Israeli-designated terror organization helped plan blockade of massive US port

An Israeli-designated terror coalition and another pro-Palestinian activist group sympathizing with Hamas after its deadly terror attacks against the Jewish state led a recent blockade on one of the largest container ports in North America.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network’s Seattle chapter and the Arab Resource and Organizing Center coordinated to recruit protesters earlier this week to help block the entrance to the Port of Tacoma, believing the MV Cape Orlando ship that was docked there would be picking up equipment and weapons to haul to Israel, according to flyers and social media posts. The estimated 300 activists in attendance demanded a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict and for the United States to choke off aid to Israel.

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“Free, free, Palestine, within our lifetime,” protesters chanted. “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”

“We’re gonna block, block, block the boat, down with the genocide boat,” protesters also chanted.

The Seattle port blockade underscores how left-wing groups in the U.S. and other countries are increasingly resorting to radical methods to protest Israel, where more than 1,400 people have been killed since Oct. 7, according to Israeli officials. Pro-Palestinian groups organizing events share certain ties to terror factions, including Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or have expressed support for convicted terrorists responsible for murdering innocent lives, the Washington Examiner reported.

Samidoun is leading many pro-Palestinian rallies and was banned by Germany’s government in mid-October after its activists were found to be handing out candy to Berlin protesters to celebrate terrorism. The coalition, which Israel designated as a PFLP “subsidiary” in 2021, is a project of Alliance for Global Justice, an “anti-capitalist” charity in Arizona that sponsors other anti-Israel groups as well.

Through an arrangement called fiscal sponsorship, charities often provide projects housed under them with services, such as payroll, human resources, donation processing, and legal oversight. Samidoun has shared staffers, including coordinator Khaled Barakat, with the PFLP. A Washington Examiner investigation on Alliance for Global Justice’s terror connections, including through its relationship with Samidoun, has since resulted in eight combined payment processors and Democratic-tied grantmakers, such as the New Venture Fund and the Ford Foundation, cutting ties with the Arizona group.

PayPal is one of the companies that jumped ship from allowing AFGJ to use its services following the GOP-led House Foreign Affairs Committee raising concerns about its terror ties in a closed-door meeting, the Washington Examiner reported. The company continues to work with other anti-Israel groups, including Black Lives Matter Chicago, that have recently praised Hamas terrorists.

AFGJ has been accused of providing material support to terrorism by pro-Israel watchdog groups, including the Zachor Legal Institute. The charity also sponsors the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, a coalition that the Washington Examiner revealed in September was booted off ActBlue, the behemoth Democratic fundraising platform.

Meanwhile, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, the other leader of the Seattle port blockade, is also not a standalone charity. Rather, it is a project of the Tides Foundation, an influential Democratic-aligned nonprofit group that incubates liberal initiatives and managed $538 million in assets in 2021, according to tax forms.

The Tides Foundation also sponsors the Adalah Justice Project, Palestine Legal, and the Catalyst Project, which have also downplayed the attacks against Israel or supported Hamas, the Daily Caller reported.

The Arab Resource and Organizing Center says on its website that it “holds the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence we’ve witnessed across historic Palestine.”

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“Victory in Seattle-Tacoma!” it posted on social media this week. “The US military vessel, Cape Orlando was successfully delayed for 8+ hours, and was picketed for 12 hours! A worker in solidarity on the ship sends a message to us ‘Keep fighting, unionize, show the great powers of the world that we…'”

Samidoun and the Arab Resource and Organizing Center did not respond to requests for comment.