Background and Key Facts

According to the U.S. government, HLF funneled more than $12 million to Hamas since 1995, when it became illegal to fund Hamas. [2] This money was used to support Palestinian schools that indoctrinated children, encouraging them to become suicide bombers, and to provide financial support to the families of suicide bombers. [3] [4]

Defense attorneys argue that HLF's organizers do not support Hamas and only provided financial aid to help Palestinian families and children. However, the monies were sent to "zakat" (charity) committees controlled by Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the European Union, [5] the United States, [6] Israel, [7] Canada [8] and Australia. [9]

Although some argue that Hamas's charitable organizations are not connected with its terrorist activities, Hamas has made no distinction -- in its actions or words -- among any of its wings: social, political and military.

Hamas's Branches are Intertwined

According to a 2003 U.S. Treasury Department report, the late Sheik Ahmed Yassin, founder and former leader of Iran-backed Hamas, admitted "there is no distinguishing the political and military wings of Hamas." [10] Furthermore, Yassin has rejected any idea that Hamas's wings are independent of each other: "We cannot separate the wing from the body. If we do so, the body will not be able to fly. Hamas is one body." [11]
Hamas's political bureau in Damascus, headed by political chief Khaled Mashaal and Moussa Abu Marzouk, the deputy political chief, has raised funds to arm militants in the Palestinian territories and has smuggled weapons into the West Bank and Gaza by sea and land. These operations have often been funded by Iran. [12] The political bureau, which also plans and directs terrorist attacks against Israel and the Palestinian territories, is the highest-ranking leadership body in Hamas, setting policies regarding Hamas's activities. [13]
Hamas's ties to terrorism are evident in its relationship with its official armed branch, the Izzedeen al-Qassam Brigades, which has carried out many of the most violent terrorist acts against Israel and has been responsible for firing Qassam rockets from Gaza, targeting civilians in Israel, in recent months. [14] The Brigades is one of three groups that kidnapped Israel Defense Forces Cpl. Gilad Shalit in an unprovoked attack in June 2006 near the Gaza border. [15] In June 2007, the terrorist group released a video of Shalit on its Web site [16] and has refused to allow the Red Cross to see him. [17]
Immediately following the Jan. 2006 election of Hamas to lead the Palestinian Authority (PA) government, the terrorist group established an official militia under the control of the Ministry of Interior. The Executive Force, as the militia is called, killed a senior Fatah lawmaker and seven of his bodyguards two days after it was instated. [18] According to a senior commander of Hamas's Executive Force (a man on Israel's most wanted list), the Egyptian English-language weekly Al-Ahram reported that most of the 5,000-strong force is comprised of Izzedeen al-Qassam Brigades members on the official Hamas-led PA government payroll. [19]
The late Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a former Hamas leader, acknowledged that there were ties between the political and military wings of Hamas in a 2001 interview with Reuters: "The [Hamas] political leadership has freed the hand of ['Izz ad-Din al-Qassam] brigades to do whatever they want against the brothers of monkeys and pigs [i.e. Jews]." Furthermore, the article states, "Hamas's political wing determines the overall policy for the movement." [20]
Transferring of Funds

Funds transferred from charitable donations, intended for the families of Palestinian "martyrs," were diverted into the bank accounts of Khaled Mashaal and Osama Hamdan, the Lebanon-based political leader, which were used to support suicide bombings in Israel. [21] A 2000 Palestinian intelligence report stated that Hamas leaders determined that charitable donations "will not be sent to the PA, but deposited in the accounts of Usama Hamdan [the Hamas representative in Lebanon] and Khaled Mishal [Secretary General of Hamas]." These funds would, in part, "be allocated to support the Hamas' military arm 'inside'." [22]
Moussa Abu Marzouk provided substantial funding and instructions to the Holy Land Foundation at its inception while simultaneously funding the Izzedeen al-Qassam Brigades. Checks, totaling $210,000, written by Marzouk to the HLF can be viewed here. [23] [24] Marzouk is identified as a specially designated terrorist by the U.S. Department of Treasury [25] and has been implicated in receiving financing for Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel and in the Palestinian territories. [26] According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, Marzouk "designated HLF as the primary fund-raising entity for HAMAS in the United States" in 1994. [27]
Hamas's Manipulation of Charity Funds

