From the Liveblog of
Sunday, January 25, 2026
NYC Council investigating pro-terror event after ToI reporting
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
Lawyers for New York City are investigating an event that sold merchandise in support of terrorist groups, a spokesperson at the New York City Council says.
Vendors sold keychains, stickers and pins in support of US-designated terrorist groups during a fundraiser at the Muslim American Society youth center in Brooklyn last weekend, in an incident first reported by The Times of Israel.
The merchandise had the logos of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and images of the late terrorist leaders Yahya Sinwar of Hamas and Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah.
Other items said “Death to the IDF” and “Let’s go bomb Tel Aviv,” showed PFLP plane hijacker Leila Khaled, or had inverted red triangles, a Hamas symbol.
The New York Post reports that the Muslim American Society’s New York branch has received $265,000 in discretionary funds from the New York City Council since 2023.
A spokesperson for New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin tells The New York Post that the council will block $80,000 in funds to the Muslim American Society pending an investigation by city lawyers, and may ban future funding to the group.
“The City Council has zero tolerance for violations of our standards,” the spokesperson says. “Funding to this organization is being paused pending a comprehensive internal review. Any nonprofit found to be supporting organizations that threaten the United States government is unacceptable and incompatible with City Council funding.”
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