Friday, July 15, 2011

Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Alsaud

http://www.thenation.com/blog/158491/secret-history-muslim-brotherhood
Excerpt:

The Secret History of the Muslim Brotherhood

Robert Dreyfuss
February 11, 2011   Those interested in a fairly detailed account of the history of the Muslim Brotherhood, including its secret collaboration with the British and the CIA, its violent campaign against President Nasser, its support from Saudi Arabia and its backing for Anwar Sadat's efforts to crush the Egyptian left and the Nasserists in the 1950s should read a piece I've written for Mother Jones.
 
In it, you'll see a photograph I uncovered while researching my book, Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam, showing the Brotherhood's chief international organizer and ideologue, Said Ramadan, in the Oval Office with President Eisenhower in 1953. Ramadan is the son-in-law of Hassan al-Banna, who founded the Brotherhood in 1928, and he is that father of Tariq Ramadan.

http://news.yahoo.com/wsj-publisher-quits-phone-hacking-scandal-205855939.html
Excerpt:
When shareholders began to call for her to go, Brooks' position became untenable. Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Alsaud, the second-largest News Corp. stockholder, told the BBC on Thursday that if Brooks were found to be implicated in wrongdoing by the newspapers "for sure she has to go."
Her resignation was greeted with relief by British politicians.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alwaleed_bin_Talal
Excerpt:

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.9773/pub_detail.asp
Excerpt:
LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing.
A video has been posted to You Tube in which LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing, commander of the LAPD’s Counterterrorism and Special Operations Bureau. defends the  Muslim Brotherhood at an appearance at the Islamic Center of Southern California (ICSC). Chief Downing’s defense of the Muslim Brotherhood included the following statements:

Excerpt:

1st Conference

Experts who particpated at the First International Conference on Radicalisation and Political Violence included: [6]
http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=1674&MainCat=6

http://www1.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/nefaikhwan1007.pdf
“The Muslim Brotherhood in the United States: A Brief History”
By NEFA Senior Investigator Douglas Farah, NEFA Director of Research Ron
Sandee, and NEFA Senior Analyst Josh Lefkowitz
[This document is an exclusive report produced by NEFA Foundation
staff based upon exhibits published as evidence by the U.S. Justice
Department in the recent case United States v. Holy Land Foundation,
copies of which were obtained by NEFA. For more information on the
activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America, see “The Ikhwan
in North America: A Short History” (August 2007) by NEFA Senior
Investigator Douglas Farah and NEFA Director of Research Ron Sandee:
http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/nefahlf0807.pdf]
Executive Summary
On Oct. 22, 2007, a federal judge in Dallas declared a mistrial on most counts in the U.S.
government’s case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.
individuals was found not guilty on most counts, while the jury was unable to resolve the rest of
the charges. The Justice Department has announced it will retry the case.
unsatisfactory outcome for all sides, the case offers an unprecedented inside look into the history
of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States, as well as its goals and structure.
During the course of the trial, federal prosecutors presented an array of internal Muslim
Brotherhood documents from the 1980s and early 1990s that give a first-ever public view of the
history and ideology behind the operations of the Muslim Brothers (known as the
Group, or the Brotherhood)
valid by the defendants and admitted at trial without protest, discuss recruitment; organization;
ideology; and the development of the Group in different phases in the United States. For
researchers, the documents have the added weight of being written by the
themselves, rather than interpretations of secondary sources. This report is not intended to be a
comprehensive review of all the material presented in the trial, or a comprehensive look at all the
individuals from these groups that have direct ties to terrorist organizations. A comprehensive,
annotated compilation of every significant exhibit is available on the NEFA Foundation website
(
The most compelling evidence of the Brotherhood’s true aims is contained in an internal
memorandum written in 1991 by a senior Brotherhood leader and titled:
Strategic Goal for the Group in North America.” In the document, the author is strikingly clear
about the ultimate goal of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States:
1 One of the2 Despite thisIkhwan, thein the U.S. over the past four decades. These documents, accepted asIkhwan leaderswww.nefafoundation.org) for further study.“On the General
1
3:04-CR-240-G, United States District Court for the Northern Division of Texas, Dallas Division. All
exhibits are referred to by the number assigned to them in court. They are available at the NEFA
Foundation website:
The United States of America v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development et al., No.www.nefafoundation.org.
