Share:
American Muslims For Palestine
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is a national anti-Israel organization that has been embroiled in many controversies related to its history of anti-Semitism and links to terror organizations and terror-financiers.
AMP leaders have spread anti-Semitism, expressed support for Hamas terrorists and praised the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and its spiritual leader. At least one AMP national board member reportedly [p.48] personally raised money for Hamas, while another two board members have been linked [p.2] to alleged Hamas financiers.
AMP promotes the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and has spearheaded multiple BDS campaigns. In 2016, AMP was referred to in Congressional testimony as the “most important sponsor and organizer” of the campus group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and “a leading driver” of BDS in the U.S.
As early as 2010, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) had identified AMP as providing a platform for anti-Semitism. AMP has hosted many anti-Israel rallies where speakers have called [00:00:11] for “intifada,” a term that carries the connotation of violence.
AMP was founded in 2006 by anti-Israel activist and University of California, Berkeley professor Hatem Bazian, who also founded SJP.
As of July 2022, AMP’s website described itself as “a national education and grassroots-based organization, dedicated to educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical, and religious heritage.” AMP said it accomplished its mission by creating and disseminating educational materials, “community-based programming [sic] and engaging with regional and national media.”
As of the same date, AMP’s website said it was headquartered in Palos Hills, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. AMP also said it had an office in Washington D.C., “where staff conduct educational outreach on Capitol Hill, national coalition building and engage with members of the national media.”
AMP had chapters in northern and southern California, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.
AMP has hosted an annual Palestine Advocacy Day (PAD) in Washington, D.C, during which it trains activists in “skills they need to lead campaigns in their communities, engage elected officials, and advocate for the rights of Palestinians.” PAD participants have met with members of Congress and Congressional staff to promote their positions, which include “Supporting the Call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions.”
Also as of July 2022, AMP’s website called for “an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, an end to Israeli settlement construction and an end to Israel’s siege on Gaza.”
The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. International law mandates no absolute right of return and UN Resolution 194, which defined principles for “refugees wishing to return to their homes,” was unanimously rejected by Arab nations following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
In December 2010, the ADL published an article accusing AMP of promoting “extreme anti-Israel views” and providing a “platform for anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans.”
In its article, the ADL cited a 2009 conference where “speakers at an AMP-sponsored panel” were quoted as having described Jews as “the worst kind of people.”
In 2011, Bazian headlined a 13-city speaking tour called “Never Again for Anyone.” AMP co-organized the tour, which was launched on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The tour was reportedly designed “to spotlight Israel's dehumanizing treatment of the Palestinians.”
The phrase “Never Again” is used as a general declaration against genocide, invoking the Nazis’ war of extermination against the Jews.
AMP has also promoted the libel that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is endangered by Israel. In October 2015, during the “Knife Intifada,” AMP Chicago hosted and promoted an anti-Israel rally with the hashtag “#HandsOffAl-aqsa.”
The allegation that Jews “threaten” to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a traditional pretext for Arab attacks on Jews long before the existence of Israel.
October 2015 saw an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings — known as the “Knife Intifada” — saw young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.
During the rally, SJP activist Ahmed Hamad led hundreds of participants in the chant [00:00:11]: “Intifada! Intifada! Intifada! Intifada! We Support the intifada!”
Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
On December 16, 2017, activists leading an AMP rally chanted about Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, saying [00:17:08]: “Bibi and Hitler are the same! The only difference is the name!”
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) highlights as one possible contemporary example of anti-Semitism: “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” The U.S. State Department adopted the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. Thirty-three other countries have adopted the definition as well.
As of February 2019, the AMP board included Salah Sarsour, who was listed [p.48] in a 2001 FBI memo as an American fundraiser for Hamas through the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) charity. HLF assets were frozen by the U.S. Treasury in 2001 after it discovered that HLF was funneling money to Hamas.
In December 1998, Israeli police wrote a memo quoting Sarsour’s brother, Jamil Sarsour, saying [p.13-14] that Salah Sarsour served eight months in an Israeli prison in 1995 for his connections to Hamas. He reportedly [p.13-14] used his company bank account to launder $2,000 or $3,000 at a time to a Hamas leader whom he befriended while in jail.
As of February 2019, the AMP national board included Sufian Nabhan, a former board member [p.2] of the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP). In 2004, IAP was found liable for aiding and abetting Hamas activities.
In 2004, AMP founder Hatem Bazian was a featured speaker at a fundraiser for KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development (KindHearts). KindHearts dissolved in 2011 after the U.S. Treasury showed it was funneling funds to Hamas.
As of July 2022, AMP’s staff and national board featured an array of anti-Israel activists.
