Background

In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, President Bush launched an all-out war on terrorism, targeting not only those who commit violent acts, but the individuals and organizations that fund them. While the Bush administration took swift action against some terrorist front groups, others were initially ignored. The Texas-based Holy Land Foundation, for example, was not listed by the State Department as a supporter of terrorism for months after the terrorist attacks, despite the fact that it had been under investigation by the Clinton administration’s FBI years prior to September 11. Judicial Watch recently uncovered documents through the Freedom of Information Act that prove the U.S. government knew about the Holy Land Foundation’s ties to the terrorist group Hamas, yet did not take action against the organization, allowing it to continue to raise funds to support terrorists.

Key Excerpts:

“On June 29, 2000, USAID approved the application of HLF for registration as a PVO for USAID. On August 30, 2000, Under Secretary of State Pickering wrote to the Administrator of USAID, stating that the Department of State had determined that continuation of HLF’s registration with USAID as a PVO was contrary to the national defense and foreign policy interests of the United States. On September 14, 2000, USAID advised the HLF that USAID proposed to terminate HLF’s registration as a PVO with USAID…On November 7, 2000, HLF’s registration as a PVO with USAID was terminated.” – Testimony of Gary M. Winter, Assistant General Counsel for the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
“On December 4, 2001, the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of Treasury designated HLF as a specially designated terrorist (SDT), as a specially designated global terrorist (SDGT), and blocked all of its assets pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act…” – Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development v. John Ashcroft, Memorandum Opinion, Civil Action 02-442.

Relevance:

The FBI investigated the Holy Land Foundation during the Clinton administration and had determined the organization had ties to the terrorist group Hamas. Thomas Pickering, Under Secretary of State in Madeline Albright’s State Department, determined that the organization’s activities were contrary to the national security interests of the United States. While the HLF was stripped of its status as a charitable organization by the U.S. Agency for International Development in the fall of 2000, no action was taken to shut the organization down until December 2001, after the terrorist attacks on the United States. Clearly the Clinton and Bush administrations failed to thwart a serious threat to U.S. national security by allowing the HLF to raise funds in the U.S. and deliver them into the hands of terrorists in the Middle East.

Sidebars:

“The State Department has asked the Agency for International Development to withdraw its registration from one of the largest Muslim charities in the United States, saying it has ties to the terrorist group Hamas, government officials say.”
New York Times, August 25, 2000.