Hamas exploits charitable societies to fund and support terror and masks its terrorist activities behind various social, political and charitable organizations. While Hamas does provide some social services to the Palestinians, many can be connected to the terrorist group's "jihad" or "holy war" against Israel. Hamas uses charitable organizations, hospitals, mosques, schools and sports clubs to hide weapons and to recruit Palestinian youth for terrorist attacks or training courses in the terror-sponsoring nations of Iran and Syria. [28]
Experts say that a separation cannot be made between Hamas' social-welfare infrastructures (dawa) and the direct and indirect funding of terrorism since the monies flow into a common fund before being channeled to the relevant activities. [29]
Organizations serving as charities provide funding to families of suicide bombers killed or wounded while carrying out terrorist attacks or imprisoned for their involvement in attacks. The relatives of the shahids or martyrs usually receive an initial grant of $500 to $5,000 and in addition, a monthly allowance of about $100. [30]
Additional Background Information on Hamas

Hamas has received almost $1 billion from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. [31]
Hamas is largely responsible for the almost 2,000 Qassam rockets fired into Israel since its disengagement from Gaza. [32] Israel evacuated nearly 9,000 Israelis living in Gaza and parts of the West Bank in Aug. 2005, turning the area over to the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which has done nothing to stop the rocket attacks.
Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel and strives to raise "the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine." [33]
Hamas rejects peaceful solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. According to Hamas, giving up any part of the land it claims as Palestine would be tantamount to renouncing part of Islam. Hamas's charter states: "Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement." [34]
Hamas states in its charter: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." [35]
Hamas believes that "there is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad" [36] and that "Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes." [37]

