America First Legal, a group led by former Trump officials, asked the DOJ’s national security division to enforce a law called the Foreign Agents Registration Act on pro-Palestinian groups and their leaders.
They want the DOJ to require groups like the Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation and its director, Osama Abuirshaid, to register under FARA. They also want the DOJ to force the WESPAC Foundation, linked to National Students for Justice in Palestine, and Hatem Bazian, who started both American Muslims for Palestine and Students for Justice in Palestine, to register.
FARA, passed in 1938, requires people working for foreign governments or groups to report their connections to the DOJ. This includes governments, political parties, and other groups usually based outside the U.S.
America First Legal believes these people and organizations are acting as “public relations counselors” for Hamas and other Palestinian groups under FARA law. They think the DOJ should enforce FARA more strictly.
American Muslims for Palestine, one of the groups mentioned in the letter to the Biden-Harris administration, is based in Virginia. Last year, Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares began an investigation into the group, suspecting it might be raising money illegally and supporting terrorism. The group, founded by Hatem Bazian in 2006, is also facing a lawsuit in Chicago that claims it is connected to two groups convicted of supporting Hamas.
According to America First Legal, AMP’s director, Osama Abuirshaid, spreads propaganda and works politically for Hamas. They also mentioned that Abuirshaid was featured on a website linked to Hamas’s military wing.
The conservative group claimed that Abuirshaid is considered a foreign principal. They based this on a blog post by American Muslims for Palestine, which described how its Minnesota branch spends a lot of money to educate and rally support for Palestine among Palestinians, Muslims, and Arabs.
American Muslims for Palestine says it has no ties to terrorism. But last month, American Muslims for Palestine helped organize a protest in Washington, D.C., where activists burned an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and wrote “Hamas Is Coming” in red graffiti on a fountain. The group is among many that plan to protest against support for Israel outside the Democratic National Convention.
WESPAC Foundation supports several anti-Israel groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and the Palestinian Youth Movement. Like American Muslims for Palestine, WESPAC has faced legal scrutiny.
In May, people affected by the October 7 attack on Israel sued Students for Justice in Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine, accusing them of working with and promoting Hamas.
In July, the Anti-Defamation League asked the IRS to check if the WESPAC Foundation is misusing its tax-exempt status. They mentioned that Students for Justice in Palestine, a group supported by WESPAC, has been involved in antisemitic protests and that WESPAC’s financial reports were in question.
In May, victims of the October 7 attack on Israel sued Students for Justice in Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine, accusing them of working with and promoting Hamas. They claimed that the WESPAC Foundation, which manages donations for groups like National Students for Justice in Palestine, keeps a portion of the funds and hides financial details to keep the flow of money hidden.
Hatem Bazian, who founded Students for Justice in Palestine in 2001 while teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, is also mentioned by America First Legal as someone who should register under FARA. In its letter to the DOJ, AFL wrote that Bazian, who once said, “It’s about time we had an intifada” in the U.S., was found to have knowingly raised money for a group linked to Hamas in 2004.
On Friday, America First Legal asked the DOJ’s inspector general to investigate if the DOJ’s failure to prosecute pro-Hamas groups is because of bias. Earlier in January, the group claimed it had information suggesting the DOJ had effectively told U.S. Attorneys and federal law enforcement to stop investigating Hamas supporters and groups linked to terrorism.
