04 December 2001
Text: Shutting Down Terrorist Financial Networks
(White House Fact Sheet on Hamas, Dec 4) (1360)
Acting under the authority of Executive Order 13224, Blocking
Terrorist Property, the Bush administration December 4 froze the
assets of The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, Beit
Al-Mal Holdings and Al-Aqsa Islamic Bank. President Bush said all
three are Hamas-controlled organizations that finance terror.
The following fact sheet, released by the White House, provides
details on Hamas and the three financial backers:
(begin text)
Shutting Down the Terrorist Financial Network December 4, 2001
"From the beginning of this fight, I have said our enemies are
terrorist
organizations of global reach, and all who harbor them and support
them....
Our action today is another step in the war on terrorism. It's not the
final
step. There are more terrorist networks of global reach, and more
front groups
who use deceit to support them. The net is closing. Today, it just got
tighter."
President George W. Bush
December 4, 2001
Today's Action
-- Highlighting another significant step in the financial war against
terrorism, President Bush announced action to block the assets of
three entities that provide financial and material support to the
terrorist organization HAMAS:
-- The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, that provides
millions of dollars each year to HAMAS, a U.S.-based organization;
-- Beit al-Mal Holdings, an investment company controlled by HAMAS;
and
-- Al-Aqsa Islamic Bank, a financial arm of HAMAS substantially owned
by Beit el-Mal.
-- Federal agents locked down the Holy Land Foundation's headquarters
in Richardson, Texas, as well as its three other offices in
Bridgeview, Illinois, Patterson, New Jersey, and San Diego, California
and took custody of relevant business records.
-- This action against financiers of HAMAS makes good on the U.S.
promise to go after the fundraisers for all terrorists of global
reach.
-- Today's action is taken under the authority of Executive Order
13224, signed by the President on September 23, which authorizes
aggressive actions against the bankers of international terrorism.
HAMAS
-- HAMAS is a militant offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, an
organization founded in 1928. HAMAS itself is a terrorist organization
that espouses an extremist Islamic fundamentalist ideology, calling
for the total destruction of the State of Israel. HAMAS claimed
responsibility for this past weekend's suicide attacks in Israel that
killed 26 people. In the past twelve months, it has killed two
Americans.
-- HAMAS was designated as a terrorist organization in 1995 pursuant
to Executive Order 12947, and also in 1996 pursuant to the
Antiterrorism Act. On November 2 of this year, it was added to the
list of terrorist organizations subject to action under Executive
Order 13224.
-- HAMAS pursues a combined program of violence and terror. The
principal purpose of its armed attacks is to intimidate and coerce the
Government of Israel and its civilian populations. Its benevolent
programs are used to enhance its image and earn goodwill in the
Palestinian community.
-- Since it denounced the Oslo accords in 1993, HAMAS has carried out
a number of notorious acts of terror. It staged a series of fatal
suicide attacks after Prime Minister Rabin's assassination in 1996,
escalating violence in Israel and disrupting the peace process.
-- Between October 1, 2000 and September 10, 2001, HAMAS claimed
responsibility for at least 20 bombings, two shootings, one kidnapping
and one mortar attack; at least 77 persons, including three American
citizens, have been killed in these attacks and at least 547,
including four Americans, have been injured. The use of suicide
bombers has become a HAMAS trademark.
The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
-- The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, headquartered
in Richardson, Texas, raises millions of dollars annually for HAMAS.
Last year, Holy Land raised over $13 million.
-- Holy Land supports HAMAS activities through direct fund transfers
to its offices in the West Bank and Gaza and transfers of funds to
Islamic charity committees ("zakat committees") and other charitable
organizations that are part of HAMAS or controlled by HAMAS members.
Many of the key officers and directors of the Holy Land Foundation are
HAMAS members or associates.
-- The Holy Land Foundation, originally known as the Occupied Land
Fund, was established in California in 1989 as a tax-exempt charity,
not a religious organization. In 1992, the Holy Land foundation
relocated to Richardson, Texas. It has offices in California, New
Jersey, and Illinois, and individual representatives scattered
throughout the United States, the West Bank, and Gaza.
-- Mousa Mohamed Abou Marzook, a political leader of HAMAS, provided
substantial funds to the Holy Land Foundation in the early 1990s. In
1994, Marzook (who was named a Specially Designated Terrorist by the
Treasury Department in 1995) designated the Holy Land Foundation as
the primary fund-raising entity for HAMAS in the United States.
-- Holy Land Foundation funds HAMAS-run schools that serve HAMAS ends
by encouraging children to become suicide bombers. HAMAS recruits
suicide bombers by offering support to their families; this support is
ensured in part by Holy Land Foundation contributions.
Beit Al-Mal Holdings
-- Beit al-Mal Holdings is a public investment company with locations
in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza strip. Although its
stated business activities are making loans and investing in economic
and social development projects, Beit al-Mal has extensive ties to
HAMAS. The majority of its founders, shareholders, and employees are
associated with HAMAS. Persons identified with HAMAS hold a majority
of the company's stock, and it has invested in projects in Gaza and
the West Bank that are owned or managed by HAMAS activists.
-- Beit al-Mal transfers money to and raises funds for associations
that the Palestinian Authority itself has identified as belonging to
HAMAS, and to known HAMAS activists and convicts who are members of
HAMAS.
Al-Aqsa Islamic Bank
-- Al-Aqsa Islamic Bank, with locations in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, is a financial arm of HAMAS. Al Aqsa is 20 percent owned by
Beit al-Mal, and the two share senior officers and directors. In
addition, a majority of its shareholders and senior officials have
ties to HAMAS.
-- Individuals associated with the bank have been previously arrested
and charged with financing HAMAS activities in the Middle East. Soon
after the bank opened in 1998, its connection to HAMAS extremists
became evident and a number of banks refused to clear its
transactions.
Update on Progress since the September 23 Executive Order
-- On September 23, the President signed Executive Order 13224,
expanding the Treasury Department's authority to block assets and U.S.
transactions of persons or institutions associated with terrorists or
terrorist organizations. The Order also established our ability to
block the U.S. assets of, and deny access to U.S. markets to, those
foreign banks that refuse to cooperate in freezing terrorist assets.
-- On November 2, HAMAS and 21 other foreign terrorist organizations
not related to al Qaeda were added to the Executive Order.
-- The U.S. has now designated 153 individuals, organizations, and
financial supporters of terrorism pursuant to Executive Order 13224.
Designees include terrorists from around the world.
-- Prior to today's action, the U.S. has blocked over $27 million in
assets of the Taliban and al Qaida, and other nations have blocked at
least $33 million.
-- The Treasury Department has established an inter-agency Foreign
Terrorist Asset Tracking Center, and mobilized financial investigators
-- under Operation Greenquest -- to develop leads for further
enforcement action.
-- The United States has also worked with its allies around the world
to ensure coordinated action.
-- 139 other nations have blocking orders in force.
-- UN Security Council Resolution 1373, sponsored by the U.S. and
passed on September 28, requires all nations to deny safe haven to
terrorists.
-- The 29-nation Financial Action Task Force has articulated concrete
steps nations must take to combat terrorist financing, and invited
action plans from all countries to ensure full implementation by June
2002.
-- The G-8 have agreed to work with the coordinating committee of the
UN to provide technical assistance to countries seeking to implement
UNSCR 1373.
-- The Administration has sent to the Congress legislation to enable
ratification by the U.S. of the UN Convention on the Suppression of
Terrorist Financing.
(end text)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
