American Muslims for Palestine: structure, leadership and contested claims

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) says it formed in 2006 and conducts education, advocacy and organizing concerning Palestinian rights. Understanding its funding requires distinguishing the public-facing name, its fiscal sponsor and its affiliated lobbying organization. [1]

Reviewed 17 October 2026. Financial figures and professional roles retain the dates stated in their sources.

Follow the legal entities

AMP identifies AJP Educational Foundation as its fiscal sponsor, a charity under section 501(c)(3) of the United States tax code. Its separate affiliate, Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action), is described as a section 501(c)(4) organization established in 2021. Similar names and shared leadership are reasons to examine transactions carefully; they do not make the entities interchangeable. The tax classification also does not establish how any particular dollar was spent. [1]

AMP’s own account says its donations come from within the United States. Treat that as the organization’s representation. A donor list assembled from public foundation grants is necessarily incomplete, and independently verifying a claimed award requires the donor’s actual record.

Who holds which role?

Its official team page identifies Osama Abu Irshaid as executive director of AMP and AJP Action, Hatem Bazian as AMP national board chairman, and Taher Herzallah as responsible for outreach and grassroots organizing. The page describes Herzallah’s work with campus groups, including assistance obtaining grants, materials and speakers. These are documented organizational relationships, not evidence that those people directed every action by participants at associated events. [2]

Read legal developments in sequence

Virginia’s attorney general announced a civil-contempt finding on September 29, 2025, concerning compliance with an investigative demand. That announcement described an investigation into charitable-solicitation compliance and alleged impermissible uses of funds. It was not a judgment establishing terrorism financing. [3]

On September 29, 2026, AMP stated that related Virginia litigation and investigative demands had been dismissed following agreement to vacatur. This is a later account from a party to the dispute. The underlying orders should be obtained to establish exactly which demands and rulings were affected. Reporting only the 2025 announcement would omit a material subsequent development; treating AMP’s account as an independent court finding would also overstate the record. [4]

Accountability requires evidence of the alleged act, the responsible entity and the applicable legal decision. Palestinian-rights advocacy, religious affiliation and presence in a coalition cannot substitute for that evidence. Specific injuries or unlawful conduct still warrant specific investigation.