Court orders American Muslims for Palestine to give Virginia AG documents over alleged Hamas ties

American Muslims for Palestine was ordered by a Virginia court to provide internal and financial documents to Attorney General Jason Miyares as part of an investigation that the charity may have been funneling funds to Hamas, the Virginia Attorney General’s Office announced on Tuesday.

The Falls Church-based nonprofit’s petition to set aside Miyares’s  Civil Investigative Demand (CID) was denied. Consequently, AMP, also known as Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, will have to provide documents detailing information about its board, employees, fundraising, finances, advertising, event planning, third-party solicitations, and donations dating back to November 2016.

Miyares announced in October that it was investigating AMP because his office believed it had been soliciting donations in Virginia without being properly registered and allegations that it “may have used funds raised for impermissible purposes under state law, including benefiting or providing support to terrorist organizations.”

The Virginia Attorney General’s Office investigation was sparked by the Boim family lawsuit against AMP. The family, whose son David was murdered by Hamas, accused AMP of being the continuance of other nonprofits that had been funneling funds to the Palestinian terrorist organization.

The Boims had previously secured a $156 million judgment against the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). HLF was designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control, and in 2008 HLF and five of its leaders were convicted of providing material support to Hamas. IAP was dissolved after it was found civilly liable for providing material support to Hamas through propaganda efforts in 2004.

Overlap between leadership of IAP and AMP

The suit had alleged that there was significant overlap between IAP and AMP leadership, with three IAP board members and close relatives of two board members serving on the AMP board. Three other IAP activists, two of which allegedly held leadership positions with HLF and IAP affiliates, reportedly had joined the AMP board. IAP’s executive director reportedly became AMP’s director, and former IAP president and suit defendant Rageeq Jaber was allegedly involved in high-level AMP decisions.

The Boim family contended that AMP is liable for unpaid portions of claims against its alleged predecessors.

In May, nine American and Israeli survivors and victims of October 7 filed a lawsuit in Virginia against AMP, alleging that it had collaborated with Hamas to legitimize the terrorist organization’s attacks.