Islamic Association of Palestine
Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP, also known as Islamic Association for Palestine) was an organization accused of raising money in the United States for Hamas established in 1981 and defunct since 2004.[1] It described itself as "a not-for-profit, public-awareness, educational, political, social, and civic, national grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a just, comprehensive, and eternal solution to the cause of Palestine and suffrages of the Palestinians." For a time it also used the name American Muslim Society (AMS) and operated as the American Middle Eastern League for Palestine (AMEL).[2]
The Islamic Association of Palestine had strong ties to the Holy Land Foundation for Relied and Development and to several organizations established in the U.S. to serve as fronts for the U.S.-terrorist designated Hamas.[3][4] Founders included Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, funder and 1989 member of IAP Board of Directors.[5]
Establishment and goals
As Terror Finance expert Matthew Levitt reported, Hamas invested considerable resources to give “the Palestinian cause an Islamic flavor.”[6] U.S. authorities believed that the Islamic Association of Palestine was established towards that goal, as well as to raise funds for Hamas.[6]
The Islamic Association of Palestine was intimately tied to Hamas, and especially to its senior leadership. Levitt observed that the organization “was originally formed in 1981 by Dr. Aly Mishal at the personal diection of Khaled Mishal (who was then a senior Muslim Brotherhood activist and would later become secretary general of Hamas.”[6] When the Muslim Brotherhood leader in Gaza formally established Hamas in 1987, “the IAP became the group’s mouthpiece in North America.”[6]
It published a magazine, Tareeq Filistine (Road to Palestine), Ila Filastin (To Palestine) and the newspapers Al-Zaytuna (The Olive) and Muslim World Monitor.[citation needed]
In December 2004, a federal judge in Chicago ruled that the IAP (along with the Holy Land Foundation) was liable for a $156 million lawsuit for aiding and abetting the terror group Hamas in the death of 17-year-old David Boim, an American citizen.[7] In December 2007 the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned the judge's ruling, holding that plaintiffs failed to prove that financial contributions to Hamas played a direct role in Boim's slaying.[8] In 2008, the Seventh Circuit reheard the case en banc, and ruled in favor of the Boims.[9][10][11]
Former Islamic Association of Palestine staffers and members were founding members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).[2]
References
- ^ Kushner, Harvey W. (1998). "The future of terrorism: violence in the new millennium". Retrieved November 27, 2009.
- ^ a b Daniel Pipes and Sharon Chadha, CAIR: Islamists Fooling the Establishment, Middle East Forum Quarterly, Spring 2006.
- ^ “Indictment,” United States of America vs. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Dallas Division), filed July 26, 2004.
- ^ Memorandum to R. Richard Newcomb, Director of the Office fo Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury, by Dale L. Watson, Assistant Director for Counterterrorism, FBI.
- ^ Epstein, Matthew (September 10, 2003). "Testimony of Matthew Epstein Before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security "Saudi Support for Islamic Extremism in the United States"" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-03-02.
- ^ a b c d Levitt, Matthew. (2006). Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Chapter 6.
- ^ "Jury awards $156M to family of teen in slain in West Bank". Usatoday.com. 2004-12-09. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
- ^ Darryl Fears, Ruling Against Muslim Group Is Overturned; Former Charity, Others Not Liable in Teen's Death, Washington Post, December 29, 2007, A02.
- ^ "Boim v Holy Land Foundation" (PDF).
- ^ ROWE, LARA B. "Ending Terrorism with Civil Remedies: Boim v. Holy Land Foundation and the Proper Framework of Liability" (PDF). SEVENTH CIRCUIT REVIEW.
- ^ "Boim v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development". Shurat HaDin—Israel Law Center.
External links
- iap.org was the IAP domain name until after February 2005.[citation needed]
- Site Institute See also Site institute