Middle East studies in the News

Feds Rule Seizure of Terror Funding Muslim Charity's Assets Unconstitutional [incl. Hatem Bazian]

Creeping Sharia Blog
August 24, 2009

http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/feds-rule-muslim-charity-seizure-unconst/

http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/8151

Another nail in the proverbial coffin. Obama lawyers were arguing on behalf of Bush era policies, to no avail as a Clinton-appointed judge ruled in favor of terrorist funding "charities". The chairman of the group in question in this case, KindHearts, was/is an Obama fundraiser as we told you about here after the evidence disappeared from Obama's website.

...

So, who exactly was KindHearts? Let's take a look:

KindHearts was incorporated as a "Domestic/Non-Profit" in Toledo, Ohio. Hatem El-Hady, a Toledo physician, was named KindHearts' Chairman of the Board. Jihad Smaili, a Cleveland attorney (and Khaled's older brother), became the organization's legal counsel.

KindHearts' professed mission was to "ease the suffering of the Palestinians" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as those in the refugee camps of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. Apart from its Toledo headquarters, the organization also opened branch offices in Lebanon, Pakistan, and Gaza. Once KindHearts was approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 charitable organization, it quickly became one of the largest American charities for Muslims, raising $2.9 million in 2002, $3.9 million in 2003, and $5 million in 2004. Among its various programs, KindHearts showcased "orphan sponsorships," medical centers, housing projects, and other humanitarian ventures.

The organization's primary objective, however, was to give financial support to the terrorist group Hamas. Mohammed El-Mezain (who was Hamas's leader in the United States) was brought in as a fundraising specialist. Previously, El-Mezain had worked as a fundraiser for HLF, which had been shut down by the U.S. government in 2001 because of the financial support it had given to Hamas.

KindHearts also named the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a now-defunct Hamas front, as its "Fundraiser Organizer." IAP's former Director and Secretary General, Abdelbaset Hemayel, became KindHearts' Illinois and Wisconsin Representative.

Other KindHearts officials with radical Islamist ties included the following:

• KindHearts Director of Domestic Programs, Khalifah Ramadan, was a training and evaluation consultant for the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America, two large Muslim organizations based in the United States that have links to overseas terror groups.
• KindHearts Representaive Omar Shahin was an Imam for the Islamic Center of Tucson, the former home of numerous terror operatives, including Wael Jelaidan, who later helped found al Qaeda.
• KindHearts Representative Wagdy Ghuneim is an Egyptian cleric who was featured at KindHearts fundraising dinners in 2002, 2003 and 2004. During a May 1998 rally at Brooklyn College, Ghuneim attempted to persuade the crowd to support violent jihad and derided Jews as "descendants of the apes."
• KindHearts Representative Hatem Bazian is an Islamic Studies professor of Near Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley. During an April 2004 anti-war rally in San Francisco, Bazian, a native Palestinian, called for an "Intifada" against the United States. Two months later, Bazien was featured at a KindHearts Fundraising Dinner whose theme was "Palestinians in agony!"
• KindHearts' Manager in Lebanon, Haytham Maghawri (a.k.a. Haytham Fawri), previously served as the Holy Land Foundation's Social Services Director. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Maghawri "collected [KindHearts] funds and sent them to Hamas and other Salafi groups." [One of the recipients of KindHearts funding was "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" (SDGT) Usama Hamdan, a leader of Hamas in Lebanon.]
• KindHearts worked with the Hamas-affiliated organization Sanabil, which was named a SDGT entity in August 2003. Sanabil received at least $250,000 from KindHearts. According to the FBI, KindHearts was depositing these funds "into the same account used by the Holy Land Foundation," when HLF was providing funds to Sanabil.

There is much, much more info on KindHearts and its related "charities" including convicted Hamas funding "charity" the Holy Land Foundation. Read about at Discover the Networks – see stories in left column.

Note: Articles listed under "Middle East studies in the News" provide information on current developments concerning Middle East studies on North American campuses. These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of Campus Watch and do not necessarily correspond to Campus Watch's critique.

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