Selected Government Exhibits & Documents from U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation
| Between July and September 2007, prosecutors in the case against the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) and its top officials released scores of exhibits that provide unprecedented insight into the dizzying web of connections tying together a handful of alleged Hamas front groups that operated on American soil throughout the 1990s and beyond, serving as a central node in the Muslim Brotherhood's U.S. network. NEFA Senior Analyst Josh Lefkowitz has reviewed this treasure trove of documents and highlighted select exhibits. Other material has also been included on this page for background purposes. | |
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Indictment, Superseding Indictment, and Department of Justice Press Release The Department of Justice press release summarizing the initial indictment, which was filed on July 27, 2004, offers the following overview: "The indictment...alleges the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development ('HLF'), of Dallas, Texas, was an organization created by, among others, defendants Shukri Abu-Baker, Mohammed El-Mezain, and Ghassan Elashi to provide financial and material support to the HAMAS movement. It is also alleged that, since 1995, HLF and its members have illegally sent $12.4 million to support HAMAS and its goal of creating an Islamic Palestinian state by eliminating the State of Israel through violent jihad. In addition to the charges of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the 42-count indictment also charges the defendants with engaging in prohibited financial transactions with a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, money laundering, conspiracy and filing false tax returns." |
| The Verdict On October 22, 2007, after 19 days of deliberation, a jury failed to convict the defendants of a single charge against them. However that decision was quickly thrown into limbo when three jurors indicated during polling that they disagreed with the verdict that had just been rendered. U.S. District Judge Joe A. Fish told jurors, "Your verdict must be unanimous and it's apparent to me from the answers of three members of the jury in respect to my question that the verdicts that I read earlier do not represent the unanimous view of the jury." The jury was ordered to continue deliberations. Following an additional 45 minutes of deliberation, the jurors informed Judge Fish that they could not reach a unanimous decision, and he declared a mistrial. In a verdict that was not voided, Mohamed El-Mezain was acquitted on all counts except one, as jurors failed to reach a decision on whether El-Mezain conspired to provide material support to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. The U.S. government has stated that it will retry the case. |
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U.S. Government Trial Brief The U.S. government's trial brief provides an introduction to Hamas, as well as to the key players in the Muslim Brotherhood's U.S. network: "As evidenced by documents seized in 2004 from the Virginia home of unindicted co-conspirator and fellow Palestinian Committee member Ismail Elbarrasse, as well as other evidence, the Muslim Brotherhood directed its Palestinian Committees throughout the world, including the United States, to carry out the mandate of assisting Sheik Yassins newly-formed Hamas. In accordance with that mandate, the Palestinian Committee in the United States, which included the defendants Elashi, Baker and El-Mezain, created a number of organizations charged with varying missions calculated to comprehensively address Hamas needs. These organizations included the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR) ('think tank'), the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) (propaganda and information) and the Occupied Land Fund (OLF) (money), later to become the defendant HLF." Note: See in particular p. 7 - 15. |
| U.S. Government List of Unindicted Co-Conspirators The document names an array of individuals, including those who raised money on behalf of HLF, belonged to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestinian Committee, or were part of the "global Hamas financing mechanism." In June 2008, the North American Islamic Trust and the Islamic Society of North America challenged (Appendix) their inclusion on this list stating that "the government's characterization of each organization as part of a criminal conspiracy to support a designated terrorist organization has profoundly harmed their reputations and has had deeply negative consequences for their lawful missions and activities: promoting the participation of American Muslims in this country's religious, civil and political life." |
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U.S. Treasury Department Blocking Notice, Press Release, and Fact Sheet On December 4, 2001, the U.S. Treasury Department shut down HLF. The accompanying Treasury Department press release announced that "the Holy Land Foundation masquerades as a charity, while its primary purpose is to fund Hamas. This is not the case of one bad actor stealing from the petty cash drawer and giving those stolen monies to terrorism. This organization exists to raise money in the United States to promote terror...Innocent donors who thought they were helping someone in need deserve protection from these scam artists who prey on their benevolence." Further, the Treasury Department's fact sheet reveals that in 1994 high-ranking Hamas official and unindicted co-conspirator Mousa Abu Marzook "designated HLF as the primary fund-raising entity for Hamas in the United States." |
| Federal Bureau of Investigation Action Memorandum This fifty-one page Action Memorandum, authored by Dale Watson, Assistant Director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, and sent to Richard Newcomb, Director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control, lays out HLF's ties to Hamas in rigorous detail. According to the memo, "In 1993 and 1994, the FBI monitored meetings of identified HAMAS leaders and senior representatives from the HLFRD. During these meetings, discussions were held regarding the need for HAMAS fund-raising in the United States, as well as the primary role of the HLFRD to serve this function." The memo continues, "in the early 1990s, HAMAS...provided substantial funds to the HLFRD." Moreover, "FBI investigation has determined that a majority of the funds collected by the HLFRD are used to support HAMAS activities in the Middle East", and "Key decision-makers within the HLFRD have been identified as active members of HAMAS." |
