Seattle Student Groups Under Federal Scrutiny Over "Lebanese Resistance" Fundraiser
DOJ investigation examines whether off-campus event violated material support laws — exposing a network of organizations linked to designated terrorist entities
A Seattle student group’s April 21 fundraiser calling to “materially support” the “Lebanese resistance” has triggered a Department of Justice civil rights investigation into the University of Washington, according to the Jerusalem Post’s Michael Starr.
The phrase “Lebanese resistance” is widely understood as a reference to Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B prohibits providing material support to such groups—and the DOJ is now investigating whether this event crossed that line.
The event was co-organized by Students United for Palestinian Equality & Return at UW (SUPER UW), a suspended student group with documented ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Nidal Seattle, an organization that investigative reporting identifies as a proxy for Samidoun — a network designated as a terrorist entity by the U.S. and Canada in October 2024 for serving as “a sham charity” fundraising for the PFLP.
The Event: What Was Said
The April 21 fundraiser, held off-campus at Cherry Street Village interfaith community center, screened The Last Sky, a documentary that its website describes as examining “the armed resistance against Israel” and why it is “so popular amongst large segments of Palestinian and Lebanese society.”
SUPER UW had promoted the event by stating it was a “crucial time to raise funds to materially support as well as deepen our understandings of the Lebanese resistance.” The promotional materials described the film as being “about the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and the Lebanese resistance to Zionism.”
According to a Nidal Instagram story cited by The Jerusalem Post, a Nidal Seattle activist at the event said: “I grew up in Palestine hearing about Lebanon, and how they’re fighting against the Israelis, and after the [Al-Aqsa] Flood [October 7 massacre] I saw that with my own eyes. I saw how these people [are] sharing the battles with us, as a Palestinian.”
The event included a merchandise and bake sale with a stated goal of raising $1,500 for what SUPER UW described as “mutual aid in Lebanon.”
Who is SUPER UW?
Students United for Palestinian Equality & Return at UW was suspended by the University of Washington in June 2024 and permanently had its registration revoked in May 2025. The revocation followed a building takeover in which approximately 30 masked activists occupied the UW interdisciplinary engineering building, barricaded entrances, and set fires in dumpsters outside. Twenty-one students were arrested, and the damage was estimated at around $1 million.
Despite its suspension, SUPER UW continues to operate off-campus and maintain active social media accounts. More significantly, SUPER UW is affiliated with a network of organizations tied to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which has been a designated foreign terrorist organization since 1997. In May 2022, SUPER UW signed a letter with over 60 other groups supporting Khaled Barakat, a leader of both Samidoun and the PFLP who has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury.
What Is Nidal Seattle? The Alleged Samidoun Proxy
Nidal Seattle — Arabic for “struggle” — describes itself as a “Palestinian liberation org building a culture of resistance.” But investigative reporting reveals that Nidal Seattle functions as a proxy for Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which was designated a terrorist entity by the United States and Canada in October 2024.
Samidoun was described by the U.S. government as “a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser” for the PFLP. Following Samidoun’s designation, the group appears to have shifted operations to proxy organizations, including Nidal Seattle.
The connective tissue between Nidal Seattle and the broader PFLP-linked network is Bissan Barghouti, who once worked as a communications specialist for the ACLU of Washington and served as a Samidoun leader. Barghouti is also affiliated with Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, which shares leadership overlap with Samidoun. Masar Badil has hosted webinars with Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and praised Iran’s Islamic regime.
In July 2025, representatives of Masar Badil, its youth wing Tariq El-Tahrir, and Nidal North America met with the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in New York to express support for Iran’s missile attacks on Israel. Barghouti represented Nidal at that meeting.
The connective tissue between Nidal Seattle and the broader PFLP-linked network is Bissan Barghouti, explains The Cholent. Bissan once worked as a communications specialist for the ACLU of Washington and served as a local Samidoun leader. Barghouti is also affiliated with Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, which shares leadership overlap with Samidoun. Masar Badil has hosted webinars with Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and praised Iran’s Islamic regime.
In July 2025, representatives of Masar Badil, its youth wing Tariq El-Tahrir, and Nidal North America met with the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in New York to express support for Iran’s missile attacks on Israel. Barghouti represented Nidal at that meeting.
The Legal Question: Material Support for Terrorism
Hezbollah has been a designated foreign terrorist organization since 1997. While SUPER UW claimed in a Tuesday statement that “the money we are raising is to support the steadfastness of the people of Lebanon who refuse to leave their homes amidst violence,” the event’s promotional language explicitly referenced “the Lebanese resistance” — a phrase commonly understood as referring to Hezbollah.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon announced on Monday that she had authorized an investigation into the University of Washington’s handling of antisemitism, specifically citing SUPER UW’s fundraiser for “the Lebanese resistance” and the group’s “history of violent antisemitic activity” on campus.
The University of Washington distanced itself from the event, with Vice President of Communications Victor Balta stating that “the off-campus event referenced publicly appears to have been organized by a group falsely claiming affiliation with the University of Washington” whose registration was permanently revoked in May 2025.
Upcoming Event with Convicted Terrorist
Four days after the Lebanon fundraiser, on April 25, the same groups are planning a “Palestinian Cultural Resistance Festival” at the same Cherry Street Village location. The keynote speaker for that event was Raed Abduljalil, an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist who was released last February after serving 23 years of a life sentence for participation in terrorist attacks that resulted in deaths and injuries, according to Quds News and Wattan.
As the DOJ investigation unfolds, federal authorities will determine whether the April fundraiser’s explicit call to “materially support” the “Lebanese resistance” crossed the line from protected speech into criminal material support for terrorism.