2
Dallas Morning News
Jason Trahan and Michael Grabell, “Judge Declares Mistrial in Holy Land Foundation Case,” The, Oct. 22, 2007.
Nine Eleven / Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation – ©2007
http://www.nefafoundation.org
www.nefafoundation.org – info@nefafoundation.org
2
“The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in
eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and “sabotaging” its
miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and
God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”
3
The exhibits make four things clear:
1) Many of the existing organizations that have set themselves up as the interlocutors
between the Islamic community in the United States and the outside world (including
government, law enforcement, and other faiths) were founded and controlled by the
Muslim Brotherhood from their inception. Many of them changed their names over time
to achieve broader national acceptance.
2) The Brotherhood established a highly-structured organization with many different faces
inside the United States while deliberately and continually seeking to hide the
Brotherhood’s links to its front groups.
3) The agenda to be carried out by these groups in the United States in reality had little to
do with the organizations’ publicly-proclaimed goals, such as protecting the civil rights of
Muslims. Rather, the true goal is to destroy the United States from the inside and work to
establish a global Islamist society.
4) The primary function of the Brotherhood structures, from the early 1990s forward, was to
support, materially and politically, the Hamas movement in the Palestinian territories, as
instructed by the office of the general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo.
Introduction
To understand the role and importance of the Brotherhood, (officially known as
Ikhwan al-Muslimin,
monolithic organization, but rather a collection of some 70 national organizations with
competing interests and desires. The headquarters is in Egypt and the international directorate is
based in Europe.
response to the then-recent collapse of the Muslim Caliphate. Al-Banna called for establishment of
a world Islamic state governed by Koranic law, ruled by a single caliph. The Brotherhood’s creed
is: “God is our objective; the Koran is our constitution; the Prophet is our leader;
and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations.”
al-) it is essential to understand the history of the movement. It is not a single,4 The Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna injihad is our way;5
The Brotherhood took a sharply anti-Western tone under the ideological influence of
Sayyid Qutb. In a seminal 1946 article published in the Egyptian magazine
the United States, Qutb wrote: “All Westerners are the same: a rotten conscience, a false
civilization. How I hate these Westerners, how I despise all of them without exception.” He came
to believe the world was in a state of
and that Muslims had lost their way, in large part because of Western influences.
Qutb’s thinking crystallized in a slim tract, now his most enduring work, titled
“Milestones,” which outlines not only the dismal state of the world, but the duty of Islam to dispel
the darkness by spreading Islam by whatever means available. All non-Islamic states, including
that of his native Egypt, were deemed illegitimate. Only the Koran and its laws were viewed as
legitimate.
and is sold on Muslim Brotherhood websites and in mosques around the world. The book can be
found here:
al Risala, after visitingjahiliyyah or the primitive savagery of pre-Islamic revelation6 Qutb was hanged in 1966, but his book has remained in print in many languages,http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/MB/Milestones.pdf.
3
Government Exhibit 003-0085; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.21.
4
Muslim Brotherhood homepage:
http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/MB/ummahnet.pdf
.
5
Ibid.
6
Cedar Rapids, IA.
The most readily available version of the book is published by the Mother Mosque Foundation of
Nine Eleven / Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation – ©2007
http://www.nefafoundation.org
www.nefafoundation.org – info@nefafoundation.org
3
Many of the Brotherhood’s early leaders, who opposed both colonialism and the secular
regimes in which they lived, were killed and others driven out of their homelands. Many of the
survivors, including scores of highly-educated men with skills lacking in much of the Arab world,
eventually found refuge in Saudi Arabia, where the anti-Western
welcomed them. In the 1970s, flush with cash from the first oil boom and deeply disturbed by the
successful Islamic revolution in Shi’ite Iran, Saudi leaders set out to spread their own conservative
brand of Sunni Islam.
