Left-wing charity faces legal complaint over fundraiser for Palestinian terror-linked group
Gabe Kaminsky
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EXCLUSIVE — A left-wing nonprofit group in Arizona has been hit with a federal complaint over its legally contentious fundraiser for a Palestinian terror-linked group.
Alliance for Global Justice is soliciting cash for the France-based Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a partner of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terror group. Now, Zachor Legal Institute, a think tank fighting antisemitism, is demanding that the IRS investigate the U.S. group for violating federal law by providing “material support” to terrorism, according to a Tuesday complaint obtained by the Washington Examiner.
LEFT-WING CHARITY APPEARS TO FUNDRAISE ILLEGALLY FOR PALESTINIAN TERROR-LINKED GROUP: EXPERTS
“Foreign terrorism is big business,” said Marc Greendorfer, an attorney who runs Zachor. “As a result, those who provide the financial and logistical support to terror groups are often more important than the terror operatives, who are generally considered to be disposable.”
“Groups like Alliance for Global Justice provide terror groups with the funding that is critical to their operations and the fact that they do so with U.S. taxpayer subsidies, as 501(c)(3) organizations, makes their work even more of a threat to the United States,” he told the Washington Examiner.
AFGJ, a purportedly “anti-capitalist” and “progressive” charity, is an offshoot of the Nicaragua Network, an organization that supported the socialist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. The charity fiscally sponsors several groups linked to the PFLP, which has been responsible for hijacking airplanes since 1967.
One group that AFGJ sponsors is the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, an Israeli-designated terror group that is no longer allowed to accept donations through major credit card companies. Collectif Palestine Vaincra is a member of Samidoun, which, along with AFGJ, is soliciting donations for CPV, the Washington Examiner reported on Monday.
This legal maneuver could spell serious legal trouble for AFGJ, said attorneys, including Greendorfer. AFGJ could be opening itself up to criminal inquiries and violate its charitable status.
“It is clear that Samidoun and CPV are each an alter ego of the designated terror organization PFLP and AFGJ’s activities in support of PFLP violate 501(c)(3) rules on unlawful activity, including violations of 18 USC 2339B, for providing material support to a U.S. designated foreign terror organization,” wrote Zachor in its complaint.
CPV notably coordinated with the PFLP in 2021 to raise money for an “indoctrination” camp for children in the Gaza Strip, according to NGO Monitor, an Israeli watchdog group. Anne Herzberg, a legal adviser to the watchdog, told the Washington Examiner that AFGJ opens itself up to liability and risk by fundraising for CPV.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a member of the Israel Allies Caucus, previously told the Washington Examiner that any groups supporting CPV “should be ashamed of their malicious and antisemitic actions.”
“Furthermore, any organization that is discovered to be providing aid and comfort to terrorist organizations should be held fully accountable and brought to justice,” he added.
Zachor’s complaint to the IRS included information on Samidoun’s ties to the PFLP. Samidoun’s chief coordinator is Khaled Barakat, a senior PFLP member, said the legal think tank. Other Samidoun employees, such as Charlotte Kates, Mohammed Khatib, Maram Saandi, and Mustapha Awad, are also affiliated with the PFLP in various ways, Zachor alleged.
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AFGJ recently facilitated a campaign for Barakat that intended to provide him money for his legal defense, according to Zachor. The anti-Israel activist was barred by Germany from entering the country because of his alleged ties to terrorism.
“Due to federal disclosure laws, the IRS cannot comment on a taxpayer’s relationship with the agency,” Karen Connelly, a spokeswoman for the IRS, told the Washington Examiner. “This would include exams or investigations, those in progress, being contemplated or complete.”