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| HLF v. Ashcroft - Memorandum Opinion In denying HLF's claim that the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) illegally froze its asset, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled in June 2003: "The seven volume, 3130 page administrative record in this case provides substantial support for OFAC's determination that HLF acts for or on behalf of Hamas. Specifically, as the following analysis demonstrates, the administrative record contains ample evidence that (1) HLF has had financial connections to Hamas since its creation in 1989; (2) HLF leaders have been actively involved in various meetings with Hamas leaders; (3) HLF funds Hamas-controlled charitable organizations; (4) HLF provides financial support to the orphans and families of Hamas martyrs and prisoners; (5) HLF's Jerusalem office acted on behalf of Hamas; and (6) FBI informants reliably reported that HLF funds Hamas." A Department of Justice press release commenting on Judge Kessler's ruling is here. |
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| USAID Cancels HLF's Registration for National Security Reasons In this August 30, 2000 letter, a State Department official informs HLF President Shukri Abu Baker that continuation of HLF's relationship with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is "contrary to the national defense and foreign policy interests of the United States." |
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| HLF was Found Civilly Liable in the Death of a U.S. Citizen Killed by Hamas - Retrial Ordered In December 2004, a federal magistrate judge found HLF civilly liable in the death of David Boim, a 17 year old American shot and killed by Hamas terrorists while waiting at a West Bank bus stop. In the $156 million judgment, the judge also held liable the Quranic Literacy Institute, the Islamic Association for Palestine, the American Muslim Society, the American Middle Eastern League for Palestine, the United Association for Studies and Research, Amjad Hinawi, and Mohammed Salah. Federal prosecutors entered into evidence the First Amended Complaint, as well as HLF's response. Shukri Abu Baker's deposition in the lawsuit can be seen here, while Mohamed El-Mezain's deposition can be seen here. However, on December 28, 2007, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a retrial and stated, "the Boims will have to demonstrate an adequate causal link between the death of David Boim and the actions of HLF, Salah, and AMS. This will require evidence that the conduct of each defendant, be it direct involvement with or support of Hamas's terrorist activities or indirect support of Hamas or its affiliates, helped bring about the terrorist attack that ended David Boim's life...Absent such proof, those appellants will be entitled to judgment in their favor." |
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Mapping HLF's Ties to Hamas This government exhibit maps out HLF's ties to Hamas, while this exhibit lays out the connections in a more comprehensive manner. |
| HLF Officials' Familial Relationships to Hamas Leaders Overseas This slide displays the myriad familial relationships between HLF officials and Hamas leaders overseas, including Khalid Mishal and Mousa Abu Marzook. |
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| HLF's Links to Other Terrorism Investigations On August 16, 2007, a Miami jury convicted Adham Hassoun, Jose Padilla, and Kifah Jayyousi of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. A Department of Justice press release announcing the initial indictment against Hassoun, a Palestinian national living in Florida, stated, "As part of the conspiracy, Hassoun allegedly wrote a series of checks over several years - from 1994 to late 2001 - to unindicted coconspirators and organizations including the Holy Land Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation, to be used to support violent jihad." Further, Raed Awad, HLF's Florida representative and fundraiser, served as the Imam at Jose Padilla's mosque. HLF is also mentioned in The 9/11 Commission Report in connection with the investigation of Anwar Aulaqi, an Imam in San Diego and Falls Church who allegedly had a "close relationship" with hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar. Investigators probing Aulaqi prior to 9/11 learned that he "knew individuals from the Holy Land Foundation and others involved in raising money for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas." And when they shut down the Global Relief Foundation, a Chicago, Illinois-based charity, for funding Al Qaeda, Treasury officials reported that "GRF received $18,521 from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) in 2000." Additionally, U.S. authorities believe that HLF official Haitham Maghawri became the manager for KindHearts in Lebanon; KindHearts is a Toledo, Ohio-based charity that the Treasury Department shut down in February 2006 for funneling money to Hamas and whose fundraising efforts were coordinated by HLF official Mohammed El-Mezain. According to Treasury, "following the closure of HLF, U.S.-based Hamas leader El-Mezain transferred his fundraising skills to KindHearts." Significantly, Treasury revealed that "information indicates that SDGT Khalid Mishaal, Hamas' Secretary General based in Damascus, Syria, identified El-Mezain as the Hamas leader for the U.S. At the time, Mishaal advised that all financial contributions to Hamas from individuals in the U.S. should be channeled through El-Mezain." The Treasury statement adds that "in October 2003, El-Mezain spoke at an event held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where $500,000 was pledged. Though El-Mezain's speech reportedly focused almost entirely on raising funds for a new mosque in Baton Rouge, only a small amount was to be retained locally and the vast majority was to be sent to Hamas overseas." |
