Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08) joined Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL) in introducing legislation to revoke the tax-exempt status for any organization that provides financial support or resources to designated terrorist groups such as Hamas.
The bipartisan bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to terminate the tax-exempt status of terrorist-supporting organizations.
A “terrorist supporting organization,” according to the proposal, means any organization that is shown to have provided, during the three-year period before the designation, “material support or resources” to groups designated as terrorist organizations.
The U.S. Department of Treasury has designated Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as Foreign Terrorist Organizations since October 1997. The groups have been listed as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) since October 2001.
“A crucial pillar in the global fight against terrorism is dismantling the financial networks of terrorist organizations, including Hamas,” Kustoff said Tuesday in a press release. “Under no circumstances should organizations supporting terrorism be allowed to receive preferential treatment under the U.S. tax code.”
“I urge the swift passage of this legislation that will significantly diminish the ability of Hamas and other terrorist groups to finance their operations and carry out future attacks,” the congressman added.
Following Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel that left more than 1,000 people dead, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced his agency’s Consumer Protection Section opened an investigation into AJP Educational Foundation, Inc. The organization, also known as American Muslims for Palestine, may have “used funds raised impermissible purposes under state law, including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organizations.”
American Muslims for Palestine is based in Falls Church, Virginia.
A 2022 lawsuit alleged the group provided “indirect support for Hamas.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) and members of her progressive House “Squad” received thousands of dollars in campaign donations from Muslims for Palestine, according to the New York Post.
The Post reports;
In 2021, AMP’s executive director, Osama Abu Irshaid, donated $3,000 to Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens), according to records. Meeks is the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee who has been dogged by corruption accusations for years.
A year later, Irshaid gave $500 to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — who was censured after publicly defending Hamas and calling for the destruction of Israel.
He gave a smattering of smaller donations to other Squad members, including AOC ($105); Missouri Rep. Cori Bush ($56); Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar ($56), and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley ($31.)
Salah Sarsour, an AMP national board member, added another $1,000 to Tlaib in 2019, while Dr. Hatem Al-Bazian, who is listed as AMP’s chairman, has given Omar $1,250 over the years.
“The work AMP and all Palestinian advocacy organizations have been doing has never been more important,” Tlaib says in a quote featured on the AMP website.
An investigative report by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs on the radical college campus group Students for Justice in Palestine notes SJP’s financial patrons and ideological supporters have been linked to Islamist and Palestinian terror organizations such as Hamas, Hizbullah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Other U.S.-based, tax-exempt nonprofits may be providing funding and support to Hamas, according to multiple reports.
Meanwhile, incidents of antisemitism have soared nationwide, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“In the weeks following Hamas’s barbaric massacre of Israelis on October 7th, America has witnessed a dramatic increase in incidents of hateful speech, threats of violence and, shockingly, support for the Hamas terrorists,” said Schneider, who represents Illinois’ 10th Congressional District. “American taxpayer funds should never be used to support terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah or ISIS. That’s why I am proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation to prevent American taxpayers from directly or indirectly assisting any groups that support or advance the interests of terrorists.”
– – –
M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “David Kustoff” by David Kustoff. Photo “Brad Schneider” by Brad Schneider.
