The American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is an American

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization founded in 2006. AMP holds conferences and training sessions for coalition building and legislative advocacy, such as hosting annual Palestine Advocacy Days, that provide workshop panels and encourage attendees to meet with American

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

members. AMP works with

Jewish Voice for Peace Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP; קול יהודי לשלום ''Kol Yehudi la-Shalom'') is a left-wing Jewish activist organization in the United States that supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel. Founding, staff ...

and IfNotNow to bolster Palestine solidarity campaigns.

History

AMP was founded in 2006 by Palestinian-American UC Berkeley professor Hatem Bazian, who is also the co-founder of

Students for Justice in Palestine Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is a pro-Palestinian college student activism organization in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. It has campaigned for boycott and divestment against corporations that deal with Israel and organize ...

. The organization opened its first office in 2009 in Palos Heights,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Policy positions

AMP supports the

BDS movement Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations u ...

's call for a boycott of Israel in order to put pressure on the country to comply with

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

. The group hopes that a boycott will put an end to the

Israeli occupation of the West Bank The Israeli occupation of the West Bank began on 7 June 1967, when Israeli forces captured and occupied the territory (including East Jerusalem), then occupied by Jordan, during the Six-Day War, and continues to the present day. The status o ...

, grant full equality to Arab Israelis and promote the right of return for the

Palestinian refugees Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War (1967 Palestinian exodu ...

. AMP does not take a position on

one-state solution The one-state solution, sometimes also called a bi-national state, is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, according to which one state must be established between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean. Proponen ...

two-state solution The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiation ...

as a resolution to the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

Campaigns

AMP co-signed a letter with

(JVP) in 2012 calling on the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

system to protect student civil liberties from efforts to censor Palestine-related activism. AMP has organized several billboard and bus advertisement campaigns in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, to end U.S. foreign aid to Israel. During the

2014 Gaza war The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge ( he, מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, translit=Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan, ), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that h ...

, in which over 2,000 Palestinians were killed, it organized protests against Israel's conduct. In 2015, it ran a bus advertisement campaign in advance of

Israeli Prime Minister The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exe ...

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

's speech to a

joint session of Congress A joint session of the United States Congress is a gathering of members of the two chambers of the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Joint sessions can be held on a ...

calling on members of Congress to boycott the speech. In December 2016, AMP hosted an event endorsed by 15 other

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n advocacy and relief organizations in support of the Syrian resistance at

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

in the

Battle of Aleppo A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

by encouraging attendees to lobby Congress. Later that month, AMP hosted a protest with

Council on American–Islamic Relations The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. It is headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with regional offices nationwide. Through civil rights actions, media relations, civic enga ...

and JVP calling on Illinois Governor

Bruce Rauner Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. Prior to his election, he was the chairman of R8 Capital Partners and chai ...

to reverse the moratorium on resettling Syrian refugees. In 2017, JVP, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, the social justice movement

Code Pink Code Pink: Women for Peace (often stylized as CODEPINK) is a left-wing internationally active non-governmental organization that describes itself as a "grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S.-funded wars and occupations, ...

, and AMP organized a letter campaign signed by 32 Democratic

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

urging

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne Tillerson (born March 23, 1952) is an American engineer and energy executive who served as the 69th U.S. secretary of state from February 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, under President Donald Trump. Prior to joining the Trump administ ...

to assist Palestinian protester

Issa Amro Issa Amro (Arabic: عيسى عمرو; April 13, 1980) is a Palestinian activist based in Hebron, West Bank. He is the co-founder and former coordinator (2007-2018) of the grassroots group Youth Against Settlements. Amro advocates the use nonvio ...

, who was facing criminal chargers in Israel. During the

2017 Temple Mount crisis The 2017 Temple Mount crisis was a period of violent tensions related to the Temple Mount, which began on 14 July 2017, after a 2017 Temple Mount shooting, shooting incident in the complex in which Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli police of ...

, AMP organized a protest called " Aqsa Under Attack" in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. During the

2018 Gaza border protests Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, AMP's local chapter in New Jersey protested outside the offices of Senators

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. sena ...

and

Bob Menendez Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2006. Gale Biography In Context. A member of the Democratic Party, he was firs ...

, calling them to instigate an investigation on Israel using the

Leahy Law The Leahy Laws or Leahy amendments are U.S. human rights laws that prohibit the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to foreign security force units that violate human rights with impunity. It is na ...

. During the 2021 Israel-Palestine conflict, AMP, along with other Muslim advocacy groups, called for a boycott of President Biden's Eid celebration at the White House due to his support of Israel during the conflict.

Reactions

The

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

(ADL) has criticized the AMP for allegedly promoting extreme anti-Israel views and allegedly providing a platform for

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

under the guise of educating Americans. In 2013, ADL released a report in which it described AMP as one of the most "influential and active anti-Israel groups" The AMP has said that pro-Israel groups like the ADL deliberately use "false anti-Semitism charges" as a way to limit the free speech, silence political activism, and intimidate vocal pro-Palestinian activists. Middle East historian Asaf Romirowsky says that it "grew out of the network of Muslim Brotherhood organizations in America" and having an Islamist view on the

. According to AMP director Kristin Szremski the organization "typically ignores these smear campaigns because they're aimed, in part, to detract us from our work." A national board member of AMP was prevented entry to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

as part of an interfaith delegation in 2017. In 2018, Israel officially barred members of AMP from entering Israel due to its support of the BDS movement that calls for a global boycott of Israel. According to

Jonathan Schanzer Jonathan Schanzer is an American author and senior vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He oversees the work of the organization's experts and scholars. Professional overview Schanzer was a Research Fellow at ...

of the

Foundation for Defense of Democracies The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit think tank and registered lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C., United States. The group's political leanings have been described as hawkish and neoconservative ...

, several of AMP's key personnel have previously worked for the

Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development The Holy Land Foundation (HLF) was the largest Islamic charity in the United States. Headquartered in Richardson, Texas, and run by Palestinian-Americans, it was originally known as Occupied Land Fund. The organization's mission was to "find a ...

KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, "KindHearts", was a non-governmental organization operating out of Toledo, Ohio. The organization's stated goal was to provide "humanitarian aid without regard to religious or political affilia ...

or the Islamic Association for Palestine, all of which have had legal difficulties resulting from their involvement with

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.ampalestine.org/
Hatem Bazian

Creeping Normalcy a.k.a Faithwashing
Advocacy groups in the United States Civil liberties advocacy groups in the United States Civil rights movement Islamic organizations based in the United States Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Nonpartisan organizations in the United States Nonprofit institutes based in the United States Palestine-related articles by quality Palestinian solidarity movement