[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 87 (Thursday, June 13, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1081-E1083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TERRORISTS FUNDRAISING IN THE UNITED STATES
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HON. CHARLES E. SCHUMER
of new york
in the house of representatives
Thursday, June 13, 1996
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to share with my colleagues a very
disturbing article that ran in the April 8, 1996, edition of the Dallas
Morning News.
I have made fighting terrorism a focal point of my work as ranking
member of the Crime Subcommittee. I find it terrifying that in this
country groups actively raise money to support terrorist groups under
the guise of nonprofit organizations. This article plainly demonstrates
the critical need in the United States for tough fundraising provisions
like those found in the terrorism bill signed by the President in
April. I urge my colleagues to read this article in the Dallas Morning
News. These groups aren't not-for-profit, they are for terrorism, and
they must be stopped.
[From the Dallas Morning News, Apr. 8, 1996]
Paper Trail Leads to Hamas; Two Organizations Based in Richardson Deny
They Promote Agenda of Anti-Israeli Terrorists
(By Gayle Reaves and Steve McGonigle)
Inside a Kansas City auditorium in 1989, a masked man
stepped to a lectern and described in Arabic the ``oceans of
blood'' spilled in Hamas' armed attacks on Israeli soldiers
and civilians.
He thanked two nonprofit organizations for being early
allies:
The Islamic Association for Palestine, sponsor of the
conference, and the Occupied Land Fund.
Seven years later. Hamas is again threatening Middle East
peace with a series of suicide bombings. The Occupied Land
Fund has become the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and
Development. That group and the IAP, both now based in
Richardson, are under attack for allegedly aiding Hamas.
Leaders of the local groups denied affiliation with Hamas.
Sharing a stage with Hamas speakers doesn't mean they
approve of Hamas terrorism or provide support for it, they
say.
[[Page E1082]]
``We have never raised money for Hamas or tried to recruit
members for Hamas,'' said Shukri Abu Baker, executive
director of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and
Development.
Public records, materials from the two groups and
interviews over seven months show a pattern of personal,
financial and philosophical ties between Hamas and the two
nonprofit groups. For example:
The Islamic Association for Palestine reprinted the Hamas
charter, which calls for killing Jews in jihad, or holy war.
The association's Arabic-language publications in the early
1990s routinely praised Hamas and its violent opposition to
the peace process. The association also published and
distributed Hamas communiques on U.S. college campuses.
Videotapes displaying the logo and phone number of an
Islamic Association for Palestine subdivision glorify Hamas
attacks on Jewish soldiers and civilians.
Last month, the Israeli government closed the Jerusalem
office of the Holy Land Foundation because of alleged ties to
Hamas. Officials also closed the headquarters of an Islamic
school partly funded by the Holy Land Foundation and
arrested its director for allegedly being a Hamas
activist.
Mousa Abu Marzook, the political leader of Hamas, provided
more than 10 percent of all donations to the Holy Land
Foundation in 1992, according to Internal Revenue Service
records. Mr. Marzook's wife is a cousin of Ghassan El-Ashi, a
Holy Land Foundation board member, and Basman El-Ashi, a
former president of the Islamic Association for Palestine.
The Israeli government alleges that Mr. Marzook is actually
the military leader of Hamas and thus is involved in planning
and financing the group's terrorist operations. It has filed
bank records and confessions from alleged Hamas activities to
support the claim.
Israeli officials allege that Mr. Marzook and Ismail
Elbarasse, a former board member of the Islamic Association
for Palestine's parent organization, funneled hundreds of
thousands of dollars from U.S. banks to fund Hamas terrorism.
Mr. Elbarasse and Mr. Marzook are friends and formerly were
business partners.
Hamas--an Arabic acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement--
was founded near the start of the intifada, a Palestinian
uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and
Gaza. Hamas' goal is the destruction of Israel and
establishment of an Islamic state.
The government of Israel and the Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith have alleged that the two Richardson-based
groups are part of the ``command and control structure'' of
Hamas in the United States.
charges echoed
Those charges have been echoed by two pro-Israel members of
Congress, former FBI counterterrorism chief Oliver ``Buck''
Revell and in an award-winning and controversial documentary,
Jihad in America, produced by journalist Steven Emerson.
U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., asked the IRS last month to
revoke the Holy Land Foundation's tax-exempt status because
of what she termed its support for Hamas terrorism.
Officials of the Islamic Association for Palestine and Holy
Land Foundation say they want peace between Israel and the
Palestinian people and that they deplore the killing of
innocent people.
They admit sympathy with the Hamas cause of establishing a
Palestinian state and share its opposition to the Israeli-PLO
peace accord. But they argue that they are being demonized by
Zionists to halt aid to and information about Palestinian
Muslims.