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Footnotes

[1] "The Holy Land Trial," The Dallas Morning News , Aug. 8, 2007
[2] "Holy Land Foundation, Leaders, Accused of Providing Material Support to Hamas Terrorist Organization," U.S. Department of Justice, July 27, 2004,  http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/HLF/U.S._v_HLF_DOJPRIndictment.pdf
[3] "Key Issues-Protecting Charitable Organizations, The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development," U.S. Department of the Treasury, Dec. 20, 2005,  http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/key-issues/protecting/charities_execorder_13224-e.shtml
[4] Levitt, Matthew, "Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad," 2006, pg. 146
[5] "Council Decision," Council of the European Union, Dec. 21, 2005
[6] "Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)," U.S. Department of State Web site, Oct. 11, 2005, accessed Jan. 18, 2007,  http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm
[7] Wilson, Scott, "Hamas Sweeps Palestinian Elections, Complicating Peace Efforts in Mideast," The Washington Post , Jan. 27, 2006, accessed Jan. 18, 2006,
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/26/AR2006012600372.html
[8] Public Security and Emergency Preparedness Canada, National Security, Listed entities, accessed Jan. 18, 2007,  http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp#hhi18
[9] "Listing of Terrorist Organisations," Australian Government Web site, May 24, 2007,  http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/
95FB057CA3DECF30CA256FAB001F7FBD?OpenDocument
[10] "U.S. Designates Five Charities Funding Hamas and Six Senior Hamas Leaders as Terrorist Entities," Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Aug. 22, 2003,  http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/js672.htm; Levitt, Matthew, "Moderately Deadly," National Review Online, March 26, 2004,  http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/levitt200403261126.asp
[11] Levitt, Matthew A., "Hamas from Cradle to Grave," Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2004,  http://www.meforum.org/article/582
[12] Levitt, Matthew, "Hamas's Hidden Economy," July 3, 2007, Los Angeles Times via The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, July 3, 2007,  http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC06.php?CID=1073
[13] Levitt, Matthew A., "Hamas from Cradle to Grave," Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2004,  http://www.meforum.org/article/582
[14] "Sderot hit by Kassam barrage from Gaza," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, June 1, 2007,  http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palesti
nian+terror+since+2000/Sderot+hit+by+Kassa
m+barrage+from+Gaza+-+May+2007.htm
[15] "Tensions high as Israel awaits word of kidnapped soldier," CNN, June 26, 2006,  http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/25/israel.postattack/index.html
[16] "تسجيل صوتي للجندي الأسير جلعاد شاليط " ( Tran. Audio recording of the captured soldier Gilad Shalit), Izzedeen al-Qassam Brigades Web site, June 25, 2007,  http://www.alqassam.ps/arabic/?action=detail&&sid=3562
[17] Raved, Ahiye, "Noam Shalit:Let Red Cross visit Gilad," Ynetnews.com, Nov. 7, 2006,"  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3274154,00.html
[18] Barzak, Ibrahim, "Hamas pledges to boost force in Gaza," The Associated Press via The Washington Post, Jan. 6, 2007,  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/06/AR2007010600401.html
[19] Silverman, Erica, "Ominous escalation," Al-Ahram Weekly Online, Oct. 5-11, 2006, Issue 815,  http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/815/re5.htm
[20] Levitt, Matthew A., "Hamas from Cradle to Grave," Reuters via Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2004,  http://www.meforum.org/article/582
[21] "U.S. Designates Five Charities Funding Hamas and Six Senior Hamas Leaders as Terrorist Entities," Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Aug. 22, 2003,  http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/js672.htm
[22] Levitt, Matthew, "Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad," 2006, pgs. 68-69
[23] "Mousa Abu Marzook's Financial Support for HLF," The NEFA Foundation, accessed Aug. 17, 2007,  http://www.nefafoundation.org/hlfdocs.html
[24] Levitt, Matthew, "Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad," 2006, pg. 74
[25] "Key Issues: Protecting Charitable Organizations, Additional Background Information on Charities Designated Under Executive Order 13224," United States Department of the Treasury Web site, accessed Aug. 17, 2007,  http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/key-issues/prote
cting/charities_execorder_13224-e.shtml
[26] "U.S. Designates Five Charities Funding Hamas and Six Senior Hamas Leaders as Terrorist Entities," Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Aug. 22, 2003,  http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/js672.htm
[27] "Key Issues: Protecting Charitable Organizations, Additional Background Information on Charities Designated Under Executive Order 13224," United States Department of the Treasury Web site, accessed Aug. 17, 2007,  http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/key-issues/protecting/charities_execorder_13224-e.shtml
[28] Levitt, Matthew A., "Hamas from Cradle to Grave," Reuters via Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2004,  http://www.meforum.org/article/582; Levitt, Matthew, "Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad," 2006, pg. 6
[29] "Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement," Ynetnews.com, March 15, 2007,  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3377113,00.html; Levitt, Matthew and Chosak, Jamie, "Undermining Hamas and Empowering Moderates by Filling the Humanitarian Void," The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Sept. 7, 2005,  http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2366
[30] Levitt, Matthew A., "Hamas from Cradle to Grave," Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2004,  http://www.meforum.org/article/582
[31] Taheri, Amir, "Putting up the Family Jewels for Sale," Asharq Al-Awsat, July 20, 2007,  http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=9636
[32] Report by the Israel Defense Force Spokesman's Office, Aug. 8, 2007
[33] "Hamas," Council on Foreign Relations, June 8, 2007,  http://www.cfr.org/publication/8968/; "Hamas Covenant 1988: The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Article Six: Characteristics and Independence," The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, Aug. 18, 1988,  http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/hamas.htm
[34] "Hamas Covenant 1988: The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Article Thirteen: Peaceful Solutions, Initiatives and International Conferences," The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, Aug. 18, 1988,  http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/hamas.htm
[35] "Hamas Covenant 1988: The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, In The Name of The Most Merciful Allah," The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, Aug. 18, 1988,  http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/hamas.htm
[36] "Hamas Covenant 1988: The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Article Thirteen: Peaceful Solutions, Initiatives and International Conferences," The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, Aug. 18, 1988,  http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/hamas.htm
[ 37] "Hamas Covenant 1988: The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Article Eight: The Slogan of the Islamic Resistance Movement," The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, Aug. 18, 1988,  http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/hamas.htm

