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Fox News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
ASRA NOMANI: Iran's ideological foot soldiers wage proxy war in America
Even as President Donald Trump announces a "Complete and Total ceasefire" between Israel and Iran, there is a chant that is certain to echo for weeks to come: "There is only one solution! Intifada revolution!" That was the fierce battle cry of a young Palestinian American man from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, as he pumped his fist in the air in front of the White House on Sunday, with protesters waving flags of Iran and Palestine beside him. A phalanx of young Iranian American girls stood nearby, watching intently, some of them chanting quietly along, others fidgeting with their head scarfs, tight around their faces in the sweltering 90-degree heat. This scene – a disturbing portrait of youth absorbing radicalization – was one front in a national propaganda war that a network of 93 groups with an estimated $100 million in annual revenues has unleashed on America in a coordinated proxy campaign for the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to my latest reporting for the Pearl Project, a nonprofit journalism initiative named for Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. I identify all of the groups by name in a Pearl Project database I am updating in real time to document the professional protest industry sowing chaos in America. You can be certain the list will keep growing even amid talk of peace in the Middle East. This pro-Iran network includes socialist revolutionaries, Islamist activists, foreign-influenced nonprofits and even political operatives from Democratic groups including Indivisible Action, 50501 and Progressive Democrats of America — groups that have fused their interests to topple power in America and created a coalition running cover for America's enemies. They are the red-green alliance that I call the Woke Army. They aren't buying the ceasefire because war stokes their agendas. About five of 10 of the groups are self-described Marxist, socialist, or communist, openly praising the Chinese Communist Party, Marx and Lenin. Another two of 10 of the groups are aligned with Islamist interests. The final three of 10 are socialist- and Islamist-adjacent groups, a disturbing place for Democratic groups to be. They do not disclose their donors, making them classic "dark money" groups. Early Sunday, at a press conference with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Cain warned that "it would be a very bad idea for Iran or its proxies to attempt to attack American forces." Most Americans assumed he meant military operations. But the truth is: some of those proxies are already here. Not with bombs, but with bullhorns. Just after 2 p.m. on Sunday, the D.C. theater of this operation came into focus. A formation of about 20 members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition — a self-described Marxist, Leninist, Communist group — advanced across Lafayette Park with the discipline of a street-level infantry unit. At the front, two men carried cameras to capture the propaganda about to unfold. Behind them, two women in shorts and sneakers hauled a pop-up wooden stage. Three more followed, gripping the wooden handles of pre-printed placards with the message, "HANDS OFF IRAN," and laying the signs on the curb in front of the White House for easy pickup by demonstrators they'd summoned in an email blast. One young man in khaki shorts and sunglasses pushed a shopping cart filled with drums. Another pulled a collapsible red wagon loaded with megaphones and boxes of gear. Yet another cradled rolled-up banners. Even at this protest for Iran, demonstrators wore the black-and-white keffiyeh, the sartorial propaganda of the Palestinian intifada, because Iran's "Death to Israel" slogan hasn't just inspired hatred; it has financed, armed and directed terrorism against Jews in Israel for decades. A man shrouded in a black face mask and the keffiyeh, held a drum over his shoulders, wearing the Party for Socialism and Liberation's logo on the front and its motto on the back: "SOCIALISM IS THE FUTURE." These foot soldiers moved with purpose and precision — establishing their base directly in front of the White House gates. Like a field marshal, one of the men in sunglasses and khaki shorts directed two Black street vendors to give them space for their ideal staging ground and move their carts filled with SpongeBob Square Pants Popsicles, Blue Bunny cones and red-white-and-blue rocket pops. The vendors had been there since 10 a.m.. But the organizers had a higher purpose that transcends any ceasefire: to deploy an asymmetric warfare campaign: delegitimizing the American government and destabilizing the nation from within in an operation that intelligence and law enforcement understand as "malign foreign influence" – three words that every American should know. The mission statements, protest chants and statements of protest organizers at the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition reveal their real function is to advance ideological agendas that mirror the messaging of regimes like Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, and Cuba. At last count, the pro-Iran groups are active in at least 50 cities nationwide — from Ukiah, Ca., to Salisbury, Ct.. beyond any ceasefire. One of their field marshals opened the protest with a chant familiar to veterans of the anti-Israel movement: "Free, free Palestine!" They were the words that Elias Gonzalez, radicalized as a Party for Socialism and Liberation member, chanted after recently murdering two Israeli Embassy officials. Over the next hour, organizers followed a playbook: railing into the microphone against Trump, Israel and the United States. The leaders of the "red" wing of the Woke Army aren't "anti-war" grassroots operations, and Americans should know their names and financial structures: Members of the pro-Iran "green" wing, representing the color associated with Islam, include: In the crowd on Sunday, Sara Hawrami, director of staff and operations at the National Iranian American Council, weaved through the crowd in front of the White House, distributing "NO WAR WITH