An Israeli-designated terrorist group banned by the German government is part of an American dark money network funded by progressive billionaires, including George Soros.
Samidoun, which has organized dozens of anti-Israel protests since Hamas’s October attacks, is a subsidiary of the Alliance for Global Justice, records show. German interior minister Nancy Faeser condemned their "anti-Semitic, inhuman worldview" in an Oct. 12 statement announcing a nationwide ban on the organization. Israel in 2021 designated Samidoun a terrorist group and alleged it was an arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Syria-based terrorist group.
Samidoun is a fiscal sponsorship of the Alliance for Global Justice, meaning there is no legal distinction between the two entities. Such arrangements are common on the left: The Adalah Justice Project, one of Hamas’s most vocal American defenders, is a fiscal sponsorship of the Tides Center, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
But Samidoun’s actions have caused at least one Alliance for Global Justice ally to cut ties with the group.
"We condemn terrorism and violence against civilians in all forms and do not support any projects or provide any grants to organizations that fund terrorism," the New Venture Fund said in a statement noting that it is "discontinuing grants to any projects hosted by Alliance for Global Justice." The New Venture Fund, along with the Soros-backed Tides Center and Tides Foundation, gave the alliance more than $9 million in 2021.
Neither Samidoun nor the Alliance for Global Justice responded to multiple requests for comment.
Arabella Advisors, the left’s premiere dark money network, has also distanced itself from Samidoun, telling the Free Beacon it "unequivocally condemn[s] terrorism and violence against civilians," and noting that "Samidoun is not and has never been a client of Arabella Advisors."
But two of Arabella's clients—whose operations, the Free Beacon reported, are closely guided by the firm—transferred more than $1 million to the Alliance for Global Justice in 2022, tax records show.
It is unclear when the Alliance for Global Justice absorbed Samidoun or which donors are earmarking funds for Samidoun. The Alliance for Global Justice had more than $6.2 million in assets and spent more than $54 million in 2021, the last year its public tax filings are available.
Since October’s Hamas attack, Samidoun has hosted a "Calendar of Resistance" on its website to inform activists of opportunities to protest the Jewish state. The group joined forces this month with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center to blockade a U.S. government ship in a Washington port they believed was bound for Israel. Federal officials said a criminal investigation into the protest is underway.
Samidoun has a long track record of supporting terrorists, particularly the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. On its website, Samidoun dismisses evidence that it is an affiliate of the group as "Zionist disinformation."
But one of the group’s leaders, Charlotte Kates, and her husband, Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement cofounder Khaled Barakat, were barred from entering the European Union last year over their ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israeli intelligence has accused Barakat, who resides in Canada, of being a high-ranking official in the terrorist organization as well.
On Nov. 10, the group hosted a screening in Chicago for a documentary about Georges Abdallah, a member of a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's Lebanese offshoot who was sentenced to life in a French prison for the 1982 murder of a U.S. military attaché and an Israeli diplomat in Paris. Abdallah has expressed no regrets for the murder, saying after his arrest that "I do what I do because of the injustice done to human rights where Palestine is concerned."
Samidoun works to secure the release of all Palestinian prisoners, including those convicted of terrorism. "Palestinian prisoners are on the front lines of the Palestinian struggle for liberation on a daily basis," Samidoun states on its website.
One such prisoner is Ahmad Sa’adat, the secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Sa’adat was imprisoned by the Palestinian National Authority for his role in the assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi in 2001, and is currently in an Israeli prison.
Leading online fundraising platforms including PayPal and Stripe barred Samidoun from their platforms in October following a congressional investigation into the group’s ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Washington Examiner reported.
That has not deterred Samidoun from fundraising, with the group instructing supporters to send checks made payable to the Alliance For Global Justice to its Tucson, Ariz., headquarters.
Samidoun’s connection to terrorist groups extends beyond the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The organization helps organize an annual "Palestinian Prisoners’ Action Week" each year, hosting marches around the world. Among the participants in the 2021 protests was the Muhjat al-Quds Foundation, which the Treasury Department sanctioned Tuesday for providing material support to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Gaza-based terrorist organization that operates out of Gaza.
Jewish organizations worldwide have demanded that Samidoun cease operations in their country. Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs started a petition this month calling for the government to designate Samidoun a terrorist group.