The US Palestinian Council (USPC) is a left-of-center 501(c)(4) advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. that organizes events with Palestinian nationalist and anti-Israel politicians and organizations, including U.S. Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL), former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action. ^{1 2}

USPC and its president, John Dabeet, engaged in conversations with President Joe Biden’s administration on the Israel-Hamas war. ^{3 4} Dabeet is a prominent Palestinian-American academic and activist who has expressed anti-Israel statements. ⁵

Political Influence

Fundraising Events and Other Pro-Palestinian Activism

The US Palestinian Council has endorsed many federal and state-level Palestinian-American public officials and hosted several fundraising events for pro-Palestinian politicians and organizations. ⁶ From 2024 to 2025, USPC partnered with the Arab American Democratic Action Fund (AADAF) to host fundraising events for U.S. Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL), then-U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), and U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). USPC also hosted a fundraising event for U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) on March 26, 2021. The event was co-hosted by the Dallas Palestine Coalition. USPC also held a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). ¹

USPC was an original organizational supporter of H.R. 2407, a left-of-center bill to promote human rights for Palestinian children living in Gaza. USPC also circulated a petition to oppose a $38 billion aid bill to Israel. ¹

Biden Administration Collaboration

US Palestinian Council’s president John Dabeet was a former advisor to President Joe Biden’s foreign policy team during his 2020 election campaign. ⁷ During President Biden’s presidency, Dabeet was a part of a Muslim coalition that met with then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack against the state of Israel which led to the Israeli-Hamas war. Dabeet shared that he was “cautiously optimistic” following the meeting that Secretary Blinken and the Biden administration might help “lower” the “suffering” of people in Gaza. ³ Dabeet received regular phone calls from the Biden administration with updates on the Israel-Hamas war. ⁴

However, by February 2024, Dabeet announced during an interview that he, the USPC, and the American Muslim and Arab community no longer supported President Biden for president in the 2024 election because of the Democratic Party’s support for “the Zionist entity.” ⁸

International Influence

In September 2023, DaBeet traveled to New York City for the General Assembly of the United Nations during which he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister. Dabeet also spoke on behalf of the more than 70 pro-Palestinian organizations at the event and advocated for Palestinian independence. ⁴

Controversial Statements

In December 2019, the Washington Free Beacon published an article cataloging US Palestinian Council president John Dabeet’s controversial statements. That same month, Dabeet called Israel a “fake democracy,” and his organization Americans and Palestinians for Peace (AMPAL) referred to Yasser Arafat, the deceased head of the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization, as the “immortal leader” and “martyr leader” in 2016. In November 2019, Dabeet endorsed presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and praised her for her left-wing stance in support of the Palestinians. ⁵

In March 2019, Dabeet tweeted an Intercept article about U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and called him “another AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] Puppet,” referring to the pro-Israel lobbying group. He supported the confirmation of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense in the Obama administration in 2013, noting the opposition of what he called the “Israeli Likud lobby” over remarks Hagel made in 2007 about the political influence of the “Jewish lobby.” Dabeet has also called for a boycott of Israel and tweeted support of U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who support the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. ⁵

People

Leadership

John Dabeet was born in Jerusalem and is the president of the board of the US Palestinian Council. Dabeet is the business department chair and a distinguished professor of economics and statistics at Muscatine Community College. Dabeet sits on several boards of directors for international, national, and local organizations, especially those focused on Islamic issues, and has been a visiting professor at a number of international universities. He is the president of Americans and Palestinians for Peace (AMPAL) and Palestinians for Peace and Muscatine Sister Cities. ⁷

Dabeet was a foreign policy volunteer advisor for President Joe Biden’s foreign policy team during the 2020 presidential campaign. He has been elected to serve on the Iowa Democratic Party Central Committee and the chair of the International Affairs platform for Democrats in the state of Iowa. ⁷

Abed El Ghouleh is the vice president of USPC. Ghouleh was born in Chicago, Illinois, and has a master of science from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a bachelor of science from the University of Illinois at Chicago, both in electrical engineering. Ghouleh is on the executive committee of the American Middle East Voters Alliance (AMVOTE) and is the endorsement committee chair. He has previously served on the Illinois State Treasurer’s Community Affairs Council and as the Chicago Chapter president of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). In the latter role, he advocated for left-of-center social change in policing. ⁹

Ghouleh is a founding member, past president, and past chairman of the Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects (AAAEA) and held many other board positions within that organization, serving in some capacity since its inception in 1996. He is a past president of the Lifta Association-Chicago, a Palestinian social and cultural community organization in Chicago, and served on its board for 14 years. He also contributed as the English editor for Al-Offok Al-Arabi Newspaper, an Arabic-English publication. Ghouleh is an original board member of the Coalition of Palestinian American Organizations (CPAO) and sits on the executive board. ⁹