``We've been targeted because we are very visible,'' said
Mr. Baker, a co-founder of the Holy Land Foundation. ``We are
the only one focused on the needs of the Palestinian
people.''
Ghassan El-Ashi, another Holy Land Foundation co-founder
and an incorporator of the Islamic Association for Palestine,
branded the accusations ``guilt by association.'' He called
materials purporting to show links between the two
nonprofit groups and Hamas ``very old and shoddy.''
Mr. El-Ashi said family ties to Mr. Marzook do not mean
they share the same politics. Among Palestinians, he said,
members of the same family ware often split among political
factions.
records, interviews
The Dallas Morning News examined court filings, business
records and materials produced by the Islamic Association for
Palestine and Holy Land Foundation since 1987, when Hamas was
formed.
The newspaper also interviewed law enforcement officers,
Middle Eastern scholars and high-ranking officials of the two
nonprofit organizations.
The examination revealed two close-knit groups that often
work together. The Islamic Association for Palestine, which
describes itself as an information center, and the Holy Land
Foundation, which raises money for Islamic charitable causes,
have become prominent in the American Muslim community.
Islamic Association for Palestine publications state that
the group was formed in 1981, six years before Hamas began in
Gaza.
Osama Abdul, vice chairman of the association, said the
group was started by students at universities around the
United States.
The organization also says that it supplies information
about the Palestinian cause by publishing newspapers and
sponsoring conferences. The group has a home page on the
Internet.
Al-Zaitonah (The Olive), an Arabic newspaper published by
the Islamic Association for Palestine, is considered in
Israel to be ``the Hamas paper,'' said Israeli journalist
Roni Shaked, author of a 1993 book on Hamas.
An issue dated March 16, 1995, carried an ad for a book
entitled Jews Behind Every Crime and repeated a rhyme about
carrying the Palestinian fight from the hotels--that is,
diplomatic talks--to the trenches. A 1990 issue of another
association publication printed song lyrics praising Hamas as
``the conscience of the country'' and ``iron in the face of
the Jews.'' The Islamic Association for Palestine has since
ceased to publish the quarterly called Ila Falastin, Arabic
for Toward Palestine.
Cartoons depicted a mosque with its minaret replaced by a
Kalashnikov assault rifle and a map of the United States
drawn as a target pierced with arrows.
A Palestinian-American convicted in Israel of aiding Hamas
terrorism told police that both Islamic Association for
Palestine papers were ``published by Hamas activists.'' Hamas
pamphlets are distributed in the occupied territories by
enclosing them with Al-Zaitonah, he said.
hamas' motto
The charter of Hamas was printed by the Islamic Association
for Palestine, complete with the organization's name and
local post office box address. The charter includes Hamas'
motto, which lists ``jihad as its methodology and death for
the sake of Allah is its most coveted desire.''
``There is no solution to the Palestinian Problem except by
Jihad,'' the charter says. It refers to jihad as carrying
weapons and confronting the enemy, providing equipment to the
fighter and looking after his family.
Mr. Abdul said he did not know that the association had
published the Hamas charter. But any Hamas statements
published by the association ``were published for information
purposes only'' because ``everybody was asking about this
organization,'' he said.
The Islamic Association for Palestine, he said, does not
endorse the killing of innocent civilians.
``We as IAP, we don't feel happy when someone is killed,''
he said. News of the four suicide bombings that were carried
out in Israel between Feb. 25 and March 4, claiming 58 lives,
``worried us because we knew 2 million Palestinians will be
punished'' for them.
But audience members at the December 1989 conference of the
Islamic Association for Palestine shouted ``Allahu Akbar''
(``God is great'') when the masked Hamas spokesman talked
about an ocean of blood.
In a videotape of the conference, Yaser Bushnaq, a Dallas
resident who was then president of the Islamic Association
for Palestine, welcomed participants. A Hamas banner draped a
table, from which one speaker after another praised Hamas.
The conference was named after Abdulla Azzam, considered a
Hamas martyr.
Ahmed Al Qattan, a militant cleric from Kuwait, said Hamas
``made the Jews shiver in fear.'' He led a chant that said,
in part, ``Long live Hamas. . . . Now the stone will be
replaced by the Kalashnikov.''
Mr. Abdul insists that the association was not endorsing
Hamas terrorism by organizing the 1989 conference. At that
time, ``every Palestinian was emotionally involved with the
intifada . . . . If you talked to people about anything else,
they would just leave you,'' he said.
attack re-enacted
Mr. Emerson, the documentary producer, supplied another
videotape that he described as a Hamas training video. It
depicts men with assault rifles re-enacting an attack on a
Jewish factory.
