NGO Monitor report examines funding, extremist links in UK post-Oct. 7 protest movement

According to NGO Monitor, at least 11 of the 40 organizations either have links to extremist organizations.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A new report by NGO Monitor says organizations involved in pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the United Kingdom since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack have operated through a coordinated advocacy network with opaque funding structures and, in some cases, links to extremist actors.

The report examines 40 major protests and mobilization campaigns held after Oct. 7, 2023, identifying organizations and individuals it says played recurring roles in organizing demonstrations, advocacy efforts, fundraising and related activities.

It argues that protests widely presented as grassroots initiatives were instead coordinated through an international advocacy network.

According to NGO Monitor, at least 11 of the 40 organizations either have links to extremist organizations or include officials who have met or cooperated with the Iranian regime and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hamas, Hezbollah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The report also identifies overlapping leadership among six organizations it describes as the network’s principal coordinators.

It says former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn serves as vice president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, deputy president of the Stop the War Coalition and a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. It also states that the funding sources for Corbyn’s organization, People’s Forum UK, are unknown.

Youth outreach has become a significant focus of campaign activity, the report says.

It identifies Amnesty International UK as operating an anti-Israel activism program that trains hundreds of young people in protest rights, media engagement and campaign strategy. It also says Friends of Al-Aqsa promotes youth participation in pro-Palestinian activism.

The report states that 10 of the 40 organizations are registered charities, eight are companies, nine are hybrid entities and 13 operate outside any formal U.K. regulatory framework despite raising substantial public funds.

It further says 19 organizations receive U.K. government funding through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office or Gift Aid, while at least 11 receive taxpayer funding from the United States, Belgium, the European Commission, Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden and Switzerland.

NGO Monitor recommends stricter financial disclosure requirements, increased oversight of foreign funding, enhanced vetting of government grants, regulation of cryptocurrency fundraising, updated Charity Commission guidance, and formal government and parliamentary inquiries into the financing and coordination of protest networks.

It also calls on the U.K. government to proscribe the IRGC, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Muslim Brotherhood, while supporting action against organizations that engage in violence.