Posted on 02/23/2006 12:37:16 AM PST by CrawDaddyCA
A man Hamas identifies as its leader in the United States helped raise $500,000 to build a new mosque in Baton Rouge, La., but channeled most of the money to the terrorist group overseas, federal authorities suspect.
Mohammed El-Mezain coordinates fund raising for an Ohio-based charity called KindHearts, which is under investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department for its potential links to terrorist activity.
The Treasury Department says most of the money raised in Louisiana may have been moved overseas to the Palestinian group, regarded by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, reports the Advocate newspaper of Baton Rouge.
El-Mezain was the keynote speaker at a dinner in October 2003 where Muslims in Baton Rouge donated funds to build a local mosque.
A Treasury Department announcement said, however, "only a small amount" of the money raised "was to be retained locally and the vast majority was to be sent to Hamas overseas."
Hamas, responsible for more than 100 suicide bombings and scores of shooting and rocket attacks against Israelis, won overwhelmingly in the Jan. 25 Palestinian parliamentary elections and will form the next government.
El-Mezain was indicted in 2004 for his involvement in the Dallas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which was charged with illegally sending $12.4 million to Hamas.
The president of the Islamic Center at the time of the speech, Imam Jehad Mahmoud, told the Baton Rouge paper the federal government's accusation is "absolutely irresponsible. It's an utter lie."
Mahmoud claimed the money stayed in Baton Rouge, with the exception of $4,000 paid to El-Mezain for his expenses.
The imam said the center once made a donation to the Ohio group KindHearts designated for Pakistani earthquake victims and also received money from the group for Hurricane Katrina relief. But Mahmoud, and the finance director at the time – Zee Mohamed – never were contacted by federal authorities about the fund-raiser to confirm the suspicions.
Mohamed told the Advocate, "Not a single penny has been sent to any other organization." El-Mezain, he said, spoke about the rewards of charity and building a mosque and made no mention of Hamas.
"We tried to bring in somebody who could go up there and give a speech that would touch emotions and make people want to give," Mohamed said.
Mohamed, insisting the center was unaware of El-Mezain's alleged ties to Hamas, said the local Islamic community tries to "stay away from any organization that has any link to terrorism or anything else, so that we can be transparent. We do not want anybody to come down on us. It might be totally innocent, but we don't want to take the chances so our members are safe."
But he called the Treasury Departments accusation a "deliberate attack on the Muslim minority in America."
"It bolsters the belief for some people that we are targeted simply because we are Muslims," he told the Baton Rouge newspaper.
El-Mezain reportedly was identified by the head of Hamas' Political Bureau, Khaled Mashal, as the group's leader in the U.S.
El-Mezain is the cousin of the deputy leader of Hamas' Political Bureau, Musa Abu Marzouq, who affirmed last week to an Egyptian interviewer that the terrorist group believes the entire Jewish state must be eliminated.
Mashal recently reiterated Hamas' view of the West and Israel in a visit to Sudan in which he was honored with a poetry reading in a meeting with local intellectuals. Abdallah Abu Qiqa's poem declared: "We will unite the armies, and they will cry 'Allah Akbar' to Tony and to Bush."
WorldNetDaily reported this week the terrorist wing of Hamas has placed on its website a graphic depicting Israel's symbol, the Star of David, enveloped in a nuclear blast. Also, since its election victory, Hamas posted on its official website parting video messages from two suicide bombers, including one who vowed the terrorist group would drink the blood of Jews until they "leave the Muslim countries."
The Hamas covenant declares that all of the Holy Land, including Israel is Islamic land that can never be surrendered to non-Muslims.
Its introduction quotes "martyr" Imam Hassan al-Banna, who said, "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."
The charter also makes no room for the kind of "peace process" engaged in by the ruling Palestinian Authority.
Article 13 says, "Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. ... There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad."
I see he took a page out of Jessie Jackson's book. When exposed for what you really are, whip out that race card!
Time to sever all ties with them!
