Attorneys on Muslim Legal Fund of America Webinar Warn of Criminalizing Muslim Nonprofits

Описание: During a February 20, 2025, Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) webinar on HR 9495 and its impact on Muslim American nonprofit organizations, Diala Shamas, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), said there have been “smear campaigns” accusing student organizations on U.S. campuses of being part of the “international propaganda arm” of Hamas. As a result, these student groups and their supporters risk being accused of providing material support for terrorism. Shamas called this theory “bananas.” She expressed concern that under a Trump Department of Justice, there could be expanded criminal charges against pro-Palestinian groups, especially Muslim organizations, such as the Holy Land Foundation. She also discussed the designation of Samidoun as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) organization, and spoke about the legal risks nonprofits face depending on their focus. One example she gave was UNRWA USA, a CCR client that fundraises in the U.S. for UNRWA.

Antonio Glenn, a Muslim attorney based in Texas, stated that many of the nonprofit organizations he works with are facing a “major concern” over accusations that they are providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). He differentiated between groups that focus on local American causes and those that fund overseas operations, noting that there is no FTO counterpart for those accused of supporting domestic terrorism. He said that there is a concerted effort to try and find “remedies and pathways through other nonprofit organizations that have encountered this situation, especially for foreign terrorist… or donating internationally, I should say,” to continue supporting Muslim communities internationally.