U.S. Treasury Sanctions Harvard Palestinian Partner as Fraudulent Terrorist Front Group

West Bank-based Addameer backs Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine, U.S. government says

An image of a Harvard-Addameer submission to a U.N. Commission. The Treasury Department today imposed sanctions on Addameer, saying it is affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a terrorist group whose members participated in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The U.S. Treasury Department today announced sanctions against what it called a “fraudulent charity linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. ” The charity, Addameer, is a group that Harvard University has partnered with and defended.

A press release from Treasury, headlined “Treasury Disrupts Sham Overseas Charity Networks Funding Hamas and the PFLP,” speaks of “terrorist networks that establish seemingly legitimate charitable non-profit organizations (NPOs) under the guise of providing humanitarian assistance but instead are primarily utilized for funneling money to terrorist organizations.”

“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 Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender said.

The Treasury release says that “Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer), based in the West Bank, purports to represent the interests of Palestinian prisoners. However, like the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network (Samidoun) that OFAC designated on October 15, 2024 along with one of its leaders, Khaled Barakat (Barakat), Addameer has long supported and is affiliated with the PFLP. Additionally, in the spring of 2022, Barakat coordinated with the PFLP to send funds to Addameer and to arrange meetings between Addameer and Samidoun.”

Harvard’s ties to Addameer include the following: