New Report Maps CODEPINK’s Hamas Meetings and Iranian-Regime Aligned Activism
A new NCRI report examines how CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin’s activism has intersected with Hamas officials, Iran-aligned narratives, and what appear to be broader foreign-influence campaigns
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A new report from the watchdog group Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) is drawing scrutiny to Medea Benjamin, the CodePink co-founder and longtime anti-war activist, documenting how her activist network has intersected with Hamas officials, Iran-aligned messaging, and a multimillion-dollar private foundation based in Florida.
CodePink’s own archived materials show that, in 2009, the group announced a Gaza delegation that hoped to meet Hamas officials, then later published an item saying its representatives would deliver a letter from the Hamas government in Gaza to U.S. officials during President Barack Obama’s Cairo visit.
The scrutiny has now expanded beyond watchdog reporting. Fox News Digital reported that Benjamin and Hasan Piker, a Marxist political streamer, were served Treasury Department subpoenas as part of an investigation into whether activists involved in March 2026 Cuba trips violated U.S. sanctions laws through the financing, coordination, or delivery of goods to the island.
The Money Behind the Movement
Benjamin reportedly organized a March 2026 Cuba aid convoy that included Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi, and streamer Hasan Piker. The Post, citing NCRI, described the convoy in connection with Arc of Justice.
ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer lists Arc of Justice, EIN 84-1618483, as a Miami-based private foundation that was tax-exempt beginning in 2003. Its 2022 filing shows $6.4 million in revenue, $2.9 million in expenses, and $47,991,509 in net assets.
These filings raise a central question in NCRI’s report: how a private foundation with tens of millions of dollars in assets intersects with activist operations involving Cuba, Gaza, the Iranian regime, and organizations accused of amplifying narratives favorable to U.S. adversaries.
Past Associations With Hamas
In January 2009, CodePink announced that Benjamin and former U.S. Army colonel Ann Wright were traveling to Gaza on what the group described as a “citizen diplomacy” mission. The release said the delegation planned to meet women’s groups and Hamas officials.
Months later, a Common Dreams item by Benjamin stated that she had carried a letter out of Gaza from the Hamas government, signed by Ahmed Yusef, then described as deputy foreign minister, and that Benjamin and CodePink representatives were delivering it to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo during Obama’s visit to Egypt.
The NCRI report details how Benjamin made at least seven trips to Gaza between 2009 and 2012 and met with Hamas officials, including figures in the Hamas-led Gaza government.
Benjamin and fellow CODEPINK activist Tighe Barry were also pictured meeting with Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s former political leader, in 2012. The same image has been identified as including Ramy Abdu, founder and chairman of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a figure whose organization has separately faced allegations of Hamas links and promotion of fabricated narratives characterized by critics as blood libels.
NGO Monitor previously reported that Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor’s current and former board chairs appeared on a 2013 Israeli list of Hamas “main operatives and institutions” in Europe. Abdu was also subject to a 2020 Israeli administrative seizure order tied to alleged work with “IPalestine,” which Israel designated as acting on behalf of Hamas. Separately, JNS reported in May 2026 that Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs released a report alleging that Euro-Med maintains ties to Hamas and plays a central role in anti-Israel legal and media campaigns.
Iran-Aligned Messaging and State-Media Access
NCRI’s report also scrutinizes Benjamin’s Iran-related activism, including reported trips to Iran and appearances at conferences involving Iranian government officials. The report further alleges that Benjamin appeared in Press TV-related call records as part of a broader cluster of U.S. activists contacted through infrastructure linked to Iranian state media.
How Activist Infrastructure Moves Foreign-Aligned Narratives
The report maps how foreign-aligned narratives move through American activist and nonprofit infrastructure, backed by money, organizational support, media amplification, and access to influential public figures. It places Benjamin’s activism inside a broader ecosystem of private foundations, advocacy groups, overseas delegations, foreign-policy campaigns, and state-media-adjacent platforms that reinforce one another while presenting themselves as independent civil-society work.