State Dept. Sanctions Sham Charities, Individuals for Supporting Hamas
WASHINGTON — The State Department has sanctioned five sham charities and five individuals for providing financial support to Hamas under the guise of humanitarian work.
In addition, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the Trump administration is targeting a fraudulent charity linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The State Department’s action was carried out under an executive order signed by former President George W. Bush in 2001 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
The order was crafted as a means to disrupt the financial support network for terrorist organizations by authorizing the federal government to seize or otherwise block their access to funding.
In the case of the newly announced sanctions, the State Department said it was acting to “prevent abuse of the nonprofit sector for the benefit of terrorist groups like Hamas and the PFLP.”
The organizations that were sanctioned are Al Weam, Abu Marei, Filistin Vakfi and its president Zeki Abdullah Ibrahim Ararwi, El Baraka and Addameer.
According to the State Department, they and the individuals sanctioned, have been operating out of Turkey, Algeria, the Netherlands, Italy, the West Bank and Gaza.
The department’s action comes after the Treasury Department’s release of its annual National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment.
The Treasury stated this “highlights the abuse of the nonprofit sector by terrorist financiers to illicitly generate, store and move funds.”
Some charities and individuals have worked while being fully integrated into Hamas’ military wing, and others have manipulated donors into believing their donations were being sent to help Palestinian civilians through funding campaigns, according to the government.
Addameer specifically campaigned to represent the interests of Palestinian prisoners.
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