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Former Treasury Official Calls For Greater Transparency to Fight Anti-Israel Boycotts

After testifying before Congress that a major organization behind the anti-Israel boycott campaign in the United States is led in part by individuals who formerly headed charities that have been implicated in aiding Hamas, Jonathan Schanzer, the vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, offered recommendations to fight the group’s influence, The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.

Citing open source research conducted by FDD, Schanzer noted that seven key members of the now-defunct Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, Kind Hearts Foundation for Humanitarian Development, and the Islamic Association for Palestine — groups that were found to have raised some $12 million for Hamas over the course of ten years — are currently associated with the organization American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).

AMP, according to Schanzer, is “arguably the leading BDS organization in the US, a key sponsor of the anti-Israel campus network known as Students for Justice in Palestine,” providing funds, training, and speakers to the campus group.

Because AMP is not a tax-exempt organization, it does not have to file an IRS 990 form, which would make its finances transparent. “BDS advocates are free to say what they want, true or false, but tax advantaged organizations are obliged to be transparent,” Schanzer told the hearing. “Americans have a right to know who is leading the BDS campaign and so do the students who may not be aware of AMP’s leaders or their goals.”

Schanzer said that there should be greater federal and state oversight of non-profits in order to expose the true nature of AMP and others advocating boycotts of Israel.

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