Executive Summary

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the nation’s largest socialist organization, has deep ties with the terror-supporting group Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.

Samidoun is a virulently anti-Israel NGO that advocates for the release of convicted terrorists imprisoned in Israel – terrorists who the group euphemistically calls “political prisoners.” Samidoun also supports various terror organizations, calls for an intifada (i.e., the mass murder of Jews) and promotes hatred of the U.S. and Canada.

On October 15, 2024, the U.S. government declared Samidoun a “sham charity” that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) subsequently assigned the group the status of “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.” Khaled Barakat, a leader in both the PFLP and Samidoun, was similarly sanctioned.

The DSA has partnered with Samidoun, both before and after the organization’s terror designation. The partnership began after 2017, when the DSA, with its 6,000 members, underwent a stark transformation from its founding in 1982 as a pro-Zionist, reformist organization working within the Democratic Party to a virulently anti-American, anti-Israel, Marxist movement that now aims to completely dismantle the U.S. political system.

The DSA now has over 80,000 members and 239 chapters nationwide. Its youth wing, Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), has close to 114 chapters in various American colleges and high schools.

It is a powerful force inside the Democratic Party, pulling the party to the far left and increasingly taking over both the party and its activist base.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in its messaging about Israel, which dovetails exactly with that of Samidoun.

Today, DSA leaders celebrate Hamas commanders as martyrs, caucuses openly defend terrorism, resolutions make anti-Zionism a core principle, and DSA rhetoric drips with hatred for America itself.

No figure embodies DSA’s transformation more than 33-year-old New York state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, an ardent DSA member now poised to become mayor of New York City.

Methodology

This report is based on a comprehensive open-source investigation of all documented links between the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, both before and after Samidoun’s 2024 U.S. terror designation.

Researchers reviewed official publications, chapter statements, petitions, events, and social-media posts from DSA and Samidoun, as well as records from fiscal sponsors such as the Alliance for Global Justice. Each instance of collaboration was verified through archived captures or live URLs to ensure transparency.

The report’s chronological structure (2018–2025) tracks the evolution of DSA and Samidoun ties and their persistence after Samidoun was sanctioned.

Key Findings

• Prior to the U.S. government’s 2024 designation of Samidoun as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, the DSA and Samidoun evidenced significant collaboration. The two groups co-sponsored events, appeared together in protests and educational events and co-signed the same statements and petitions.
• DSA also co-sponsored events and webinars with Samidoun, jointly endorsed rallies and petitions and worked together on delegations and tribunals with Samidoun’s fiscal sponsor, the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ). (AFGJ is funded in large part by George Soros organizations, including the Tides Foundation and Open Society Foundations.)
• The collaboration between DSA and Samidoun occurred most notably through the DSA’s BDS Working Group (BDS WG), which was formally established in 2019 and absorbed into the DSA International Committee (DSA Intn’l) in 2023.
• Direct ties between the two organizations also appear at the chapter level, particularly with the DSA-NYC Anti-War Working Group (DSA-NYC AWG). These ties include co‑sponsorships and co‑endorsements of actions, protests and statements and collaboration on social media. There is also overlap between YDSA chapters and Samidoun consisting of joint sign‑ons and endorsements.
• The U.S.'s 2024 designation of Samidoun as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) tamped down DSA’s overt coordination and open promotion of Samidoun. The designation prohibits any transaction or dealings – including the promotion of informational materials – with an SDGT under threat of civil and/or criminal penalties.
• While Samidoun’s designation as an SDGT noticeably impacted DSA’s public alignment with Samidoun, the two groups continued to collaborate, primarily on social media, where DSA members promoted and reposted Samidoun materials (which, presumably, violate the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions against Samidoun).
• Samidoun continues to operate via proxies.

Who Is Samidoun?

Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is an anti-Israel NGO based in Vancouver, Canada, that agitates for the release of convicted Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The group characterizes these terrorists as “political prisoners.”

Samidoun’s three senior activists – Khaled Barakat, Mustapha Awad and Mohammed Khatib – are all PFLP members [pp. 22-25].

