A newly released report from NGO Monitor is raising serious concerns about the network of organizations that orchestrated protests across the United Kingdom in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks, pointing to coordinated operations, murky financial structures, and in some instances, connections to extremist actors.
The report tracked 40 major demonstrations and mobilization efforts that took place after October 7, 2023, pinpointing organizations and individuals it says were repeatedly involved in planning, funding, and carrying out protest-related activities. Contrary to how many of these events were presented publicly, the report concludes they were not spontaneous grassroots movements but rather the product of a coordinated international advocacy network.
According to the report’s findings, at least 11 of the 40 organizations examined either have direct ties to extremist groups or include officials who have met with or worked alongside the Iranian regime, its Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hamas, Hezbollah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or the Muslim Brotherhood.
The report also highlights overlapping leadership roles among six key coordinating organizations. It specifically names Jeremy Corbyn as holding the positions of vice president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, deputy president of the Stop the War Coalition, and patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The report notes that funding sources for his organization, the People’s Forum UK, remain unknown.
Youth outreach emerged as a significant component of the campaign activity documented in the report. It identifies Amnesty International UK as running a program focused on anti-Israel activism that trains hundreds of young people in protest rights, media strategy, and campaign organizing. The group Friends of Al-Aqsa was also cited for encouraging young people to take part in pro-Palestinian activism.
When it comes to organizational structure, the report found that 10 of the 40 groups are registered charities, eight are companies, nine are hybrid entities, and 13 operate entirely outside any formal UK regulatory framework — despite collecting substantial amounts of public money. Nineteen of the organizations receive funding through the UK government via the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office or Gift Aid. At least 11 receive taxpayer money from other countries, including the United States, Belgium, Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the European Commission.
Among its policy recommendations, the report urges stricter financial disclosure requirements, stronger oversight of foreign funding, more rigorous vetting processes for government grants, regulation of cryptocurrency-based fundraising, updated guidance from the Charity Commission, and formal inquiries by both government and parliament into how these protest networks are financed and coordinated.
The report additionally calls on the UK to formally designate the IRGC, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Muslim Brotherhood as proscribed organizations, and to take action against any groups found to be engaged in or supporting violence.
