Avram Hein- Islamism: A Long-Time Threat

A Long-Time Threat
By Avram HeinFrontPageMagazine.com October 19, 2004

Much of the world saw the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 as a new threat to America whose perpetrators were a small group of terrorists known as al-Qaeda. They were unaware of the tremendous network and support that the terrorists received from the American Muslim community for many years. They were not aware of the role militant Islamic theology plays in mainstream Muslim groups and, as President Bush referred to Islam as “a religion of peace,” the justifications for 9/11 and cover-ups made by mainstream Muslim groups were all but ignored. In fact, even today many people are still not aware of the dangers of the ideology of “Islamism.”

Like fascism or communism, Islamism is a dangerous ideology (distinct from the religion of Islam but based on some of Islam’s teachings and practiced only by Muslims) devoted to the upheaval of society and the overthrow of the current order. Adherents of Islamism look towards a world run by Islamic religious law, Sharia.[i]

While the Islamic religion and Islamism are fundamentally different, there is significant concern about the growing control of Islamist leaders over mainstream Islamic institutions. The head of the moderate Sufi Islamic Supreme Council Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani noted at a 1999 State Department Open Forum that the extremist Islamists “ took over the mosques.” He notes that “they took over more than 80% of the mosques that have been established in the US.

And there are more than 3,000 mosques in the US.”[ii] Because of his statements, Shaykh Hisham Kabbani has been harassed by Muslim organizations that purport to be mainstream organizations. The Shaykh has been harassed by groups including the American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC), American Muslim Alliance (AMA), the American Muslim Council (AMC), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), Islamic Circle of North America, Islamic Society of North America, and the Muslim Student Associations of USA & Canada (MSA).[iii] It must be emphasized that the religion of Islam is not the same as the terrorist ideology of Islamism. According to Dr. Daniel Pipes, “Islam is the religion of the Qur'an and the Sunna; Islamism is the political path of Hasan al-Banna, Abu'l-A`la al-Mawdudi, and Ayatollah Khomeini.”[iv]

While making clear that Islamism is not Islam, there are a significant number of overlaps. These threats are due to the radicalization of the Islamic political leadership – a worldwide phenomenon. According to Matthew Epstein, a lawyer and assistant director of the Investigative Project, the largest non-governmental organization devoted to researching the militant Islamic threat, the Islamic political leadership in the United States have parallels with the radicalization of the Islamic leadership worldwide, including “a ... conspiratorial belief that Western nations, led by the United States, aim to destroy Islamic culture” and “an acceptance that violence in the name of Islam is justified in the face of western aggression against the ummah (Islamic community).” Epstein points out that the institutional Muslim leadership in the U.S. has become anti-Western and anti-American. Numerous mainstream American Muslim organizations have portrayed U.S. counterterrorism policy as anti-Muslim in an attempt to weaken the legitimate and constitutional search for domestic terrorists.[v]

In understanding domestic terrorism, one has to understand that it is defined not just by terrorist attacks which occur on American soil or even on American targets, but must include terrorist financing and backing of terrorists and terrorism which occurs overseas. When understanding Islamism, it is important to remember that the goal to make America a Muslim country, run by Sharia law, does not have to be obtained through force. In 1996, the then-head of the American Muslim Council (AMC) Abdulrahman Alamoudi, spoke about this at a Chicago, Illinois conference of the Islamic Association for Palestine. He said:

It depends on me and you, either we do it now or we do it after a hundred years, but this country will become a Muslim country. And I [think] if we are outside this country, we can say oh, Allah destroy America but once we are here, our mission in this country is to change it. And (the prophet) told us that there are three ways of changing things, either by your hand or your mouth or within yourself, and we can change it by our hand and by our mouth, but positively. There is no way for Muslims to be violent in America, no way. We have other means to do it. You can be violent anywhere else but in America.[vi]

When advocating violence overseas and advocating the Islamification of America, Alamoudi is expressing a view common among Islamists, yet he is a mainstream leader of the American Muslim community. His organization, the American Muslim Council, was addressed by FBI director Robert Mueller at its 2002 conference in Alexandria, Virginia. Mueller’s spokesperson called the AMC “the most mainstream Muslim group in the United States.”[vii] While these organizations are mainstream Muslim groups, according to Matthew Epstein, “they draw support from far fewer American Muslims than they claim fall under their leadership.” Given their funding from Saudi Arabia and other wealthy benefactors, however, militant Islamists garner a disproportionate amount of power and attention.[viii] According to a CIA report, of the more than 50 Islamic non-governmental organizations that existed in 1996, “available information indicates that approximately one-third of these Islamic NGOs support terrorist groups or employ individuals who are suspected of having terrorist connections.”[ix] In analyzing militant Islam one has to understand both that while approximately 16 out of 50 organizations with terror ties is significant, the majority of Islamic NGOs were not suspected of terrorist connections in 1996.

