US, Canada name Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network as terrorist group

The United States and Canada have officially designated the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network as a terrorist entity. They call the group "a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine," which is designated a terrorist organization and has been since 1997. That group, the PFLP, uses Samidoun to raise money in the US, Canada, and abroad for their actions. Samidoun is based in Vancouver, Canada.

The two nations also took action against the PFLP's Khaled Barakat, who plays a key role in the leadership of the terrorist group in raising money for their cause. Barakat is a Canadian citizen who works to support the fight against Israel by gaining support and funds internationally. Samidoun has directly called for "death to Canada." Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has previously called for the group to be banned in Canada.

The group has been behind many anti-Israel protests in the US, including the Al-Aqsa Flood Month of Action in Seattle, a Week of Action on Resisting Genocide internationally, and so many others. As part of their events, they demand that people "Organize boycott actions at local stores, government buildings and other facilities, mobilize mass marches and demonstrations, hold political education events, take direct action, flyer, sticker, poster and act for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. Target Zionist products and complicit companies, educate your community about the boycott movement, mobilize on campus for divestment, expose the complicity of corporate and state-backed media,  confront Zionist “charities” funding the 'Israeli' war machine,  and demand the full international isolation of the Zionist regime."

The group has been a big proponent of student actions and protests on campuses across the US and internationally that have resulted in the prevention of Jewish students from attending classes and property destruction. They have chapters in Germany, Brazil, France, Iran, Hungary, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Gaza, with multiple chapters in the US and Canada.

"Organizations like Samidoun masquerade as charitable actors that claim to provide humanitarian support to those in need, yet in reality divert funds for much-needed assistance to support terrorist groups," said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith in a release.

"The United States, together with Canada and our like-minded partners, will continue to disrupt those who seek to finance the PFLP, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations," Smith continued.

Dominic LeBlanc, Canadian Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs, said "Canada remains committed to working with our key partners and allies, like the United States, to counter terrorist organizations and their fundraisers. Today’s joint action with the U.S. sends a strong message that our two nations will not tolerate this type of activity and will do everything in our power to ensure robust measures are in place to address terrorist financing."

Samidoun has used non-profit status in the US to engage in fundraising efforts that are disguised as charitable but are increasing the coffers for terrorists. The group was established by PFLP and is also banned in Germany.

This new designation will result in property seizures. "As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above, and of any entities that are owned directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them, individually, or with other blocked persons, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC [Office of Foreign Assets Control]," the Treasury Department states. 

Donations for Samidoun are processed through the Alliance for Global Justice, which claims to be "a little bit people's thinktank, a whole lot of organizing." They claim to "envision societies which explore and implement alternatives to the unjust domination of governments, global financial institutions and multinational corporations which denigrate the world’s peoples and devastate ecosystems. We envision the development of a unified domestic and international movement of transformational grassroots organizations that promote a socially, ecologically and economically just world."

The Alliance for Global Justice is a 501(c)(3) designated charitable organization with the Internal Revenue Service and operates as a fiscal sponsor for charitable groups that do not have that tax status on their own. The board approved the sponsorship for Samidoun and claims to "offer fiscal sponsorship services as a service to the progressive movement so that it might grow and gain more influence."