Anti-Israel protesters demonstrate along NYPD police lines outside of Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
The group also claimed "the legislation raises serious constitutional concerns," and because it "vests vast discretion in the Secretary of the Treasury, it creates a high risk of politicized and discriminatory enforcement."
However, Kustoff, one of only two Jewish Republicans in Congress, is baffled by the opposition.
"Several weeks ago, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to pass bipartisan legislation I introduced that does one simple thing: take away the tax-exempt status of nonprofits that give financial support to terrorist groups and organizations," he told Fox News Digital.
"This bill and its purpose are clear and simple. The American taxpayer should not unknowingly be funding terrorists. It should be a no-brainer," he said.
"Now, there are some left-wing radical groups, and at least one pro-Hamas group, trying to influence the United States Senate," he said.
"Even in deeply divided Washington, 382 Members of Congress agree that any organization that funds terrorism should not receive tax-exempt status under the U.S. tax code," he said.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
"If this legislation isn’t necessary, how is it that American Muslims for Palestine are still tax-exempt? Within 36 hours of the atrocities of October 7, AMP’s campus arm, Students for Justice in Palestine, had already emerged with a detailed 'Day of Resistance' toolkit for campus chapters to hold activities in support of Hamas," said Menken.
"They declared that they not only support the messaging of Hamas, but they part of it," Menken said, referring to the toolkit document released by the groups.
AMP, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, is currently under investigation by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares for allegedly soliciting contributions in the commonwealth without first having registered with the commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Miyares also announced in November that he is investigating allegations the group may have used funds raised for illegal purposes under state law, including benefiting or providing support to terrorist organizations.
Earlier this month, a major U.S. and global law firm, Greenberg Traurig, filed a federal lawsuit representing nine survivors of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on southern Israel, arguing that NSJP and AMP are working in the United States "as collaborators and propagandists for Hamas."
Through NSJP, AJP Educational Foundation Inc. – also known as AMP – allegedly "uses propaganda to intimidate, convince, and recruit uninformed, misguided, and impressionable college students to serve as foot soldiers for Hamas on campus and beyond," according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Virginia, Alexandria Division.
The litigation alleges AMP "serves as Hamas’s propaganda division in the United States" and "was founded from the ashes of disbanded organizations created by senior Hamas officials after those organizations and related individuals were found criminally and civilly liable for providing material support to Hamas and other affiliated terrorist groups."
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AMP’s co-founder and current chairman, Hatem Bazian, supported the first SJP chapter as a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, the lawsuit notes.
In an email to Fox News Digital, a representative for AMP said it does not support the bill "due to the inherent flaws in the proposed bill."
The proposed legislation "grant[s] the Secretary of the Treasury broad discretionary powers to terminate the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations based solely on a subjective declaration that they are ‘terrorist supporting organizations,'" the representative said.
The representative also said AMP utilizes donations "completely within the United States to support its mission of educating American Muslims and the American public on the rich history and culture of Palestine."
Brianna Herlihy is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aclu-backs-efforts-sink-bill-stripping-nonprofit-bankrolls-terrorists-tax-exempt-status