Terrorist activity is perpetrated in America through a variety of techniques. Terror groups recruit American passport holders as it is easier for them to travel undetected in North America and abroad. There are numerous corporations and charitable organizations existing in the United States which fund, assist, and justify terrorism against American targets.[x] Two of the most prominent are connected to Hamas: Internet Service Provider InfoCom corporation (which hosts and has hosted the websites of several terrorist organizations including the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development) and CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, purportedly a civil rights organization for American Muslims.[xi] Osama bin Laden and his affiliates have created “front” organizations under false cover to raise funds for his al-Qaeda network. The most prominent had offices in London, Kansas City, and Denver. The Islamic Jihad terrorist network set up its headquarters under the false cover of an academic institute connected to the University of South Florida. Numerous relief agencies and charitable organizations located in the United States funnel money to terrorist groups overseas, some of which attack American citizens and American targets.


[i].Daniel Pipes, Militant Islam Reaches America. New York: Norton, 2003, xv, 80.

[ii].Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, “Islamic Extremism: A Viable Threat to U.S. National Security: An Open Forum at the U.S. Department of State.” 9 January 1999. http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/bin/site/wrappers/default.asp?pane_2=content-extremism_inamerica_unveiling010799.

[iii].Islamic Muslim Council Media Alert, “National Muslim Organizations Incite Modern Day Lynch Mob.” (March 2, 1999)

http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/bin/site/wrappers/default.asp?pane_2=content-extremism_inamerica_unveiling030299

[iv].Daniel Pipes, “Daniel Pipes Explains ‘Islamism’” The Minaret, September 2000 ">http://www.frontpagemag.com/websat/Helper/editor/ (3 Dec. 2003).

[v].”Saudi Support for Islamic Extremism in the United States.” Testimony of Matthew Epstein before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security. September 10, 2003.

[vi].Abdulrahman Alamoudi. Islamic Association of Palestine Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 1996. Reprinted in Testimony of Matthew Epstein “Saudi Support for Islamic Extremism in the United States.” (September 10, 2003).

[vii].Testimony of Matthew Epstein before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security. September 10, 2003.
[viii].ibid.

[ix].Affidavit of Special Agent David Kane. United States of America vs. Soliman S. Biheiri, 03-365-A (District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, August 2003).

[x].Testimony of Steven Emerson before the House Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations of the House Committee on Government Reform. October 11, 2001.

[xi].Testimony of Matthew Epstein before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security. September 10, 2003.; United States of America vs. Randall Todd Royer et al. 03- (District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, June 2003); United States of America vs. Bayan Elashi, et al. CR NO.3:02-CR-052-R (District Court for the Northern Division of Texas, Dallas Division 17 Dec. 2002).; Steve McGonigle, “Aid Push Made for 5 tied to Hamas,” Dallas Morning News (15 Feb. 2003) - Reprinted at http://www.freerepublic.com/ Steven Emerson, American Jihad. 104-105.; Haganah b’Internet - http://haganah.us/


A Long-Time Threat, Part II
By Avram HeinFrontPageMagazine.com October 19, 2004

Internet service provider, InfoCom Corporation, based out of Richardson, Texas is known to have ties to the Hamas terror organization.[1] Seven days prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks, the FBI raided Infocom’s offices. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) froze two of InfoCom’s bank accounts due to a 1993 investment and cover totaling $250,000 from Nadia Elashi Marzook, the wife of Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook and from Abu Marzook.[i] According to the affidavit:

In or around July 1992, the defendant Mousa Abu Marzook sent, or caused to be sent, $150,000 to the defendants Bayan Elashi, Ghassan Elashi, Basman Elashi, and Infocom, which was recorded on the books and records of ... Infocom as a credit to the pre-existing investment account of ... Mousa Abu Marzook.

