Islamic connection to Wall Street protest

The communications firm tied to the Occupy Wall Street movement recently spearheaded a major campaign to end Israel's naval blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Islamic groups that are strong supporters of the so-called Free Gaza Movement recently joined in the Occupy Wall Street Movement, with the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations even leading Friday prayers at the protest headquarters last week.

Scores of radical groups backing the anti-Wall Street movement also helped to spearhead activism in support of the Gaza Strip, including several attempts to send aid flotillas to the coastal territory's Hamas rulers.

WND broke the story last week that Fenton Communications helped represent the anti-Wall Street march past millionaires' homes in New York City two weeks ago. Fenton works closely with the Tides Center, a George Soros-funded group that donates to thousands of liberal and far-left groups.

Another grantee of Tides is the Adbusters magazine, which is reported to have come up with the Occupy Wall Street idea after Arab Spring protests toppled governments in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.

"Red Army: The Radical Network that must be defeated to save America" exposes the extremists behind Occupy Wall Street along with the radical socialist network that seized political power in Washington over decades, shaped Obama's presidential agenda and threatens the very future of the U.S.

Since economic protests first broke out in Wisconsin in February, organizers, including those behind Occupy Wall Street, have not been shy about likening their cause to the Mideast and North African uprisings.

On Friday, CAIR-New York led a prayer service in conjunction with the Islamic Leadership Council and the Arab-American Association of New York.

Those groups are strong supporters of ending Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza, while scores of other organizations tied to Occupy Wall Street, including Code Pink and several union organizations, took part in flotilla attempts to reach Gaza.

A tour of the downtown Manhattan square where protesters are holed up, Zuccotti Park, usually finds at least some protesters wearing "Free Gaza" t-shirts or distributing material in support of Gaza.

WND was among the first to report on the far-left U.S. involvement in the Free Gaza Movement, which was behind many of the flotilla attempts.

Fenton Communications reportedly developed a communications action plan for an 18-month campaign, known as the Al Fakhoora Project, aimed at delegitimizing Israel's naval blockade while garnering support for the Hamas-led government and the people of the Gaza strip.

Newsmax last year reported Fenton signed contracts worth more than $390,000 with Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, the wife of Qatar's ruler, as well as a separate foundation she chairs.

The contacts were for "developing and managing" the campaign website, "including regularly advising and updating the site with new content," according to the contract documents reviewed by Newsmax.

Al Fakhoora claims it is working to secure "freedom" for Gazan students to "pursue a quality education without the danger of conflict or the torment of occupation."

The main goal of the Fenton-represented Al Fakhoora is to end Israel's naval blockade of Gaza.

Israel maintains the blockade to ensure Hamas cannot rearm itself. The Islamic group has been caught at sea many times attempting to bring weapons into Gaza.

Fenton, meanwhile, is tied to Occupy Wall Street. The movement's march past millionaires' homes was first announced in a press release titled "Community Groups and Progressive Organizations Join Together to Plan 'Millionaires March' with Occupy Wall Street Protestors."

The release detailed how a group calling itself 99 New York was joining the Occupy Wall Street movement as a partner. The 99 organization is purportedly a coalition of unions and community organizations, such as UnitedNY, Strong Economy for All Coalition, N.Y. Communities for Change, and the Working Families Party.

It was the 99 New York group, which claims to represent the will of 99 percent of the U.S. population, that led to the Occupy Wall Street march on New York streets.

The press release was sent to reporters and was also posted in various Occupy Wall Street-affiliated websites, including StrongForAll.org.

The release listed contact information for 99 New York's spokesmen, Doug Forand of Red Horse Strategies, a firm that has represented scores of Democrat politicians; and Doug Gordon, senior vice president of Fenton Communications.

Gordon's Fenton email was provided on the release. Prior to joining Fenton, Gordon worked for years on Capitol Hill and in Democratic Party politics. He spent seven years as the top aide to Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.

No 'spontaneous movement'

On Sunday, MovOn.org announced it is planning to launch a protest movement of its own to complement the Occupy Wall Street momentum with the stated goal of "make[ing] Wall Street pay" and rebuilding the entire U.S. financial system.

The new MoveOn.org Wall Street campaign serves as further evidence that the anti-Wall Street movement is a well-planned campaign and not the spontaneous uprising its leaders claim.

Fenton crafted the public-relations strategy of MoveOn.org, as well as a who's who of far-left causes, organizations and activists, from Soros himself to Health Care for America Now to a litany of anti-war groups.

MoveOn.org is funded by Tides, which acts as a massive clearinghouse of donations to a slew of liberal groups. Critics have alleged the center acts to obscure the ultimate sources of donations by collecting significant sums of money from a few large donors and then funneling the money to thousands of liberal causes.

Soros' Open Society Institute is a prominent Tides Center donor, giving the group $3.5 million between 2007 and 2009 alone.

Fenton Communications was founded in 1982 by David Fenton, an activist who served as a photographer for Bill Ayers' domestic Weather Underground terror group.

Fenton Communications works in conjunction with the Soros-funded Tides Center that funded Adbusters, which was reported to have started the concept of Occupy Wall Street.

Fenton used the Tides Center to set up Environmental Media Services in 1994. Tides reportedly originally ran daily operations for EMS.

David Fenton serves on the board of numerous Tides-funded groups, while his firm represents more than 30 Tides Center grantees, as well as Soros himself and the billionaire's Open Society Institute. Fenton helped to craft Moveon.org's attacks on Gen. David Petraeus.

An example of the close public relations relationship between Fenton and Tides is the Social Venture Network, which was established and operates as a project of the Tides Foundation, while its strategy is represented by Fenton. SVN's board has included Tides founder Drummond Pike as well as Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink.

Another group, September Eleventh Families For Peaceful Tomorrows, is an anti-war organization founded by individuals who lost loved ones in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The group's campaign was coordinated by Fenton while the group was funded by Tides.

Also represented by Fenton is the Win Without War group, which was funded by Soros and Tides.

WND found more than 30 recent examples of Tides grantees whose strategy was coordinated by Fenton.

Fenton, Obama, Ayers ties

While Fenton first photographed Ayers in the 1960s, he later served alongside both Ayers and Obama on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago nonprofit which channeled money to a slew of progressive groups, including the Tides Center and the Alinsky-style Midwest Academy training outfit. Obama served as a paid director on the Woods Fund board from 1999 to 2002.

WND recently reported Midwest's founder, Heather Booth, has been training unions on how to use the economic crisis.

Citizen Action of Wisconsin, an arm of Booth's Midwest Academy, is part of the Moving Wisconsin Forward movement, one of the main organizers of the major Wisconsin protests in February, as WND was first to report.

Fenton's managing director, Ira Arlook, also served as director of Booth's Citizens Action.

With research by Danette Clark and Brenda J. Elliott