How did we get to a dangerous place where many young people think that hurt feelings are an entitlement to violence and different opinions must be silenced ? 🧵
1. From the late 1960's onwards, left-wing terrorist groups in the West were funded, armed and trained by the USSR. The Soviet Union viewed this as a way to promote its geopolitical interests by destabilizing pro-Western regimes and increasing Soviet political influence.
These terrorist groups included the Weather Underground (USA), the IRA, the West German Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof Group), ETA (Basque separatists), Italian Red Brigades (BR), Latin American Shining Path and Tupamaros, ETA (Basque Separatists), French Action Directe, the Belgian Communist Combatant Cells and the Nicaraguan Sandinistas.
1. From the late 1960's onwards, left-wing terrorist groups in the West were funded, armed and trained by the USSR. The Soviet Union viewed this as a way to promote its geopolitical interests by destabilizing pro-Western regimes and increasing Soviet political influence.
These terrorist groups included the Weather Underground (USA), the IRA, the West German Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof Group), ETA (Basque separatists), Italian Red Brigades (BR), Latin American Shining Path and Tupamaros, ETA (Basque Separatists), French Action Directe, the Belgian Communist Combatant Cells and the Nicaraguan Sandinistas.
2. In the Middle East, the PLO was founded in 1964.
The PLO, under the Egyptian Yasser Arafat, collaborated closely with the KGB from the early 1970s, receiving weapons, guerrilla training at Soviet dachas, and logistical aid channeled through factions like the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
This support extended to hijackings (e.g., 82 planes in 1969 alone) and post-1967 anti-Israel campaigns.
The PLO also acted as an intermediary, supplying Soviet arms/explosives to European groups via smuggling routes (e.g., heroin traffickers from the Middle East). The PLO hosted joint training with Red Army Faction (RAF, Germany) and Japanese Red Army (JRA) in Jordan and North Africa; RAF members trained with PFLP in the 1970s.
The PLO, under the Egyptian Yasser Arafat, collaborated closely with the KGB from the early 1970s, receiving weapons, guerrilla training at Soviet dachas, and logistical aid channeled through factions like the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
This support extended to hijackings (e.g., 82 planes in 1969 alone) and post-1967 anti-Israel campaigns.
The PLO also acted as an intermediary, supplying Soviet arms/explosives to European groups via smuggling routes (e.g., heroin traffickers from the Middle East). The PLO hosted joint training with Red Army Faction (RAF, Germany) and Japanese Red Army (JRA) in Jordan and North Africa; RAF members trained with PFLP in the 1970s.
3. The Iranian Revolution of 1978-79 (led by Islamists and Communists) then resulted in the toppling of the monarchy, the establishment of an Islamic republic and subsequent support for Islamist terrorist groups across the Middle East.
This was the beginning of the modern Leftist-Islamist alliance (the Red-Green alliance). Radical Leftist and Islamist groups started to collaborate due to shared anti-imperialist and anti-globalization stances - fundamentally anti-US and its allies, despite their entirely different and often conflicting ideologies.
This was the beginning of the modern Leftist-Islamist alliance (the Red-Green alliance). Radical Leftist and Islamist groups started to collaborate due to shared anti-imperialist and anti-globalization stances - fundamentally anti-US and its allies, despite their entirely different and often conflicting ideologies.
4. Qatar's funding of US universities then began in the late 1980s, with indications of a total contribution of approx $5 billion by 1986. The Qatar Foundation, a major funding body, was founded later in 1995 by the then-emir, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Qatar also began funding Islamist terror groups like Hamas, al-Qaeda affiliates (e.g., al-Nusra Front), the Taliban and the Muslim Brotherhood. These ties emerged prominently in the 1990s and intensified post-Arab Spring (2011), driven by Qatar's foreign policy of supporting Islamist movements for regional influence.
Qatar also began funding Islamist terror groups like Hamas, al-Qaeda affiliates (e.g., al-Nusra Front), the Taliban and the Muslim Brotherhood. These ties emerged prominently in the 1990s and intensified post-Arab Spring (2011), driven by Qatar's foreign policy of supporting Islamist movements for regional influence.
5. More recently, in The US and Europe, there has been a notable rise in College faculty and staff expressing support for violence.
Campus groups, including some chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), have been documented using rhetoric supporting Palestinian 'resistance' and glorifying violence.
In 2023, SJP chapters at several universities, including Columbia, George Washington and Rutgers, were suspended for violating university policy, while the Brandeis University chapter was banned entirely.
Campus groups, including some chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), have been documented using rhetoric supporting Palestinian 'resistance' and glorifying violence.
In 2023, SJP chapters at several universities, including Columbia, George Washington and Rutgers, were suspended for violating university policy, while the Brandeis University chapter was banned entirely.
6. Meanwhile, a 2022 study by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) found that US right-wing extremist actors were 'significantly more violent than left-wing actors.'
White supremacist and anti-government groups like Aryan Nations are primarily funded by donations, membership dues and commercial activities (e.g. merchandise sales), alongside criminal proceeds from drug trafficking or fraud.
White supremacist and anti-government groups like Aryan Nations are primarily funded by donations, membership dues and commercial activities (e.g. merchandise sales), alongside criminal proceeds from drug trafficking or fraud.
7. Lack of transparency regarding media funding and political activism in the West.
Since 1976, The Tides Network has 'scaled more than 1400 social ventures, fueled social change in 120+ countries, and mobilized over $3 billion for impact.' Several of their 'social ventures' (ie Palestine Legal) promote antisemitic rhetoric and support BDS campaigns in US colleges and elsewhere.
Arabella Advisers have given $ billions to nonprofits that have supported radical Palestinian activist groups calling for violence.
Wealthy individuals such as Robert Mercer and the Koch family have supported various far-right causes and think tanks that promote violent antisemitic and racist ideologies.
Since 1976, The Tides Network has 'scaled more than 1400 social ventures, fueled social change in 120+ countries, and mobilized over $3 billion for impact.' Several of their 'social ventures' (ie Palestine Legal) promote antisemitic rhetoric and support BDS campaigns in US colleges and elsewhere.
Arabella Advisers have given $ billions to nonprofits that have supported radical Palestinian activist groups calling for violence.
Wealthy individuals such as Robert Mercer and the Koch family have supported various far-right causes and think tanks that promote violent antisemitic and racist ideologies.
8. State influence
Al Jazeera is the state funded propaganda wing of Qatar, promoting Islamist violence around the world.
China has spent approx $280 million in FARA reported media/lobbying.
Saudi Arabia is also a top FARA spender (over 14,000 activities in 2022-23) for policy rehab.
Al Jazeera is the state funded propaganda wing of Qatar, promoting Islamist violence around the world.
China has spent approx $280 million in FARA reported media/lobbying.
Saudi Arabia is also a top FARA spender (over 14,000 activities in 2022-23) for policy rehab.
9. It is time to re-think.
We cannot allow our education system in the West to provide a foothold for extremist factions and voices who promote violence as a legitimate means of objection - whether the subject is politics, economics, gender ideology or any other.
Free speech is a fundamental right within Western democracy. It must not be eroded by violence.
We cannot allow our education system in the West to provide a foothold for extremist factions and voices who promote violence as a legitimate means of objection - whether the subject is politics, economics, gender ideology or any other.
Free speech is a fundamental right within Western democracy. It must not be eroded by violence.
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