted President Claudine Gay); and all meeting minutes for Harvard’s top two boards since 2021.
Significantly, Harvard also has to provide documents on how much in foreign donations and funding the university receives; a list of all foreign donations above $50,000 since 2021; and all donations from Qatari sources since 2021.
Given the explosiveness of last months congressional antisemitism hearings, the responses to these document requests should be most illuminating and a major step forward in addressing antisemitism on American campuses.
