Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has launched an investigation against a pro-Palestinian non-profit organization that has been accused of supporting the Hamas terrorist organization and fundraising on behalf of terrorists.
Miyares stated that he has "reason to believe" that the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) organization may have violated Virginia state law in its fundraising activities.
“The Attorney General will investigate allegations that the organization may have used funds raised for impermissible purposes under state law, including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organizations,” Miyares' office stated.
The investigation will examine allegations that the organization has been soliciting donations without registering with the Virginia Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs. In addition, the investigation will examine the connections between AMP and the Islamic Association for Palestine, a Hamas-linked organization that was closed following a lawsuit by the parents of David Boim, an American Jewish teenager who was murdered in a Hamas terrorist shooting attack in 1996.
In 2004, Boim's parents were awarded $156 million in a civil lawsuit against the Islamic Association for Palestine and other Hamas-linked organizations. The organization closed before fulfilling the court-ordered payment, and many of its board members and its executive director subsequently formed AMP in 2006. The Boim family has claimed that AMP is the same organization under a new name, and in 2022, a judge ruled that the Boims' lawsuit against AMP could proceed.
AMP called the investigation an "attempt to smear and silence American Muslims who speak up for Palestinian human rights."
“Instead of working to protect the people of Virginia from the wave of Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian hate sweeping across the nation, Jason Miyares is contributing to the hate with tired Islamophobic tropes and promises of a witch hunt straight from the McCarthy era," AMP stated.
The Anti-Defamation League has stated that "American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is a Chicago-based anti-Israel and anti-Zionist activist organization whose leaders have promoted violence against Israel, the denigration of Zionism and Zionists, and at times, classic antisemitic tropes."