America’s non-profit sector is at the root of the post-October 7 tidal wave of domestic terrorism, antisemitism, and destructive anti-Israel protests plaguing the United States.
A series of large-scale investigations by Capital Research Center (CRC) revealed that the leadership of the so-called “pro-Palestinian” movement is, at its core, anti-American and anti-Western. It views the US exactly the same way it views Israel: as an illegitimate, genocidal entity that must be destroyed.
The cumulative conclusion of these reports serves as a warning about what is to come unless the corrective measures CRC identified are implemented: a burgeoning nationwide insurgency in the US that may be appropriately characterized as the “Turtle Island Intifada.”
These seditionists often refer to the US as “Turtle Island” or the “so-called United States” as a way of delegitimizing America’s right to exist. “Turtle Island” originates from a Native American myth claiming that a supernatural entity created North and Central America on a giant turtle’s back during a flood.
Just as this “pro-Palestinian” movement wants to destroy Israel and build Palestine upon its “settler-colonialist” ashes, it also intends to actualize the vow of “Death to America” by “globalizing the intifada” and “bringing the war home” to “liberate Turtle Island.”
CRC’s newly released study, When Charities Betray America: How ‘Pro-Palestinian’ Protest Groups Promote Anti-Americanism, evaluated the rhetorical patterns of 496 of the most influential “pro-Palestinian” groups and activists in the US in the 15 months before the October 7 massacre and the 15 months afterward.
Within this large sample, CRC found that the movement’s anti-American vitriol increased by 186% after the Hamas-led atrocities. The volume of content itself increased, as did its viewership and popularity.
The overall engagement of the anti-American posts on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) grew by 2,167%. Calls for anti-American violence, particularly towards law enforcement, increased by a staggering 3,000%.
Of the nearly 500 organizations and activists examined in the study, 28 are registered non-profits, and 19 of the 30 activists are senior officials of 501(c)(3) non-profits or employees of private or public colleges.
In October, I forecasted a domestic terrorism campaign and eventual insurgency in another CRC study, Marching Towards Violence, which identified over 150 pro-terrorism groups organizing, facilitating, and inciting destructive demonstrations, harassment of Jews, and terrorist attacks across America. It also proposed a dozen options for specific, easy actions, using our research, that could quickly begin dismantling the “Turtle Island Intifada” infrastructure.
Of the more than 150 pro-terrorism or terrorism-linked groups identified in Marching Towards Violence, at least 70 are either registered non-profits or fiscally sponsored projects operating under non-profit umbrellas.
When news broke last July that Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, a quick review found over 20 U.S.-based groups that mourned and honored him, including at least seven non-profits, fiscally sponsored projects, and senior non-profit leaders.
Earlier this year, CRC looked into how the biggest anti-Israel groups reacted to the Fourth of July last year and found that 250 anti-Israel groups - dozens of which are registered non-profits – rejected or condemned the holiday.
American not-for-profit organizations have helped the Iran-led terrorist coalition offset the losses it experienced since the October 7 attacks. The coalition achieved tremendous gains in the US by exploiting America’s non-profit sector, weak defenses, and failure to enforce the law.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which has campus chapters throughout the US, publicly declared itself to be a part of Hamas and the other “resistance” groups that perpetrated the October 7 attacks. Barely anyone noticed SJP’s announcement of its merger with Hamas, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other October 7 participants.
Another overlooked part of SJP’s statement is even more dangerous. It referred to the US as “occupied Turtle Island” and emphasized, “When people are occupied, resistance is justified—normalize the resistance.” SJP clarified that such resistance must include violence:
“Liberating colonized land is a real process that requires confrontation by any means necessary. In essence, decolonization is a call to action, a commitment to the restoration of Indigenous sovereignty. It calls upon us to engage in meaningful actions that go beyond symbolism and rhetoric. Resistance comes in all forms— armed struggle, general strikes, and popular demonstrations. All of it is legitimate, and all of it is necessary.”
If our call for dismantling the “Turtle Island Intifada” goes unheeded, the genocidal chants of “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” will be followed by “From Sea to Sea, Turtle Island Will Be Free.”
Ryan Mauro is an investigative researcher of extremist groups for Capital Research Center.
This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. Read the previous article by Adam Milstein.