Israel Matzav

The Holy Land Foundation - CAIR connection

There's a trial going on right now in the US in which a 'charity' called the Holy Land Foundation is accused of funding Hamas terrorism. Unfortunately, the trial has not gotten a lot of coverage. At Conservative Thoughts, Robert blogs a Steve Emerson article in which Emerson points out some of the connections that have been discovered between the Holy Land Foundation and CAIR, an organization that claims to protect 'Muslim civil rights' in the United States:

It’s disgraceful how little coverage the Holy Land Foundation trial—the largest terror financing trial in history, implicating some very high-profile Islamic advocacy groups—is getting in US mainstream media, and Steven Emerson tries to fill some of the gaps: HLF and CAIR, a Supplement to Mainstream Reporting.

CAIR was founded by high ranking officials of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a Hamas front group effectively shut down after losing a $156 million civil judgment in a case brought by the parents of an American teenager murdered by Hamas terrorists [David Boim HY"D. CiJ]. HLF was also a defendant in that case, and the ties between CAIR, IAP and HLF run very deep.

Ghassan Elashi, a defendant in the HLF trial, also a participant in the 1993 Philadelphia meeting of Hamas activists (along with CAIR founders Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmed), founded CAIR’s Texas chapter. In a previous criminal trial, Elashi has already been found guilty of laundering money for top Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook, as well as violating sanctions against state sponsors of terrorism. He was sentenced to nearly 7 years in prison.

Earlier in the week, Elashi caused a stir in the courtroom, yelling about how the trial was part of a “Zionist conspiracy,” which is nothing new for Elashi and CAIR. When FBI agents raided Elashi’s company, Infocom, CAIR issued a press release complaining of an “anti-Muslim witch hunt,“ and - in typical CAIR fashion - purporting to speak for all American Muslims, which stated:

American Muslims view yesterday’s action as just one of a long list of attempts by the pro-Israel lobby to intimidate and silence all those who wish to see Palestinian Muslims and Christians free themselves of a brutal Apartheid-like occupation. We believe the genesis of this raid lies not in Washington, but in Tel Aviv.

As I noted above, Koenig reported that CAIR members were at the 1993 Hamas meeting. But evidence introduced during the trial implicated CAIR in the conspiracy even further, as documents from the trial link CAIR to the other U.S.-based Hamas front organizations, and demonstrate CAIR’s extensive ties to the Muslim Brotherhood – specifically the Palestine Committee.

Read the whole thing.

Previously at Israel Matzav:

Why are Christians silent?

Law enforcement reduces Muslim donations

The limits of sympathy

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:06 AM