It is then alleged that Nadia Marzook gave another $100,000 to the Elashi brothers and Infocom, but Infocom records were altered to make it look like the investment from her husband, a high ranking Hamas official, really came from her, thus obscuring the terrorist financing of Infocom Corporation. Mousa Abu Marzook is named by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as a terrorist and a threat to US national security.[i]

InfoCom’s export privileges were revoked shortly after the September 5, 2001 search due to suspicions relating to shipments made to Libya and Iran. In addition, the United States government seized the assets of one of its clients – the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. The Holy Land Foundation is another charity affiliated with Hamas whose funds go to support and reward terrorism. Infocom Corporation clients have included several other organizations, such as the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which is known to be affiliated with Hamas.[ii]

The founder of InfoCom, Ghassan Elashi, was also a co-founder and board chairman of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, shut down by President Bush due to its terror ties. Two weeks after the Holy Land Foundation was shut down, Elashi and other founded the Muslim Legal Fund of America. The address of the resident agent of the Muslim Legal Fund is the home of a board member of HLF. Its board of directors includes a former board chairman of CAIR, a current CAIR board member, a former president of the Dallas chapter of the Islamic Circle of North America, the president of a Texas Islamic association and the owner of a website business. The Muslim Legal Fund hosted a fundraiser for the Elashi brothers’ legal expenses. The fund brochure was designed by Minaret Management Group. That Group is listed by the State of Texas as operating from the home of Shukri Abu Baker, a former president of the Holy Land Foundation.[iii]

Ghassan Dahduli, a former employee of InfoCom, was taken into custody on September 22, 2001. He refused to answer questions from the US government and has been implicated as an associate of one of the men convicted for their role in the attack on the US embassies in Africa.[iv]

According to federal court affidavits, a corporation in the DC-area, Sana Bell, Inc. was formed to provide funds to the International Relief Organization (IRO), the U.S. arm of the Islamic International Relief Organization (IIRO), shown below to be connected to Saudi financing of terrorism. Sana Bell, also known as the “SAAR” network, was involved in funding of numerous terrorist groups both overseas and domestically. “SAAR” is named after Suleiman Abdel Aziz al-Raghi, the Saudi financier of the Northern Virginia network. He been accused of being one of the original financiers of al-Qaeda. According to the government, SAAR was the primary financial supporter of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad operations in Florida (described below) through their IIRO and Sana Bell affiliates. The network is also suspected of laundering funds to organizations including al-Qaeda and Hamas. [v]

For several years, South Florida had been the American headquarters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Run out of a think-tank affiliated with the University of South Florida, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is responsible for numerous deaths. Upon arriving at the University of South Florida in 1986, Sami al-Arian, a Palestinian professor of engineering incorporated the Islamic Concern Project, soon renamed the Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP). He was also the chairman of the World Islamic Studies Enterprise (WISE), which, on March 11, 1992, entered into a cooperative agreement with the University of South Florida. At various times, the ICP and WISE shared a post office box, office space, and leadership.

However, it is important to note that the ICP was not formally affiliated with the University of South Florida, whereas WISE was affiliated, although both were operated by al-Arian while he was a professor at USF. In its newspaper Inquiry, the ICP often carried articles about the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including interviews with PIJ leaders. A board member of ICP is the brother of the late PIJ secretary-general Fathi Shikaki. Every edition of the Arabic-language magazine, Al Mujahid, published by ICP included the Palestinian Islamic Jihad logo and the words “Publication Produced by the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine-Lebanon.” The Islamic Committee for Palestine organized annual conventions throughout the United States. Through these conferences, the ICP brought militant Islamic terrorist leaders into the US, including Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman and representatives from Hizbollah, the Sudanese National Islamic Front, the Tunisian An-Nadha, Hamas, and Tawheed. ICP also raised funds for Islamic Jihad and other terror groups. They also overtly called for terrorist attacks against Israeli, Egyptian, Tunisian, Algerian, and American targets. ICP overtly solicited funds for families of terrorists, aided known terrorists, and overtly called for terror.

