Posted on 07/27/2004 12:51:22 PM PDT by take
U.S. Indicts Muslim Charity in Texas U.S. Indictment Charges Texas Muslim Charity, 7 Men With Providing Millions of Dollars to Hamas
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON July 27, 2004 — A major American Muslim charity and seven of its officers were charged Tuesday with providing millions of dollars in support to Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization blamed for dozens of suicide bomber attacks in Israel. The 42-count indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Dallas, alleges that the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development provided more than $12.4 million to individuals and organizations linked to Hamas from 1995 to 2001. The U.S. government froze the charity's assets in December 2001.
The indictment names the foundation along with its president, Shukri Abu Baker; chairman, Ghassan Elashi; executive director, Haitham Maghawri; and four others. The charges include conspiracy, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, tax evasion and money laundering.
"To those who exploit good hearts to secretly fund violence and murder, this prosecution sends a clear message: There is no distinction between those who carry out terrorist attacks and those who knowingly finance terrorist attacks," Attorney General John Ashcroft said at a news conference to announce charges.
Noting that a number of Americans have been Hamas victims, Ashcroft said, "Today, a U.S.-based charity that claims to do good works is charged with funding the works of evil."
Next from the DemoCRAPs: Just another example of how Bush and Ashcroft are OUT OF CONTROL!
Deep in the heart of Texas.
I'd still like to know where Cat Stevens' money goes.
Someone sponsored this 503C group and they have hearings in the House to get approved for 503C exemptions.
So, the question is who in the House of Representatives gave the stamp of approval to this group.
The stupid media needs to look into this and ask questions and who voted for them at the hearing that stamped approval of this 503C.
Come on media, I'm challenging you.
All relatives of theses terrorist sympathizers should be required to submit a full set of finger prints, DNA samles, and then be deported.
Sure you caught this. Just wanted to bring this to you're attention...
I have a recurring fantasy about going into the big local Middle Eastern grocery store while wearing a cross, a Star of David, and an IDF tee-shirt. It's a fun place with great food but my nickname for it is Terrorists R' Us.
"Shukri Abu Baker" - a convert?
Cat Stevens is dead...it's now Yusuf Islam. To answer your question, all of his royalties, etc. go to "muslim charities".
Thanks for the ping. I've been busy and missed it.
Link--http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/518490/posts
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FBI Raids Dallas-Area Internet Business As Part Of Terrorism Investigation...
AP ^ | 09/07/01 | David Koenig
Posted on 09/07/2001 10:44:13 AM PDT by veronica
FBI Raids Dallas-Area Internet Business as Part of Terrorism Investigation
By David Koenig Associated Press Writer Published: Sep 6, 2001
DALLAS (AP) - Federal agents continued searching the headquarters of an Internet company Thursday as part of an ongoing terrorism investigation, the FBI said. Muslim leaders said authorities acted on scant evidence and anti-Arab stereotypes.
InfoCom Corp., based in suburban Richardson, says it sells computer systems and Internet services to many large Islamic organizations in the United States and businesses in the Middle East.
The FBI said the search, which began Wednesday, was part of a two-year investigation by the North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force.
FBI spokeswoman Lori Bailey said the investigation was not aimed at InfoCom's clients, but she declined to say why authorities targeted the company. She said more than 80 agents from the FBI and other federal agencies were searching computer files at the company's headquarters. Agents took boxes out of the building Wednesday and Thursday but did not say what was contained in them.
The search warrant was sealed by a federal magistrate, and the FBI did not elaborate on what evidence it sought. Bailey denied any bias to the investigation. "This is a criminal investigation, not a political investigation," she said. "We're hoping to find evidence of criminal activity." InfoCom attorney Mark Enoch said the company had no links to terrorist groups and was cooperating with the FBI, even helping agents navigate the computer system. InfoCom has 15 full- and part-time employees.
Internet service to the company's 500 clients was cut off by the agents, InfoCom's Internet operations manager said. Displaced employees moved across the street to the headquarters of a client, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a Muslim charity that supporters of Israel charge raises money for Hamas and other Mideast terrorist groups.
The foundation denied the accusations, and Muslim leaders who gathered outside InfoCom's offices charged that the raid was orchestrated by Israeli sympathizers. Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, linked the raid with U.S. opposition to international efforts to criticize Israel's handling of the conflict with Palestinians. "We suspect that all these attempts are to please the Israeli government but not to protect the U.S. interests," Awad said. "Siding with Israel, a racist country and state, I think does not do us any good."
Others viewed the raid broadly as the product of anti-Muslim bias. "We have deep concerns that this once again is an attempt to rush to judgment and to marginalize the American Muslim community simply because ... many of them are immigrants," said Mahdi Bray, political adviser to the Muslim Public Affairs Council. "There is a pattern of bias that often permeates all of these types of investigations."
The company has close ties to the Holy Land Foundation. Ghassan Elashi, a company vice president and brother of the owner, Bayan Elashi, is chairman of the foundation. Holy Land Foundation officials say they provides purely humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories and to refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. Israel, the U.S. State Department and congressional members have accused it of being connected to Hamas, the Palestinian movement that has taken responsibility for bombing civilian targets in the Middle East. The foundation is outlawed in Israel.
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This indictment is SOOOO long overudue. IMHO the Sept. 7, 2001 raid was a desperate attempt by the FBI to find out something, ANYTHING, about what terrorists had planned, because they had "chatter" that something big was coming the next week.
Perhaps a truly smoking gun linking US Muslim "charities" to 0911 is coming.
I don't think approval of 503c apps is a legislative issue. I believe the IRS approves these, and doesn't review them very closely when they do. Unless something in the app bites them in the a**, they'll let it go through.
Also, this "charity's" 503c app was approved before Sept. 11, 2001--probably long before it.
BOOK 'EM, DAN-O.
would we have seen this under a kerry admin? no but we'd probably see his FBI used to send more little boys to Cuba
they have hearings in the House
Every...single....one? There must be thousands, tens of thousands of new apps every year. I would guess they just get waved through--it's a formality.
And when you say "sponsor" you must mean someone sponsors a bill to have these charities approved (I would suppose after preliminary IRS review) on an all-or-none basis? Although I could of course be wrong, I don't believe that individual congresscritters "sponsor" individual charities.
No way is anyone going to be able to single out a potentially offensive charity before it even begins operations.
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