IRAN!" signs from a bundle cradled in her arms. A man stood with a CodePink t-shirt that read: "PEACE WITH IRAN." The many organizations in the Woke Army don't register with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, despite many of them parroting propaganda lines from foreign regimes. In March, I testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee urging senators to require these organizations to register as foreign agents. In April, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel requesting investigations into CodePink and The People's Forum. "Secretive foreign lobbying and public relations campaigns by China and other adversaries undermines the political will and interests of the American people," Grasley wrote. Earlier this month, Senate Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer and other senators sent a letter to Singam to produce documents into his funding of the People's Forum, the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation and any ties between these organizations and the Chinese Communist Party. The senators have it right. What looks like decentralized activism is, in fact, a centralized political warfare strategy aimed directly at American institutions — not just political parties. At the White House, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation handed out flyers for the next big "direct action" – a "National March on Washington" planned for June 28 at 1 p.m. The flyer included a QR code and a URL created by the ANSWER Coalition: It offered a sign-up for New York residents to travel to D.C. by chartered bus from The People's Forum HQ on West 37th Street in Manhattan—$60 per seat, or $120 for a "Solidarity Rate Ticket." In fine print at the bottom were the slick logos for their allies in the Woke Army, featuring the red wing – the ANSWER Coalition, Code Pink, Democratic Socialists of America, The People's Forum – and the green wing, represented by the Palestinian Youth Movement and the National Iranian American Council. Ironically, after seizing power in the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini quickly turned on one of the very groups that had helped galvanize the revolution: leftists and socialists, including influential thinkers like writer Ali Shariati. One of the most dangerous elements of these protest groups is their camouflage. NBC News, USA Today, India Today and other media outlets reported that "anti-war" protests "flood" the cities and "erupt" on the streets, with no mention of their radical agendas and propaganda for foreign powers. Some media outlets even relied on footage from "Breakthrough News," a propaganda wing of the ANSWER Coalition, according to the 2023 tax records for the Progress Unity Fund, which said it doled out $232,244 to ANSWER Coalition and other "progressive" organizations for "mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people in a mass action in Washington, D.C., that promoted a permanent ceasefire to end the war that took thousands of civilian lives in Gaza." It said it pumped another $45,000 to BreakThrough Media, based in New York City, for "Gen support educational programs." Sure enough, BreakThrough Media's camera crew posted a video on Instagram from the White House of the cute Iranian American children waving their placards behind the headline: "Iranian Children Join Anti-War Protest outside White House." Max Reed, 21, a member of the American Communist Party, stood at the edge of the protest, propping the only American flag in the crowd over his shoulder. "A lot of American so-called 'left-wing' groups don't like the American flag and don't like the working class," he admitted. A comrade handed out a press release with the headline: "Against the Criminal Imperialist War on Iran," denouncing "the U.S. regime," "the Zionist entity" of Israel and "its agents." Photographers scrambled to take photos of the children, the perfect props for the ideological warriors leading the protests. One of their mothers stage-managed them behind the cameras. Their parents, who declined to share their names, said they had traveled from Michigan to visit relatives in the area and brought their children to the protest. That morning, they said their older children had made protest signs while sitting at the café of the Diyanet Center of America in nearby Lanham, Md, a sprawling Turkish mosque, Islamic school, and restaurant complex built as a soft power project by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, an Islamist. The parents said they bought fly swatters at a local Giant to use as makeshift handles for the protest signs. One of the mothers said she didn't support the Islamic Republic of Iran but didn't want war in her homeland. She said she didn't agree with the socialists in the crowd. But messages on the signs were clearly politically aligned: "Impeach Trump," they read. Nearby, an Iranian-American woman with a keffiyeh tightly wrapped around her face, waved a black flag, beckoning the "mahdi," the messiah in the eschatology, or end times revelations, of Muslims in the Shia sect of Islam practiced in Iran. Finally at about hour's end, the protest ended quickly. Demonstrators returned their signs to the curb by the White House gates, where a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation bundled them up with a rubber band. As the ideological operatives for the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition walked back into Lafayette Park with their pop-up stage, signs, red wagon and megaphones, another set of protestors, these ones from Democratic Socialists of America's campaign, rolled onto Pennsylvania Avenue for their moment in front of the White House. "War on Iran, we say no!" they chanted. Regular Americans smiled and laughed, mostly oblivious to the chants, taking selfies in front of the White House. The Iranian American parents hustled their children to the corner Peet's Coffee for snacks. The vendors shouted, "Ice cold Gatorade!" and returned to selling their SpongeBob SquarePants Popsicles, uninterrupted, while the day's ideologues headed home to upload their video footage to social media, later posting Instagram videos from across the nation to create the myth of the marching millions with headlines blasting: "HAPPENING NOW."