In 1995, Michael Fechter of the Tampa Tribune wrote an prominent series publicizing WISE and ICP’s connections to terror. After a scourge of protest, two weeks later, the University of South Florida suspended its cooperation with WISE.[vi] Yet, less than five months later, after the assassination of Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Dr. Fathi Shikaki, the new leader of Islamic Jihad was none other than Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, a former professor at the University of South Florida who was also a board member of WISE. In fact, several individuals who were associated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad later came to be associated with WISE and the University of South Florida.[vii] In 1995, the FBI investigated ICP, WISE, and its members.

In November 1995, two Florida bank accounts belonging to Ramadan Abdullah Shallah were frozen by Presidential order and shortly after the home and office of al-Arian were raided by federal agents. In an affidavit, FBI Special Agent Barry Carmody testified that, “located and seized at the residence of Sami al-Arian on November 20, 1995, was a letter written by Sami al-Arian in which al-Arian is soliciting funds for the Islamic movement in Palestine. . . . This letter also appeals for support for the [Palestinian Islamic] Jihad. . . . [T]he Jihad has been declared an international terrorist organization by the Department of State.” When the full letter was declassified in October 2000, it appears that al-Arian was soliciting funds for suicide bombings in Israel. In the late 1990s, numerous evidence existed to show WISE’s connection to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as evidence that a WISE board member, Tarik Hamdi, had delivered a satellite phone and battery pack to Osama bin Laden.[viii] In 2002, Dateline NBC explored al-Arian’s connections to terrorism and the USF filed a lawsuit against al-Arian seeking to dismiss him. The USF had tried several times to terminate him, but he was kept on in the name of “academic freedom” despite proven ties to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.[ix] Al-Arian is currently in jail, awaiting trial.[x]

One mainstream Muslim-American organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), bills itself as “dedicated to presenting an Islamic perspective on issues of importance to the American public.”[xi] Despite a seemingly innocuous goal, and many supporters who are unaware of CAIR’s more sinister roots, CAIR and its leadership promote militant Islam in the United States, in accordance with its roots in Hamas. CAIR disguises its support for terrorism and terrorist organizations as legitimate defense of civil rights. Its 2002 Civil Rights Report defends the actions of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, Benevolence Foundation, and other individuals and organizations in which clear evidence has been revealed regarding terror connections.[xii] The roots of CAIR can be found in the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoot, Hamas. CAIR was founded in 1994 by two officials from the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a U.S.-based support organization for Hamas. CAIR founder and Executive Director Nihad Awad explained that:

After the Gulf War was over, I was offered a job with the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) as their public relations director. ... In this effort I worked closely with IAP president Omar Ahmed. ... Omar suggested we leave the IAP. . .. ...In June 1994, we used a modest donation as a starting budget to open the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington, DC.[xiii]

The IAP was founded by the head of the Hamas Political Wing, Mousa Abu Marzook in 1981 IAP has published Hamas communiques, recruitment videos, and hosted conferences raising support for Hamas. At an IAP conference shortly after the 1991 Gulf War, a speaker said that America and the marines were trying “to penetrate the flesh of our girls. And our honor, and our values, in order to turn our society in a perverse nation.”[xiv] That speaker was standing in front of a banner with “Hamas” spelled out in Arabic using images of human skulls, under the words “Islamic Association for Palestine.”[xv] In an August 2002 court order regarding freezing terrorist assets in the U.S., a federal judge found that “the Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of Hamas.”[xvi] In 1994, CAIR received a $5,000 initial disbursement from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.[xvii] According to the Treasury Department, the “U.S.-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development provides millions of dollars each year that is used for HAMAS.”[xviii] CAIR has repeatedly engaged in fundraising activities for the Holy Land Foundation and, in fact, share common board members in Ghassan Elashi.

CAIR’s leadership is a supporter of the terrorist organizations that fund it. In a 1994 speech at Barry University, the current executive director of CAIR, Nihad Awad announced that “I am in support of the Hamas movement.”[xix] That same year he announced his support for Hizbollah.

