The U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means on Oct. 29 sent letters to the attorneys general of six states recommending that nine organizations be investigated for possible revocation of their tax-free status for fueling antisemitism and/or having suspected ties to foreign terrorist organizations.
The referrals came after the committee’s own investigation into the groups.
“Shortly after the horrific attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the Committee held its first hearing on this issue exploring the connection between antisemitism in the U.S., tax-exempt colleges and universities, and tax-exempt organizations who finance terrorist organizations,” states the letter, signed by Committee chairman Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.).
“Since then, the Committee held additional hearings examining the groups behind much of the antisemitism on college campuses, identified suspicious organizations with ties to terrorist organizations, and gathered information demonstrating suspicious activity by several American-based nonprofit organizations,” the letter continues.
The letter was sent to attorneys general in the states of Washington, New York, Virginia, Arizona, California and Texas.
The nine tax-exempt organizations are:
• The People’s Forum and the Westchester People’s Action Coalition (WESPAC) in New York;
• The People Media Project, also known as The Palestine Chronicle, in Washington;
• Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Organization and American Muslims for Palestine in Virginia;
• The Alliance for Global Justice in Arizona;
• The Jewish Voice for Peace and the Tides Foundation in California;
• United Hands Relief (also known as Beit Alkhair) in Texas.
On Sept. 24, the committee also sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service demanding it revoke the tax-exempt status of two of the above-named organizations after exposing “their ties to Foreign Terrorist Organizations, support of illegal activity in America, and failure to operate for stated exempt purposes.”
Those two organizations were Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation and American Muslims for Palestine.
One of the nine organizations, the People Media Project, also known as The Palestine Chronicle, was sued in July by Almog Meir Jan, an Israeli hostage rescued from Gaza by Israeli forces.
Meir Jan was held by Abdallah Aljamal, a reporter for The Palestine Chronicle. Aljamal was also a spokesman for the Hamas-run Gaza labor ministry.
According to Meir Jan’s court filing, the defendants—editor-in-chief of The Palestine Chronicle Ramzy Baroud and People Media Project governor John Harvey—“employed Hamas Operative Aljamal and offered him its U.S. platform to write and disseminate Hamas propaganda, ultimately subsidized, through its status as a tax-exempt charitable organization, by U.S. taxpayers.”
