The U.S. Treasury Department has taken significant action against a major Palestinian legal group and four other charitable entities across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, accusing them of supporting Hamas’ military operations while masquerading as providers of humanitarian aid in Gaza. Notably, among those impacted by these sanctions is Addameer, a nongovernmental organization established in 1991 and situated in Ramallah, within the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Addameer specializes in offering pro bono legal services to Palestinian political prisoners and detainees held by Israel, also scrutinizing the conditions they endure in confinement. U.S. authorities contend that Addameer has sustained affiliations with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a group known for its secular, left-wing political and military activities, including fatal assaults on Israelis. This group is defined as a terrorist organization by both the U.S. and Israel.
Although Addameer has yet to respond to these sanctions, the organization has been accused by Israel of funding terrorism. However, the United Nations has stated previously that there is insufficient evidence to corroborate these allegations. In a prior report regarding human rights practices, the U.S. State Department highlighted Israel’s arrest of Salah Hammouri, a French-Palestinian human rights advocate working for Addameer, citing concerns over actions against human rights defenders.
Addameer holds affiliations with internationally recognized entities such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and is part of the World Organization Against Torture. When Israel raided Addameer’s offices in 2022, the UN criticized the action, insisting that Israel failed to offer substantial evidence for its claim and recognized Addameer’s essential role in human rights and development work in these regions.
The Zachor Legal Institute, an Israeli-American advocacy group aiming to combat antisemitism and terrorism, played a pivotal role in advocating for Treasury’s actions against Addameer, providing a letter backed by 44 other organizations based on undisclosed evidence. This letter was directed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Zachor’s President, Marc Greendorfer, expressed satisfaction with the Treasury’s decision, asserting that it helps guard against foreign entities promoting violence and hatred within the United States.
Alongside Addameer, several other organizations also faced sanctions, including the Al Weam Charitable Society in Gaza and its leader, the Turkish charity Filistin Vakfi and its leader, El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work and its leader, the Netherlands-based Israa Charitable Foundation Netherlands and two of its employees, and the Italy-based Associazione Benefica La Cupola d’Oro.
A 2024 Treasury report on terrorist financing underscores the complexity of distinguishing genuine charitable crowdfunding from endeavors related to terrorist financing. The report discusses the difficulty law enforcement encounters due to the substantial portion of crowdfunding being legitimate, complicating investigations into potential cases linked to terrorism via crowdfunding and online fundraising.