FBI wiretaps have shown several CAIR board members, including Ghassan Elashi, founding board member of the Texas CAIR chapter and the head of the InfoCom Corporation, announcing support for Hamas.[xx] In 1993 in Philadelphia, future CAIR leadership was present at a meeting that was described by the FBI as “a meeting in the United States among senior leaders of HAMAS, HLFRD, and IAP.” According to the FBI, the meeting was attended by future CAIR board member Omar Yahya Ahmed and Ghassan Elashi, brother-in-law of Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook. According to FBI notes, “the overal goal of the meeting was ... to continue and improve their [HAMAS] fund-raising and political activities in the United States.” The note continues,

It was mentioned that the United States provided them with a secure, legal base from which to operate. The democratic environment in the United States allowed them to perform activities that are extremely important to their cause. In discussing financial matters the participants stated a belief that continuation of the Holy War was inevitable. [emphasis added]
It was decided that most or almost all of the funds collected in the future should be directed to enhance the Islamic Resistance Movement and to weaken the self-rule government. Holy War efforts should be supported by increased spending on the injured, the prisoners and their families, and the martyrs and their families.[xxi]

According to Khalid Durán, a moderate Muslim activist and academic, “CAIR is the principle front organization of a coalition of Islamist (or fundamentalist Muslim) groups that have taken root in America over the past two decades.” He says that “CAIR’s mission has differed from the others: its special assignment is the insinuation of the Islamist agenda into the mainstream American politics. Like the many front organizations established by the Soviet Union in its heyday, CAIR works to give a ‘white bread’ image to advocates of illiberal and even radical ideas.”[xxii]


[1]Hamas is listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization. Funding groups on the State Department list and U.S. institutions aiding organizations or individuals on these lists is prohibited by federal law.

21. ibid

[i].United States vs. Bayan Elashi et al, CR NO. 3:02-CR-052-R (District Court for the Northern Division of Texas, Dallas Division, 17 Dec. 2002).

[ii].Emerson, American Jihad; Haganah b’Internet’s listing of terror websites, http://haganah.us/. United States of America vs. Bayan Elashi et al.

[iii].McGonigle, Steven. “Aid push made for 5 tied to Hamas.” The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/021503dnmetinfocom2.5f3e8.html. (15 February 2003).

[iv].Testimony of Steven Emerson (October 11, 2001).

[v].Matthew Epstein, “Wanting to Stay Sealed: Targets of Terrorism Probe Change their Plea Regarding Records.” The National Review, 19 March 2003. <">http://www.frontpagemag.com/websat/Helper/editor/ (14 November 2003).

[vi].Steven Emerson, American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us. 109-117.

[vii].ibid, 118.

[viii].ibid, 120-122.

[ix].ibid, 125.

[x].Stefanie Green, “Al-Arian’s hearing reviews case,” The (USF) Oracle, November 10, 2003 (25 November 2003).

[xi].”CAIR - The Council on American Islamic Relations: About CAIR,” http://www.cair-net.org/asp/aboutcair.asp

[xii].”The Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States - 2002,” http://www.cair-net.org/civilrights2002/

[xiii].Nihad Awad. “Muslim-Americans in Mainstream America,” The Link, February-March 2000.

[xiv].Videotape. IAP Conference on Palestine. Mentioned in Testimony of Matthew Epstein at U.S. Senate.

[xv].Testimony of Matthew Epstein (September 10, 2003).

[xvi].Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development vs. John Ashcroft in his official capacity as Attorney General of the United States. Civil Action # 02-422.

[xvii].IRS Form 1023, Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.

[xviii].Treasury Department Office of Public Affairs. “Shutting Down the Terrorist Financing Network,” December 4, 2001.

[xix].Statement by Nihad Awad at a panel discussion, “The Road Map to Peace: the Challenge of the Middle East,” Barry University, March 22, 1994.

[xx].Testimony of Matthew Epstein (September 10, 2003).

[xxi].Action Memorandum from Dale Watson, Assistant Director Counterterrorism Division FBI, to Richard Newcomb, Office of Foreign Assets Control. “Holy Land for Relief and Development International Emergency Economic Powers Act,” November 5, 2001.

[xxii].Khalid Duran, “How CAIR put my life in peril,” Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2002, (20 November, 2003)

Avram Hein is a former research assistant at the American-Israel Cooperative Enterprise (AICE), in Chevy Chase, MD. He is currently a graduate student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His most recent publication “Reflections on the Driving Teshuva” was published in the Spring 2004 edition of Conservative Judaism.



