RELEASE: Gottheimer Calls for Investigation into Conference Supporting Hamas Terrorists and the Destruction of Israel

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, April 6, 2025, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice urging an investigation into whether the Palestinian American Community Center (PACC) is providing material support for terrorists who promote antisemitic hate and violence. Wisam Rafeedie, a known terrorist associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which has been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) since 1997, is speaking today via Zoom at the PACC Conference in Clifton, NJ.

The PACC receives financial support from American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which is not only under investigation by the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, but is also the subject of an investigation led by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) for assisting other terrorist organizations, including Hamas.

“I write to you requesting the Department of Justice open an investigation into the Palestinian American Community Center’s (PACC) 7th Annual Conference, being held in Clifton, NJ, today, which features as a scheduled guest, Wisam Rafeedie. Rafeedie is a known associate of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which has been designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since October 8, 1997,” wrote U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) in a letter to the Department of Justice today. “Given the facts outlined here, concerns I have heard raised from my constituents, and as a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I respectfully request that the Department of Justice’s District of New Jersey investigate PACC for possible violations of United States law.”

Rafeedie’s Long History of Supporting Terrorism and Engaging in Antisemitic Rhetoric: 

•  Rafeedie ran a clandestine publishing house for the PFLP during the 1980s.
• During Rafeedie’s last appearance at the event on May 26, 2024, Rafeedie repeatedly defended Hamas’ actions on October 7, and downplayed several documented atrocities, commenting that “Zionists lie like they breathe.”
  • Following cheers from the audience, Rafeedie stated support of PFLP’s goals, noting, “There is no longer a place for the two-state solution for any Palestinian. The only solution is one democratic Palestinian state on all Palestinian land, which will end the Zionist project in Palestine.”
• In 2021, Rafeedie participated in a Zoom event as part of the “Ghassan Kanafani Symposium,” in reference to the former PFLP leader.
  • The event featured senior PFLP officials, including Nidal Abdel Aal, who was the head of PFLP’s Lebanon Branch, which the IDF eliminated for his role in planning multiple terror attacks. 
  • The same 2021 event featured Maher Harb, a PFLP leader from Nablus, who Israeli officials detained for two years for supporting terrorist activity against Israel. 

Full text of the letter sent can be found here.

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