EXCLUSIVE — A left-wing charity in Arizona is raising money for an anti-Israel organization closely affiliated with a terrorist group, which could open the group up to criminal inquiries and penalties, multiple lawyers tell the Washington Examiner.
Alliance for Global Justice, a purportedly “anti-capitalist” charity, is actively fundraising for the France-based Collectif Palestine Vaincra, which is partnered with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an international Marxist–Leninist faction the U.S. designates as a terror organization. The maneuver could spell major legal trouble for the charity, which has been slammed in the past for allegedly acting as a “front” for the PFLP, lawyers say.
LIBERAL DARK MONEY NETWORK FUNNELS CASH TO CHARITY SPONSORING PALESTINIAN TERROR-LINKED GROUP
“The penalty for providing material support to terrorist groups can be as high as 20 years in prison,” Paul Kamenar, counsel to the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog, told the Washington Examiner.
“Raising funds for a terrorist group is a criminal violation, and this is being done indirectly through the proxies, which is still a crime,” added Kamenar, who is calling on the Justice Department and Congress to investigate the charity for possibly violating a criminal statute related to U.S. groups providing material support to terror groups.
The charity lists several groups on its website with ties to the PFLP that it fiscally sponsors, meaning it provides them services such as payroll, health insurance handling, and donation processing. One organization that the charity sponsors is the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, an Israeli-designated terror group that major credit card companies blocked in 2020 from receiving donations.
Collectif Palestine Vaincra is a member of Samidoun’s coalition, which Israel’s government has said “plays a leading role” in recruiting anti-Israel activists for the PFLP and “complements” the group’s violent activities. The group was founded in 1967 and has been responsible for hijacking airplanes and, for instance, the 2001 assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rechavam Ze’evi.
Alliance for Global Justice and Samidoun are currently fundraising on behalf of Collectif Palestine Vaincra, which PayPal banned from having an account, according to its website. Donors can mail a check to Alliance for Global Justice’s Tucson, Arizona, address or pay through a credit card, according to Collectif Palestine Vaincra.
“Donations are tax deductible in accordance with the law,” says Collectif Palestine Vaincra on its website. “The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is a fiscally sponsored project of the Global Justice Alliance, a 501(c)(3) organization. Please note that your credit card statement will indicate that this is a donation to the Alliance for Global Justice.”
Collectif Palestine Vaincra also notes on its website that it is partnered with the PFLP. In 2021, Collectif Palestine Vaincra coordinated with the PFLP to raise money for an “indoctrination” camp hosting children in the Gaza Strip, according to NGO Monitor, an Israeli watchdog group.
“Organizations like Collectif Palestine Vaincra and those who financially support them should be ashamed of their malicious and antisemitic actions,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a member of the Israel Allies Caucus, told the Washington Examiner. “Furthermore, any organization that is discovered to be providing aid and comfort to terrorist organizations should be held fully accountable and brought to justice.”
Marc Greendorfer, an attorney who runs Zachor Legal Institute, a legal think tank fighting antisemitism, told the Washington Examiner that Alliance for Global Justice is in “clear violation” of the statute related to groups providing material support to terrorism. His group reported a software company called Salsa Labs to the Treasury Department in April 2022 because it allowed the charity to process donations to terror-linked groups such as Samidoun.
U.S. citizens who are victims of PFLP terrorism could have an “aiding and abetting” claim against Alliance for Global Justice under the Justice Against Sponsors of Terror Act, according to Greendorfer, who said his group may file a complaint to the Treasury Department.
“Many ‘humanitarian’ groups, such as the Holy Land Foundation, American Muslims for Palestine, the Islamic Association for Palestine and the Quranic Literacy Institute, have been found to be proxies for terror organizations like Hamas, and held liable for aiding and abetting Hamas terror attacks on Americans,” he said. “We believe that Alliance for Global Justice is of the same nature of other terror proxies — claiming to raise funds for humanitarian purposes while they actually are simply fronts for raising funds for terror organizations.”
Anne Herzberg, a legal adviser to NGO Monitor, agreed with Greendorfer that Americans could potentially have claims under the terror act. In general, the charity opens itself up to liability and risk by fundraising for Collectif Palestine Vaincra, she told the Washington Examiner.
“They could be jeopardizing their tax-exempt status, plus also subjecting themselves to penalties, if their money is being transferred to a noncharitable organization,” Herzberg said, noting there are strict laws surrounding 501(c)(3) charities giving to foreign entities.
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In recent years, the charity’s finances have ballooned. The group hauled in over $56 million during fiscal 2020, compared to a mere $6.9 million in 2019, according to tax forms. That 2020 haul included $250,000 from left-wing billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, a grant-making network.
It also included $210,000 from the New Venture Fund, a group managed by Arabella Advisors, the largest left-wing dark money network in the United States. The New Venture Fund and Windward Fund, another group under the helm of Arabella, combined to give the charity $263,000 in 2021, according to tax forms.
One organization that the charity was revealed to have sponsored in the past was the Louisville Community Bail Fund, according to 2020 tax forms. In February 2022, that fund bailed out a man named Quintez Brown, who was charged with trying to assassinate Jewish Democratic mayoral hopeful Craig Greenberg in Louisville, Kentucky.
It is unclear whether or not Alliance for Global Justice still fiscally sponsors the bail fund.
Alliance for Global Justice did not reply to numerous Washington Examiner requests for comment.