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The Links between the U.S. and International Muslim Brotherhood These two slides, excerpted from a larger document (available here), demonstrate the links between the U.S. and International Muslim Brotherhood and highlight the key personnel at HLF, IAP, and UASR. Also evident is the critical role played by unindicted co-conspirator Mousa Abu Marzook -- the one-time head of the Palestinian Committee in the United States, a Specially Designated Terrorist, and a Hamas leader. DOJ has alleged that "Marzook funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into the three organizations (UASR, IAP, OLF/HLF) during a time when he was an unemployed graduate student." See below for records of these transactions. |
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A Brief History of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. This document discusses the origins of a number of U.S. organizations, including the Muslim Students Association, the Muslim Arab Youth Association, the Islamic Society of North America, IAP, UASR, and HLF. |
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"Ikhwan in America" - Zeid al-Noman In a talk titled "Ikhwan in America," Zeid al-Noman makes a number of significant revelations about the U.S. Brotherhood's inner workings. Al-Noman states, "recruitment used to take place in the following format: attending the MSA conferences and choosing active Arab elements and approaching them to join the Ikhwans. This was followed by visits to the local branches and, consequently, choosing active elements over there and approaching them to join the Ikhwans. As for the Ikhwan who came from their countries, they most probably joined the Movement specially if there were large numbers of the Ikhwan Movement who preceded them to America. Then, joining the Movement would be automatic..." Commenting on the composition of the U.S. Brotherhood, al-Noman remarks, "at the north America's level...the vast majority of the Muslim Brotherhood here are students. Therefore, we find them very prone to change...The base changes about 70% almost every five years." Al-Noman laments that "this prevents long-term planning due to the lack of the long-term stability of the base." He further notes that "our number is limited," adding that within the population of "adherent Muslims who attend the Friday prayers," "you won't find the Ikhwans percentage in those people more than 1%..." Moreover, when asked what he meant by a reference to "securing the group" in his speech, al-Noman responds, "Securing the Group' is...the Group's security against outside dangers. For instance, to monitor the suspicious movements on the...,which exist on the American front such as Zionism, Masonry...etc. Monitoring the suspicious movements or the sides, the government bodies such as the CIA, FBI...etc, so that we find out if they are monitoring us, are we not being monitored, how we can get rid of them." Notably, al-Noman asserts that "here in America, there is weapons training in many of the Ikhwan's camps." Finally, al-Noman reveals that "a front is not formed until after a study and after an exhaustive study...the last front formed is the Islamic Association for Palestine." |
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"An Explanatory Memorandum: On the General Strategic Goal for the Group" - Mohamed Akram - May 22, 1991 NEFA Senior Investigator Doug Farah has blogged extensively on this document. One key excerpt follows: "The process of settlement is a 'Civilization-Jihadist Process' with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." Akram also writes, "we are in a country which understands no language other than the language of the organizations, and one which does not respect or give weight to any group without effective, functional, and strong organizations." In this context, "the big challenge...is how to turn these seeds or 'scattered' elements into comprehensive, stable, 'settled' organizations that are connected with our Movement...and take orders from our guidance." Note: NEFA Senior Investigator Doug Farah publicized a memo, written by Pentagon Joint Staff analyst Stephen Coughlin, analyzing this document. Introducing Coughlin's memo, Army Lt. Col. Joseph C. Myers, Senior Army Advisor and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency's South America division, writes, "This assessment makes the point that the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered a threat organization and the affiliated US domestic Muslim NGOs and associations identified in the strategy document should likewise be considered part of the Muslim Brotherhood network, that these are 'front' functional organizations operating as links and nodes of the overall network." At the end of his memo, Coughlin assesses, "outreach strategies must be adjusted in the face of credible information that seeming Islamic humanitarian or professional non-governmental organizations may be part of the global jihad with potential for being part of the terrorist or insurgent support system." |
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The U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee - Bylaws and Suggested Ammendments According to the bylaws, "the Palestine Committee is a specialized committee emanating from the Palestine Section which was formed by the executive office of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Levant countries. Its scope of work is limited to North America and its contacts include other countries. The Committee works only within its extent and with what does not conflict with the policies and the structures of the group in America." The IAP's duties include "drawing the strategy" and "supervision, follow-up and direction." The suggested amendments note that the "instructions of the International Shura Council and the Office of Guidelines in regards to the Palestinian issues through the Secretariat General, dated 8/1/1990, state the following:...2 - Giving attention to holding conferences relating to the cause of Palestine, publishing and focusing on the brutality of the Jews. 3 - Collecting of donations for the Islamic Resistance Movement from the Ikhwan and others...5 - Bringing to the media light the cause of Sheik Ahmad Yasin and his ailing condition." |
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The U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee - 1991 Organization Chart In addition to providing an organization chart, this document also lists those serving on the Central Committee, the Shura Council and the Executive Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestinian Committee. |
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The U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Leadership A phonebook seized in 2004 from the Virginia home of unindicted co-conspirator and Palestine Committee member Ismail Elbarrasse lists the names of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's leadership. |