Brotherhood activists helped launch the largest Saudi charities, including the Muslim
World League and World Assembly of Muslim Youth, all closely tied to the conservative Saudi
clergy. Branches of these groups would later be implicated in funding al Qaeda.
list of the militant Islamists and organizations that emerged from the Brotherhood’s
ranks include many now-familiar names: Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the “Blind Sheik” responsible
killing hundreds of civilians and serving a life sentence in New York for planning terrorist attacks
in the United States; the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), founded and funded by the
Brotherhood in 1987, to destroy Israel; Ayman Zawahiri, founder of the Brotherhood-based
Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and currently Osama bin Laden’s chief deputy; Abdullah Azzam, who
went on to Afghanistan and eventually became a co-founder of al Qaeda; and Hassan al-Turabi,
bin Laden’s benefactor and host during his stay in Sudan.
of the 9/11 attacks, told U.S. interrogators he was drawn to violent
the Brotherhood and attending its desert youth camps.
Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, the alleged mastermind of the March 11, 2004 attack on a Spanish
train that killed 198 people, and others implicated in the attack, of belonging to the
Brotherhood.
wahhabi establishment7 A nonexhaustive8 Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the architectjihad in Kuwait after joining9 Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon accused10
Lesser known figures in the United States but prominent in the Brotherhood who have
been designated as terrorist supporters by the U.S. Treasury Department and the United Nations
include: Yousef Nada, an Egyptian and naturalized Italian citizen who joined the Brotherhood at
16 and identifies himself as the Brotherhood’s foreign minister; and his frequent business partner,
Ahmed Idris Nasreddin, a wealthy Eritrean.
11
The Muslim Brotherhood in the United States
The U.S. Chapter of the international Muslim Brotherhood was formed in the 1960s,
according to the documents presented during the HLF trial. This coincides with increasing
repression of the Brotherhood in Egypt, where the movement was born, as well as increasing
pressure in other secular Arab states. As a result, many Brotherhood members moved to the more
hospitable environment of Saudi Arabia.
During the first years in the United States, the
chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood was formed in the early 1960s after hundreds of young
Muslims came to the U.S. to study, particularly at large Midwestern universities in Illinois, Indiana,
and Michigan. The center of activity was the Muslim Students Association, founded in 1963. Some
Ikhwan were only loosely organized. A U.S.
7
Sept. 11, 2004, p. A1.
John Mintz and Douglas Farah, “In Search of Friends Among the Foes,” The Washington Post,
8
Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, “Jihad’s Long Reach,”
145-157.
These and other ties are outlined in several articles, including: Mintz and Farah, op cit; MichaelNewsweek, Sept. 17, 2003; Farah, op cit., pp
9
The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 145.
10
0000035/2001 E.
Ministracion de Justicia, Juzgado Central de Instruccion No. 005, Sumario (Proc. Ordinario)
11
with Kevin Peraino and Catherine Skipp, “Is al Taqwa, a Shadowy Financial Network, a Secret
Money Machine for Osama bin Laden?”
U.S. Treasury Department Statement on Terrorist Designations, Aug. 12, 2002; Mark HosenballNewsweek, March 25, 2002, p. 28.
Nine Eleven / Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation – ©2007
http://www.nefafoundation.org
www.nefafoundation.org – info@nefafoundation.org
4
belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood in their homelands and wanted to spread its ideology
here.
12
In the 1970s a new influx of Muslim Brothers from the Middle East first created tensions
but in the end developed a more professional organization. Years later, the leader of the
organization office of the U.S. chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, identified as Zeid al-Noman,
said the first gathering of Islamic activists was loose-knit:
“So, the first generation of the Muslim Ikhwans in North America composed of a team
which included he who was an Ikhwan in his country or he who was a member of The
Worshipers of the Merciful Group or he who doesn’t have a direction but who is active in
Islamic activism.”
