WASHINGTON — A Senate Republican launched an investigation Thursday into American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) over its “alleged ties to Hamas” and its funding of anti-Israel protest groups on US college campuses — including at Columbia University.
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) announced the investigation at the top of a hearing titled “Antisemitic Disruptions on Campus” — and named nine individuals, including AMP’s leader, with purported links to the US-designated foreign terror group.
“Today as chair of the health committee, I launched an investigation into the American Muslims for Palestine demanding answers about their activities on college campuses,” Cassidy said.
“This group’s leaders have ties to Hamas and helped create the group Students for Justice in Palestine,” he added. “I also requested information from the Justice Department and several universities on these groups.
“We must continue to build upon these efforts. As we saw at Columbia last month, pro-Hamas activists continue to wreak havoc on campuses,” he also said.
“Instead of standing up for Jewish students, too many university officials failed to respond or refused to even condemn these horrific occurrences.”
In a letter to AMP chairman Hatem Bazian, Cassidy listed the group’s troubling reported ties to Hamas as well as those of several of Bazian’s associates, citing research compiled by Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior vice president Jonathan Schanzer.
Those links include:
“AMP received this letter yesterday and will of course respond timely and in accordance with all applicable laws,” responded Christina Jump, AMP’s lead counsel.
“As AMP told the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability last year, and as AMP has responded numerous times in litigation, AMP functions entirely in the United States, raises funds only for itself and within the United States, and does not receive money from nor send money to any other countries,” Jump said.
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“AMP functions to serve its stated mission of providing education within the United States on the rich history and culture of Palestine,” she went on. “AMP supports all students’ rights to free speech. AMP works with many student groups, including high school groups, multiple chapters of Muslim Student Associations, multiple chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and multiple chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine,” she added.
“AMP neither controls nor directs the budgets, finances or programming for any student group.”
Jump also referred to Cassidy’s letter as full of “unproven allegations from civil lawsuits.”“In fact, one court ruled that the testimony and presumptions of Jonathan Schanzer, which the March 26 letter cites repeatedly as ‘support,’ does not constitute evidence, and gave it no weight,” she noted.
Cassidy also sent letters to Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and university leaders at Columbia, Barnard, George Washington University and UCLA.
“Activity that threatens the safety of others is not constitutionally protected free speech, and conductthat violates campus rules should not be tolerated,” he warned, highlighting the same ties between AMP and SJP.