CBS News
5 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Protestors in Denver oppose war with Iran: "Do not define the Islamic regime as the Iranian people"
As tensions rise over President Trump's decision to launch airstrikes against Iran, a last-minute protest Sunday at the Colorado State Capitol drew people voicing opposition to the prospect of another U.S. war in the Middle East. The demonstration, organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, came together in less than 24 hours. A few dozen protesters gathered peacefully in the afternoon to condemn the military action and call for peace. "There was no way that we weren't gonna be out here protesting," said Katie Leonard, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Just blocks away, Aryan Kiani, who came to the United States as a student in 1978, offered a different perspective. Kiani, an Iranian-born Denver resident who advocates for a secular Iran, criticized both the U.S. strike and the Islamic regime in his home country. "The violence is gonna cause the violence in the future, and it's not gonna help the United States," Kiani said. "Do not define the Islamic regime as the Iranian people. They are not." Mr. Trump said that he launched strikes against the Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan on Saturday and called the strikes a "spectacular military success." In addition to retaliatory strikes against Israel, which launched strikes against Iran on June 12, Iran launched missiles at the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Monday. Later that day, Mr. Trump said that Israel and Iran have agreed on a "Complete and Total" ceasefire. Despite differing views, protesters and Kiani shared opposition to further U.S. military involvement in the region. Protesters drew parallels to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. "We've lived through this already," Leonard said. "Back when George W. Bush said that Iraq had so-called 'weapons of mass destruction' and used that as a pretext to send us to war." Kiani said he hopes international intervention won't be necessary and that change in Iran can come from within. "Let the people do the job," he said. "You don't need the military." The protest ended peacefully around 5:30 p.m., with organizers saying more demonstrations are likely in the future.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hundreds march in 'Hands Off' protest in Georgia
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (WSAV) — Hundreds of protesters marched through Lawrenceville, Georgia, Staurday, voicing their opposition to ICE raids and deportations. Many held signs that read, 'Full Rights For All Immigrants.' The protest was led by the Party for Socialism and Liberation out of Atlanta. According to the group's website, they want to defeat what they call the 'far right assault' on immigrants, activists and the working class. Cristina Butler was one of the protesters. 'I mean it's sad, really sad. It's scary to see this and the cruelty that families are going through right now. It's not fair. A lot of their status revolves around look or timing or whatever, and it's just not fair that they have to go through so much cruelty just because someone has decided to attack the Latino community.' Butler went on to say Saturday's protest may not bring about big changes but it is part of a bigger movement. 'I don't think my little signs are going to save the day, but I do think it's important for the government, for communities and for everybody to know that there are numbers and we are stronger together and will stand and protect immigrant families.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US rights groups warn of Republican effort to undercut LA advocacy work
Immigration and civil rights organizations across the US are warning of a growing effort to undermine their advocacy work as rightwing lawmakers accuse them of fueling the demonstrations against federal raids in California. Advocacy groups voiced alarm on Thursday after Josh Hawley, a Republican US senator from Missouri, threatened multiple immigration and civil rights groups with investigations over claims that they are 'bankrolling civil unrest' in Los Angeles. Hawley, who chairs the Senate subcommittee on crime and counter-terrorism, accused the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (Chirla), the Party for Socialism and Liberation, as well as Unión del Barrio of their 'alleged role[s] in financing and materially supporting the coordinated protests and riots that have engulfed Los Angeles in recent weeks'. Related: Senator Alex Padilla forcibly removed from Kristi Noem's LA press conference As part of a letter he wrote to the organizations, Hawley, who was memorably captured raising his fist in a salute to supporters of Donald Trump outside at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, then later fleeing the mob after they invaded the building to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election victory, said that 'bankrolling civil unrest is not protected speech'. He referred to 'credible reporting' that the organizations were providing logistical and financial support to 'individuals' engaged in disruptive actions, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday, as Hawley followed up on a committee announcement in the House of Representatives that it will investigate 200 organizations it accuses of helping 'inadmissible aliens' during the Biden administration. The attacks on Chirla and others also came after advocates and lawyers rushed to advise people arrested and detained, and their affected family members, during the latest immigration raids in the LA area that sparked the most fierce protests over the weekend, the LA Times further reported. Hawley added: 'You must immediately cease and desist any further involvement in the organization, funding, or promotion of these unlawful activities,' also demanding that Chirla preserve a slew of records including all internal communications, financial documents, grant applications and funding proposals. 