Bill designates websites that support Palestine as supporters of terrorism

Under a bill that just passed the House of Representatives, too many news websites could lose their nonprofit status for publishing journalism that supports Palestine or any Palestinian.

All that would be required would be for the next finance minister to unilaterally designate these pages as a "terrorist supporting organization".

Under the bill, which critics describe as a "death sentence" for nonprofits, targeted organizations would have little substantive recourse when labeled terrorist supporters, and no evidence of wrongdoing would be required before action is taken.

Supporters of the bill, which is misleadingly titled “End Terrorist Financing and Tax Sanctions on American Hostages,” or Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, claim it is necessary to prevent US-based nonprofits from supporting terrorist groups like Hamas.

However, it is already illegal for nonprofits or anyone else in the US to provide material support to terrorist groups, and the federal government has the means to enforce the laws, through prosecutions and penalties. The upcoming bill will bypass due process.

The bill now moves to the Senate. It remains to be seen whether Democratic leaders — many of whom supported the provision before the November election — will rally in a united front against the bill. There is, of course, the possibility of a new Senate passing it in January, in time for President Trump to sign it.