ASRA NOMANI: I watched hate consume Democrats' 'non-violent' #NoKings rallies

PHILADELPHIA – Last Saturday, down a phalanx of section cops, teachers’ national president Randi Weingarten stood connected a signifier successful the bosom of the metropolis and pumped her fists successful the aerial arsenic she declared to a assemblage protesting President Donald Trump: "We person to practice, not arsenic a strategy, but arsenic a mode of life, peaceful nonviolence." 

It was a scene scripted to consciousness uplifting. Stage managers had acceptable up the riser for the speakers close beneath the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, wherever histrion Sylvester Stallone famously filmed his iconic movie country arsenic boxer Rocky Balboa, moving the stairs and past pumping his fists victoriously into the air.

SOROS-BACKED 'NO KINGS' RALLIES THREATEN AMERICA'S CITIES WITH PLANNED CHAOS

But the feel-good vigor was abruptly pierced by shouting. A chant — scattered and distant — roseate similar a tide. As I drew person to the intersection of Kelly Drive and Spring Garden Street, I recognized the acquainted sing-song cadence that has marked chaos connected America’s streets since the Oct. 7, 2023, brutal murders of Israelis by Hamas terrorists. 

"Free, escaped Palestine!" the chant began.

The effect came close after: "Free, free, escaped Palestine!"

These were the aforesaid words shouted by Elias Rodriguez, an activistic radicalized successful the Party for Socialism and Liberation, moments aft helium murdered 2 Israel Embassy staffers connected the streets of Washington, D.C., past month.

Then, different acquainted refrain: "From the oversea to the river, Palestine volition unrecorded forever!"

"Donald Trump, you volition see, Palestine volition beryllium free!"

As a U.S. Army seasoned took the main stage, the chants shifted: "U.S. imperialists! No. 1 terrorists!"

"No. 1 racists! No. 1 fascists!" 

Then, unmistakably: "Globalize the intifada!"

Missing from after-action reports that Indivisible, the main organizer of the #NoKings protests, sent journalists was immoderate notation of the extremist flanks: the "Palestine Contingent," "ICE Contingent," and "Labor Contingent" that joined protests successful Philadelphia, New York City, Sacramento, Calif., and different cities, according to reporting that I did connected the crushed and from afar. These "contingents" see self-declared socialist, Marxist and communist groups advocating for the dismantling of the American "empire." Thursday night, they were on the streets again, protesting "NO WAR ON IRAN!."

Through my probe astatine the Pearl Project, a nonprofit journalism inaugural named for my person and colleague, Daniel Pearl, murdered successful 2002 by militants successful Pakistan, I initially recovered astir 195 organizations and past 70 Democratic National Committee affiliates successful the governmental instrumentality down the #NoKings protests, with astir $2.1 cardinal successful yearly revenues.

What was billed arsenic a bid of anti-Trump rallies turned into a festival of anti-American and andti-Israel grievances. (Fox News Digital)

Based connected my caller reporting, different 118 organizations led the astir extremist parts of the protests, with combined yearly revenues of astir $204 million. I’ve added their names to a public database that I’m seeking to build to supply transparency for the public, press, constabulary and policymakers astir the nonrecreational protestation industry: its tactics, web and eventual purpose – to sow chaos and discord.

Across the country, contingents with anti-American agendas joined protests:

• Philadelphia: Some 19 groups assembled arsenic portion of the "Palestine Coalition," including the anti-Israel group, CodePink, the section Philadelphia section of the Council connected American-Islamic Relations, and the Philly Palestine Coalition, which has clashed with constabulary successful anterior demonstrations. The enforcement manager of CAIR expressed joyousness that the Oct. 7 attacks had occurred. CAIR was founded successful Philadelphia years agone erstwhile leaders utilized the connection "Samah" to notation to Hamas, reasoning that saying its sanction backwards would assistance avert FBI surveillance. It didn’t. In an Instagram post, they told followers, "Wear your keffiyehs," conscionable 15 minutes earlier the protest’s commencement clip astatine the country of 15th and Arch Street, "Bring pots and pans," and "Make sound for those starving successful Gaza."
• Chicago: Some 89 organizations successful the "Coalition Against the Trump Agenda," a caller web spearheaded by fiery Palestinian American organizer Hatem Abudayyeh, a fixture successful anti-Israel protests successful Chicago, joined the #NoKings march. They person combined yearly revenues of astir $169 million. According to the Pearl Project database, 36 conjugation members organized anti-Israel protests against the Democratic National Committee past August.
• North Carolina: The "Palestine Contingent" included the Party for Socialism and Liberation, whose section subordinate burned the American emblem astatine an anti-Israel protestation astatine Union Station successful Washington, D.C., past summer. At the aforesaid protest, different activistic painted "HAMAS IS COMIN" graffiti connected a statue.
• Sacramento, Calif.: The Palestine American League, a section nonprofit, promoted its "Palestine Contingent" arsenic a mode to amusement California’s leaders and voters "that genocide successful Palestine indispensable beryllium connected the agenda." The Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Answer Coalition, some self-described socialist organizations, promoted an "ICE OUT!" connection with its "Contingent astatine No Kings Rally" poster. Both groups, on with CodePink and a related group, The Peoples Forum,, are allegedly funded by a tech tycoon, Neville Roy Singham, intimately associated with the Chinese Community Party, backing its propaganda worldwide.
• New York City: "NYC Labor" invited protesters to its "Palestine Contingent," with the message: "FROM PALESTINE TO MEXICO, ALL THE WALLS HAVE GOT TO GO!" It added the timely message: "NO WAR WITH IRAN!" The Party for Socialism and Liberation bragged astir its presence.
• Bakersfield, Calif.: Protest organizers gave a masked subordinate of the "United Liberation Front for Palestine" the microphone erstwhile she ran connected stage, according to a video its members aboriginal posted connected Instagram, condemning not lone the protestation organizers but besides the nation: "We condemn the violent authorities of America!"

Back successful Philadelphia, the chants from the section "Palestine Contingent" continued. 

"When radical are occupied, absorption is justified!"

"Resistance is glorious! We volition beryllium victorious!"

The "Palestine Contingent" took portion successful the #NoKings rally, turning an anti-Trump lawsuit into an anti-Israel demonstration. (Fox News Digital)

Their banners and signs made nary mistake astir their beliefs. A fewer masked men held a banner that declared, "Amerika is the caput of the snake."

Another banner read: "The Global Economy is Complicit successful Genocide."

A young antheral successful a keffiyeh and acheronian shades stood down a banner for the International Jewish Labor Bund, a self-declared socialist organization. Behind him, a antheral held a motion with the Party for Socialism and Liberation crossed the bottommost successful its distinctive black-and-white design.

An older pistillate with a keffiyeh wrapped astir her look pumped her fist into the aerial down a banner that read, "Workers World Party," a communist enactment birthed during the Soviet era. 

The illusion cracked. 

What I was witnessing wasn’t a telephone for "peaceful nonviolence." It was the beingness of a unsafe force: a conjugation of far-left activists and Islamist sympathizers, which I telephone the Woke Army, emboldened by donor dollars, protected by governmental soundlessness and progressively comfy with violence.

Identifying myself arsenic a journalist, I drew the ire of "Palestine Continent" activists for filming them, and I saw firsthand however this protestation civilization is not conscionable performative — it’s punitive, sectarian and violent.

"Are you a Zionist?" a young masked antheral asked me, portion others tried to artifact my path, taunting me. 

Another young masked antheral demanded: "Do you similar genocide?"

Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin took the stage, grinning astatine the occurrence of the nationwide protest. He turned to his wife, Indivisible co-founder, Leah Greenberg, and said: "Would you pb america successful a pledge of allegiance?"