We need to block all traffic comming out of Lousiana and start inspecting all cars and trucks they gave terrorists money! /sarcasm
Odd to see that the Sudanese won't give him anything of value, but American Muslims forked over half a mill.
don't let them build anymore mosques on American soil ,
it's like fostering cancer
STATE.gov - U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: "INTERVIEW WITH BOB SCHIEFFER OF CBS's FACE THE NATION" (SNIPPET: "On Hamas, yes, the Russians make the point that they, unlike us, have not listed Hamas as a terrorist organization. Let me be very clear. Hamas is a terrorist organization for us and for the European Union. But Russia is signed on to a Quartet statement, the Quartet being the UN, the United States, the EU and Russia, that is the sort of guardian of the roadmap process in the Middle East; that the Quartet has signed on to the statement that says a Palestinian government must recognize Israel's right to exist, must give up violence, must accept the two-state solution and so on.") (February 12, 2006)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 1087: "HAMAS LEADER KHALED MASH'AL AT A DAMASCUS MOSQUE: THE NATION OF ISLAM WILL SIT AT THE THONE OF THE WORLD AND THE WEST WILL BE FULL OF REMORSE - WHEN IT'S TOO LATE" (February 7, 2006)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 1081: "Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al Presents Hamas Plan on Al-Jazeera TV: 'We are Committed to the Resistance and Adhere to its Weapons...As for Recognizing [Israel] and Amending Our Charter - Hamas is Not the Kind of Movement That Succumbs to Pressure...We Will Not Recognize it, No Matter how Much Time Passes...We Believe in Acting According to Stages...'" (January 31, 2006)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series -No. 1051: "Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi on Hamas Jerusalem Day Online: 'We are a Nation of Jihad and Martyrdom'; 'The Resistance in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon Must Go On'; 'We Stand Alongside Our Brothers in Hamas and Islamic Jihad'" (December 18, 2005)
FreeRepublic.com (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3159944,00.html): "ARAB EMIRATES: HAMAS FOUNDER DIES" (SNIPPET: "Halil Quka, one of the founders of Hamas, died at the age of 58 in the United Arab Emirates. In the 1980s Quka was considered one of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Gaza, second only to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. He was banished from Gaza in the mid-1980s.") (October 26, 2005)
WorldNetDaily.com: "HAMAS 'CAPABLE OF U.S. ATTACKS' Terrorism experts warning nation potentially at risk from militants" by Aaron Klein (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "JERUSALEM - Hamas has cells inside the United States that are technically capable of attacking the country, terrorism experts and senior security officials told WorldNetDaily.") (October 16, 2005)
ADNK.com (AKI): Tel Aviv - "MIDDLE EAST: FIRST HAMAS FEMALE BOMB MAKER CAUGHT, SAYS ISRAEL" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The Israeli military has detained a Gaza Strip woman suspected of being the first female bomb-maker employed by the militant Palestinian group Hamas, an Israeli newspaper has reported. Samar Sabih, 22, was sent by Hamas' military wing in the Gaza Strip to the West Bank to train new explosive experts, Tel Aviv daily Haaretz said on Tuesday. Sabih was among a number of suspected militants in recent Israeli military raids, the report said.") (October 11, 2005)
INTELLIGENCE.org.il - INTELLIGENCE AND TERRORISM INFORMATION CENTER at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S.): "'HAMASTAN' - A PALESTINIAN RADICAL ISLAMIST STATE, RULED BY HAMAS" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The socio-political makeup of “Hamastan” (a Palestinian radical Islamist state, ruled by Hamas), as described in interviews granted by Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas figure in the Gaza Strip. An alternative to the Palestinian Authority, the agenda presented by Mahmoud al-Zahar is based on strict enforcement of radical Islamic codes in politics, society, and culture. “Hamastan”, according to Al-Zahar, will become an inseparable part of the global radical Islamic effort spearheaded by the Muslim Brotherhood.") (October 9, 2005)
JIHAD WATCH.org (HAARETZ): "ASSAD SAID TO HAVE GIVEN HAMAS, JIHAD GREEN LIGHT FOR TERRORISM" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier this month gave Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives in Damascus a green light to carry out terror attacks and escalate fighting against Israel, Israel Radio said Wednesday, quoting a high-level Palestinian Authority intelligence dispatch, which was reportedly passed on to Egypt and Israel. Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim said Wednesday that Israel was aquainted with the dispatch.") (September 28, 2005)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 983: "COMMANDER OF HAMAS MILITARY WING WOMEN'S UNIT: 'Our Members Yearn for Martyrdom'" (September 9, 2005) (Read More...)