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The U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee - Membership |
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U.S. Muslim Brotherhood Palestine Committee - Agenda and Meeting Minutes In the agenda and meeting minutes from a July 1994 Palestine Committee meeting, the author discusses developing the "work of the following organizations": IAP, HLF, UASR, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The author also points out "the need for trained resources in the media and political fields." |
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"A Suggested Work Paper" - "Re-arranging Frame of Work on the Inside" This document was seized in the house of U.S. Muslim Brotherhood Palestine Committee member Abdelhaleem Ashqar and provides background on the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. The paper asserts that one goal should be "familiarization of and publicizing Hamas," while another goal should be "improving the Islamists' image in general." |
The Founding Documents - Hamas' Alleged U.S. Infrastructure
It is worth highlighting Abdulrahman Alamoudi's involvement with UASR. Alamoudi, who was a member of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood, was the founder and former executive director of the American Muslim Council (AMC), the founder of the American Muslim Foundation (AMF), and an influential member in the American Muslim community. He admitted involvement in a plot to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and, according to the Treasury Department, "had a close relationship with al Qaida." Treasury reports that Alamoudi "raised money for al Qaida in the United States" and that his September 2003 "was a severe blow" to the group. Alamoudi pled guilty to engaging in illegal financial dealings with Libya and is serving 23 years in prison. Notably, the U.S. government's witness list indicated Alamoudi would "testify about the Muslim Brotherhood and the defendants' involvement" with the organization. However, Alamoudi did not end up testifying. Also note that Mousa Abu Marzook's name appears on UASR's Articles of Incorporation. According to DOJ, UASR "was designed for ideological research and development intended to promote a fundamentalist view of the Palestinian issue. The UASR was also involved in passing Hamas communiques to the United States-based Muslim Brotherhood community and relaying messages from that community back to |
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Holy Land Foundation - Employee List This spreadsheet provides the names of HLF employees, their date of hire, the years during which they worked for HLF, and their salary. The U.S. government's list of unindicted co-conspirators indicates that an array of HLF employees were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee, such as Kifah Moustapha, Ayman Ismail, Dallel Mohmed, Islam Siam, Mohamed El Shorbagi, and Fayez Idlebi. A number of HLF employees, including Ayman Ismail and Mohamed El-Shorbagi, have already been subject to U.S. government enforcement action. Ismail was deported in August 2004; the accompanying ICE press release states, "Ismail claimed he was merely a Web site designer. However, documents seized from HLF showed he also had a significant role in fund raising." In February 2007, El-Shorbagi was sentenced to 7 years, 8 months in prison after pleading guilty to providing material support to Hamas. A DOJ press release notes that El-Shorbagi, a Georgia representative for HLF, "attended HLF meetings at which high-level HAMAS officials made presentations condemning Israel." Moreover, he "hosted high-level HAMAS officials at the Rome, Georgia mosque at which he served as imam." As part of his plea deal, he will "testify about the HLF and IAP, and their relationship to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood." Shorbagi was not called to testify in the HLF trial. |
HLF's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Filings
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| Mousa Abu Marzook's Financial Support for HLF and its Top Officials A $10,000 check Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook wrote to HLF can be viewed here, while two $100,000 checks can be see here and here. Further, HLF Executive Director Shukri Abu Baker wrote that the organization received $66,000 through Marzook. As noted above, the U.S. government has also introduced HLF's IRS Form 990 filing from 1993, which documents $210,000 in donations from Marzook to HLF between 1989 and 1992. (This transcript of an intercepted April 1996 conversation between Mohamed El-Mezain, Shukri Abu Baker, and Haitham Maghawri reveals that Marzook's attorney denied this donation when questioned by a Dallas Morning News reporter. El-Mezain comments, "It is a big mess, my brother.") Marzook also wrote checks to Abu Baker and HLF officials Mohamed El-Mezain and Ghassan Elashi. Checks to Baker were written for $128; $139; $150; $243; and $1,200. A document summarizing the $1,886 Marzook transferred to Abu Baker is here. El-Mezain received checks for $247; $1,000; $2,000; $2,000; $2,000; $2,000; $4,000; $5,000; and $5,000; in total, Marzook transferred $23,287 to El-Mezain. Significantly, El-Mezain and Marzook are cousins, according to the HLF indictment. Finally, Marzook sent $2,309 to Ghassan Elashi. |
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HLF, Mousa Abu Marzook, and K&A Trading In 1988, OLF sent $250,175 overseas to K&A Trading. Between 1989 and 1991, K&A Trading sent Mousa Abu Marzook over $1,000,000 (one such transaction is here). |
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Mousa Abu Marzook's Financial Support for IAP The government has introduced a handful of checks Mousa Abu Marzook wrote to IAP. Those donations include checks for $50; $50; $55; $1,000; $2,591; $3,200; $5,000; $5,000; $5,000; $5,000; $6,000; $7,000; $7,500; $7,753; $10,000; $10,000; $10,000; $10,000; $15,000; $15,000; $15,000; $15,000; $15,000; $17,000; $20,000; $25,000; $25,000; $29,720; $30,000, $30,000; $40,000; $50,000 and $50,000. A summary of some of these transactions is here, revealing that Marzook gave IAP a total of $858,158. Moreover, this document shows the $93,778 Marzook transferred to AMELP incorporator Ismail Elbarasse. |
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Mousa Abu Marzook's Financial Support for UASR In support of UASR, which he co-founded, Marzook wrote UASR checks for $540; $10,000; $14,554; $14,930; $15,000; $21,774; $26,000; $30,000; $30,000; $34,169; $34,424 and $40,000. In total, Marzook transferred $286,272 to UASR. |
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Mousa Abu Marzook's Financial Support for Infocom/International Computers and Communication HLF Chairman and IAP co-founder Ghassan Elashi also served as Vice President of Infocom, a Richardson, Texas-based computer company; Elashi ran the company with his four brothers. In July 2004, Ghassan Elashi, Bayan Elashi, Basman Elashi, Hazim Elashi, Ihsan Elashi, and Infocom were convicted for conspiring to violate the Export Administration Regulations and the Libyan Sanctions Regulations. The brothers were also convicted of conspiracy to file false Shipper's Export Declaration forms. Then, in April 2005, Bayan, Ghassan, Basman and Infocom were convicted for engaging in prohibited financial transactions with a Specially Designated Terrorist and conspiring to commit money laundering. That Specially Designated Terrorist was Mousa Abu Marzook, who is married to their cousin, Nadia Elashi. A joint Nadia Elashi-Marzook bank account can be seen here and here. The second indictment charged that "Marzook entered into a Murabaha agreement, or an Islamic contract, to invest $250,000 in the name of Marzook's wife, Nadia Elashi...The agreement, reached in or around March 1993, called for regular payments from Infocom based on the company's net profit/loss." Prosecutors have displayed checks from Infocom to Nadia Elashi for $3,000; $3,000; $3,000; and $6,000. Furthermore, $10,000 and $40,000 payments from Infocom's predecessor, International Computers and Communication (ICC), to Marzook are here and here, while $50,000 checks from Marzook to ICC are here and here (scanned upside down). And ICC wrote a $50,000 check to Marzook's personal secretary, Nasser al-Khatib. A summary of these transactions is here. |
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The Financial Ties between HLF and Infocom Infocom maintained websites for HLF and IAP. According to court records, HLF paid Infocom $409,258.80 between 1990 and 2001. Reflecting the incestuous relationship, Ghassan Elashi was often the authorizing payee. |
| HLF Officials Posed as Infocom Employees In 1996, HLF officials Shukri Abu-Baker and Akram Mishal posed as Infocom employees when applying for Saudi visas. Abu-Baker's visa application is here, while Mishal's is here. In this letter to the Saudi Embassy, Mishal is identified as Infocom's International Sales Manager. |
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| The IAP-Infocom Relationship As noted above, Infocom maintained IAP's website. Additionally, Ghassan Dahduli, identified as a member of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee, has served as an IAP board member and worked at Infocom. |
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The Financial Ties between IAP and UASR In 1991, IAP wrote UASR checks for $2,500; $2,500; and $5,000, which totaled $10,000. |
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UASR's Hamas Study As noted above, according to DOJ, UASR "was designed for ideological research and development intended to promote a fundamentalist view of the Palestinian issue. The UASR was also involved in passing Hamas communiqus to the United States-based Muslim Brotherhood community and relaying messages from that community back to Hamas." Prosecutors entered into evidence a 1991 UASR study on Hamas with a forward by Mohamed Al-Hanooti and an interview with Hamas leader Ahmad Yassin. A government filing identifies Al-Hanooti as a member of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee. Moreover, an FBI memorandum cited an FBI source, who had "been found reliable in the past," who "stated that Al-Hanooti was a big supporter of HAMAS." That same memo cited another FBI source, who also had "been found reliable in the past," who reported "that Al-Hanooti collected over six million U.S. dollars for support of HAMAS in Israel." (In a sworn deposition, Mohamed El-Mezain called Al-Hanooti "The mostly scholar of the United States. The most knowledgeable man...in the United States." El-Mezain and Al-Hanooti overlapped as imams at the Islamic Center of Passaic County.) |
| The HLF-IAP Relationship Over the course of its existence, IAP worked diligently to raise money for HLF. A series of documents highlight the IAP/HLF relationship. One such document, known as the "Ramadan Agreement," establishes that "HLF shall pay the AMS/IAP a total of (40,000) U.S. dollars for all HLF fundraising activities facilitated by or coordinated with the AMS/IAP during the month of Ramadan." The document covered HLF's fundraising tour through 25 U.S. cities during Ramadan 1997. (It is worth noting that Rafeeq Jaber, the AMS/IAP representative named in the document, is one of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' three founders.) The "Ramadan Agreements" for Ramadan 1998 and Ramadan 1999 are equally illustrative. During his 2003 deposition in the Boim case, Shukri Abu Baker also said that "some of the contracts would go between us and American Middle East League, so being the mother organization of the IAP." Federal prosecutors have introduced additional evidence highlighting the ties between IAP and HLF. This advertisement (Arabic and English) in a publication from the IAP Information Office solicits donations for the Occupied Land Fund, while this ad (Arabic and English) in IAP's Al-Zaitounah requests donations for HLF. Additional Occupied Land Fund advertisements can be seen in this November-December 1989 issue of IAP's Ila Filastine. The text of one article, honoring the "martyr" Abdullah Azzam (see more on Azzam below), states, "...we remind our brothers and sisters, the Muslims of North America, that they can express their faithfulness to th e blood of our hero martyr...through the support to the Occupied Land Fund..." Still another HLF ad can be seen in this February 1993 issue of IAP's Al-Zaitounah. HLF's 2001 advertising expenditures on IAP publications, as well as on an array of other publications, are viewable here. Other HLF advertising expenditures on IAP publications are here. And prosecutors have produced checks OLF/HLF wrote to IAP for $1,035; $1,385; and $2,750. A $40,000 transfer between the two organization can be seen here, while in this communication IAP requests payment of $39,688 from HLF. Moreover, prosecutors have released checks OLF wrote to the American Middle Eastern League for Palestine (IAP did business as AMELP) for $5,000; $6,027; and $7,000. In total, between 1989 and 2001, HLF transferred $249,230 to IAP. Also of note is this 1989 letter from Ghassan Elashi, in which Elashi requests a $1,500 payment be made to a joint IAP/OLF post office box in Culver City, California. There was even personnel overlap between HLF and IAP. As noted above, IAP was co-founded by Ghassan Elashi, who also incorporated HLF. Moreover, HLF official Shukri Abu Baker served on IAP's advisory board. During his 2003 deposition in the Boim case, Shukri Abu Baker explained that while serving on IAP's board, he "advocated the Holy Land Foundation wherever I went." Further, Kifah Mustapha was HLF's registered agent in Illinois and an IAP board member. And Akram Kharoubi was an HLF and IAP representative, while HLF board member Ahmed Agha was an incorporator of AMELP (IAP did business as AMELP). Finally, HLF board member Rasmi Almallah was an incorporator of IAP in Texas. |
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The Hamas Charter - Published by the IAP Information Office DOJ writes that IAP "was designed as a propaganda facility, responsible for Intifada festivals (involving the defendant HLF), pro-Hamas publications, and the general rallying of support within the American Palestinian community. The IAP was the first organization to publish an English version of the Hamas charter, which...vows to replace Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza with an Islamic state." The charter states, the Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of Moslem Brotherhood in Palestine. |
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IAP and Abdullah Azzam Abdullah Azzam appears on the cover of the November-December 1989 issue of IAP's Ila Filastine. The publication mourns the "passing of our beloved sheik" and remembers his "extreme love for Palestine." The magazine added, "the Islamic Association for Palestine in North America appeals to the masses of our Muslim nation in the corners of the earth to be faithful to the blood of our hero martyr...and to translate this faithfulness into non-tiring work to support the march of Islamic Jihad in Palestine and Afghanistan and everywhere..." IAP hosted Azzam at its 1988 conference in Oklahoma City and held a conference named after him following his death. In this speech at the IAP conference, Azzam counseled, "O, people of Palestine, it is time for you to pledge death. Live with self-respect or die honorably between piercing lances and fluttering flags." In a similar vein, he said, "O children of Palestine, no retreat after today...It is time...for you to rise to the level of preparation, martyrdom and seriousness. And, by God, seriousness and desire for death will only add life and honor to you...the life that the God of glory has referred to...is the Jihad..." Azzam also said, "the Jihad with one's own life and the jihad with the money, they are both obligations." He continued, "the donation of money is a sunna of the Chosen One...it is an obligation that came down from the top of the seven levels. Come, light and heavy, and commit jihad with your possessions and your lives in the cause of God..." Along with Usama bin Laden, whom he mentored, Azzam co-founded Makhtab al-Khidamat (a.k.a. the AL-Kifah Refugee Center), considered the "precursor organization to al Qaida." What's more, according to the U.S. government, Azzam is "regarded as a historical leader of HAMAS..." Azzam is listed as a member of the Palestine Committee "outside America" in this document. |
| IAP and the Al-Kifah Refugee Center In April 1992, the Brooklyn office of the Al-Kifah Refugee Center wrote IAP a $2,000 check. As noted above, the U.S. government considers Al-Kifah to "be the pre-cursor organization to al Qaida and the basis for its infrastructure." |
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IAP and Ahmad Yassin Ahmad Yassin was the founder and leader of Hamas and was killed by Israeli forces in March 2004. The Israeli government notes that Yassin was "the authorizing and initiating authority for all Hamas terrorist attacks emanating from the West Bank and Gaza Strip." The prosecution has entered into evidence an IAP poster highlighting the "One Year Anniversary of [Yassin's] Imprisonment" from May 18, 1989 to May 18, 1990. That poster labels Yassin a "clergyman" and alleges that he "went through body torture" in Israeli custody. IAP also published a biography of Yassin, which was drawn from palestine-info.net, a Hamas website. |
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IAP Internal Memo: "Teach the Enemies of God the Lessons of Prophets and Mujahideen" An internal IAP memo provides additional insight into the organization's genesis: "In the beginning of the eighties, the Islamic action for Palestine experienced distinguished leaps. At the inside level, groups and apparatuses were formed to confront the Zionist enemy...At the outside level, a number of associations, Islamic youths and students unions were formed to ally the masses in order to render the Palestinian cause victorious. Therefore, the Islamic Association for Palestine's Students in Kuwait, the Islamic Association for Palestinian Youths in Britain, the Islamic Association for Palestine in North America and Muslim Palestinian Youths Association in Germany and others were founded." According to the memo, the IAP "was and still is the general field through which the Movement expresses its view and positions regarding the Palestinian cause." Finally, the memo concludes by stating "we stress to our brothers the need to stand behind this blessed Islamic action so that God the Almighty make it, or make available to us through it, a field for Jihad in which we teach the enemies of God the lessons of prophets and Mujahideen in triumphing over them or martyring for the sake of God." |
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IAP and Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam In this book, titled "The Jihadist School: Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam" and published by IAP, IAP profiles the man after whom Hamas' military wing is named. The book notes that he knew that "jihad is the only path to freedom." |
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IAP Information Office: Updates on Hamas Attacks and Activities In this October 10, 1994 report, the IAP Information Office provides a "special report about the Jihadist heroic operation in the midst of the city of West Jerusalem" that was "carried out on the fifth anniversary of [the] Al-Aqsa mosque massacre which took the lives of tens of Palestinians." The report also states, "The armed resistance on Palestinian soil will continue on the soil of Palestine until the despised occupation is completely driven away from every grain of sand in the land of Palestine." In this October 12, 1994 document, the IAP Information Office provides a "Special Report about the Kidnapping of a Zionist Solider by the (Hamas) Movement," while this October 16, 1994 IAP report offers an overview of various events involving Hamas. Additionally, this January 22, 1995 IAP document provides a "special report about the heroic operation on the intersection of Beit Lod." |
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IAP Hosts Deported Hamas Leader Khalil al-Kouka In this flyer, IAP announces that Khalil al-Kouka, "one of the deported leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement-Hamas," will be a guest at an IAP festival. This flyer shows that al-Kouka appeared along with Ahmad Al-Qattan. Al-Qattan recently delivered a speech honoring Ahmad Yassin. |
| IAP Intifada Festival: "Khaibar, Khaibar, O Jews. The Army of Muhammad Will Be Back" At the IAP's Third Intifada Festival, the following words were sung: "Khaibar, khaibar, O Jews. The Army of Army of Muhmmad will be back. With the Intifada, with the Intifada, with the Intifada, with the Intifada. The Intifada is ongoing, until the land is free again...O son of the proud Jerusalem, set it on Islamic fire." |
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| IAP Speaker: "Here are the Jews, Come and Kill them!" In this excerpt, the unidentified speaker says, "Brothers and sisters, on behalf of your brothers who are in charge of the Islamic Association for Palestine in North America, Tucson, Arizona, branch, I am happy to welcome you at the start of this blessed evening which is held on the occasion of the second year of the blessed Intifadah and Hamas takeover." The speaker continues, "Our brothers or sisters in Muslim Palestine are performing Jihad for the sake of God in order to purify our holy land from the filth of the Jews, the enemies of God...The least we can do is to join them from here with our feelings and sentiments and to live their cause with them, which is not their cause alone, but it is the cause of every Muslim, a cause that is [UI] in our creed, as the Chosen One...said: 'The Hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims will kill them, until the Jews hide behind the trees and rocks and the trees and rock will say, 'O Muslim, O Servant of God, Here are the Jews, Come and kill them!' except the Gharqad Tree because it is a tree of the Jews." |
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IAP's Board of Directors
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| The Financial Ties between HLF and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) In October 1994, HLF wrote the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) a $5,000 check shortly after CAIR's founding. In 2003 Congressional testimony, CAIR official Nihad Awad denied that CAIR received seed money from HLF, calling this claim an "outright lie." When presented with evidence of the donation, Awad changed his tune in supplemental testimony, stating: "CAIR is a nonprofit, grassroots organization. Our only source of income is through donations and the amount in question was a donation like any other. HLF was not indicted for any criminal activities at the time of its donation in 1994 and its assets were frozen by the Justice Department seven years later in December 2001." Prosecutors have also entered into evidence a transcript of an intercepted May 25, 1999 conversation between HLF's Shukri Abu Baker and CAIR Chairman Emeritus Omar Ahmad (a.k.a. Omar Yehya) in which Abu Baker complains, "The CAIR people didn't come to our fundraising. May God forgive them." |
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| The Ties between CAIR and IAP All three CAIR incorporators - Omar Ahmad, Nihad Awad, and Rafeeq Jaber - have held senior positions at IAP. In a 2000 article, Nihad Awad provided this background: "After the Gulf War was over, I was offered a job with the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) as their public relations director...my responsibility was to explain the Palestinian experience to the public and the media. In this effort I worked closely with IAP president Omar Ahmad. Omar...had the insight to realize that the central issue facing the Muslim community in the United States was not being addressed. The core challenge, that of stereotyping and defamation, was having a devastating effect on our children and paralyzing adults from taking their due roles in civic affairs. Omar suggested to me that we leave the IAP and concentrate on combating anti-Muslim discrimination nationwide. He proposed that I move to Washington D.C., where any effective national effort would have to be based, while he tried to raise the seed money for the project." (Note: In this undated intercepted telephone conversation between Abdelhaleem Ashqar and Omar Ahmad, the two men discuss an appearance Awad made on CNN "Crossfire" as an IAP spokesman.) CAIR Chairman Emeritus Omar Ahmad remained involved with IAP. At the time of this February 2003 court filing, IAP's attorneys admitted that Ahmad was on AMELP's board. As noted previously, IAP did business as AMELP. Rafeeq Jaber has also served as IAP President. Moreover, IAP (and HLF) official Ghassan Elashi was a founding board member of CAIR-Texas. In 2003 Congressional testimony, CAIR's Nihad Awad wrote: "The Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) is a grassroots organization which continues to function legally and has only been 'linked' through allusion and no charge of criminality has been brought against the organization." |
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| The Ties between CAIR and Hamas' Alleged U.S. Infrastructure A number of one-time CAIR officials have also held positions at organizations that allegedly are part of Hamas' U.S. infrastructure. For example, HLF Board Member Riad Abdelkarim served as an official with CAIR's California branch. And CAIR Research Director Mohamed Nimer previously served on UASR's Board of Directors, while Anisa Abd el Fattah was a CAIR Board Member and the editor of UASR's Middle East Affairs Journal. What's more, the co-founder of CAIR's New Jersey office, Magdy Mahmoud, has served on the Muslim Arab Youth Association's (MAYA) national Executive Board and chaired its Chapters Committee; federal prosecutors have identified MAYA as a member of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. |
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| CAIR's Defense of Members of Hamas' Alleged U.S. Infrastructure CAIR has been a vociferous defender of the members of the alleged Hamas network. This transcript of an August 1995 intercepted phone call between Shukri Abu Baker and Ghassan Elashi documents CAIR's efforts to support Mousa Abu Marzook during his U.S. detention (see p. 12). Following the FBI's September 2001 raid of Infocom, CAIR's Nihad Awad appeared at a press conference outside Infocom headquarters to blast the government's actions as an "anti-Muslim witch hunt." The contacts listed on the press release, issued by CAIR, were Ghassan Elashi (who was affiliated with Infocom, IAP, HLF, and CAIR) and Nihad Awad/Ibrahim Hooper (CAIR). When Infocom and the Elashis were indicted in December 2002 for engaging in "financial transactions with [Mousa Abu] Marzook after his designation as a terrorist," CAIR Dallas Fort-Worth issued a statement "express[ing] our shock and dismay at yesterday's arrest of four prominent, respected members of our community." The release added, "How does the arrest of these four men make America safer? The significance of these arrests is clearly exaggerated for political purposes. One is left wondering whether these arrest orders were issued from Tel Aviv or Washington, D.C!" Finally, the release stated, "we are concerned that these charges result from what appears to be a 'war on Islam and Muslims' rather than a 'war on terror.'" In April 2005, Bayan, Ghassan, and Basman Elashi, as well as Infocom, were convicted for engaging in prohibited financial transactions with a Specially Designated Terrorist and conspiring to commit money laundering After the U.S. government shut down HLF in December 2001, CAIR released a statement that said, "We ask that President Bush reconsider what we believe is an unjust and counterproductive move that can only damage America's credibility with Muslims in this country and around the world and could create the impression that there has been a shift from a war on terrorism to an attack on Islam." On the same page, CAIR reprinted HLF's statement proclaiming its innocence. The July 2004 indictment of HLF led CAIR to warn in a press release that "The government should not use evidence apparently tainted by foreign intelligence sources from a nation that has its own political agenda." After the mistrial, CAIR issued a press release labeling the verdict a "stunning defeat" for the Department of Justice. Moreover, CAIR has defended HLF employees, as evidenced by this CAIR Dallas-Fort Worth press release about Ayman Ismail, which charges that "a few government agents...are abusing their positions of authority to whip up anti-Muslim hysteria within our community." And when Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan was arrested the same day HLF was indicted, CAIR's Southern California office announced that it would "hold a news conference to outline concerns about allegations that a local Muslim is being threatened with deportation as a 'pressure tactic' to gain information about an Islamic charity." CAIR-Los Angeles' Communications Director remarked, "Our legal and immigration systems should be used to punish criminals and protect our borders, not as psychological thumb-screws to extract information." CAIR has also been a passionate defender of Abdelhaleem Ashqar, identified as a member of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee, during his legal battles. For example, this CAIR-Chicago press release states, "Through its targeting of Mr. Salah and Dr. Ashqar, the Bush administration has attempted to criminalize charitable aid to Palestinians...The defendants are neither terrorists nor criminals for having supplied charitable aid to the most vulnerable factions of their occupied and war-ravaged country of origin, Palestine." In 2007, Ashqar was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy charges related to supporting Hamas but convicted of obstruction of justice and criminal contempt. |
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| CAIR Condemns the Assassination of Hamas Leaders CAIR's response following the March 2004 assassination of Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin is noteworthy. In a press release, CAIR "condemned the assassination of a wheelchair-bound Palestinian Muslim religious leader, calling it an act of 'state terrorism.'" The press release described Yassin as "a 67-year-old quadriplegic and the most prominent Palestinian Islamic figure." However, the Israeli government notes that Yassin was "the authorizing and initiating authority for all Hamas terrorist attacks emanating from the West Bank and Gaza Strip." And after the April 2004 assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al Rantisi, whom CAIR identified in a press release as a "Palestinian political leader," CAIR blasted "the State Department's meek response to yet another act of state terrorism by Israel." In a June 2003 document, the Israeli government asserted that "Rantisi is responsible for directing the policy of the Hamas terrorist attacks." |
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CAIR and the Palestine Committee Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad are listed in this document as members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee. Ahmad and Awad also attended the 1993 meeting of the Palestine Committee in Philadelphia. Minutes from a 1994 meeting of the Palestine Committee discuss "suggestions to develop [the] work" of CAIR, IAP, HLF, and UASR. And the U.S. government identifies CAIR as a member of the Palestine Committee in this filing. Further, in response to an amicus brief filed by CAIR, the Department of Justice notes in its memorandum that "striking CAIR's name from the attachment to the Trial Brief will not prevent its conspiratorial involvement with HLF, and others affiliated with Hamas, from becoming a matter of public record." Despite CAIR's track record, federal, state, and local law enforcement have regularly received "diversity training" from CAIR. |
