The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly digging into a nonprofit tied to Zohran Mamdani after questions surfaced about donor money and its possible path to a sanctioned Palestinian group. The case centers on a U.K.-based organization with a massive funding pool and a loud anti-Israel mission, which has put its finances and political network under a bright federal spotlight.
The group at the center of the report is known as PFF, a foundation described as having roughly a $100 million war chest. According to the reporting, federal authorities are looking at whether donor funds may have been steered toward Al-Haq, a Palestinian organization sanctioned by the United States.
That alone is enough to raise eyebrows, but the story gets messier fast. Sources quoted in the report described the outfit as a “new fund” created by Arabs across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia to push back against Israel, giving the group a clear ideological edge.
Another name keeps popping up in the background: Bassema Yousef. She is described as the key figure in the fundraising effort, a New York-born Democrat donor who now lives in London and has long been connected to Mamdani’s orbit.
Her public posts reportedly leave little room for doubt about where she stands. The report says her social media has included repeated anti-Israel attacks, including claims that Israel is committing “war crimes with U.S. tax dollars,” language that shows just how heated this fight has become.
The financing side is what makes the whole thing even more intense. Sources told the Post that Yousef helped build PFF with backing from two wealthy donors, Austin-based investing executive Basil Qunibi and Palestinian-Australian motorsports figure Yasser Shahin.
Shahin’s role is not just rumor, at least according to the report. Corporate filings in the U.K. reportedly confirm his support for PFF, and the IRS has also acknowledged that the organization has a nonprofit arm based in Delaware.
PFF has also tried to present itself as something bigger and cleaner than the controversy around it. Its own description calls it a “strategic foundation” that partners with organizations able to deliver results that fit its objectives.
Hellbound and Down 