The Biden administration bans a Palestinian organization for supporting terrorism: 'Fraudulent charity'

The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network was labeled as an "international fundraiser" for a Palestinian terrorist group by the Biden administration on Tuesday.

Six months after Planet Chronicle Digital published an expose on calls for the Biden administration to outlaw the Palestinian group Samidoun in the U.S., the organization was classified as a terrorist group.

The Treasury Department of the United States, in collaboration with Canada, designated the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, or "Samidoun," as a sham charity that supports the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization through international fundraising efforts.

In 1997, the U.S. government classified the PFLP as a foreign terrorist organization. According to Treasury, Samidoun and Khaled Barakat, both members of the PFLP's leadership, are involved in fundraising operations in Europe and North America.

In addition to Albuquerque, New Mexico, Iran, and various European countries such as Sweden, France, and Spain, Samidoun also has chapters in Germany. In November 2021, Germany outlawed Samidoun, and Israel classified the Palestinian organization as a terrorist entity in 2021.

"The United States, along with Canada and other like-minded partners, will continue to disrupt organizations that divert funds for much-needed assistance to support terrorist groups, such as Samidoun, which masquerades as charitable actors providing humanitarian support to those in need, said Bradley T. Smith, acting under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence."

Canada's minister of public safety, democratic institutions and intergovernmental affairs, Dominic LeBlanc, announced that Canada remains committed to working with its key partners and allies, including the United States, to counter terrorist organizations and their fundraisers. He added that today's joint action with the U.S. sends a strong message that both nations will not tolerate this type of activity and will take robust measures to address terrorist financing.

The Trudeau administration has been criticized for not taking action against high levels of antisemitism since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of Israelis. On the eve of Yom Kippur in Toronto, a Jewish school for girls was shot at for the second time in a year.

The Treasury Department's ban on Samidoun is a continuation of its efforts to combat terrorism following Hamas's massacre of approximately 1,200 people, including 30 Americans, in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Treasury's latest sanction aims to combat "terrorists and terrorist organizations that exploit the nonprofit sector for fundraising under the guise of charitable work," stated the agency.

The U.S. and Canada have been criticized by Samidoun for labeling their organization as a terrorist group. According to Samidoun's website, the group is specifically targeted due to their political and vocal support for the Palestinian prisoners movement and the Palestinian people's right to resistance.

The group, which is forbidden, declared openly, "Our reaction to this classification is evident: we will persist in opposing the genocide, halting imperialist backing for Israel, until the liberation of Palestine from the Jordan to the Mediterranean."

The slogan "from the river to the sea" is commonly perceived as a genocidal call to eliminate the Jewish state and establish a predominantly Muslim-majority Palestinian state. In April, the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the slogan as antisemitic.