According to its website, Samidoun is “a grassroots, unfunded organization.” The group does not disclose its financial information. However, Samidoun’s website states the organization is fiscally sponsored by the Alliance for Global Justice, a front group that provides funds to groups advocating for various foreign and domestic far-left and extreme-left causes, including eliminating the State of Israel and supporting convicted violent leftist extremists.

Fiscal sponsorship allows an organization without charitable status to raise funds through an existing 501(c)(3) organization that “sponsors” it. This enables donors to take a tax deduction for their contributions to the sponsored organization.

The AFGJ also provides funds to the People’s Forum, an anti-American, anti-Israel Marxist group based in Manhattan. The People’s Forum is one of the organizers of the extremist People’s Forum for Palestine, whose goal is to “Bring the War Home.”

AFGJ, itself, has been funded by George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the Tides Foundation, among other organizations.

On April 23, 2019, PayPal permanently shut down Samidoun’s account due to the group’s links to PFLP. In January 2020, Mastercard, Visa and American Express also began blocking donations to Samidoun. In August 2021, Discover stopped processing all donations to AFGJ.

DSA-Samidoun Collaboration Pre-Terrorist Designation

Prior to the October 15, 2024, terror designation and subsequent sanctions, DSA and Samidoun worked together closely, co-sponsoring events, co-signing statements and appearing together in organized calls-to-action, including protests and educational events.

Examples from 2018

• Since 2018, the NYC DSA Anti-War Working Group (NYC-DSA AWG) and Samidoun have often co-organized NYC actions. In just one example, on May 10, 2018, Samidoun promoted a “mass public mobilization” called for by NYC-DSA AWG outside the offices of Senator Chuck Schumer.
• The NYC-DSA AWG’s X posts promoting anti-Israel initiatives or local actions link to Samidoun’s webpages, for example, on April 9, 2019, April 30, 2019, March 22, 2019, and March 29, 2019. The working group frequently directed its members to Samidoun action calls defending terrorists or spreading anti-Israel propaganda.
• Again, on March 26, 2019, the NYC-DSA AWG posted on X a link to a Samidoun rally marking the one-year anniversary of the Great March of Return (now understood as a precursor to the October 7, 2023 massacre), stating, “... we call on all supporters of Palestine to join us as we mobilize to uplift the resistance in Gaza, honor the martyrs of the #GreatReturnMarch, and build the movement for Palestine in NYC. http://bit.ly/2JoaRUA.” (In May 2018, Hamas instigated violent riots on the Israeli-Gaza border. Thousands of rioters attempted to breach Israel’s border fence, declaring their intention to harm Jews across the border under the pretext of “peaceful resistance.”)

Examples from 2019

• On April 1, 2019, the NYC-DSA AWG posted in defense of PFLP terrorist Rasmea Odeh. The post linked to Samidoun’s statement, which described Odeh as a “lifelong struggler for Palestine.” (Rasmea Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.)
• On April 9, 2019, and April 30, 2019, the NYC-DSA AWG posted support of Palestinians in Israeli prisons on a hunger strike and linked to Samidoun’s action page promoting the strike. Most of the prisoners were incarcerated for acts of terrorism. The strike was initiated on April 16, 2017, by Marwan Barghouti, who co-founded and led the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades responsible for thousands of terror attacks, including suicide bombings during the Second Intifada.
• On April 15, 2019, Samidoun and the NYC DSA AWG co-sponsored the NYC “No Taxes for War” Tax Day action.
• On May 13, 2019, Samidoun promoted the NYC-DSA AWG canvassing event scheduled for May 18, to “call upon our congressional representatives to co-sponsor the 'Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation' Act, H.R. 2407.”
• On May 11, 2019, Samidoun promoted a DSA-NYC event titled, “Palestinian Expulsion and Resistance: The Nakba, BDS, and the Great Return March.” Samidoun wrote that the event would feature “a speaker from the NYC‑DSA Anti‑War Working Group to explain current DSA work and how members could get involved.”