She began awkwardly, "I pledge allegiance to the emblem of the United States of America…" 

In the "Palestine Contingent," wherever I stood, the activists screamed: "Boo! Boo! Boo!" They drowned retired Greenberg’s words: "...with liberty and justness for all."

As I panned the assemblage with my camera, 1 young man, astir 20 feet away, stopped booing to curse astatine me: "Get your f---ing camera retired of my face, you f---ing Zionist!"

Then: "Get the f--- retired of my face, you Mossad portion of sh--!" Mossad is the Israeli quality agency. 

He got closer, ramming his mediate digit astatine me, eyes glaring.

Only 1 idiosyncratic – a young antheral – stepped guardant to effort to halt him. 

But the masked agitator escalated his claims: "She’s a f---ing overseas agent! She’s a f---ing overseas cause of Israel!" 

A masked pistillate with cropped hairsbreadth jumped successful beforehand of maine to past scream, ironically, into the camera: "Get your f---ing camera retired of my face!" She circled backmost to flip maine off. I didn’t budge.

My mother, watching the footage later, said: "These masked radical tried to terrorize you similar they are terrorizing the nation."

She was right.

I cognize these propaganda tactics.

First, my person Daniel Pearl’s kidnappers smeared him arsenic an American spy for the CIA and past a Zionist Jewish spy for Mossad, earlier beheading him and cutting his assemblage into pieces. It’s the rhetoric of dehumanization that the "progressives" assertion to situation but really excessively often perpetuate against anyone with a antithetic constituent of view.

The "Palestine Contingent" weren’t expressing "peaceful nonviolence" successful their chants oregon aggression. They were moments of coercion.

I wrote this file successful the shadiness of different fearfulness — the brutal execution of a Minnesota lawmaker and her hubby by an alleged slayer who hunted them down. America is becoming a federation wherever vigilantism is nary longer lurking successful the margins. It’s marching done the streets, often with a protestation permit.

We rightly condemn right-wing unit erstwhile it erupts. But left-wing unit — often cloaked successful societal justness connection — is excused, minimized, oregon worse, cheered. Networks of leftist activists present openly telephone for the "global intifada," and the "resistance" by "any means" including confrontation, intimidation, demolition and violence.

That is not protest. That is factionalism with fists.

From the main stage, a person shouted: "Whose flag?"

"Our flag!"

One of the anti-Israel activists noted the American emblem was the "flag of imperialism."

In different protests, the "Palestine Contingent" got the microphone – oregon took it. In Oakland, Calif., Zahra Billoo, enforcement manager of the CAIR section successful the San Francisco Bay Area, had a featured talker slot. The Women’s March kicked her disconnected its committee for anti-semitic remarks..

In Philadelphia, I watched the speakers connected the large screen, arsenic masked agitators chanted implicit them, immoderate accusing the organizers of being excessively brushed connected America. At 1 point, the din became truthful large that the speaker’s dependable could hardly beryllium heard implicit the cries of "Globalize the intifada."

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MSNBC big Rachel Maddow covered the protests similar a cheerleader, praising the "nonviolence" without acknowledging the virulent antisemitism, factionalism and outright hatred besides connected display.

The sectarianism that has torn isolated the Middle East and truthful galore countries – from Ireland to the Balkans – is present animating thoroughfare authorities successful America. 

As I stood connected the steps beneath Rocky’s bronze gaze, the chants inactive echoing, I thought astir what made that statue truthful beloved. It wasn’t conscionable astir winning. It was astir lasting up — adjacent successful the look of intimidation — for what’s right.

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That’s what we request now. Vigilantism is not justice. Dogma is not "resistance." And hate, nary substance however good masked, has nary spot connected America’s streets. And we each person to basal up to it and not beryllium intimidated by it. Each of america indispensable basal up to it, unflinching and unafraid.

As the "Palestine Contingent" rolled up their socialist banners, I retraced Rocky’s steps, moving the stairs, pumping my fists successful the air.

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