Key Takeaways:
- PFLP front group Masar Badil was sanctioned by the US for being part of the same political project as another terrorist shell group, Samidoun.
- Masar Badil still maintains a network of organizations in the US operating under different names.
- The US government will need to address the US-based branches of Samidoun and Masar Badil if it wants its campaign against the PFLP subsidiaries to be successful.
The Masar Badil Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path, a branch of the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was sanctioned on Wednesday by the US Treasury for terrorism ties, but he organization still maintains a web of smaller groups within the United States.
The US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Masar Badil and executive committee members Zaid Abdulnasser and Rawa Alsagheer due to the organization’s inextricable links with Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. Samidoun was jointly sanctioned by Canada and the US in October 2024 for being “owned, controlled, or directed” by the Foreign Terrorist Organization PFLP.
“The organizations share fundraising mechanisms as well as senior leaders and members of their respective Executive Committees,” read the US Treasury statement.
Masar Badil and Samidoun Overlapping Leadership
In addition to being executives of Masar Badil, Abdulnasser was the Samidoun Germany coordinator and Alsagheer the Samidoun Brazil coordinator. They joined other Samidoun and Masar Badil officers already being sanctioned by OFAC. Samidoun Europe and Masar Badil executive Mohammad Khatib and Samidoun Madrid coordinator, Masar Badil executive, and Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization co-founder Jaldia Abubakra had been sanctioned on May 19. It had been noted in the May Treasury press release that Abubakra had “played a key role in establishing a Samidoun partner organization in 2021,” perhaps already hinting then that OFAC was reviewing Masar Badil.
Khatib had in the past been described by Palestinian news outlets as a PFLP operative and spokesman. The PFLP and Palestinian outlets similarly described a chief officer of the Samidoun network, Khaled Barakat, as a leader of the Marxist-Leninist terrorist group. Barakat once publicly represented Samidoun as its leader in statements and petitions, but since the founding of Masar Badil was presented only as that newer group’s head, creating some degree of ambiguity about the relationship between the two groups. His wife, Charlotte Kates, serves as the Samidoun international coordinator. According to a July 19 Institute for the Critical Study of the Society lecture, Kates is also a co-founder of Samidoun and deputy secretary-general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. The Canadian citizen reportedly relocated to Lebanon — She faced legal challenges in the wake of her calls of “long live October 7” and support for terrorism in April 2024.
Unlike other major Samidoun network officers, Kates is not sanctioned. Masar Badil is also not the limit of the Samidoun network, but rather the handle for an umbrella of organizations that continue to operate in North America.
In a deleted July Instagram post in preparation for a November conference in Toronto, the organization confirmed that Tariq El-Tahrir Youth and Student Network, Nidal, Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return at the University of Washington (SUPER UW), Al-Ahrar Palestinian Prisoner Support, and Basel Al Araj Committee were part of Masar Badil North America.
Tariq El-Tahrir
Masar Badil’s youth wing, Tariq El-Tahrir, operates in both the US and in Canada. In May 2025, the youth wing said that it had members in both countries. Founded in October 2024, the organization is not well known but is a ubiquitous connection among Samidoun network organizations. Tariq El-Tahrir sent representatives to New York City to sign a memorial book for Iranian casualties from the 12-day war. A petition proclaiming alleged Capital Jewish Museum shooter Elias Rodriguez’s actions “legitimate” and calling for his release was published by the group just a few days after two Israeli embassy staff were murdered. Signatories included Nidal Seattle, Masar Badil, Al-Ahrar, Kates, Samidoun, Canada Palestine Association (CPA), and SUPER UW.
Nidal
The youth group also sent delegates to a July 2025 visit to the Iranian diplomatic delegation, joined by Nidal Seattle. Washington state is a major hub for Samidoun network activity. Nidal Seattle’s leader is Masar Badil executive Bissan Barghouti. Barghouti used to lead Samidoun Seattle, which became defunct after the designation of Samidoun. Nidal Seattle co-organized the April Palestinian Cultural Resistance Festival alongside SUPER UW and Seattle University Students for Justice in Palestine. The event featured a video call speech from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist Raed Abduljalil, who was released as part of a ransom for hostages held in Gaza, cutting short his life sentence in prison for involvement in terrorist attacks that resulted in deaths and injuries. There is also a New York City Nidal chapter which has seen limited activity.
“There is no other time; the time is now,” Barghouti said last August according to Masar Badil. “As the US empire and its Western allies are falling, we must continue to reclaim our rightful place in the diaspora and escalate against our enemies.”
SUPER UW
SUPER UW, which used to have Masar Badil in its Instagram biography, still lists Tariq El-Tahrir as an affiliate. According to a July Instagram post, SUPER UW is a “member of the Tariq El-Tahrir” movement and “mobilizes and organizes University of Washington students and youth in the surrounding area.” Local media reported at the time of the 2023 launch of Samidoun Seattle that many of the founding activists were already affiliated with SUPER UW. SUPER UW drew attention in April after it called for activists to materially support “the Lebanese resistance” in a social media post promoting a fundraiser
Pacific North West Samidoun groups also have recently been heavily promoting the Fedayeen Football League, which has unclear connections to the network. The soccer league advertises with violent imagery, such as missiles falling over Tel Aviv and pictures of armed gunmen.
Basel Al Araj Committee
One of the regional organizations promoting the soccer league was the Basel Al Araj Committee, named for a Palestinian terrorist. Nominally presented as a subcommittee of CPA devoted to the “Palestinian prisoner’s role in revolutionary struggle,” the Vancouver-based organization regularly featured former Samidoun corporate director Dave Diewert at its events. Once Kates’ home, Vancouver was a seat of Samidoun operation, but since its designation the Committee has risen in its stead. The Committee’s connections to Samidoun were only circumstantial and through associations until Masar Badil proclaimed it a part of the network in July.
Al-Ahrar
Another organization that had suspected Samidoun ties was Al-Ahrar. The group was confirmed to be part of the network in July, but The Jerusalem Post revealed connections in May. A now-deleted Freedom Flotilla Coalition profile on Al Ahrar NY/NJ member Amrou Ibrahim detailed that he was a founding member of Samidoun NY/NJ. Al-Ahrar also maintains a more active Toronto chapter, which regularly tables at far-left events. On September 5, Al-Ahrar is set to table at the People’s Fair. Pamphlets at a July event proclaimed Canada “fake” and in the name of Elias Rodriguez called to “escalate for Gaza” and “Bring the war home.”
Secretary Bessent’s Objectives
In a Wednesday statement, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that “Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear.”
“Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated,” he continued.
However in its own response to the sanctions, Masar Badil rejected Washington’s delegitimization of its activities, and postured towards fighting the ban.
“We call on Palestinian, Arab and international forces, youth and student movements, trade unions, and all anti-colonial and anti-racist forces to reject the policy of criminalizing solidarity with Palestine and to confront attempts to turn political positions and grassroots activism into crimes,” Masar Badil said in a statement. “We also call on solidarity movements in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America and throughout the world to raise their voices against this policy and to affirm that Palestine is not a cause that can be banned by an administrative decree.”
While Masar Badil has been sanctioned, if its subsidiary organizations continue to act under different names, the legal measures will not achieve Secretary Bessent’s desired effect.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