Examples from 2021

• Samidoun listed DSA and YDSA events on its 2021 Calendar of Resistance.
• Since at least 2021, Samidoun’s fiscal sponsor, the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), has reported on DSA delegations to Venezuela.
• In 2021, the DSA BDS WG joined Samidoun’s “Palestinian Students Solidarity Campaign #FreePalestinianStudents” campaign. Samidoun’s campaign page (updated Oct 10, 2024) lists the “DSA BDS & Palestine Solidarity Working Group Steering Committee” among endorsers in the campaign.
• In April 2021, DSA’s International Committee (DSA IC) co-sponsored an event with Samidoun’s fiscal sponsor, the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ).
• In November 2021, Samidoun joined DSA’s BDS Working Group’s demand that the DSA hold Rep. Jamaal Bowman accountable for supporting U.S. military aid to Israel and his failure to endorse BDS. When the DSA refused to expel Bowman, Samidoun signed a petition organized by the working group condemning Bowman and calling on the DSA to reverse their decision not to expel him.
• On November 19, 2021, BDS WG posted, “Thank you @SamidounPP for joining our call to action! ‘Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is an international network of organizers and activists working to build solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom. Amazing organizers.”

Examples from 2022

• On March 23, 2022, following the NPC’s de-chartering of the BSD Working Group, Samidoun posted, “Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins @DemSocialists’ National BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group in categorically rejecting the legitimacy of the NPC’s decisions and calling for their immediate reversal.”
• Samidoun also posted, “The decision by DSA leadership (NPC) to de-charter the BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group (BDS WG) and to suspend its leadership is outrageous and must be opposed.”
• On March 24, 2022, Samidoun NY/NJ posted, “We echo the sentiment of other grassroots Palestinian organizations in denouncing the undemocratic dissolution of @DSA_Palestine and calling for the NPC to rescind its decisions. We will not be working with @DemSocialists until this occurs.”
• On March 24, 2022, and March 27, 2022, Samidoun promoted a DSA BDS Working Group film screening and panel discussion event titled “Naila and the Uprising” based on the film. The event was organized in commemoration of the First Intifada.
• On March 25, 2022, following the NPC’s reversal of its decision to suspend the BDS WG, Samidoun posted, “This is a hard-fought, well-deserved victory, but the fight against anti-Palestinian repression in DSA continues. Write the NPC and demand they end their attempt to purge the BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group’s leadership…”
• On March 26, 2022, Samidoun posted, “Tomorrow, join the BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group for an emergency forum responding to the NPC’s targeting of the Working Group in violation of DSA's bylaws and resolutions. https://bit.ly/3JJoOH9”
• On May 9, 2022, NYC-DSA promoted a Nakba Day 2022 protest titled, “Resistance & Return By Any Means Necessary.” The protest was co-organized by Samidoun, WOL, PYM and others. NYC-DSA posted, “The Nakba (ethnic cleansing by Israel) has never ended and this year's protest - organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Within Our Lifetime, and the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network - emphasizes that Palestinian resistance is justified under apartheid.”
• On May 15, 2022, the day of the protest, NYC-DSA posted, “1/ We’re standing in solidarity with @WOLPalestine, @palyouthmvmt & @SamidounPP to fight for #JusticeForShireen #FreePalestine”
• In October 2022, DSA Texas joined Samidoun to support PYM’s “Global Week of Action for Palestine Prisoners on Hunger Strike.”
• On October 23, 2022, DSA IC and DSA Labor co-sponsored an event titled “Labor Against Empire: Voices from the Honduran U.S. Embassy Strike” with the DSA IC; AFGJ, Samidoun’s fiscal sponsor, is listed among co-sponsors.

