The Free Palestine Activism’s Recipe for Success
- Ofek Kehila
- Dec 11
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 15
Even though the origins of Palestinian activism can be traced back to the 1960s, the momentum it gained since the beginning of the Gaza war has made it one of the most successful movements in the world. What is the Free Palestine movement’s recipe for success? Who are its biggest sponsors and supporters? And what is the relation between philanthropy and politics?
Why Free Palestine is so popular
Analyzing the rise of the Free Palestine movement, Ariella Saperstein marks the major cornerstones that turned Palestinian activism into a story of success.
Beginning on the margins of academic and political discourse, Palestinian activism was still in its infancy in the 1960s. However, soon the movement started cultivating its own language, narrative, and culture on campuses in the US and Europe.
Rebranding Israel as a colonialist, apartheid country, and the war in Gaza as a total war on Palestinians, it gained major momentum in 2024 as protests broke out on almost 140 campuses across America.
During all this time, Palestinian activism has been expanding its community, forming alliances with other social and political groups, and creating a sense of belonging that attracted many students and young people. It elevated heroes and martyrs, gained considerable support in the progressive left, harnessed social media, and strived to shift societal norms in favor of the Palestinian cause and against Israel.
Today, the Free Palestine movement appears to be a success. What started as marginal activism on the fringes of academia and society has become mainstream as Americans’ sympathies with the Israelis continue to decline.
Free Palestine’s money trail
The Free Palestine movement has gained many sponsors over the years. It is supported by some of the biggest names in philanthropy, such as Ford, Soros, and Rockefeller, funding from Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood, and many other sources.
The following is a partial list of major funders of anti-Israel organizations, as published by the Anti-Defamation League:
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund Headquartered in New York City, the RBF is a long-time funder of anti-Israel activism. Through its grantees, RBF has given over a million dollars to Palestinian activism in the past five years.
The Lannan Foundation Is a New Mexico-based family foundation, which has donated almost one million dollars to pro-Palestinian organizations such as Palestine Legal and Jewish Voices for Peace in 2020-2023.
The Proteus Fund The philanthropy organization, the Proteus Fund, has so far donated a total of $700,000 to over 35 pro-Palestinian grantees.
The Foundation to Promote Open Society and the Open Society Institute. These foundations gave Palestinian activist organizations nearly one million dollars between 2018 and 2022.
Other notable funders of anti-Israel organizations are the Bafrayung Fund, Borealis Philanthropy, the Emergent Fund, the Kataly Foundation, the Kiblawi Foundation, the Yoosufani Family Foundation, and the North Star Fund.
Philanthropy for Free Palestine
A closer look at the recipients of these astronomical figures tells a story where philanthropy is intimately related to political activity.
For example, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), one of the notable recipients of donations from all the above, is a radical anti-Israel and anti-Zionist activist group. Far from promoting peace, as its name suggests, this organization advocates for the boycott of Israel and the eradication of Zionism. It attributed the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the subsequent Gaza war to “Israeli apartheid and occupation—and United States complicity in that oppression.”
Another important recipient of funds is National Students for Justice in Palestine. According to ADL, this network of anti-Zionist student groups justifies terror attacks against Israel, engages in antisemitic propaganda, and is a leading organizer of BDS campaigns and protests on American university campuses.
Read more: How Qatar Became the Sponsor for Hamas
Finally, Palestine Legal, a legal assistance organization whose activities range from pro-Palestinian solidarity to outright antisemitism, is also among the recipients of hefty sums of money from different foundations. Dylan Saba, an attorney with Palestine Legal, wrote on the X (formerly Twitter) in the aftermath of the October 2023 massacre: “Glory to the resistance and the people of Palestine.”
Wrap up
Defined as the practice of promoting human welfare through the donation of money, time, and skills, philanthropy comes from the Ancient Greek “love of humanity” (philo-anthropos). However, many pro-Palestinian organizations harness philanthropy to engage in political activity plagued with antisemitic rhetoric, hate propaganda and even violence against dissenting Palestinians.
In the meantime, these huge sums of money shape the anti-Israel narrative instead of giving much-needed aid to the suffering Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank.
Ofek Kehila (Israel, 1987) is a scholar of Spanish Golden Age literature and Latin American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. His research bridges the gap between those traditions, highlighting their aesthetic, cultural, and historical dialogue. He holds a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2022) and was a postdoctoral fellow at Freie Universität Berlin (2023-2025).