The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee launched an investigation into American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), an allegedly Hamas-tied organization that allegedly funds many of the pro-Palestine protests on college campuses.
According to letters from Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the committee chairman, to multiple universities as well as Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and AMP leadership, AMP has “extensive” terrorist ties and funds chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) — one of the primary organizations behind the campus protests.
Cassidy asked the schools, which include Columbia University, Barnard College, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and George Washington University (GW), for information regarding AMP’s involvement in protests, many of which saw illegal encampments, violence, disruption, and even the occupation of buildings. The letters to Bondi and Patel seek information on any investigations the Department of Justice or FBI might have underway.
SJP has chapters at multiple colleges and is the on-campus organizer of many of the protests, but is backed by AMP, which the letters say “has personnel with reported ties to the Foreign Terrorist Organization Hamas.”
“AMP’s alleged ties to Hamas, which the U.S. Department of State has designated as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization,’ are extensive,” the DOJ and FBI letter states. “AMP has also been actively involved in organizing college students. It has worked for more than a decade to support SJP campus groups which, according to reports, have been actively involved in campus demonstrations.”
The committee says that numerous current and former AMP board members, speakers, organizers, and others affiliated have donated to Hamas and directly engaged with Hamas leaders. Some have also expressed support for Hamas.
“AMP’s close ties with campus SJP groups raise serious questions about AMP’s involvement in planning, organizing, and funding campus demonstrations that have posed significant threats to campus safety,” the FBI letter said. “While college campuses should welcome free speech and the free exchange of ideas, they should not be havens for terrorist organizations to exert influence or instigate conflict for their own political purposes.”
Cassidy asked the schools for documentation of SJP and AMP campus involvement, infractions from police, and university and staff support for the groups. He asked AMP for documentation of communications with SJP and other communications with schools and students.
Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.