A Long-Time Threat, Part III
By Avram HeinFrontPageMagazine.com October 19, 2004

Despite that “white bread” image, less than a month after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, officials of CAIR-New York openly denied that any Muslim individuals had a role in the attacks which were perpetrated by Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and several other Saudi nationals.[i] CAIR has a history of defending Islamic terrorists and terror organizations, defending several groups – including the Holy Land Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation – who have been shut down by the U.S. government for engaging in terrorist financing. CAIR has also hosted or co-sponsored rallies that support terrorism. In May 1998, CAIR co-sponsored a rally at Brooklyn College in which one of the speakers said that “he who equips a warrior of Jihad is like the one who makes Jihad himself.” In October 2000, CAIR co-sponsored a rally in Washington, DC in which Abdurahman Alamoudi, the executive director of the American Muslim Council, declared “Hear that, Bill Clinton, we are all supporters of Hamas – Allahu Akbar. I wish they added that I am also a supporter of Hizbollah.”[ii]In the past year, at least three former board members or employees of CAIR have been incited on terrorism, money-laundering, or fraud charges. As mentioned above, Ghassan Elashi, a founding board member of CAIR’s Texas chapter, was indicted on charges of transacting with terrorist entities. In June 2003, CAIR Communications Specialist, Randall Todd Royer (aka Ismail Royer) was indicted on charges of being part of a conspiracy to support violent jihad overseas. According to the indictment, Royers traveled overseas to train at terrorist training camps. According to Matthew Epstein, while he was working for CAIR, he purchased an AK-47 assault rifle, 219 rounds of ammunition, distributed newsletters for a group designated as a terrorist organization, and fired at Indian troops.[iii] He faces federal charges that he “conspired to provide material support to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda organization and to his Taliban protectors in Afghanistan.”[iv] In January 2003, CAIR’s Director of Community Relations, Bassam Khafagi was indicted on bank fraud charges. He was also a founding member and President of the Islamic Assembly of North America (IANA). While he was in a leadership position, IANA hosted an al-Qaeda recruiter at IANA’s conferences from 1993-1995.[v]CAIR receives significant funding from the government of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Gazette and Saudi Muslim World League have reported on significant funding received by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, a radical Muslim organization which is an arm of the Saudi government, for CAIR.

[vi] In 2002, CAIR received $500,000 from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal according to Arab News. In August 1999, a Saudi Government press release announced that the Islamic Development Bank (founded in October 1975 and inspired by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, and of which Saudi Arabia was the top contributor in founding capital) approved “$250,000 as a contribution to the purchase of land in Washington DC to be the headquarters for an education and research center under the aegis of the Council for American Islamic Relations.” CAIR also received at least $12,000 from the U.S. offices of the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO). The IIRO was financed with Saudi money out of Saudi Arabia. The IIRO has been the subject of several federal investigations regarding support to a variety of terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda and Hamas. According to Senior Special Agent David Kane of the Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement “the terrorists who have attacked or tried to attack the United States around the world have been associated with MWL [Muslim World League]/IIRO.”[vii]According to the Center for Security Policy, “CAIR uses the civil rights issue as a cloak to protect itself and its allies from allegations that they support terrorism, and consistently has denounced federal counterterrorism efforts as being racist and bigoted.”[viii]Mainstream American Muslim organizations have refused to condemn terrorist organizations and terrorist attacks by Hamas, Hizbullah, and others as such. In November of 1994, less than a month after Hamas took responsibility for a bus bombing which murdered 23 men, women, and children, Nihad Awad, the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations was on CBS’s 60 Minutes.

Mike Wallace: What do you think of the military undertakings of Hamas?Nihad Awad: Well, I think that’s – that’s for the people there to judge.Wallace: I’m asking you.Awad: The – the United Nations Charter grants people who are under occupation to defend themselves against illegal occupation.[ix]

The same support of terrorist organizations is found with those affiliated with the American Arab-Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). In June 2000, the communications director, Hussein Ibish, was a guest on CNBC. He was asked his view of Hamas and Hizbollah, an organization responsible for the death of 241 American Marines. Both organizations are listed by the State Department as terrorist entities:

Rivera: How do you stand about Hizbollah and Hamas? Do you condemn them?
Ibish: I–it’s not up to me to condemn people. I think he’s absolutely...
Rivera: But I want to know. What do you feel about them?
Ibish: No. I think that Hizbollah fought a very good war against the Israelis, a guerrila war, a popular war that was clearly shown to be a war of liberation and that had the support of the majority of the south Lebanese people.”[x]