Examples from 2023

• Samidoun listed a “national day of resistance” event sponsored by YDSA Purdue on its 2023 Calendar of Resistance.
• The “International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism (Sanctions, Blockades, and Economic Coercion)” website lists DSA IC, Samidoun, and AFGJ as co-organizers.
  The event began in January 2023 and lasted approximately six months, concluding with a closing event on September 30, 2023, in New York City at The People’s Forum. This tribunal included international hearings and testimonies addressing the impact of U.S. sanctions and economic coercion on countries in the Global South.
• On January 14, 2023, Samidoun and the NYC-DSA Anti-War Working Group co-endorsed a march and rally organized by the ANSWER Coalition to protest U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine.
• On January 15, 2023, the North NJ DSA BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group endorsed Samidoun’s campaign “Week of Action To Free Ahmad Sa’adat.” (Sa’adat is PFLP’s general secretary.)
• On May 8, 2023, the North New Jersey DSA BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group were signatories on Samidoun’s statement, “The International Campaign Against Anti-Palestinian Repression in Germany.”
• On May 13, 2023, Seattle DSA and Samidoun chapters organized a “Nakba 75 Resist Until Return!” rally and march at Cal Anderson Park North Side.
• Ahead of the 2023 DSA National Convention, Samidoun signed a statement “urging the DSA to adopt a firm position of anti-Zionism.”
• On September 16, 2023, the DSA IC was a signatory on a Samidoun statement issued to protect Zaid Abdulnasser, the coordinator of Samidoun’s Germany chapter and a member of Masar Badil. The statement read: “We, the undersigned organisations, declare our rejection and outrage at the German state’s consistent repression against Palestinians and Palestine organising in Germany, from the ban of Nakba day demonstrations in 2022 and 2023, the ban of International Palestinian Prisoners Day demonstrations in 2023, the persecution of journalists, youth, and students for their pro-Palestine views and activism, to the recent attempt at revoking the residency of Samidoun Germany coordinator, Zaid Abdulnasser, a Palestinian refugee born in Syria.”
• On September 25, 2023, the DSA IC and Samidoun co-endorsered Black Alliance for Peace (BAP)’s call for an “International Month of Action Against AFRICOM” the, U.S. military command in Africa.” (BAP is a pro-terror organization, see principles of unity.)
• On October 8, 2023, both Samidoun and NYC-DSA promoted an anti-Israel rally in Times Square organized by PYM, Al‑Awda, PSL, People’s Forum, AMP and others.
• On October 18, 2023, Jorge Rocha, co-chair of DSA’s IC and Samidoun’s International Coordinator Charlotte Kates co-signed an open letter titled: "Open letter against intimidation at Harvard: Defend the freedom to speak in support of Palestine!" The letter, posted by the ANSWER Coalition, defended “the courageous students at Harvard” who blamed the Hamas attack on Israel.
• On October 28, 2023, both Samidoun and DSA were signatories to the “Gaza Resolution” initiative launched by Progressive International (PI), a global far-left organization. The resolution characterizes the “Zionist project” as “colonial and genocidal.”
  The resolution also: affirms the Palestinian people's right to resist occupation by all means and supports a liberation framework "from the river to the sea "; condemns imperialist support for Israel and calls for solidarity with the Palestinian national, class, and feminist struggle; and pledges to stand in unity for Palestinian liberation and against complicity with the Israeli state
• In November 2023, DSA, DSA BDS WG and Samidoun co-endorsed the November 4, 2023 National March to Free Palestine held in Washington, D.C. Multiple YDSA chapters were listed as co‑endorsers, including NYU Young Democratic Socialists of America (NY/NJ area), Purdue University YDSA and Elizabethtown YDSA.
• On November 9, 2023, the DSA IC hosted a political education event titled, “From the River to the Sea: Palestinian Resistance and the Threat of Regional War” that featured Samidoun co-chair Charlotte Kates, WOL leader Nerdeen Kiswani and terror-supporting Virginia Tech professor Bikrum Gill.

