The former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, thinks she has identified Vladimir Putin as the mastermind of the current wave of anti-Israel and pro-Palestine demonstrations.
The congresswoman from California stated on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Putin has backed requests for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hamas. She said she thinks a certain amount of protests are linked to the Russian tyrant, even though she thinks some of them are really driven and naturally formed. She also said that the funding of these groups needs to be looked into.
Even though Pelosi wouldn’t go so far as to refer the demonstrators as “plants,” she thinks that some anti-Israel organizations receive funding from Russian sources. Pelosi urged the FBI to look into Russian connections to US organizations that support Palestine.
Democrats are divided over the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, which erupted after Hamas launched an unexpected attack on Israel on October 7 of last year. While some progressives want Biden to show greater support for the Palestinians, others are more concerned with maintaining America’s longstanding solidarity with Israel.
Pelosi’s claims that pro-Palestine organizations in the US receive funding from Putin have been denounced by a number of organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Her remarks were criticized by CAIR’s head, Nihad Awad, as being both “authoritarian” and “dehumanizing” toward Palestinians, despite the fact that Americans are guaranteed the constitutional right to peaceful protest.
When questioned, a Pelosi spokesman stated that while she always believes that Americans have the right to peacefully protest, she is also mindful of the history of foreign countries trying to influence American opinion in order to influence elections.
