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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s charity, Archewell Foundation, reportedly severed ties with a US-based Muslim women’s group after its founder made a pro-Palestinian statement and called Israel an ‘apartheid state’.

The foundation, set up by the couple in 2020, gave the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition (MMWC) two grants of approximately $55,700 since 2023, Middle East Eye reported.

US broadcaster NewsNation informed the charity about the pro-Palestine statements made by the MMWC’s Palestinian-American founder, Janan Najeeb. “To Archewell and the Duke and Duchesses’ credit, once they were made aware of this story from NewsNation, they were appalled,” the publication claimed.

According to the Jerusalem Post, in her 2024 blog, Najeeb wrote: “Israel’s 75-year occupation of Palestine and the genocide in Gaza are a grave injustice. We demand a permanent ceasefire, an end to arming the apartheid state of Israel and the liberation of Palestine. From the river to the see, Palestine will be free. From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever.”

In February 2023, Najeeb wrote in an online post for the Wisconsin Muslim Journal, “from the river to the sea” slogan and had called for “an end to arming the apartheid state of Israel.”

That year, Najeeb reportedly thanked the foundation for its support, saying: “We took swift and impactful action in response to the war on Gaza. Our efforts, alongside other Wisconsin-based organisations, aimed to raise awareness and demand human rights for Palestinians.”

After Najeeb’s comments were brought to light, the Archewell Foundation reportedly said in a letter according to Al Jazeera’s AJ+: “Janan, we’ve recently been notified of a blog post you wrote that goes against the values of the foundation.

“As a foundation, we celebrate different perspectives and backgrounds, but we have zero tolerance for hateful words, actions or propaganda.”

The MMWC’s official Instagram handle has reshared several posts sharing the news about the foundation stopping its funding and calling for support for the coalition.

The Archewell Foundation has not commented on the situation on its websites or social media pages.