The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued new sanctions last week targeting five “sham” charities and associated individuals across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East for alleged support to Palestinian terrorist organizations, a move one former official said should remind donors to stay vigilant.
While some of the designated non-profits explicitly supported Hamas following the organization’s Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks on Israel, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, others, such as Algeria-based El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work, duped donors who wanted to support humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza into funding the terrorist organization.
“I think a lot of the organizations that are still linked to these particular entities just didn't do super deep research,” said Nicki Kenyon, former Senior Intelligence Officer for the Terrorism Intelligence Brief at the National Counterterrorism Center.
Among other factors that could give rise to a false sense of security among philanthropic donors is the amount of energy federal authorities have dedicated to cracking down on Hamas’ benefactors over the last 20 months.
“Whether it’s in the Netherlands, whether it’s in Italy, Turkiye, wherever–I’m actually surprised that [these non-profits are] still operating there, because I would’ve thought that after all the advisories that had been put out and all the guidance that at least U.S. regulators had released, that these organizations would have been shut down,” Kenyon told The Export Practitioner.
Along with El Baraka, OFAC designated Türkiye-based Filistin Vakfi, which explicitly raised funds for Hamas, and the Israa Charitable Foundation Netherlands, which the agency said was part of a network of organizations that “generate revenue for Hamas under the guise of legitimate charitable work.”
OFAC also blacklisted Gaza-based Al Weam Charitable Society as a covert part of Hamas’ military wing and the West Bank-based Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, whose leadership organized funding from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 2022, according to the agency.
“Today’s action underscores the importance of safeguarding the charitable sector from abuse by terrorists like Hamas and the PFLP, who continue to leverage sham charities as fronts for funding their terrorist and military operations,” Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender said in a statement Tuesday.
Kenyon advised potential donors not to shy away from doing their own due diligence, even when it might lead to awkward conversations or strain established relationships, and to utilize tools such as Charity Navigator to dig into nonprofits’ financials.
“Really, you have got to dig deep. You have to take a look at…what kinds of links they have. Who are the people that they're linked to?” said Kenyon. “There have been several [nonprofits] where their leadership has posted like different videos on YouTube that praised Hamas and praised terrorist organizations like that. So you have to kind of go in deeper.”
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