Pro-Hamas group that helped organize college protests is a ‘sham charity,’ Treasury says

A pro-Hamas organization that has helped organize protests on American college campuses is a “sham charity” that fundraises for a terrorist group, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. 

In a joint action by the U.S. and Canadian governments, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, or Samidoun, was sanctioned by the Treasury Department and listed as a terrorist entity by the government in Canada, where it is based. 

NBC News interviewed the co-founder of the group earlier this month. Charlotte Kates, Samidoun’s international coordinator, said that the Vancouver-based organization advocates for the rights of Palestinians, particularly those locked up in Israeli prisons.  

But the Treasury Department said on Tuesday that Samidoun serves as a front organization and fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the U.S. deemed a terror organization in 1997 and 2001. 

“Organizations like Samidoun masquerade as charitable actors that claim to provide humanitarian support to those in need, yet in reality divert funds for much-needed assistance to support terrorist groups,” said Bradley Smith, the acting U.S. under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial terrorism. 

Kates’ husband, Khaled Barakat, was also sanctioned by the Treasury Department. The agency said Barakat is part of the leadership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which operates in Gaza and the West Bank, participated in the “horrific attacks against Israeli civilians” on Oct. 7, the Treasury Department said. 

Samidoun, which means “steadfast” in Arabic, has been banned in Germany and Israel over alleged ties to terrorist groups.

During Kates’ interview with NBC News, she called Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel “a brave and heroic operation.”

“That is something we stand by 100%,” Kates added. “The so-called Israeli state is a settler colony, and it never had the right to exist.”

Kates did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. Barakat could not be reached independently. 

The Treasury Department said its actions would help protect legitimate charity organizations. 

“By publicly identifying sham charities, this action reduces the overall risk of the [nonprofit organization] sector and preserves access by legitimate humanitarian organizations to financial services,” it said in a press release. 

Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said the Treasury designation will impede Samidoun’s fundraising efforts. 

“It’s meaningful,” McQuade said. “It prevents people from making financial contributions to them.”

But because the State Department hasn’t designated it as a foreign terrorist organization, it’s not a crime for protest groups to meet with Samidoun to organize demonstrations or to feature its members in webinars.

Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence and an NBC News contributor, described the Treasury action as significant and said the federal government could take subsequent actions against the group.

“Samidoun is now toxic to the touch,” he said. “It’s not just banks that need to be aware of this, but individuals and other organizations are now on notice that you cannot do business in any way, shape or form with them.”

Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, said in a statement that the “United States will continue to disrupt sham organizations that function under the guise of humanitarian organizations while funding terrorism.”