American Muslims for Palestine facts for kids

The American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is a group in the United States that works to support the rights of Palestinians. It was started in 2006.

AMP holds meetings and training events to help people work together. They also teach people how to talk to members of the U.S. Congress about their ideas. For example, they host annual Palestine Advocacy Days. At these events, people learn and then meet with their Congress members. AMP also works with groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow to help with campaigns that support Palestine.

How AMP Started

AMP was founded in 2006 by Hatem Bazian. He is a professor from University of California, Berkeley and is Palestinian-American. He also helped start a group called Students for Justice in Palestine. AMP opened its first office in 2009 in Palos Heights, Illinois.

What AMP Believes In

AMP supports the BDS movement. This movement asks people to boycott Israel. A boycott means not buying products or services from a country. AMP hopes this will encourage Israel to follow international law and protect human rights.

The group wants the boycott to help end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. They also want Arab Israelis to have full equality. And they support the right of return for Palestinian refugees. AMP does not pick a side on whether there should be one country or two countries to solve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

What AMP Does

AMP has worked on several important campaigns:

• In 2012, AMP and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) asked the University of California to protect students. They wanted to make sure students could speak freely about Palestine.
• AMP has put up billboards and bus ads in New York City and Washington, D.C.. These ads asked the U.S. to stop giving financial aid to Israel.
• During the 2014 conflict in Gaza, where many Palestinians were killed, AMP organized protests. These protests were against Israel's actions.
• In 2015, AMP ran a bus ad campaign before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech to Congress. The ads asked Congress members not to attend the speech.
• In December 2016, AMP held an event to support the Syrian resistance in Aleppo. They encouraged people to talk to Congress about the issue.
• Later that month, AMP protested with other groups. They asked the Governor of Illinois to allow Syrian refugees to settle in the state.
• In 2017, AMP and other groups helped organize a letter campaign. Thirty-two Democratic Congress members signed the letter. It asked the U.S. Secretary of State to help a Palestinian protester named Issa Amro.
• During the 2017 Temple Mount crisis, AMP protested in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. They called their protest "Aqsa Under Attack."
• During the 2018 Gaza border protests, AMP's New Jersey group protested outside senators' offices. They asked for an investigation into Israel's actions.
• In 2021, during a conflict between Israel and Palestine, AMP and other Muslim groups called for a boycott. They asked people not to attend President Biden's Eid celebration. This was because of his support for Israel during the conflict.

How People See AMP

Some groups have different views on AMP's work.

• The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has criticized AMP. They say AMP promotes strong anti-Israel views. They also claim AMP allows ideas that are unfair to Jewish people. In 2013, the ADL said AMP was a very active anti-Israel group. AMP says these criticisms are unfair. They believe these claims try to limit free speech and stop their activism.
• Historian Asaf Romirowsky says AMP grew from a network of certain Muslim organizations. He believes AMP has a specific religious political view of the conflict.
• Kristin Szremski, an AMP director, said the group usually ignores these criticisms. She explained that they are meant to distract AMP from its work.
• In 2017, Israel stopped an AMP board member from entering the country. In 2018, Israel officially banned AMP members from entering. This was because AMP supports the BDS movement.