• The numerous SJP branches on university campuses are not registered as 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Therefore, they are not subject to laws requiring financial disclosure. Most known funding for individual branches of SJP comes from funds distributed by student governments for student clubs, but this does not match the scope of activities.1 In addition, the National SJP coordination framework (also not an registered as 501c3) receives funds from a number of donors, as detailed below.
  • SJP Founder Hatem Bazian (lecturer at University of California, Berkeley) is also the co-founder of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). According to AMP, “We also work in broad-based coalitions and support campus activism through Students for Justice in Palestine.”
    • AMP is incorporated in the State of Illinois, but is not a 501(c) (3) tax-exempt organization. Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation (AJP) acts as its “fiscal sponsor” to facilitate tax-exemption donations.
    • On October 31, 2023, the Attorney General’s Office of Virginia announced an investigation into AMP, stating that there is “reason to believe that the organization may be soliciting contributions … without first having registered…. In addition, the Attorney General will investigate allegations that the organization may have used funds raised for impermissible purposes under state law, including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organizations.”
    • Little is known about donors to AJP, which reported $1.7 million in income and $1.2 million in expenses in 2021. Public records show that at least a small percentage is channeled through large donor-advised charities such as Network for Good, Fidelity Investments Charitable, and United Hands Relief.
    • In 2022, AMP received $1,000 from the AFR Foundation, a “private foundation located in Southfield, MI that primarily funds charity and education,” and run by Mostafa Afr. According to the Middle East Forum, “Almost 50 private Islamic grant-making foundations with Islamist ties, along with a scattering of radical charities, have specifically registered their offices to…Afr’s office in Southfield,” including the Muslim American Youth Association, which, according to the FBI, has “played pivotal roles in building [the Palestinian terrorist group] Hamas’s infrastructure in the United States.”
    • In 2001, the U.S. Treasury designated the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation (HLF) as a source for financing the Hamas terror organization. A number of HLF officials were employed by AMP and/or appointed as board members.2
  • WESPAC Foundation, a Westchester, New York-based organization, serves as the fiscal sponsor for National SJP.
    • In FY 2021-22, WESPAC’s total income and expenses were $1.1 million.
    • WESPAC’s sources of income are mostly unknown. Public records reveal a handful of foundational donors, including from large donor-advised charities that further obscure the original donors (see table below).
    • WESPAC Foundation also serves as fiscal sponsor for U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Adalah-NY, and the Palestinian Youth Movement USA.
  • In 2022, the National SJP received $20,000 from the Sparkplug Foundation (New York) for two projects related to creating a “Students for Justice in Palestine National Network” and to “restructure the student movement to include a representative decision-making body, regional and national communication networks, and shared resources, unifying SJPs across North America for the first time.”
  • SJP has received funding from the Cultures of Resistance Network and the Peace Development Fund. It is unclear how much they have received.

Publicly Available Information on Donations to WESPAC

Organization202020212022Notes
Elias Foundation$3,500$55,000The Elias Foundation aims to “support progressive organizations whose advocacy and activism is designed to achieve systemic social, political and economic change.”
Common Counsel Foundation$25,000Provides grants to “build bridges between grassroots social and environmental justice organizations throughout the United States.”
Kiblawi Foundation$500“US registered private family charitable fund that primarily supports educational and cultural programs for Palestinian Youth in the refugee camps of Lebanon and Palestine” and is managed by Nada Kiblawi, a trustee of the Institute for Palestine Studies.
Grassroots International$10,000Mission is to “connect with global movements that defend land, territory, water, food, seeds, and the Earth, to address the root causes of injustice and oppression, and build alternative systems that nurture human rights, ecological justice, and collective liberation.” Grassroots International provides funding to a number of NGOs with ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Morgan Stanley Global Impact$50,000Donor advised fund.
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund$17,000Donor advised fund.
Groundswell Fund$20,000“Strengthens U.S. movements for reproductive and social justice by resourcing intersectional grassroots organizing and centering the leadership of women of color – particularly those who are Black, Indigenous, and transgender.”
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors$80,000$90,000Donor advised fund.
Bafrayung Fund$15,000$15,000The Bafrayung Fund is a private foundation in New York.
Community for Greater Atlanta$15,000“Partner[s] with community stakeholders, donors and nonprofits to create solutions that help Atlanta thrive.”