The New York Sun reported earlier this month that federal prosecutors have responded to a filing by the Islamic Society of North American (ISNA) to have itself delisted as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial.
In their reply brief, the Department of Justice not only defended their designation of ISNA as unindicted co-conspirator, but cited more than two dozen government exhibits connecting ISNA and its financial arm, the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), to the HLF criminal conspiracy to raise money for the HAMAS terrorist organization. The NY Sun quotes the trial brief:
“During last year’s trial, numerous exhibits were entered into evidence establishing both ISNA’s and NAIT’s intimate relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestine Committee, and the defendants in this case,” the prosecutors wrote. “They were intimately connected with the HLF and its assigned task of providing financial support to HAMAS. . . . That ISNA and NAIT appeared in these documents and share a common history with these defendants is a reflection of the evidence, not any attempt to ‘disparage’ or ‘vilify.’But that’s not all. More from the trial brief:
ISNA checks deposited into the ISNA/NAIT account for the HLF were often made payable to “the Palestinian Mujahadeen,” the original name for the HAMAS military wing. Govt. Exh. 1–174. From that ISNA/NAIT account, the HLF sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to HAMAS leader Mousa Abu Marzook, Nadia Elashi (defendant Ghassan Elashi’s cousin and Marzook’s wife), Sheikh Ahmed Yassin’s Islamic Center of Gaza, the Islamic University, and a number of other individuals associated with HAMAS. Govt. Exh. 20–55, 20–56.For more on the DOJ brief, see the related report by the Investigative Project on Terrorism. And here are some of our recent ISNA-related posts:
ISNA was also discussed during the 1993 Philadelphia conference, a meeting of the Palestine Committee convened to discuss the impact of the Oslo Accords. Govt. Exh. 16–47. During the conference, Palestine Committee members discussed using ISNA as official cover for their activities. Govt. Exh. 16–0059 at 10–11; 16–60. In short, evidence introduced during the course of a public trial demonstrates that ISNA and NAIT are indeed co-conspirators/joint venturers, and no relief that the Court can grant would alter the state of the record in that regard. (p. 14)
- FBI Declassified Memo: ISNA conferences “provided opportunities for the extreme fundamentalist Muslims to meet with their supporters” (7/23/08)
- Members of Congress ask DOJ to withdraw from 2007 ISNA convention (7/15/08)
- HAMAS terrorist leader thanks ISNA (7/14/08)