13
A historical outline of the U.S. Brotherhood’s achievements, written on October 25, 1991,
as an internal work paper to the Shura Council of the group in the U.S. states: “In 1962, the
Muslim Students Union was founded by a group of the first Ikhwans in North America and the
meetings of the Ikhwan became conferences and Students Union Camps.”
indicates that the first Muslim brothers who came to the United States were still seen as members
of the Muslim Brothers of their country of origin. If a Muslim Brother came from a country that
had no large “gathering” in the U.S., he was advised to associate with the “nearest movement to
them. So, for instance, an Iraqi might have joined Jordan’s Ikhwan and, for instance, a Libyan
might associate with Egypt’s Ikhwan and so forth”:
14 Zeid al-Noman15
“The Movement went through different organizational formats. One of the first
organizational formats tried here were the regional gatherings as each movement had (…)
with a leadership and the collection of this leadership formed Groups or what is called the
Coordination Council. There were meetings and the resolutions of that Council were nonbinding
for its members.”
16
Later a more formal structure was created and according to the bylaws and Zeid al-
Noman “the highest organization in the Group is the Organizational Conference. The
Organizational Conference is a stemming from the Ikhwans bases; every Usra elects one or two
according to its number. (…) After that, the Shura Council comes then the Executive Council.”
17
The conditions for being recruited by the movement were formalized, and the identification of
these groups with the Muslim Brotherhood was solidified, as outlined below:
“During this stage, the name of this gathering was not important but the affiliation with
the Ikhwan’s name was am (sic) affiliation due to the size of thought of this Movement.
(…)This was the reason for which the name “The Muslim Brotherhood” was adopted as a
basis for this work. (…) There was an attempt to change the name of the Muslim
Brotherhood Movement to The Islamic Movement… As for recruitment in the ranks of this
Movement, its main condition was that a brother must be active in the general activism in
the MSA, a person who attends its general conferences or participating in its executive
committees, whether local or central, and this was the Movement’s condition in the 60’s.
(…) Recruitment used to take place in the following format: attending the MSA
conferences and choosing active Arab elements and approaching them to join the
Ikhwans. This was followed by visits to the local branches and, consequently, choosing
active elements over there and approaching them to join the Ikhwans.”
18
12
America,”
U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.2.
Noreen Ahmed-Ullah, Sam Roe and Laurie Cohen, “A Rare Look at Secretive Brotherhood inThe Chicago Tribune, Sept. 19, 2004; Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G;
13
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.2.
14
Government Exhibit 003-0003; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.
15
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.2-3.
16
0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.1.
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.2. Government Exhibit 003-
17
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.15.
18
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.3.
Nine Eleven / Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation – ©2007
http://www.nefafoundation.org
www.nefafoundation.org – info@nefafoundation.org
5
New Influx from the Middle East: the 1970s
It is clear that, like any broad organization, there were times of adaptation and growth.
After their initial years in the United States, members of the Muslim Brotherhood began to expand
in different directions. Continuing from the personal account of Zeid al-Noman, as taken from an
exhibit presented in United States of America v. Holy Land Foundation:
“In the beginning of the 70’s (sic) a new era started. We can call it the stage of codification.
The people put together the first bylaws. (…) There started to be an emphasis on the
Ikhwan’s formula for this Movement. Prior to this stage, young elements came to America,
(e)specially Gulf elements or Saudi elements which joined the ranks of the Movement
regularly.”
19
“In 1972, the Muslim Kuwaiti Youths Association was founded which was later developed
in 1976 into the Muslim Arab Youths Association and its work centered around the Muslim
students coming to America from all the Arab countries. It developed significantly during
the eighties and the Ikhwan play a fundamental role in leading and directing it at the
leadership and the grassroots levels.”
20
In the second half of the 1970s an “
according to Zeid al-Noman:
together lasting from ’75-’80. Its primary focus was general work and dedication to the general
work organizations.”