'Failure to comply will result in additional action by this subcommittee, including potential referral for criminal investigation,' Hawley said. In response, Chirla executive director Angelica Salas rejected Hawley's accusations, saying: 'Our mission is rooted in non-violent advocacy, community safety, and democratic values … We will not be intimidated for standing with immigrant communities and documenting the inhumane manner that our community is being targeted with the assault by the raids, the unconstitutional and illegal arrests, detentions, and the assault on our first amendment rights.' Similarly, the United Farm Workers Foundation, which represents a sizable presence across California's farmlands that are largely worked by undocumented workers, said that it 'unequivocally denounces the disturbing tactics' deployed against Chirla. 'Republican members of Congress are launching a troubling and politically motivated attack on non-profit organizations, including Chirla. These actions appear designed to intimidate and discredit the work of groups that serve immigrant communities across the country,' UWF Foundation said. In an additional statement, Erica Corcoran, the UWF Foundation CEO, said that Chirla's 'work is grounded in nonviolent action, community empowerment, and the defense of democratic values, principles that should be protected, not targeted, in a free society'. The Guardian has contacted the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Unión del Barrio for comment. Hawley's letters have also alarmed civil rights organizations. David Loy, the First Amendment Coalition's legal director, said: 'The first amendment … guarantees that … anyone who organizes or supports or participates in a protest cannot be held legally responsible for the actions of a few individuals who might do illegal things like throw rocks or bottles, unless the organizer or the participant had the specific intent to commit those illegal acts or further the commission or aid and abet those illegal acts. 'The problem with the senator's letter is that it's ignoring this fundamental principle, and the effect of what he's doing is to frighten and intimidate people against speaking out,' Loy said, adding: 'No one in government should ever be … taking action which has the effect of intimidating and chilling people from exercising their freedom speech, full stop.' Hawley's letter follows federal authorities' arrest earlier this week of David Huerta, the 58-year-old president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California who was charged with 'conspiracy to impede an officer' while serving as a community observer during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raid in Los Angeles. Huerta, who was initially hospitalized after federal officers knocked his head into a concrete curb last Friday, said: 'Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice.' Hawley's letter also comes after Bill Essayli, the interim US attorney for the central district of California, threatened advocacy groups with federal investigations over their involvement in the protests. Eric Rodriguez, UnidosUS's vice-president of policy and advocacy, told the Guardian on Thursday: 'What we have seen is the Senate committee now using this accusation to be able to put pressure and intimidate organizations from engaging in peaceful protest … that's something I think that should be objectionable to all Americans. 'Some of the folks who are putting an eye on the protesters or the organizations that are responding are the very same people who did not hold or did not have the desire to hold anyone accountable for the insurrection on January 6,' he added.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Organizers to protest detention of Tampa Bay mother Saturday
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Rosa Patishtan-Gomez, a 30-year-old mother, in Tampa earlier this month. She's now across the state in a Pompano Beach detention facility, according to the agency's detainee locator system. Patishtan-Gomez is scheduled for a hearing next week, which could decide if she's legally allowed to stay in Tampa Bay. But her family, advocates and community members are rallying this weekend in support — and to get her home. The Party for Socialism and Liberation Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network have planned a protest for Saturday outside the Pinellas County Jail at 4:30 p.m. Organizers said in a news release that they are demanding that Patishtan-Gomez, who has a 2-year-old and 10-month-old, be returned home. They are also calling for an end to mass deportations and for the removal of immigration officers from the community. 'All they do is racially profile and hurt the people we love most,' Ruth Beltran, community organizer, said in the news release. Patishtan-Gomez immigrated to the United States from Mexico five years ago and recently began working in construction to support her family. She is still breastfeeding her 10-month-old, and protesters say her arrest is in violation of a directive Immigration and Customs Enforcement implemented in 2021. Officers under most circumstances will not detain, arrest or take into custody people who are pregnant, postpartum or nursing, per the directive. Organizers also said her bond has been set at $6,500, and officials have not provided her with a translator. Before officials took Patishtan-Gomez to the Miami area, she was held at the Pinellas County Jail, which, similar to every Florida county as of February, is in a program partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 'We condemn the Pinellas County Sheriff's department, the State of Florida, and I.C.E. for their blatant violation of Rosa's legal and human rights— no person should endure the inhumanity of family separations," Beltran's statement said. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri is also a member of the State Immigration Enforcement Council. He said last month 200 inmates were sleeping on the floor at the jail because of the influx of immigrant detainees, WFTV9 reported. And this month, the outlet reported state Attorney General James Uthmeier acknowledged the issue and was working to address it. The Sheriff's Office said in a statement Friday that jail capacity is currently stable. 'As to the demonstration tomorrow, people are free to peacefully demonstrate, and we have no concern with peaceful public expression,' Sergeant Amanda Sinni wrote in an email.
