The U.S. counterterrorism framework impedes the work of legitimate nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in two ways: first, it prohibits anyone from engaging in a wide range of broadly defined activities that involve listed terrorist organizations, regardless of the purpose or intent behind such engagement. Violating “material support” laws can result in criminal prosecution, extensive jail time, and fines.
Second, it allows the government to list U.S. charities as supporters of designated terrorist organizations and thereby seize their assets, including their donations, without the benefit of basic due process rights such as notification or adequate opportunity to challenge the listing.
Read more about this issue in our Background section.
Featured Resources
New Charity & Security Network Report Raises Alarm on Use of Lawfare to Attack Nonprofits Protecting Human Rights in Israel and Palestine
Washington, D.C., September 28, 2021 — Today, the Charity & Security Network released a report—The Alarming Rise of Lawfare to Suppress Civil Society: The Case of Palestine and Israel—detailing a coordinated effort by politically motivated
The Alarming Rise of Lawfare to Suppress Civil Society: The Case of Palestine and Israel
On September 28, 2021, the Charity & Security Network published a new report, The Alarming Rise of Lawfare to Suppress Civil Society: The Case of Palestine and Israel. The report details coordinated efforts by politically
Panel Discussion: 20 Years Later – Civil Society and the Global War on Terror
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXrvmEDhMg0 Description: In the twenty years since the 9/11 attacks, the expansive array of policies adopted in the name of waging a Global War on Terror have come with dire consequences for civil society actors
Preventing Peace: How “Material Support” Laws Undermine Peacebuilding
A joint Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) and Charity & Security Network (C&SN) report, Preventing Peace: How "Material Support" Laws Undermine Peacebuilding, offers analysis and examples of the adverse impacts of “material support” laws on peacebuilding
House Hearing on Sanctions in Africa: Witnesses Cite Need for Changes
May 26, 2021 The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Global Human Rights held a hearing May 25, 2021 to hear from experts, including Bridget Moix of Peace Direct and Noah Gottschalk
C&SN Op-Ed: The Invisible Impact of Violence – InkStick
May 19, 2021 C&SN Director Paul Carroll writes for InkStick on the impact of Israel’s assault on Gaza on civil society programs, and on the ways in which these impacts are, in effect, an extension