Brotherhood members, but also to an increasing emphasis on secrecy, as well as the imposition of
the need for long-term planning. It was also a time of deep internal divisions within the
movement and bitter rivalries. Al-Noman writes:
era of dedication for general activism began,”21 “The first Ikhwan’s plan was the five-year plan the Ikhwans put22 This phase led not only to stronger ties between the North American
“During the same time, the Ikhwans’ foreign connections became strong and that was
due to the fundraising campaigns which were launched by the Ikhwans which made it
possible for the Ikhwans in the leadership to meet (the) leadership from the Orient.
Therefore, membership here of the brothers who were members in their countries was
easier, more easier. Those people come to the Movement and found some organizational
practices such as means and priorities which were different from the ones they were
accustomed to in their countries. So, they started to in inquire, “Where is the strictness in
the conditions? And where are these conditions? Where is the secrecy, where is (the)
organizational connection and where are the educational programs? What are the goals
of the Group here? What are the goals of these programs?” All of these questions were
resurfacing on the field anew. Therefore, regional organizational pockets started to form
during this time period. Also, rumors and suspicions started to circulate among the ranks
of the Group regarding individuals in the leadership. So, the Movement’s then-current
situation exploded during the camp of ’77 and a new leadership came on board in ’78
whose work was bitter as it was trying to purge the Group’s body from regional
restrictions and gatherings of from the organizational pockets and tied its parts together
but, during this time period, it was a non-harmonious leadership and going back and forth
was evident in its positions.”
23
In his memo, al-Noman makes a particularly interesting comment about the difference between
the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. and in the Middle East:
“Our methods and means are different from the Orient unless it was compatible with the
reality of the Islamic Movement over here. Our methods are always driven from the nature
of the organizational base, from the nature of the country which is America and also from
19
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.3.
20
Government Exhibit 003-0003; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.
21
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.4.
22
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.7.
23
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.4.
Nine Eleven / Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation – ©2007
http://www.nefafoundation.org
www.nefafoundation.org – info@nefafoundation.org
6
the nature of the base from which we move, the people we move between are mostly
highly-educated youth. (…) They are more aware than the youth who are of the same
stage or age in the Orient.”
24
“The conferences of ’77, ’78 and ’79 used to end with tears and pain but (…) were very
important for what happened after that. This time period was characterized by change; a
change in Ikhwans who wanted to change the status quo and others who want to
maintain the status quo. (…) For the first time actual accountability of the leadership was
enacted even though this accountability was unfair at times. In the past, leadership was
seen as a group of infallible Ikhwans. Therefore, holding them accountable was rare or
simple.”
25
“In 1976, the Malaysian Group for Islamic Studies was founded and it now has an annual
conference (attended by 600 students in 1990), a leadership conference and other camps
in various regions. Its work is centered on the students coming from Malaysia and
Southeast Asia. The leadership of the Ikhwan plays a general role in directing the
Malaysian Group.”
26
Professionalization: The 1980s
The time of turmoil led to a more structured Brotherhood organization in the United
States, with a centralized leadership and the formation of many of the organizations that
continue to function today, as discussed below. For the first time the leadership sought to build
permanent structures with the idea of settling permanently in various U.S. cities. According to al-
Noman:
“The elections of ’79 came along and the Shura Council came in ’80 and ’81 and the road
in front of it was paved and the Shura Council came in ’80 and ’81 and the road in front of
it was paved and work began to unify the Group’s ranks, codification of work and pushing
the Movement’s forward. For the first time then, we had a General Masul who was
dedicated to the Group’s affairs alone and also the Shura Council started to play its true
role which is planning and monitoring the executive leadership. The executive leadership
was carrying its tasks through a Shura atmosphere and continuous contacts. Its meetings
were held consistently on monthly basis.”
27
“In 1980, the Muslim Students Union was developed into the Islamic Society in North
America (ISNA) to include all the Muslim congregations from immigrants and citizens, and
to be a nucleus for the Islamic Movement in North America…The ISNA has developed
significantly in the eighties but the Ikhwan’s leadership and direction of it started to
gradually decrease due to their scarce presence in it.”
