RICHMOND, Va. (Legal Newsline) - Virginia's attorney general is looking into whether a pro-Palestine charity is using funds to provide support to terrorist organizations.
The group in question is American Muslims for Palestine, also called AJP Educational Foundation, which is headquartered in Falls Church. Attorney General Jason Miyares announced his probe on Oct. 31.
Miyares says the group is possibly soliciting contributions in Virginia without having registered with the proper state agency and supporting terrorism by Hamas.
Miyares cites a lawsuit brought by the parents of David Boim that blames American Muslims for Palestine for his death at the hands of Hamas. Boim's parents have already won a $156 million judgment against other pro-Palestine groups for supporting Hamas.
Boim was shot and killed in 1996 by Hamas while studying abroad in Israel. Stanley and Joyce Boim's lawsuit against American Muslims for Palestine claims it is an alter ego of the groups they already sued, noting an overlap in leadership among it and the American Muslim Society and its alter ego the Islamic Association for Palestine, as well as with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.
The suit against American Muslims for Palestine alleges they used the other group's assets "to raise money, spread the organization's message, advance the organization's pro-Hamas/anti-Israel political objectives, provide a fundraising platform for pro-Hamas intermediary organizations, and... provide indirect support for Hamas itself."
The case is being heard in Chicago federal court. Judge Gary Feinerman denied the defendants' motions to dismiss last year.