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LINKS TO HELPFUL ARTICLES AND OTHER INFORMATION

Hamas Charter:  http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/hamas.htm

"Key Issues-Protecting Charitable Organizations, The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development," U.S. Department of the Treasury, Dec. 20, 2005,  http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/key-issues/protecting/charities_execorder_13224-e.shtml

Levitt, Matthew A., "Hamas from Cradle to Grave," Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2004,  http://www.meforum.org/article/582

"U.S. Designates Five Charities Funding Hamas and Six Senior Hamas Leaders as Terrorist Entities," Office of Thrift Supervision, Aug. 22, 2003,  http://www.ots.treas.gov/docs/4/48937.html

"Backgrounder: Hamas," Council on Foreign Relations, June 8, 2007,  http://www.cfr.org/publication/8968/
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Web of Terror: The Holy Land Foundation, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood

The Holy Land Foundation (HLF) is just one node in a vast network of terror funding that ultimately falls under the umbrella of the Muslim Brotherhood, the most pervasive Islamic fundamentalist movement in the world. In fact, the leaders of most global Islamic terror groups including Hamas - a Palestinian offshoot - have roots in the Brotherhood. Front organizations such as the HLF, which pose as moderate organizations or charities, comprise the infrastructure that enables these global terror organizations to flourish. [1]

The Muslim Brotherhood, established in 1928, has branches in 70 countries worldwide. [2] An explanatory memorandum on the strategic goal of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. reflects its broad mission: "The process of settlement is a 'Civilization-Jihadist Process' with all the word means. The Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within…." [3]

The Muslim Brotherhood plays a central role in providing an ideological and financial basis for terrorist activities globally [4] and has nurtured almost all of the leaders of global terrorist organizations. For example, Ramzi Yousef, leader of the terror cell that attempted to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993, was recruited while attending college in Wales, and Osama bin Laden was recruited while attending university in Saudi Arabia. [5]

The Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas

Hamas, a terrorist organization funded by Israel that espouses an extremist Islamic fundamentalist ideology and is dedicated to the eradication of Israel, is a militant Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. [6] [7] Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, [8] the European Union, [9] Israel, [10] Canada [11] and Australia. [12]

The Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. is focused on funneling funds to Hamas through a networked structure of non-profit, tax-exempt foundations. In the course of the HLF trial, prosecutors have released dozens of exhibits establishing a web of connections between numerous Hamas front groups operating in the U.S. [13]

According to Richard Clarke, the former chief counter-terrorism adviser on the U.S. National Security Council, "the issue of terrorist financing in the United States is a fundamental example of the shared infrastructure levered by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda… within our borders. The common link here is the extremist Muslim Brotherhood-all these organizations are descendants of the membership and ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood." [14]

The Closing of The Holy Land Foundation

As soon as the U.S. government shut down the HLF and other related organizations, the Muslim Brotherhood orchestrated the creation of new front groups that continued with the mission of financing Hamas's terrorist activities.

