Funding Hamas

Allegation: Recently, the courts found that the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) was secretly channeling funds to Hamas, a terrorist organization. HLF was closed by the government. More than 250 Muslim organizations and leaders (including ISNA, CAIR, and others) were named as unindicted co-conspirator in the case. This clearly shows that these organizations are implicated in a terror scheme, and should not be trusted.

What is HLF?

HLF was one of the largest charitable Muslim organizations in the US. It was closed post 9/11 by the Government. After a mistrial, in 2008, HLF was found guilty of channeling money to Hamas. Let us assume that “justice was done” (an appeal may be underway): The HLF was indeed channeling money secretly to Hamas. Here is a more in depth summary from Law.com on the case.

You donated to HLF, therefore you are a terrorist sympathizer

A list of tens of thousands of Muslims who donated to HLF in 2 decades was made public thru the proceedings. Islamophobes selectively take names from this list, especially of any Muslim leader that they want to defame, and make the link that: since this person supported HLF, then this person is a Hamas supporter and a terrorist sympathizer.

There are tens of thousands of Muslims who supported this organization in the 1990’s, under the explicit pretext that they are providing humanitarian aid to needy people across the world, including in Israel/Palestine. HLF was an approved 501-C3 Charity, by the Federal Government. If HLF was able to trick the US government, how can Muslim individuals and organizations be held accountable for something that they knew nothing about?

You are an unindicted co-conspirator

The government did something very strange: publicizing the names of more than 250 Muslim organizations and leaders as unindicted co-conspirators. This is such a strange act that was later challenged in court. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? In essence these individuals (and institutions’) reputation is smeared, without any ability to defend themselves. This scary title is then used by Islamophobes to indicate that all mainstream Muslim organizations are guilty, and have conspired to support terrorism: therefore they should be marginalized. Yet, because “these individuals are not parties to a criminal trial, they have neither the right to present evidence nor the opportunity to clear their names. Thus, Professor Robbins argues that the practice violates the Fifth Amendment guarantee that “[n]o person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law[.]”

Other Useful References

ACLU takes a stand in defense of Muslim organizations
Here is a piece in defense of ISNA, another unindicted co-conspirator
An interesting piece on the Wall Street Journal Blog on the issue of unindicted co-conspirator