Former President

Khalil Barhoum is a former president and current board member of the USPC. He was born in Bethlehem in 1948. He came to the United States on a Rotary International scholarship where he earned his first master’s degree in English literature. He earned a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in linguistics from Georgetown University. He has since been a professor of linguistics at Stanford University and is coordinator of its program of African and Middle Eastern languages and literatures in the Division of Cultures, Literatures, and Languages. ¹⁰

Barhoum has been widely interviewed on radio and television and has been invited to speak nationally and internationally on United States foreign policy in the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His publications dealing with these issues have appeared in local, national, and international journals. Barhoum also worked as national president of the Association of Arab-American University Graduates (AAUG) and twice served as the organization’s president of the California Chapter. He also worked as chair of the Council of Presidents of Arab American Organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and as president of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) chapter in Northern California. He co-founded and was co-chair of the Palestinian American Coalition in the Bay Area. He is a member of the international advisory board of the United Palestinian Appeal (UPA). ¹⁰

In 2009, Barhoum participated in a student-led protest and vigil in support of Gaza on Stanford’s campus. Barhoum spoke during the vigil service, standing alongside members of a group called Students Confronting Apartheid by Israel (SCAI). ¹¹

In 2015, Barhoum signed an open letter penned by Stanford faculty calling on the university to divest from Israeli corporations involved in what they considered to be the occupation of Palestinian territories. Over 29 Stanford professors signed the letter which was published in solidarity with a similar petition and resolution organized by Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine (SOOP), a coalition of 19 campus organizations including the Black Student Union, MEChA, and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). ¹²

In January 2024, Barhoum published an opinion editorial criticizing the Biden administration’s  support for Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. Barhoum argued that American support for what he called Israel’s “genocidal war on Gaza” consisted of “feelings of white guilt over antisemitism, which have been projected onto a people that had nothing to do with the crimes committed against Jews in Europe.” In the article, Barhoum called for a ceasefire in the war. ¹³

1. “Donate.” US Palestinian Council. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://uspalestiniancouncil.org/donate
2. “Mission.” US Palestinian Council. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://uspalestiniancouncil.org/mission
3. Atwood, Kylie. “Arab and Palestinian Americans frustrated, left without commitments to policy change after meeting with Blinken.” CNN. May 18, 2024. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/18/politics/antony-blinken-arab-palestinian-americans-gaza/index.html
4. Levsen, Xiomara. “John DaBeet: Advocating for Palestine on the World Stage.” Discover Muscatine. September 29, 2023. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://discovermuscatine.com/jon-dabeet-advocatining-for-palestine-on-the-world-stage/
5. Kredo, Adam and Rutz, David. “Iowa Warren Backer Praised ‘Immortal Leader’ Arafat, Slammed ‘Puppet’ Pro-Israel Politicians.” Washington Free Beacon. December 12, 2019. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://freebeacon.com/issues/warren-backer-praised-arafat-slammed-israel/
6. “Elected Officials – List of Palestinian American Officials.” US Palestinian Council. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://uspalestiniancouncil.org/list-of-palestinian-american-officials
7. “John Dabeet.” US Palestinian Council. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://uspalestiniancouncil.org/john-dabeet
8. “President Of The U.S. Palestinian Council Prof. John Dabeet: American Palestinian And Arab Communities Have Decided Not To Vote For Biden In The November Elections.” Middle East Media Research Institute. February 24, 2024. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.memri.org/tv/president-us-palestinian-council-prof-john-dabeet-american-arab-decided-not-to-vote-biden-november-elections
9. “Abed Elghouleh.” US Palestinian Council. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://uspalestiniancouncil.org/abed-elghouleh
10. “Previous Board Members.” US Palestinian Council. Accessed February 10, 2025.  https://uspalestiniancouncil.org/previous-board-listing
11. “Stanford Gaza Protest [incl. Khalil Barhoum].” Middle East Forum. January 17, 2009. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/stanford-gaza-protest-incl-khalil-barhoum
12. “Stanford professors call for divestment from Israeli occupation ahead of student govt vote.” Mondoweiss. February 10, 2015. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://mondoweiss.net/2015/02/professors-divestment-occupation/
13. Barhoum, Khalil. “White guilt and Biden’s support for the genocide in Gaza.” Mondoweiss. January 28, 2024. Accessed February 10, 2025.  https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/white-guilt-and-bidens-support-for-the-genocide-in-gaza/