For example, the Global Relief Foundation (GRF), which was closed by the U.S. government in 2001, [15] was re-born the following year when a GRF public relations representative became the president and CEO of a new non-profit organization, KindHearts. [16] Following a two-year U.S. Senate investigation, KindHearts, which was providing financial support for Hamas, was shuttered in Feb. 2006. [17] An organization that terrorism analysts believe was created to replace the HLF -- Kinder USA -- is still operational. [18]

Well-known and mainstream groups also have been consistently linked with the Muslim Brotherhood's U.S. network. Perhaps the most prominent is the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF trial. CAIR was formed as the daughter organization of the Islamic Association for Palestine, another organization the federal government has shut down. In the course of the HLF trial, F.B.I. agent Lara Burns testified that CAIR received funding from the HLF. [19]

For more information on the trial and The Holy Land Foundation's origins in the Muslim Brotherhood, please see:
 http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stori
es/091707dnmetbrotherhood.35ce2b6.html


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Footnotes

[1] Servold, Gary, "The Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Radicalism," in "Know Thy Enemy: Profiles of Adversary Leaders and Their Strategic Cultures," July 2003, p. 41-83, accessed Aug.22, 2007,  http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/cpc-pubs/know_thy_enemy/servold.pdf
[2] Ibid.
[3] "Selected Government Exhibits and Documents from U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation," The NEFA Foundation, accessed Aug. 20, 2007,
 http://www.nefafoundation.org/hlfdocs.html
[4] Statement of Jonathan Winer, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, "Terror Financing: Origination, Organization and Prevention," July 31, 2003, accessed Aug. 18, 2007,  http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Testimony&HearingID=106&WitnessID=370
[5] Ibid.
[6] Testimony of John S. Pistole, Assistant Director, Counterterrorism Division, FBI
Before the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, "The Terrorist Financing Operations Section," Sept. 24, 2003,  http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress03/pistole092403.htm
[7] According to Article Two of the Hamas Charter: "The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine."
[8] "Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)," U.S. Department of State Web site, Oct. 11, 2005,  http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm
[9] "Council Decision," Council of the European Union, Dec. 21, 2005
[10] Wilson, Scott, "Hamas Sweeps Palestinian Elections, Complicating Peace Efforts in Mideast," The Washington Post , Jan. 27, 2006, accessed Jan. 18, 2006,
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/26/AR2006012600372.html
[11] Public Security and Emergency Preparedness Canada, National Security, Listed entities, accessed Jan. 18, 2007,  http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp#hhi18
[12] "Listing of Terrorist Organisations," Australian Government Web site, May 24, 2007,  http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/natio
nalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/95FB057CA3DECF30CA256FAB001F7FBD?OpenDocument
[13] "Selected Government Exhibits and Documents from U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation," The NEFA Foundation, accessed Aug. 20, 2007,
 http://www.nefafoundation.org/hlfdocs.html
[14] Statement of Jonathan Winer, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, "Terror Financing: Origination, Organization and Prevention," July 31, 2003, accessed Aug. 18, 2007,  http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Testimony&HearingID=106&WitnessID=370
[15] Shenon, Philip, "A Nation Challenged: The Money Trail; F.B.I. Raids 2 of the Biggest Muslim Charities; Assets of One Are Seized," The New York Times , Dec. 15, 2001,  http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=FA0E11F8355B0C768DDDAB0994D9404482
[16] "Money Laundering and Terror Financing Issues in the Middle East," Testimony of Steve Emerson Before the United States Senate Subcommittee of Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs," July 13, 2005, accessed Aug. 18, 2007,  http://banking.senate.gov/_files/emerson.pdf
[17] "U.S. Blocks Accounts Of Ohio Islamic Charity," Associated Press , Feb. 20, 2006,  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/19/AR2006021900916.html?referrer=email&referrer=email
[18] Gerstein, Josh, "Charity Drops Suit Against Terrorism Analyst," The New York Sun, Aug. 16, 2007,  http://www.nysun.com/article/60635
[19] The Investigative Project on Terrorism, "CAIR Identified by the FBI as part of the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee," Counterterrorism Blog, Aug. 8, 2007, accessed Aug.21, 2007,  http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/08/cair_identified_by_the_fbi_as.php