Republican Senators Press for IRS to Investigate Tax Status of Pro-Palestine Protest Organizers

Last updated on August 7th, 2024 at 04:29 pm

A group of 16 Republican U.S. Senators is pressuring the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to open an investigation into whether registered non-profits should lose their tax-exempt status over their ties with protests in opposition to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

The 16 Republican Senators sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel on Thursday, May 9, calling on him to investigate whether National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), the Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation (AJP), the Tides Foundation, the Westchester Peace Action Committee Foundation (WESPAC Foundation), and other NSJP affiliates “have engaged in conduct warranting revocation of their tax-exempt statuses” with their activism.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) organized the letter, which was signed by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Thom Thillis (R-NC), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), James Risch (R-ID), John Thune (R-SD), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mitt Romney (R-UT), and Katie Britt (R-AL).

Their premise for launching an IRS investigation stems from a lawsuit pro-Israel activists filed in a Virginia federal court in October against NSJP and AJP. That lawsuit argues AJP serves as a “propaganda division in the United States” for Hamas, which the U.S. has designated a foreign terrorist organization.

That October lawsuit further argues that NSJP’s memo organizing a “national day of resistance on college campuses” constitutes “real” support for Hamas because it calls for resistance to Israel and states: “Resistance comes in all forms— armed struggle, general strikes, and popular demonstrations. All of it is legitimate, and all of it is necessary.”

The Republican senators write that the basis for this lawsuit “provides ample grounds” for Werfel to also initiate IRS investigations into the tax-exempt status of the defendant organizations named in the lawsuit.

The Republican senators note Republican Virginia State Attorney General Jason Miyares has already launched an investigation into whether these pro-Palestine activists raised funds for a prohibited purpose, namely “support to terrorist organizations.”

The Senators further alleged activists at Columbia University have chanted “We are Hamas” and chanted calls for Hamas militants to “make us proud, kill another soldier now.”

“In light of this abhorrent support for an FTO, we call on you to initiate an investigation to determine whether financial supporters of NSJP, including but not limited to AJP, the WESPAC Foundation, and the Tides Foundation, have engaged in conduct warranting their tax-exempt status to be stripped,” their letter to Werfel reads.

The Republican senators said they look forward to Werfel’s response “as soon as possible, but no later than May 23.”