Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced on Tuesday that his office’s Consumer Protection Section has opened an investigation into the Hamas-linked American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) for potential violations of the state’s charitable solicitation laws.
“The Attorney General’s Office has reason to believe that the organization may be soliciting contributions in the Commonwealth without first having registered with the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture,” Miyares said in a statement. “In addition, the Attorney General will investigate allegations that the organization may have used funds raised for impermissible purposes under state law, including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organizations.”
Miyares said that under Virginia law, his office “has the jurisdiction to investigate possible violations of the state’s charitable solicitation law.”
American Muslims for Palestine is a public nonprofit established by UC Berkeley lecturer Hatem Bazian in 2005, with a headquarters located in Falls Church, Virginia.
In recent weeks, AMP has been a major force behind the massive pro-Hamas protests across the country.
✊🏼 Thousands and thousands march on Washington DC demanding our government to force an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. #CeaseFireNow
📸 Taken by @alikhaligh pic.twitter.com/zhxONWXRfN
— American Muslims for Palestine (@AMPalestine) October 21, 2023
Over the years, the group has reportedly been a major promoter of the Hamas-inspired Boycott, Divestment, & Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) testified in a 2016 Joint Hearing before House Foreign Affairs Committee that “AMP is arguably the most important sponsor and organizer for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which is the most visible arm of the BDS campaign on campuses in the United States.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says AMP “is the leading organization providing anti-Zionist training and education to students and Muslim community organizations in the country,” and “has at times provided a platform for anti-Semitism.”
According to Discover the Networks, “several of AMP’s leading board members and officials were formerly members and/or supporters of Islamic extremist groups that promoted and funded the agendas of Hamas.”
An investigative report in April 2016 found that “seven current AMP officials and/or affiliates were former members of groups that had been shut down or held civilly liable by the U.S. government for funneling money to Hamas,” Discover the Networks reported.
According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), AMP, along with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim American Society (MAS), have roots in the Muslim Brotherhood, and was established to advance Hamas’s agendas in the U.S.
Counterterrorism expert Kyle Shideler, a Senior Analyst for Homeland Security at the Center For Security Policy cheered Miyares’ decision to investigate the group on X.
“Yes! State leaders you are not powerless,” Shideler, wrote. “You do not have to sit back and ignore terror sponsors just because the feds do nothing.”
Yes! State leaders you are not powerless. You do not have to sit back and ignore terror sponsors just because the feds do nothing. https://t.co/0DqvJ7tNXq
— Kyle Shideler (@ShidelerK) October 31, 2023