The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is concerned that more than $5,000 fundraised by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) for Viva Palestina -- a pro-Palestine non-profit group -- has been channeled to terrorist group Hamas.
The ADL reflected this in a letter sent to Penn State President Graham Spanier in May. However, members of SJP say they are not worried about the ADL's accusations.
SJP member Shadi Ghrayeb said the funds were "absolutely not" intended for terrorists but for an established non-profit organization, adding that SJP has "good intentions."
"The real motives of the ADL are to silence anyone who questions Israel's policies, not to fight bigotry and anti-Semitism," Ghrayeb (graduate-engineering) said. "The accusations are ludicrous."
The ADL sent a related letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the U.S. Department of the Treasury in May, alerting them of concerns that Viva Palestina U.S. could be aiding the terrorist group Hamas.
"I hope they will uncover facts and determine if funds have been channeled through Viva Palestina and whether the money raised at schools has been channeled to Hamas," said Barry Morrison, regional director of the ADL for Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware.
He received word from the ADL's national office Thursday that the U.S. Department of Justice would look into the matter, but the ADL has not yet heard the conclusion of the investigation, he said.
"Hopefully, it is everyone's goal to in no way condone terrorism," Morrison said.
The Department of Justice did not return a call for comment by press time Monday.
When British Parliament member George Galloway spoke on campus last spring, SJP fundraised more than $5,000 for Viva Palestina, Ghrayeb said, adding that the fundraising was a "huge effort" organized over a six-month time frame.
"It was mostly for human aid: blankets, diapers, stretchers, Band-Aids and medicine," he said.
These basic necessities were shipped to Palestinians on a convoy that left from Cairo, Egypt on July 4, 2009.
"We got a Penn State flag, signed it and sent it for the convoy," Ghrayeb said.
However, the ADL has concerns this money was not used as SJP believes.
A representative from Viva Palestina was unavailable by press time Monday.
Morrison said the ADL doesn't question SJP's views or motives but contends that it's irresponsible to support Viva Palestina and Galloway.
"This has nothing to do with whether we do or don't agree with SJP's views," Morrison said. "We are not scrutinizing SJP for anything they are doing -- we are concerned with Galloway."
Morrison said this is because Galloway has met with Hamas leaders and shows sympathy to their efforts.
Though Penn State received the ADL letter in May, Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims waited until September to contact SJP members, as the spring semester had ended, Morrison said.
"The SJP responded by reminding me that George Galloway and Viva Palestina have spoken at many universities and that they are permitted by the U.S. government to travel the country conducting their operations," Sims wrote in an e-mail Thursday.
But the ADL has contacted no other university to express concern about student involvement, Morrison said. No fundraising accompanied the British politician's speeches elsewhere, he said.
Sims wrote in the e-mail that SJP is legally independent from the university, as are most student groups, adding that as "a great research university," Penn State is "committed to freedom of thought and expression."
"Open discourse about the range of public issues is a central part of the life we offer to our students [...]," Sims wrote. "Speakers, such as Mr. Galloway, may be sponsored by student organizations without the imprimatur or endorsement of the University."
"That circumstance was certainly the case in this instance," he added.