Examples from 2024

• In January 2024, the DSA IC was a signatory on Samidoun’s statement titled, "Drop the Charges: Justice for the Merrimack 3!" standing in solidarity with Sophie Ross, Calla Walsh (a former DSA member) and Bridget Shergalis, who were arrested in November 2023 in Merrimack, New Hampshire for rioting and sabotaging a facility of Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems.
• DSA and Samidoun were both signatories on the “Open Letter: The ADL is not an ally.”
• On May 29, 2024, AFGJ posted an action alert calling for a June 24, 2024 protest at the U.S. Mission to the UN. The event flier lists DSA IC among endorsers.
• On June 5, 2024, DSA IC was a signatory to a petition titled, “We stand with Yemen confronting U.S. and British aggression.” The petition was an initiative of Samidoun, the Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement and the Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization.
• On July 5, 2024, DSA and Samidoun were co-signatories on a PI statement titled, “Take Cuba Off the List.” The statement called on the U.S. to remove its designation of Cuba as a “state-sponsor of terrorism.”
• On August 4, 2024, DSA IC hosted a “Venezuela Delegation Report Back” webinar in which an “IC member who is still on the ground in Caracas” had “observed the elections with the Alliance for Global Justice.”
• In September 2024, DSA and Samidoun co-endorsed a “Flood New York City for Gaza” march and rally in Union Square. The rally was organized by WOL and Healthcare Workers for Palestine.
• In November 2024, Within Our Lifetime’s “Free the Holy Land 5” campaign page listed the North NJ DSA BDS, Palestine Solidarity Working Group and Samidoun Nederland among its partner organizations.

Collaboration Post-Terrorist Designation

Since October 2024, Samidoun has been subject to U.S. government sanctions which bar U.S. and foreign citizens, as well as all financial institutions, from making any “contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of” the organization.

This significantly chilled formal DSA-Samidoun partnerships and pushed joint activity between the organizations into broad coalitions or multi‑signatory letters where many groups (some sanctioned, some not) appear together.

After Samidoun’s designation, DSA chapters publicly defended Samidoun.

• Washington State DSA chapters, including Seattle DSA, issued a joint statement calling the move an “unacceptable repression of the Palestinian solidarity movement.” The statement praised the local Samidoun organization as a “beacon of light” for leading weekly “peaceful” demonstrations. The statement noted the support arrested DSA members (now facing trial) receive from Samidoun.

Some DSA groups continued to work with the banned organization, in clear violation of U.S. Treasury sanctions. For example:

• On March 26, 2025, Philly DSA’s International Solidarity Working Group (ISWG) hosted an event titled “From Philly to Palestine: A Conversation on Prisoner Solidarity between Samidoun and Abolition School” that featured “Abu Ali” from Samidoun.
• On August 11, 2025, the Philly DSA’s ISWG organized a Philly DSA event with Samidoun and that it has been an incredible labor of love to get to the pt we can openly support Samidoun.”

Meanwhile, as of May and June 2025, Samidoun promoted joint canvassing events that the group was holding with NYC DSA's Anti-War Working Group, including listing the Working Group's email as the contact information for the events.

More Terrorist Designations: Foreign and Domestic

In February 2021, Israel’s Ministry of Justice declared Samidoun to be a “terror organization,” accusing [p. 2] the organization of operating “as an arm” of the PFLP. It noted at the same time Khaled Barkat’s leadership role in both the PFLP and Samidoun.

Shortly after Israel’s designation of Samidoun as a terrorist organization, Barakat founded Maser Badil, an international Palestinian group that calls for armed “resistance” and eschews peace negotiations. Masil Badil is essentially an extension of Samidoun. Its mission is to build coalitions across the left through organizing webinars that feature senior members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups.

To circumvent the sanctions imposed by the terror designations of Samidoun, Barakat will likely broaden the reach of Masil Badil.

As of November 10, 2024, PayPal announced that Masar Badil would no longer be eligible to receive donations.

In October 2023, Germany announced it would disband Samidoun's German wing, saying, “The international network works under the guise of a solidarity group for prisoners to spread anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda.”

In October 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Samidoun as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Canada coordinated with the U.S., designating Samidoun as a terrorist entity at the same time. Both countries declared that Samidoun operates as a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the PFLP terrorist organization.

The PFLP was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department in October 1997 and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in October 2001.

The two countries noted that Samidoun maintains its fundraising operations in both Europe and North America. Canada also singled out Barakat for designation.

The Dutch Parliament also voted in October 2024 to designate Samidoun as a terrorist group, targeting Barakat by extension given his leadership role in Samidoun and the PFLP.