American college students should be aware that the pro-Hamas organization that has helped organize protests in several colleges is tagges as a "sham charity" that fundraises for a terrorist group. This was revealed last 15 October by the Treasury Department report to several governments.
In a joint action by both the U.S. and Canadian governments, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, or Samidoun, was identified and sanctioned as a terrorist entity by the government in Canada, where it is based.
In an interview conducted by NBC News, the co-founder of the group and Samidoun's interational coordinator, Charlotte Kates, said that the Vancouver-based organization advocates for the rights of Palestinians, particularly those locked up in Israeli prisons.
However, the Treasury Department revealed that Samidoun serves as a front organization and fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the U.S. deemed a terror organization in 1997 and 2001.
"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 Bradley Smith, the acting U.S. under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial terrorism.
Kates' husband, Khaled Barakat, was also sanctioned by the Treasury Department. The agency said Barakat is part of the leadership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which operates in Gaza and the West Bank, participated in the "horrific attacks against Israeli civilians" on 7 October 2023, the Treasury Department said.
Samidoun, which means "steadfast" in Arabic, has been banned in Germany and Israel over alleged ties to terrorist groups.
During Kates’ interview with NBC News, she called Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel "a brave and heroic operation."
"That is something we stand by 100%," Kates added. "The so-called Israeli state is a settler colony, and it never had the right to exist."