The Executive Director of the American Muslim Foundation, Abdrulrahman Alamoudi, besides exhorting his support for Hamas and Hizbollah at a CAIR rally, as shown above, has also extolled the 1994 Iranian-sponsored bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Argentina as “a worthy operation” according to federal prosecutors. He also said, when referring to Islamic attacks overseas, “Many African Muslims have died and not a single American died. I prefer to hit a Zionist target in America or Europe.” He continued, “I prefer honestly like what happened in Argentina,” referring to an attack that killed 86 people and injured more than 300.[xi] Federal officials also disclosed that the American Muslim Council has been providing support for members of the Portland Seven – a group charged with attempted to get to Afghanistan and fight for al-Qaeda, against America. It was also reported that several of the al-Qaeda terrorists held in Guantanamo Bay have granted Alamoudi power of attorney. Yet, his group aides the American military select Muslim chaplains, particularly telling given recent arrests of Americans in Guantanamo.[xii]

As Ambassador Dore Gold pointed out in his groundbreaking book, Hatred’s Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism (Regnery: 2003), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia plays a very significant role in funding and aiding terrorism, including on American targets. It is a threat that the United States is just beginning to quietly investigate, despite years of documented evidence. The Los Angeles Times reported on November 17, 2003, that U.S. officials are investigating whether Saudi money helped finance international terrorism. This is the first time that US officials are investigating the action of the Saudi government. The investigation may have been brought about by the Congressional investigation of the terror attacks of 9/11 which stated that ties between Saudi Arabia and the attacks “obviously raise issues with serious national implications.”[xiii] The Saudi Arabian government has been paying for lawyers and bail for Saudi nationals detained by the US. Saudi officials have admitted spending over $1 million in providing assistance to those suspected of terrorism and other crimes. Most of the detainments are due to visa violations. John Pistole, assistant director of the FBI counterterrorism division, testified before the Senate that the actions of the government of Saudi Arabia, “is tantamount to buying off a witness... So it gives us concern if the government is supplying money for defense counsel.” The practice of providing legal counsel to nationals overseas is a practice that the United States does not engage in, according to the Associated Press.[xiv]According to Matthew Epstein, the assistant director of The Investigative Project, the Saudi’s have bankrolled a series of Islamic institutions in the United States that actively seek to undermine U.S. counterterrorism policy at home and abroad. In the United States, the Saudi Wahhabis regularly subsidize the organizations and individuals adhering to the militant ideology espoused by the Muslim Brotherhood and its murderous offshoots Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda, all three of which are designated terrorist organizations. Several of these U.S. based organizations drawing Saudi support have recently been shuttered and many of their leaders indicted, including, the Holy Land Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation and the Islamic Concern Project.[xv]

The Saudi government has also financed the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) which, as was shown above, is a supporter of militant Islam which was a creation of Hamas.[xvi] Epstein writes:

With deep pocketbooks and religious convictions, the Saudi Wahhabists have bankrolled a series of Islamic institutions in the United States that actively seek to undermine U.S. counterterrorism policy at home and abroad. From Islamic centers to student associations, from relief organizations to bookstores, an ideology committed to the destruction of Western civilization is being offered as the only solution to the plight of the ummah.[xvii]

Saudi money has funded the Holy Land Foundation (connected to Hamas), Benevolence International Foundation (related to al-Qaeda) and the World Islamic Studies Enterprise (WISE) (Palestinian Islamic Jihad). These organizations have been shut down in the past three years as terror fronts or conduits. The Saudi government continues to fund the American Muslim Council (AMC), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and Mercy International-USA. [xviii]

As Daniel Pipes points out, Islamism is an ideology like totalitarianism, fascism, or Marxist-Leninism.[xix] As an ideology, it is not predicated on specific policy although it may use policy as a justification for its actions. While many -- pundits and politicians alike – blame Israeli policy and U.S. support for Israel as the cause of Islamist rage, such comparisons are inherently false and damage legitimate criticism of Israeli policy. Most people disagree with some aspect of Israeli policy or another (as most people also disagree with some aspect of American policy, or European policy, or some aspect of the policy of any other sovereign state), but are not led to terrorism due to their disagreements with a democratic government. America and Israel are often called “Big Satan” and “Little Satan,” respectively. If Israel were truly the motivating factor behind militant Islam, than it should be the “Big Satan.” Sadly, Islamists hate America and Israel for precisely the same reason – they both have a democratic government that stands for freedom of speech and expression, full voting rights for citizens of all races, creeds, and gender, and other individual freedoms.

