An anti-Israel group bankrolled by liberal billionaire George Soros flooded the lobby of a Senate office building Monday, demanding an Israeli ceasefire and an end to U.S. aid to the Jewish state.
The U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) took credit for the illegal protest, boasting in a Monday morning social media post that "100+" of its activists "have TAKEN OVER the Senate atrium for Palestine, singing 'Ceasefire Now" and 'Stop Weapons Now.'" Protesters spilled red-stained money—which they said symbolized U.S. aid to Israel—on the floors of the Hart Senate Office Building and unveiled banners that said "'Aid' to Israel = bombing Palestinians." Capitol Police arrested more than 40 protesters, two of whom were charged with resisting arrest.
VIDEO THREAD: Dozens of Pro-Palestine protesters were arrested by Capitol Police this morning after spilling red-stained money symbolizing aid to Israel around the atrium of the Hart Senate Capitol Office Building.
One climbed the Mountains and Clouds Sculpture to hang a… pic.twitter.com/xttvTzUlZC
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) December 11, 2023
USCPR's illegal protest marks the latest example of a Soros-backed group descending on the Capitol complex to rally against Israel.
Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow similarly infiltrated the Capitol in October, with protesters accusing the Israeli government of "genocide." Those groups have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Soros's philanthropy arm, the Open Society Foundations. Soros's nonprofit has also funneled $700,000 to USCPR's parent organization, Education for Just Peace in the Middle East, since 2018, grant disclosures show. Open Society said $300,000 of that money would "promote freedom, justice, and equality in a world without racism and oppression."
USCPR and Open Society did not return requests for comment.
In addition to the Soros money, USCPR's parent organization has received $580,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, an influential left-wing nonprofit that says it works to advance "social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world."
That organization, Education for Just Peace in the Middle East, has been accused of abusing its charity status to bankroll Hamas and other Palestinian groups. The group is the fiscal sponsor of the Palestinian BDS National Committee, which counts as members five different U.S. designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to Tablet.
USCPR has ties to House Democrats, with the group having cosponsored a May congressional event with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) that mourned Israel's founding. The event marked the "Nakba," a Palestinian term for the creation of Israel that loosely translates as "catastrophe." While then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) blocked the event from occurring by reserving the Capitol Visitor Center space that Tlaib planned to use, Senate Democrats gave Tlaib space to host the event in a committee room.
USCPR was not the only group to target a government building as part of a Monday anti-Israel protest. A group of self-described "Jewish elders" chained themselves to the White House gates Monday afternoon while holding a banner that said, "Stop The Genocide, Ceasefire Now!" The stunt came after USCPR, Jewish Voice for Peace, and other anti-Israel groups released a Monday statement pledging to stage "disruptive actions on Capitol Hill."
Those "disruptive actions" came after the Palestinian National and Islamic Forces—a coalition that includes representatives from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terror groups—called for a global strike for an Israeli ceasefire. The group said it expected "the entire globe to join the strike" and stand against "the open genocide in Gaza, the ethnic cleansing and the colonial settlement in the West Bank."
USCPR promoted the strike in a Monday afternoon post, which said "Palestinian journalists" called for the strike, not Palestinian terrorists.