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Virginia’s attorney general announced Tuesday that his office will investigate the fundraising of one of the nation’s most prominent nonprofit organizations dedicated to educating the public, lobbying Congress and organizing rallies for pro-Palestinian causes.
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Jason Miyares said in a news release that his office has “reason to believe” the Northern Virginia-based American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) may not be complying with state rules on charitable giving and will investigate allegations lodged in a federal civil suit that the group provides indirect support to Hamas. AMP denied the allegations and called them not only “defamatory, but dangerous.”
Miyares declined an interview, and his office declined to provide any evidence of either assertion or say what prompted the probe, which comes as an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza widens and follows a major Hamas attack on Israel that claimed at least 1,400 lives.
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“The Attorney General will investigate allegations that the organization may have used funds raised for impermissible purposes under state law, including benefiting or providing support to a terrorist organization,” a news release said.
Miyares’s office said AMP also may be soliciting donations without having registered with the state’s Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs as required by state law. Miyares’s office called the investigation a civil matter, not a criminal one.
AMP said in a statement that Muslims were facing a “rising tide of hate.”
“Instead of working to protect the people of Virginia from the wave of Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian hate sweeping across our nation, Jason Miyares is contributing to the hate with tired Islamophobic tropes and promises of a witch hunt straight from the McCarthy-era,” the statement said.
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AMP, which is headquartered in Falls Church, describes itself on its website as a “a national education and grassroots-based organization, dedicated to educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage.”
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It works to illuminate the plight of Palestinian refugees, human rights abuses of Palestinians and the construction of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land among other issues, according to its website. The group says it has 10 chapters across the country and was formed in 2006. It says that it is funded by donations made within the United States and that it opposes antisemitism.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the investigation on social media, calling Miyares’s move “dangerous and defamatory political posturing.”
“Targeting Muslim and Palestinian American organizations with baseless and irresponsible smears threatens the safety of their staffers and the communities they serve,” CAIR said in the statement.
We strongly condemn @JasonMiyaresVA for this dangerous and defamatory political posturing. Our legal team is in communication with @AMPalestine to help protect their rights. Targeting Muslim and Palestinian American organizations with baseless and irresponsible smears threatens… https://t.co/dLRBjFcDwE
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) October 31, 2023
The Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit Jewish group that fights antisemitism, calls AMP the “leading organization” providing “anti-Zionist” training to Muslim and student groups across the country. The ADL has accused AMP of providing a platform for antisemitism and having extreme anti-Israeli views. AMP said the league’s characterization was inaccurate.
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Miyares’s office said it will look into the allegations in a federal lawsuit filed in Chicago that AMP is a reconstituted version of an earlier pro-Palestinian organization that was found liable for funding Hamas operatives.
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Israel-Gaza war
Israel claimed responsibility for the refugee camp attack targeting a Hamas leader. Palestinian officials say it killed and injured hundreds. Israel’s ground assault continues, with troops and armored tanks. Follow live updates and understand what’s behind the Israel-Gaza war.
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The parents of a man who was killed by Hamas in Israel in the mid-’90s won a $156 million civil judgment against the earlier group, but it shuttered before they were able to collect most of the award. The parents want AMP to pay the balance.
AMP notes that the lawsuit against it is ongoing and that the claims are “heavily disputed.”
It’s not the first time Miyares has waded into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In mid-October, Miyares called on sheriff’s offices across Virginia to donate used gear to Israel as it mounted its war on Hamas.
“Israel is fighting for democracy and human rights in the face of absolute evil, and they need our support,” Miyares wrote on Twitter. “That’s why I’m launching an effort to send them expired, surplus body armor and tactical gear.”
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