IPT Investigation Finds Hamas Support Drives Viva Palestina Caravans

By The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT)

It was as brash and defiant a move as he could make. British MP George Galloway told a crowd in Gaza (see video here) that “I, personally, am about to break the sanctions on the elected government of Palestine. By Allah, we carried a lot of cash here. You thought we were all fat. We are not fat. This is money that we have around our waists.”

With that, he hoisted a bag filled with cash and handed it to a Hamas minister.

Hamas is a designated terrorist organization in the U.S. and E.U., but Galloway’s Viva Palestina convoy makes a priority of legitimizing Hamas as “the elected government of Palestine.” The Investigative Project on Terrorism has found ample evidence that Viva Palestina's ultimate objective is political – with the elevation of Hamas at its core.

Viva Palestina officials repeatedly said just that. During that March event with Hamas officials, Galloway also said:

"This is not charity. This is politics. The government of Palestine is the best people to decide where this money is needed. We are giving this money now to the government of Palestine. And, if I could, I would give them 10 times, 100 times more."

That sentiment was echoed on the eve of the sendoff of the Viva Palestina USA convoy which left in July. During a rally in Brooklyn, speaker Lamis Deek told the crowd:

"It's not about charity... but in every way that we cut it, it is political."

She added:

"[I]n choosing Hamas, what they chose was one united Palestinian state on all of the 1948 territories from the north to the very south. That is what Palestinians chose. And in supporting Palestinian choice we are saying we support their right to liberation from violent colonialism."

The IPT's findings about Viva Palestina, and its American offshoot Viva Palestina USA, can be read in a thorough report here.
Among those findings:

Viva Palestina USA is not incorporated anywhere. It uses an existing charity, the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizations/Pastors for Peace (IFCO) to collect donations.

During fundraisers and rallies, Viva Palestina members often invoke Hamas. In addition, a Hamas website promoted a pending trip by "European political figures" that quoted a Viva Palestina organizer.

Viva Palestina USA has struck alliances with a number of extremist groups, including La Voz de Aztlan, an organization that advocates the revolutionary overthrow of U.S. territory that it deems to have been stolen from Mexico; the Al-Awda, Palestine Right of Return Coalition, and Code Pink.

Read more about the investigation here. See the full report here. And read how a New York City Council member was told his participation in the July convoy could serve “a City purpose” here.