'Rampant Zionism': Top staffers at left-wing private equity watchdog praised anti-Israel college protests

A PESP employee says she was 'striving to be a disciplined Communist'

Leading members of a liberal nonprofit private equity watchdog group expressed strong support for the anti-Israel college protests plaguing campuses in the spring.

Several top employees of the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP), a left-leaning watchdog funded by Soros-backed groups, were "proud" of the college campus protests, many of which called for the destruction of the Israeli state, a FOX Business review found.

K Agbebiyi, PESP's senior housing campaign coordinator, is a self-pronounced "Communist" and vocal supporter of the college campus protests against Israel.

"I have a ton of different interests like basketball, queer line dancing, fashion, glitter, pink, but also I’m striving to be a disciplined Communist," Agbebiyi wrote in a blog post. Agbebiyi also wrote in support of the anti-Israel protesters at Emory University.

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UCLA protesters

More protests and arrests emerged at UCLA on Monday, May 6, 2024 with police arresting multiple people who gathered in a campus parking garage. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Agbebiyi went on to say it was "amazing" that her graduate school alma mater, the University of Michigan, had an anti-Israel encampment "given the rampant Zionism within the University and the recent backlash against organizers for disrupting an Honors convocation."

"After what I’ve witnessed to sadly be a lull in public support for Palestine, the encampment movement has seemingly reinvigorated the fight by putting activism against ‘Israel’s’ genocidal reign of terror back on the front pages of the internet," Agbebiyi continued. "I want to be clear, I am in full support of these brave and passionate students. As a former student organizer I understand the risks of the actions they are taking."

Agbebiyi made several posts at the height of the college campus protests, calling those arrested for refusing to comply with law enforcement "political prisoners" and asking people to donate to their bail funds.

Agbebiyi also posted a list of demands from the protesters on social media, which included an "Academic Boycott Of All ‘Israeli’ Universities."

Additionally, the PESP employee posted a photo to help fundraising for campus protestors in Atlanta. The post was from an account under the username @Dissentergsu, a group whose Linktree links to a page calling for "No More USA" and "No More Israel."

NYPD officers arrest an anti-Israel protestor as they march after a rally against the Baruch College Hillel campus organization at Baruch College on June 5, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)

Several additional staffers have expressed support for the anti-Israel protests on social media while employed at PESP, a group which has been previously funded by the Soros-backed Foundation to Promote an Open Society, the Ford Foundation, and Surdna Foundation, among other left-leaning groups, according to Influence Watch.

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Alyssa Giachino, PESP investment engagement director and private equity stakeholder action treasurer, liked an April 2 post from Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., where the congresswoman accused Israel of "war crimes" and "genocide."

The director of PESP, Bianca Agustin, said she was "proud" of the encampments on a California college campus.

NYPD officers stand in between pro-Israel protestors and anti-Israel protestors during a rally again the Baruch College Hillel campus organization at Baruch College on June 5, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/ Getty Images / Getty Images)

"So proud of UC Berkeley students today! The US cannot continue to be complicit in the destruction of Gaza and the annihilation of Palestinian men, women and children," Agustin wrote in an April 22 post on X.

Abhilasha Bhola – senior research and campaign coordinator whose posts are now private, liked a post on X from someone who described attending a rally on "being crushed by American imperialism." 

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The review comes after FOX Business previously reported that PESP staffers were making statements sympathetic toward Hamas in the months following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel.

After the report found that Amanda Mendoza, a senior climate research and campaign coordinator for PESP, has a social media footprint that includes praising anti-Israel protesters and promoting their overall movement, Mendoza made her X account private.

FOX Business reached out to PESP for comment but did not receive a response.