28
The second five-year plan for 1981-1985 was focused on self-structure and the settlement of the
Dawa’a, including trying to increase the influence of the Brotherhood in organizations that were
evolving among young Muslim immigrants.
29 Al-Noman writes:
”By ‘Settlement of the Dawa’a’, the Muslim Brotherhood Dawa’a is meant. It is not meant
to spread Islam as spread of Islam is a general thing and it is indeed a goal for each Muslim
in general terms. The second thing is the settlement of the Dawa’a and finding permanent
fundamentals in the cities where Ikhwans now live in order for them to be the meeting
points for the coming brothers…In 1985, the Youths Organization in North America was
founded as an independent organization but with a relationship with the ISNA. The
Ikhwan played no role in founding it and directing it but the matter is gradually improving.
24
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.10.
25
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.4.
26
Government Exhibit 003-0003; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.
27
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al,. p.5.
28
Government Exhibit 003-0003; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.
29
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.7.
Nine Eleven / Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation – ©2007
http://www.nefafoundation.org
www.nefafoundation.org – info@nefafoundation.org
7
Its work is centered on the children of the Muslim congregations from immigrants and
citizens in North America. It has a general annual conference and regional conferences
across the continent.”
30
Contradicting this claim is the fact that Ahmed Elkadi, the leader of the Muslim
Brotherhood in the United States between 1984 and 1994, helped to create several Islamic
organizations, including the Muslim Youth of North America. This organization attempted to
draw thousands of high school students to Islam by sponsoring soccer teams, providing
scholarships, and offering a line of clothing.
31
Front Groups and Weapons Training
This phase also brought the explicit use of front groups and a more sophisticated division
of labor among the different Brotherhood groups, including seeking media exposure. However,
secrecy and compartmentalization of work were stressed. Zeid al-Noman emphasized both in his
extensive discourse, highlighting the care that must be put into the formation of front groups,
while explicitly naming the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) as one of those groups:
“[Fronts groups are] one method to communicate the Ikhwan’s point of view. A front is
not formed until after a study and after an exhaustive study. I mean, the last front formed
by the Group is the Islamic Association for Palestine. So, Ikhwans, this did not come out
over night, or it was not the Ikhwnans who are in charge went to sleep, dreamed about it
and met the next day and decided to do it. Not at all, by God. This went through lengthy
meetings and took long discussions.”
32
The focus of the Brotherhood efforts at this time was the IAP.
“In 1981, the Ikhwan founded the Islamic Association of Palestine to serve the cause of
Palestine on the political and the media fronts. The Association has absorbed most of the
Ikhwan’s Palestinian energy at the leadership and the grassroots levels in addition to some
of the brothers from the other countries. Attention was given to the Arab new arrivals,
immigrants and citizens in general, while focusing on the Palestinians in particular. The
Association’s work had developed a great deal since its inception, particularly with the
formation of the Palestine Committee, the beginning of the Intifada at the end of 1987
and the proclamation of the Hamas movement. The Association has organizations
affiliated with it such as (The United Association for Studies & Research, The Occupied
Land Fund and The Media Office), dedicated main personnel, several periodicals, research,
studies and field branches in all the regions.”
33
In 1982-1983 the main goals of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. were, according to
Zeid al-Noman:
“Strengthening the internal structure, administrative discipline, recruitment and settlement
of the Dawa’a, energizing the organizations’ work, energizing the political work fronts. As
for the secondary goals, they are eight: first, financing and investment; second, foreign
relations; third reviving women’s activity; four, political awareness to members of the
Group; five, securing the Group; six, special activity; seven, media; eight, benefiting from
human potentials.”
34
30
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.8.
31
Government Exhibit 003-0003; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.
32
Sam Roe and Laurie Cohen, “A Rare Look at Secretive Brotherhood in America,”
Tribune
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.12; Noreen Ahmed-Ullah,The Chicago, Sept. 19, 2004.
33
Government Exhibit 003-0003; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.