In another scene, rifle bullets spell out ``Hamas'' in
Arabic characters. the opening frames carry the logo of Aqsa
Vision Audio Visual Production. The association's Richardson
telephone number is provided at the end for ordering copies.
Mr. Abdul called Aqsa Vision ``the sales department of
IAP,'' selling items with the association's logo or slogans.
He said Aqse Vision ``does not produce any tapes.''
He called the alleged training video ``a professional cut-
and-paste job'' by Mr. Emerson, whom he and Muslim leaders
around the country have denounced as pro-Zionist.
Mr. Emerson's 1994 documentary drew national attention to
the Islamic Association for Palestine and the Holy Land
Foundation. He alleged that the two organizations were part
of a radical Islamic network operating within the United
States.
The recent bombings by Hamas in Israel have renewed that
attention, as has Israel's effort to extradite Mr. Marzook
from the United States to put him on trial for terrorism. He
remains in jail in New York while the extradition case is
being decided.
Israel says that Mr. Marzook, a former resident of Ruston,
La., is actually Hamas' military leader. He has said that he
knew nothing of Hamas' military actions and is fighting
extradition.
Thick volumes of records filed by Israel in the case
contain extensive statements by Muhammad Salah, a Chicago-
area used-car dealer who confessed to being a Hamas agent.
His statements, made in early 1993, fueled Israeli charges of
Hamas activism in the United States.
Mr. Salah told Israeli investigators that Mr. Marzook sent
him and another Hamas leader in London to reorganize Hamas
operations and distribute funds to Hamas activists in the
Occupied Territories.
[[Page E1083]]
confession recanted
Last year, Mr. Salah was convicted of aiding Hamas
terrorism and sentenced to five years in prison. He later
recanted his confession, insisting the statements were
coerced through abuse and torture.
Statements by Mr. Salah and other alleged Hamas activists
described attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. They
also trace more than $200,000 provided for guns and
terrorists action to a U.S. bank account.
The account, at a bank in McLean, Va., was held jointly by
Mr. Marzook and Mr. Elbarasse, a former board member of the
American Middle Eastern League for Palestine, an Islamic
Association for Palestine parent organization.
Stanley Cohen, a New York attorney for Mr. Marzook, said it
was Mr. Elbarasse who transferred $735,000 to Mr. Salah's
Chicago bank account.
Mr. Salah then had $200,000 transferred to him in Israel,
bank records show. When Mr. Salah was arrested, $97,000 in
cash was also confiscated.
Mr. Cohen said the money did not belong to his client. Mr.
Marzook did not know it had been sent to Mr. Salah, the
attorney said, nor did Mr. Marzook direct how Mr. Salah
should spend the funds.
A man at Mr. Elbarasse's home in Falls Church, Va., hung up
the phone when a reporter asked to speak to Mr. Elbarasse.
Several current and former association officials are
helping Mr. Marzook with his legal troubles. Mr. Bushnaq, the
former association president, is one of two signatories on
the Marzook legal defense fund, Mr. Cohen said.
Rafiq Jaber and Sabri Ibrahim, current president and vice
president, respectively, of the Islamic Association for
Palestine, say they also are assisting with Mr. Marzook's
defense by circulating petitions and encouraging
contributions. Both live in the Chicago area, where the
association is planning to move its headquarters.
Mr. Marzook is also a key link between Hamas and the Holy
Land Foundation, one of the largest U.S. fund-raisers for
Islamic charitable causes.
Founded as the Occupied Land Fund in California in 1987,
the organization renamed itself and moved to Richardson in
1992. Last year the group raised $2.25 million in donations
and another $1 million in in-kind contributions, officials
said.
tax returns
According to Holy Land Foundation tax returns, Mr. Marzook
contributed $210,000 in 1992. His personal secretary, Nasser
Alkhatib, contributed another $22,450. Total contributions
for the year were $2 million.
Mr. Baker, the foundation's executive director, remembered
Mr. Marzook making the contribution after an Islamic
conference in Kansas City.
He cited the donation as proof that there is no secret
relationship between Mr. Marzook and the foundation. Mr.
Marzook knew his contribution would be reported, Mr. Baker
said.
At the time, Mr. Baker said, Mr. Marzook had not stated
publicly that he was a leader of Hamas.
``We'll take any money if it's legal,'' the Holy Land
Foundation director said.
Mr. Marzook, through his attorney, denied making the
contribution. Mr. Cohen said the donation came from Mr.
Elbarasse.
``I'm saying that transaction was from the joint account
and had nothing to do with Mr. Marzook,'' he said. ``I'm
sorry. Mousa Marzook did not donate $210,000 to them.''
Mr. Cohen acknowledged that Mr. Marzook's wife, Nadia,
invested $250,000 in 1993 in InfoCom Corp., a Richardson
computer company run by her cousin, Bayan El-Ashi. Mr. El-
Ashi is the brother of Ghassan El-Ashi, the foundation's
treasurer and InfoCom's international marketing director.
Ghassan El-Ashi declined to discuss whether Mrs. Marzook
was an investor in InfoCom, and he referred questions to Mr.
Cohen.
There is an even stronger link between Hamas and the Holy
Land Foundation than Mr. Marzook--one which Mr. Baker and
Ghassan El-Ashi readily admit and defend.
The Holy Land Foundation provides grants to schools,
clinics, mosques and other social service organizations in
the Middle East and elsewhere to meet Muslim humanitarian
needs.
Publications say the Holy Land Foundation raises money for
widows, orphans, the homeless and ``families of martyrs.''
The group boasts it was the first to aid 413 suspected Hamas
activists whom Israel deported to Lebanon in 1992.
In Gaza and the West Bank, Middle East experts say, Hamas
is widely regarded as one of the largest and most efficient
providers of social services. The Holy Land Foundation helps
supports some of those Hamas institutions.
hamas bastion
The Islamic University of Gaza is listed by the foundation
as one recipient. It is known as a Hamas bastion; Mr. Marzook
was one of its founders.
Mr. Baker said the Holy Land Foundation does not care about
the political leanings of the people whose programs it funds.
``Our humanitarian work is not colored by political reality
in that area,'' he said.
Mr. Abdul of the Islamic Association for Palestine denied
that Hamas operates social service agencies--that is a
Zionist mischaracterization, he said.
Dr. Philip Mattar, executive director of the Institute for
Palestine Studies in Washington, said Hamas' social service
system is undeniable.
``Hamas does run social and health services in the West
Bank.''
There's no doubt about it,'' he said. ``Most of their money
goes to running those services. But they benefit enormously
in that it generates an enormous amount of good will,
especially in underdeveloped areas.''
In many such organizations in the Middle East, accusations
of corruption are common. ``You won't find too much
corruption among Hamas organizations,'' Dr. Mattar said.
``They are quite puritanical.''
Another recipient of Holy Land Foundation funds was an
Islamic school operated by Jamil Hamami. Mr. Hamami, who has
been called a Hamas leader by Israel, has been detained
several times. His Faith School is one of the most respected
in the West Bank, Mr. Baker said.
Since the bombings began in March, Israeli authorities have
shut down many Muslim charities because of suspected Hamas
ties. Among those closed was the Holy Land Foundation's
Jerusalem office.
``Yes, that was because they are claiming we have Hamas
ties,'' Mr. Baker said. He called Israel's action ``a
political move'' that the foundation is challenging in
Israeli court.
Ms. Lowey, the congresswoman who is seeking to revoke the
foundation's tax-exempt status, contended that the Holy Land
Foundation's aid to Hamas-run charities and deportees is
proof of the foundation's support for terrorism.
``If you're raising money for Hamas activists, you're
raising money for Hamas,'' she said in a statement.
money not traced
Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA counterterrorism chief,
said U.S. officials have not been able to trace money raised
by Muslim charities in the United States to Middle East
terrorism. But he said contributions to the Hamas social
service network can benefit its military operations.
``You can give money to a specific hospital in Gaza, for
example, and that money will go there,'' he said. ``And if
that money is controlled by Hamas, that frees up money that
can go for bad things.''
Mr. Baker said the Holy Land Foundation is considering a
fund-raising campaign to rebuild houses for families of
suicide bombers. The Israeli government has demolished more
than 100 such homes, he said.
The demolitions are against international law because they
are ``collective punishment'' aimed at a large group of
people rather than at specific individuals convicted of
crimes, he said.
``My obligation as a humanitarian is to go there and
rebuild those houses,'' he said. ``I don't want the rest of
the children to go and blow themselves up because they see
the world is full of injustice.''
Mr. Baker, who has spent half his life in the West and
whose mother is Christian, said he believes Israel has a
right to exist.
He said Israel's Zionist government should put aside its
bigotry and permit Palestinians to have a country, too.
``A lot of good Jews are doing wonderful things in this
country and everywhere. They do not deserve my anger or
hate,'' he said. ``A lot of bad Muslims are doing bad things.
They deserve my frustration.
``But if you want to . . . base all your positions and
attitudes in this life on religion or ethnicity or political
backgrounds, you're doomed to be a failure.''
____________________