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Hamas Touts Untouchable 'Secret' Funding Sources Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.comIn announcing a freeze on assets of a U.S. charity for allegedly funneling money to the militant Palestinian group Hamas, President Bush called Hamas "one of the deadliest terrorist organizations in the world today.” But according to a recent BBC report, a top Hamas official downplayed the practical implications of being included on Bush’s financial blacklist, saying it would not affect the group’s "secret” sources of funding. Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad terrorist groups were reportedly left off of President Bush’s original post-Sept. 11 financial blacklist to avoid offending prospective members of the anti-terrorist coalition such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran and Eqypt. The terrorist organizations were added in November. Identifying sources of Hamas funding has long been a preoccupation of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but proceedings in a civil trial in Illinois this year brought other intelligence to light. The suit was brought against organizations and officials connected to Hamas by Stanley and Joyce Boim, whose 17-year-old son, David, was murdered by Hamas terrorists near Beit El in 1996. In denying a motion to dismiss the $200 million suit brought against Hamas front organizations based in the U.S., the judge hearing the case wrote: "The detailed allegations in the complaint concerning Hamas' terrorist activities and how the funding is alleged to occur, do support an inference that defendants knew they were funding terrorist activities.” The judge also noted in his opinion that an estimated one-third of Hamas' annual budget is raised through disguised front organizations in North America and Western Europe. "The money is then laundered and wired to operatives in the West Bank and Gaza, where it is used to buy weapons, recruit and train military personnel, and plan terrorist acts,” concluded the judge. Among the front organizations listed as defendants in the suit: the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development; the Texas-based Islamic Association for Palestine; Koranic Literacy Institute, based in Oak Lawn, Ill.; the Chicago-based American Muslim Society; and American Middle Eastern League for Palestine, based in Virginia. Intelligence reports by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggest that estimating the amount of money reaching Hamas is a complex task, "but a modest estimate is several tens of millions of dollars per year.” According to the ministry reports, the government of Iran contributes about 3 million dollars a year for all Hamas activities. The ministry report suggests that there are four central Hamas charity funds in the West: Great Britain’s Palestine Relief and Development Fund, "Interpal;” the United States’ Holy Land Foundation; Germany’s Al Aqsa Foundation, with branches in Belgium and Holland; and France’s Comite de Bienfaisance et Solidarite avec la Palestine. The reports also finger non-governmental charitable organizations in the Persian Gulf states. "Generally, they collect charity for needy Muslims throughout the world, and as part of this effort they support Hamas ….” Islamic aid agencies in the West were also named in the reports, including Muslim Aid, Islamic Relief Agency, and Muslim Brotherhood. In the late 1980s, say the reports, Muslim Brotherhood specifically established Muslim Aid Committee to the Palestinian Nation in order to aid Hamas. Ministry reports also point to prosaic sources of funding in the Palestinian territories such as "sewing and weaving centers, cattle farms, and symbolic payment for services.” Hamas, says the ministry, aims to create a religious-civic infrastructure in the following areas: aid to the poor, education, health, society and religion. However, says the ministry, Hamas community aid focuses primarily on providing assistance to the families of terrorists killed or injured, as well as prisoners and their families. Such aid is often described as "aid to orphans and the needy.” Hamas, according to the ministry, raises money through a complex network of organizations. "While the majority of these outwardly claim to support religious or civic activities, this charity is also awarded to operatives, the families of terrorists killed, and the terrorism apparatus. In effect, there is no distinction between HAMAS’ civic and terrorist activities.”
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