Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., demanded in a recent interview with Fox News Digital that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Biden administration take action to ensure that an American nonprofit behind The Palestine Chronicle no longer receives generous tax benefits after it was revealed that one of its Gaza-based writers sheltered several Israeli hostages in his home after the Oct. 7 attack.
Abdullah Aljamal is described as a “contributor” to The Palestine Chronicle website, and has also served as a spokesman for the Hamas-run labor ministry in Gaza. Captured Israeli hostages According to the Israel Defense Forces, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andre Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, are being held captive at their family home in Nuseirat, Gaza.
The website shows that Aljamal wrote regularly for the Chronicle during the eight months from June 6 until the October 7 attack on southern Israel.
The IDF released its findings earlier this month about Aljamal, who was also described on Al-Jazeera’s website as a “Gaza-based reporter and photojournalist.” Raids are being conducted for rescue He killed three Israeli hostages, and rescued a fourth hostage, 26-year-old Noa Arghamani, from locked rooms guarded by Hamas militants in the Nuseirat buildings. Dozens of Palestinians reportedly died in the operation to rescue the hostages hiding in the civilian sector, although the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilian and militant casualties. One Israeli commando was also killed.
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Rep. Mike Lawler speaks to reporters after a House Republican Conference meeting at the US Capitol on June 4, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Lawler, who sits on the House Financial Services and Foreign Affairs committees, is one of the lawmakers demanding that the People’s Media Project, the US nonprofit that oversees The Palestine Chronicle, be stripped of its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status as a result of the findings on Aljamal.
The congressman told Fox News Digital that he and his colleagues have been concerned from the beginning about nonprofit organizations aiding and abetting terrorist activities, noting that photojournalists “rushed to the scene” shortly after the Oct. 7 attack and that pro-Hamas “propaganda” was spread online by Hamas affiliates in Gaza “to try to spread dissension and turn the world against Israel as they seek to defend themselves and get the hostages released.”
“Obviously, that’s troubling, but to find out that a journalist was involved, quote unquote, in taking hostages is very troubling. And that’s why my colleagues and I have called for the 501(c)(3) status to be revoked, and to make sure that we, of course, the United States, the government and the American taxpayers are not in any way benefiting entities or organizations that are associated with terrorism,” Lawler said.
The congressman called on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Justice to investigate further.
“When there’s propaganda by Hamas or Hamas allies to say, ‘Oh, no, we had nothing to do with this,’ then, whose house did they find these hostages in? I mean, it’s not rocket science,” Lawler said Thursday. “It’s very easily solvable. And I think that’s exactly the point. From my perspective, you know, the administration needs to take action here and direct its agencies, the IRS and the Justice Department, to investigate.”
“At a minimum, obviously the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status should be revoked. But more importantly, Department of Justice“The IRS and other relevant agencies should investigate and find out what the leadership of this entity knew and what they knew and when they knew it and what actions they took,” Lawler said. “Because obviously, they must be either completely unaware of what’s going on within their organization or complicit in it. And either way, it’s troubling and disturbing and needs to be fixed in some way.”
A billboard depicting four Israeli hostages rescued by the Israeli army will be displayed in Tel Aviv on June 8, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
In a June 10 letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., wrote to refer the People’s Media Project for revocation of its tax-exempt status. The committee has been conducting a broad investigation of tax-exempt groups for possible ties to terrorist activities since Oct. 7.
“This significant development demonstrates that The Palestine Chronicle, which later issued a statement calling Aljamal ‘one of its contributors’ in Gaza, is at the very least involved in supporting Hamas, and at the very worst is a full-fledged funder of terrorism in the Middle East,” the letter states. “This revelation, along with the fact that The Palestine Chronicle has previously published articles calling Hamas ‘resistance fighters’ and falsely accusing Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing,’ raises questions about what the People Media Project knew about its operations in the Gaza Strip, whether it ever conducted any due diligence in hiring Aljamal, whether its other employees are actively holding hostages in Gaza, and whether it employs other Hamas members.”
Lawler emphasized that the House in April passed a bill led by Rep. David Kustoff, R-Tennessee, that would strip tax-exempt status from any group that offers “tax-exempt status.”material support of resources” Refuses to take any action against Hamas or other terrorist groups, but so far Schumer has failed to take up the bill in the Senate.
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“We passed it in the House. It’s sitting on Chuck Schumer’s desk, it’s another bill that’s important to support our colleagues that Chuck Schumer is sitting on because of politics,” Lawler told Fox News Digital. “This is a bill that should pass easily. Overwhelmingly, there were only 11 votes against it, squad. Everybody else in Congress supported it. So, you know, there’s no reason why this bill shouldn’t pass in the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.”
Andre Kozlov, one of four Israeli hostages rescued in the IDF raid, arrives at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan. (Ilya Yefimovich/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
“Sadly, I think Senator Schumer is playing politics and he’s very concerned about the fractures that are happening in the base of the Democratic Party. And, you know, there’s a very pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party in states like Michigan and Minnesota and they’re concerned about what that’s going to do to their electoral chances in November,” Lawler said. “And so they’re trying not to bring bills to the floor that would divide the Democratic Party.”
Lawler also accused Schumer of delaying her bill, the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, which would mandate the Department of Education to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism for all cases of Title VI violations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Andrei Kozlov and Almog Meir, who were kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival on 7 October, were taken by helicopter to Sheba Medical Center. (Ilya Yefimovich/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
This Bill, Massive anti-Israel campus protestsThe bill was passed in the House by a majority of 320 to 91, but has not yet been passed in the Senate.
“He is the highest-ranking Jewish official in American history. He should be leading the campaign here against anti-Semitism, against institutions that want to attack the state of Israel simply because it’s a Jewish state,” Lawler said. “From my perspective, this is a failure of leadership. It’s a failure to stand up for Jewish people in this country. And to stand up for our allies. And, you know, he needs to take action. That’s the main thing.”
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“Bad behavior does not justify tax benefits. And, you know, it’s no different with these institutions of higher education. If you’re not going to comply with federal law, you’re not entitled to tax benefits, you’re not entitled to taxpayer money,” Lawler said. “Clearly, yes, we protect First Amendment rights as the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act does. It has constitutional protections written into the bill. It doesn’t prosecute or ban or prevent or criminalize. But it forces the Department of Education and these institutions of higher education to define what anti-Semitism is, and use that as the basis for a Title VI violation case.”