Hatem Bazian, chairman of AMP’s national board and based in San Francisco, has spread anti-Semitism, denied Jewish peoplehood and history and called for an “intifada” in America. In 2015, he said [00:14:22]: “Our Congress is an Israeli-occupied territory.”
Neveen Ayesh, the Government Relations Coordinator of AMP’s St. Louis, Missouri chapter, has advocated for violence against Jews, called to “burn” Israelis into “ashes,” praised the Hamas terror group and spread hatred of America and Israel.
In May 2020, Ayesh was exposed on the floor of the Missouri House of Represenatives for having lied to legislators about her views on Jews, Israel and the BDS movement.
Salah Sarsour, an AMP national board member based in the Milwaukee area, was allegedly active with and reportedly fundraised for Hamas. He has also spread anti-Semitism and promoted incitement. In 2016, he called MB spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi his “سيدي [master].”
Osama Abuirshaid, AMP’s Executive Director based in Washington D.C., has expressed support for Hamas, spread [00:14:30] anti-Semitism, promoted anti-Israel incitement and praised the MB.
Taher Herzallah, AMP’s Director of Outreach & Grassroots Organizing, based in Washington D.C., promoted terrorism against Israel and was convicted of disrupting a speech by an Israeli ambassador.
Sana Daoud, a 2018 AMP national board member based in the Chicago area, spread anti-Semitic incitement during the “Knife Intifada” in 2015, praised members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and honored Hamas leaders.
Sufian Nabhan, a 2018 AMP national board member based in the Detroit area, spread anti-Israel conspiracy theories and tweeted in 2016 that al-Qaradawi was “ شيخنا الفاضل [our honorable Sheikh].”
Shakeel Syed, a 2018 AMP national board member based in the Los Angeles area, has used an anti-Semitic slur, defended Hamas and demonized Israel.
Mohamad Habehh, the AMP Director of Development, spread hatred of Jews, joked about the Holocaust, celebrated anti-Semitic violence and defended Hamas.
Sayel Kayed, the 2018 president of the AMP chapter in New Jersey, has pushed anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, expressed support for terrorists and spread incitement.
Mariam El-Khatib, the leader of AMP’s Minnesota chapter, has expressed support for Hamas and justified the stabbing of Israeli Jews.
Tarek Khalil, the AMP Education Coordinator, has promoted incitement, trivialized anti-Semitism, expressed support for violent protests and spread hatred of Israel.
Ayah Ziyadeh, the AMP National Advocacy Director, has defended terrorism, expressed support for terrorists, promoted incitement and demonized Israeli Jews. Ziyadeh has also demonized Israel and endorsed an anti-Israel agitator.
As of July 2022, AMP’s website said it was a nonprofit organization “funded solely by private donations in the U.S” and that its “fiscal sponsor was AJP Educational Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization.”
On August 15, 2018, the NGO Monitor website reported that AJP Educational Foundation’s “principal officer” was Bazian. NGO Monitor also said: “It appears that AJP does not sponsor any other projects.”
In February 2018, AJP Educational Foundation and Bazian were listed [p.2] as co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the state of Arizona and its anti-BDS law. The lawsuit said [p.2] that AJP was “doing business as ‘American Muslims for Palestine.’”
In 2010, the ADL reported that “AMP has sought to build a relationship with members of SJP since at least June 2010” and noted that AMP facilitated a two-day SJP national convention in 2010.
In October 2011, Taher Herzallah organized a “national SJP conference… in collaboration with student groups across the nation” while serving as AMP’s national campus coordinator.
In 2014, AMP reportedly spent $100,000 on campus activities and provided “speakers, training, printed materials, a so-called ‘Apartheid Wall,’ and grants to SJP activists.” The report also noted that AMP has a “campus coordinator on staff whose job is to work directly with SJP and other pro-BDS campus groups across the country.”
In November 2014, AMP released a statement condemning the conviction of terrorist Rasmea Odeh for immigration fraud and called on all SJP chapters to organize campus actions in support of Odeh.
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.
As of February 2019, AMP’s website promoted five BDS campaigns that it listed as “AMP BDS CAMPAIGNS.” The list featured AMP’s 2016 boycott of Israeli dates, as well as other BDS initiatives targeting SodaStream, the Jewish National Fund (JNF), the security company G4S and Airbnb.
AMP has organized with other anti-Israel groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and CODEPINK.
AMP also organized with the Muslim Students Association (MSA), an organization where both Herzallah and Bazian have held leadership positions.
In 2017, AMP began organizing with the anti-Israel group IfNotNow (INN). On February 16, 2017, Herzallah and another AMP official joined with four INN activists to disrupt a U.S. Senate committee hearing on David Friedman's nomination to be U.S. Ambassador to Israel. Herzallah has also taken an active role in INN programs. On May 24, 2018, AMP founder Bazian openly praised the coalition between AMP and INN.
 logo-800x450.webp)