The difficulty in garnering alternatives to Islamism is that Islamists are well funded and their American apologist organizations provide a facade of mainstream behavior, confusing Muslim and non-Muslim alike. According to Dr. Khalid Duran, “Organizations like CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) and MPAC (Muslim Public Affairs Council) have deliberately been trying to poison the hearts and minds of American Muslims against America. By subtly suggesting that American policies are controlled by Zionists, they exploit the anti-Semitism that prevails in Islamist - dominated communities.”[xx]According to Pakistan Today, many moderate Muslims are upset and angry at the militant Islamist organizations and their successful attempts to portray themselves as the sole voice of Islam. Jamal Hassan, a writer in Washington, notes that the popularity of extremist Islamist organizations cause Americans to look at all Muslims with extreme suspicion. Tashbih Sayyed, President of Council for Democracy and Tolerance, notes that it is the duty of all American Muslims to condemn American Islamist groups. Sayyed also echoed the words of Hassan, emphasizing that keeping silent about Islamist extremism only furthers anti-Muslim bias.According to Dr. Duran, there are numerous alternatives to Islamic extremism within Islam. He notes that the Congress of Muslim Americans (CMA) (in which he is involved in) seeks to organize non-Islamist Muslims. He notes that they protest against Islamist apologists organizations such as the American Muslim Council (AMC), CAIR, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). According to Duran:

The fair-minded, moderate and tolerant majority of Muslims face enormous difficulties in competing with these Islamists – not because the Islamists are more numerous, but because they float on subsidies provided by Islamist millionaires and billionaires. In the United States, the difference between Islamists and common Muslims is largely one between haves and have-nots. Muslims have the numbers; Islamists have the dollars.[xxi]

Duran notes that the Muslim community in America is only recently coming into its own, but he notes “that community can only take its rightful place if it builds upon hope and dialogue, not the fear of defamation.”[xxii]

[i].Testimony of Matthew Epstein (September 10, 2003).
[ii].ibid.
[iii].Testimony of Matthew Epstein (September 10, 2003)

[iv].”CAIR’s Al Qeada Link Exposed,” Center for Security Policy, September 29, 2003. <http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=10061> (14 November 2003).
[v].Testimony of Matthew Epstein (September 10, 2003).
[vi].ibid.
[vii].ibid.

[viii].”CAIR’s Al Qeada Link Exposed.”
[ix].CBS News Transcript. 60 Minutes, November 13, 1994.

[x].ADC Communications Director Hussein Ibish interviewed on Rivera Live on CNBC, June 5, 2000.

[xi].Colin Miner, “Alamoudi Hailed Bombing of Jewish Center,” The New York Sun, October 1, 2002 (2 November 2003).

[xii].ibid.
[xiii].Josh Meyer, “Saudi Cash Scrutinized by U.S. for Terror Ties,” Los Angeles Times, 17 November 2003, <http://www.latimes.com/> (17 Nov. 2003)

[xiv].John Solomon, “FBI Says Saudis Buy Off Witnesses,” The Associated Press, 17 October 2003, (2 November 2003).

[xv].Testimony of Matthew Epstein (September 10, 2003)

[xvi].ibid
[xvii].ibid.
[xviii].ibid.

[xix].Daniel Pipes, “Daniel Pipes Explains ‘Islamism.’”
[xx].Fatima Sayyed, “Bush Nominates Daniel Pipes to Board of US Institute of Peace: Moderate Muslims Welcome the Appointment.” Pakistan Today, 15 April 2003, <http://www.paktoday.com/pipes.htm> (2 December 2003).

[xxi].Khalid Duran, “How CAIR put my life in peril”
[xxii].ibid.

Avram Hein is a former research assistant at the American-Israel Cooperative Enterprise (AICE), in Chevy Chase, MD. He is currently a graduate student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His most recent publication “Reflections on the Driving Teshuva” was published in the Spring 2004 edition of Conservative Judaism.