A United States nonprofit group is being accused in a federal lawsuit of funneling charitable donations to Palestinian terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last week by a group of U.S. citizens living in Israel and an Israeli environmental group against the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. It also claims that the defendant funded arson attacks against Israelis that have led to deforestation. It seeks to recover damages for pain and suffering on behalf of the U.S. plaintiffs.
“With this lawsuit, we’re exposing the link between organizations masquerading as human rights organizations but who use donations to advance the campaign of terror against Israel,” said Daniel Atar, chairman of the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, the Israeli group that helped file the lawsuit.
The complaint claims the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights violated the Anti-Terrorism Act by collecting donations on behalf of the Boycott National Committee, an umbrella group that includes at least five designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, as members.
A representative for the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, the Boycott National Committee’s fundraising website directs U.S. supporters to donate through the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights in order to receive a tax deduction.
The complaint claims this funding “directly and indirectly benefits HAMAS and other designated terror organizations, in violation of applicable" U.S. law. The lawsuit also accuses the nonprofit group of “actively promoting and sponsoring” the Great Return March, an event held in Gaza since 2018, “from which launchings of incendiary terror balloons, kites and other terror devices have been and are being used to attack the lands of the State of Israel."
The plaintiffs claim such attacks have resulted in 2,155 fires over the past two years and burned over 8,700 acres of land, causing an estimated $35 million in damage, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Yifa Segal, an attorney for the U.S. families and the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund said the lawsuit is part of an “landmark” effort to expose the role of U.S. charities in foreign terror financing.
"This landmark case exposes a shocking and multi-layered planned conspiracy and campaign aimed at manipulating the public and hiding the key role played by designated Foreign Terror Organizations in efforts which are cynically designed to appear seemingly grassroots and legitimate, while masking an international terror campaign,” said Segal in a statement.
2019-11-19 12:00:00Z
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/us-charity-accused-of-funding-palestinian-terrorist-organizations
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