JNEWSWIRE.com: "HAMAS: CHRISTIAN ZIONISM IS OUR ENEMY" by Jerusalem Newswire Editiorial Staff (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The Hamas terrorist organization has singled out Christian supporters of Israel, putting them on notice that it views their actions as "criminal," making them enemies of the Palestinian Arabs.") (August 22, 2005)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 964: "AN INTERVIEW WITH HAMAS LEADER DR. MAHMOUD AL-ZAHAR" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The following are excerpts from an interview with Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar that appeared in Asharq Al-Awsat on August 18, 2005.") (August 19, 2005)
MEMRITV.org - Transcript - Clip No. 731: "HAMAS REPRESENTATIVE IN LEBANON OSAMA HAMDAN: THERE IS A BEGINNING OF EUROPEAN UNDERSTANDING TOWARDS ARMED RESISTANCE" (TRANSCRIPT SNIPPET: "The following are excerpts from an interview with Hamas representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on June 24, 2005") (June 27, 2005)
ARUTZ SHEVA.com: "HAMAS BOMB-MAKER STAR OF SYRIAN PRODUCED TV SERIES A 12-part series on the life of the “father of suicide bombings,” Hamas bomb-maker Yihye Ayyash is set to be aired on the Lebanese-based Hizbullah satellite television station al-Manar." (April 18, 2005)
JIHAD WATCH.org (YNET): "PALESTINIAN GIRL HIDES GUN IN UNDIES" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The soldiers in the Balata refugee camp, a terrorist hotbed, found the gunman inside his house and ordered him to surrender his weapon. He refused, saying he didn't have it. After questioning, they found the man's sister had hidden it her underwear. Troops then arrested the Hamas terrorist. They also found a gun holster and bullets inside the building.") (April 16, 2005) (Read More...)
WorldNetDaily.com: "DOCUMENTS SHOW ARAFAT PAID FOR DISCO BOMBING Sent Thank-You Note to Family of Terrorist Who Killed 21, Injured 120" by Aaron Klein (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The attack on the Dolphinarium was one of the most brutal massacres of the Palestinian intifadah, killing 21 people, mostly teens, on a Friday night in June 2001. More than 120 people were injured in the powerful blast carried out by Hamas terrorist Hassan Khutari.") (September 15, 2004)
IACSP.com: "ABDULLAH ASSAM: THE MAN BEFORE BIN LADEN" by Steve Emerson (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Those who met Azzam were dazzled by his spellbinding oratorical skills, his capabilities as a military strategist, his religious leadership, and his interminable energy. Azzam helped bring about the mobilization of the Muslim Brotherhood movement more than any other leader. Today, the military wing of Hamas in the West Bank is called the Abdellah Azzam Brigades.")
El-Mezain is the cousin of the deputy leader of Hamas' Political Bureau, Musa Abu Marzouq
Well, golly, just because the guy's cousin is a notorious Hamas leader, doesn't mean he's connected to Hamas. Right? Right?
We should not allow LA to run the port of NO. Can't be trusted.
You'll have to take that up with the Founder's.
I ran into these Holy Land Foundation people in Dallas, once. They were begging for donations in front of a Wal Mart or other store. They said it was to help sick children in the Holy Land. This was 10 years ago and it seemed like an okay charity, but my mother went ballistic at them. I still don't know how she knew they were not on the up and up. I suspect a lot of people in Louisiana may have been similarly conned.
I think the Founders had no idea that this particular problem awaited their countrymen in the future. Things need to be changed to take into account for what's going on now.
Right. Need to tweak that problematic First Amendment. /sarc
We must IMMEDIATELY cancel any Government Contracts with LA. companies and the Feds MUST take over the Port of New Orleans ASAP. We cannot have Terrorist sympthisers running a PORT!!!!
Noway, uh-uh, I have it on authority that Islam is a Religion of Peace.
by stating the Islam does not qualify as being a religion , rather a dangerous and murderous cult .
That won't happen and you know it.
of course I know it , but one can only dream...
God alone knows what will happen in the aftermath if they ever hit us again.
I for one hope that day never comes .
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