34
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.. p.9.
Nine Eleven / Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation – ©2007
http://www.nefafoundation.org
www.nefafoundation.org – info@nefafoundation.org
8
The need for security and vigilance against outside forces was becoming a growing
concern. It also appears that the Brothers had developed some sort of military capacity. This is
clear from the exchange between al-Noman and an unidentified questioner, who asks if the
Special Activity (see point six, “special activity” in above paragraph) referred to military work. Al
Noman responded:
“‘Special work’ means military work. ‘Securing the Group’ is the Groups’ security, the
Group’s security against outside dangers. For instance, to monitor suspicious movement
(…) which exist on the American front such as Zionism, Masonry…etc. Monitoring the
suspicious movements or the sides, the government bodies such as the CIA, FBI…etc, so
that we can find out if they are monitoring us, are we not being monitored, how can we
get rid of them.”
35
Almost immediately afterward, he went on to clarify and talk about Brotherhood
weapons training in the United States: “[I]t is not possible to have military training in Jordan, for
instance, while here in America there is (sic) weapons training in many of the Ikhwan camps
(…)”
Oklahoma, weapons training has become more difficult because the authorities “started to get
strict about letting Muslims use the camps. They would ask them, for instance, to submit their
name and they would ask you to bring an ID or something to prove our name.”
said that “here in Missouri” the Brothers could still “request a camp that has a range, a shooting
range, and one which has a range to shoot, one which has a range which they use for shooting.
You could find that in some of the camps.”
36 A little further on, al-Noman returns to the topic, describing how in some areas, such as37 However, he38
The Formation of Hamas and the 1990s
A defining moment for the Brotherhood in the United States (and elsewhere) was the
1987 formation of Hamas as an armed group. What set Hamas apart from other Islamist groups
was its public and organic link to the Muslim Brotherhood. Article 2 of the Hamas Charter states
that:
“The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of the Muslim Brotherhood in
Palestine. The Muslim Brotherhood Movement is a universal organization which
constitutes the largest Islamic movement of modern times. It is characterized by its deep
understanding, accurate comprehension and its complete embrace of all Islamic concepts
of all aspects of life, culture, creed, politics, economics, education, society, justice and
judgment ,the spreading of Islam, education, art, information, science of the occult and
conversion to Islam.”
39
This explicit endorsement of Hamas by the U.S. Group, carries over to many other
documents, many of them relating to the first
the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas was a major participant in the
the 1993 Oslo Accords that brought a virtual end to that round of violence. The Group
organizations supported the
Brotherhood to Hamas. As one 1992 Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) memo noted:
intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule inintifada and worked to sabotageintifada and repeatedly reiterated the link of the Muslim
“With the increase of the Intifada and the advance of the Islamic action inside and outside
Palestine, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), provided through its activities in
resisting the Zionist occupation a lot of sacrifices from martyrs, detainees, wounded,
injured, fugitives and deportees and it was able to prove that it is an original and an
effective movement in leading the Palestinian people…This Movement--which was bred in
35
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.. p.13.
36
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.. p.13.
37
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.. p.18.
38
Government Exhibit 003-0089; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.. p.18.
39
http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/HLF/iap_hamascharter.pdf.
Nine Eleven / Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation – ©2007
http://www.nefafoundation.org
www.nefafoundation.org – info@nefafoundation.org
9
the bosom of the mother movement, ‘The Muslim Brotherhood’-- restored hope and life to
the Muslim nation and the notion that the flare of Jihad has not died out and that the
banner of Islamic Jihad is still raised.”
40
This is not an isolated statement, but one that is a theme in much of the Group’s
deliberations. A December 1990 memorandum titled “Lessons and Morals from the Reality of
Intifada Work,” begins by saying:
“Hamas is a Godly gift to the Palestinian people, the Muslim nation and the International
Islamic Movement: like the gift of the Afghani Jihad; and the establishment of the nation
of Islam in Sudan; and the triumph Islam and Muslim in several places (Algeria, Jordan,
Malaysia, