Six months after News May exposé on efforts for the Biden administration to ban the Palestinian group in the United States, Samidoun was classified as a terrorist organization.
“In a joint action with Canada, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, or ‘Samidoun,’ a phony charity used as a global fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization,” the U.S. Treasury Department said on its website.
In 1997, the PFLP was classified as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government. The PFLP “uses Samidoun to maintain fundraising operations in both Europe and North America,” according to Treasury. Khaled Barakat, a leader of the PFLP, was also recognized today. Samidoun and Barakat work together to raise money for the PFLP from outside sources.
In addition to many European nations like Sweden, France, and Spain, Samidoun also maintains chapters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Iran. Israel designated the Palestinian group as a terrorist organization in 2021, and Germany banned Samidoun in November.
