My latest: grassroots? No.

Grassroots. Gotcha.

The anti-Israel, pro-Hamas propagandists would like you do believe that theirs is a spontaneous, organic, community-based effort, one that is entirely funded by regular folks, presumably through bake sales.

Oh, and this: they want to reassure you that their advocacy isn’t against Jews.  It’s against “Zionists.” (Who Dr. Martin Luther King, no less, said are the same thing.)

Most of all, they want you to believe that it’s a grassroots effort.  That is, just a bunch of well-meaning ordinary people concerned about “genocide” being committed by “Zionists” in Gaza.

Even though, you know, Gaza’s population growth has far exceeded Israel’s.  Even though Israel provided Gazans with food, water, fuel, medical supplies and more, for years. Even though…well, you get the point.  If the “Zionists” were committing “genocide,” they sure weren’t doing a very good job at it.

Which suggests that the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas folks aren’t telling the truth about that, and quite a few other things, as well.  Such as how truly “grassroots-y” they are.

Because they aren’t.  They are, in fact, one of the best-organized, best-run, best-funded propaganda efforts many political people has seen in a long, long time.  Ask James Carville, the guru who got Bill Clinton and many others elected: “America’s far-left, for which I hold a very low opinion, is mobilized by the war. And they’ll undoubtedly seek to exploit the unrest it creates – foolishly believing the turmoil advances their cause.”

Former Republican strategist (and, full disclosure, friend) David Frum has said that “Iran, China and Russia have made large investments in anti-Israel, pro-Hamas messaging.” And that propaganda, Frum says, is too often working – particularly with young people.

And it’s not – not – grassroots.

Take, for example, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights’ “City Council Palestine Organizing Toolkit,” recently leaked to this writer.  The multi-page “toolkit” is one of the most professional-looking (and sounding) lobby and PR blueprints I have ever seen.

Essentially, the document is a “guide on organizing for ceasefire resolutions in local city councils.” Here is what it contains:

•    draft anti-Israel resolutions for City Councils to pass
•    a media guide on how to manipulate news coverage
•    guides for calling and emailing voters to apply pressure on city councillors
•    maps on how to increase “grassroots advocacy capacity with digital tools, such as mass mailers, text alert systems, etc.”
•    how to host “weeks of action” to paralyze cities and towns who do not comply
•    how to “create narratives” that “ending genocide is a moral issue”
•    how to track votes
•    talking points, graphics and leave-behind documents

And on and on.  The plan reports on the cities where they have been successful (Dearborn, Providence, Akron, Detroit, Seattle, Oakland, Kalamazoo, Portland, St. Louis and Chicago – where, ominously, Democrats are having their convention in August.)

The “toolkit” gives the anti-Israel forces tips on how to manipulate their online presence – so that it will be harder for politicians and their staff to learn more about their backgrounds.  In particular, the plan describes how to effectively bully reluctant politicians into submission – or, if they are resolute, how to isolate them.

What’s incredible about all of this, of course, is that local city councils don’t set foreign policy.  They’re not even consulted about it – national governments do that.

But the anti-Israel/pro-Hamas forces are so organized, and so well-funded, they have enough resources to steal support for their extremist cause everywhere – including with people whose vote ultimately doesn’t ever change world events.

And make no mistake: the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) is no grassroots group.  It has a multi-million-dollar budget, a website that is better-looking than just about any professional political party, scores of full-time staff, field organizers, plus steering committees and advisory boards aplenty.

The USPCR regularly accuses Israel of “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” “genocide,” “war crimes,” and “colonialism.” It promotes anti-Israel “Boycott, Divestment and Sanction” efforts, going after companies from Ben and Jerry’s to Airbnb.  Most seriously, USCPR helps fund the Palestinian BDS National Committee – which, Israel notes, shares members with Hamas.

USPCR exists and, so far, that fact hasn’t changed.  But this, too, is a fact: the “grassroots” campaigns we’re seeing, just about everywhere?

Many of them – perhaps most of them – just aren’t.

And they’re just trying to fool people into thinking they are.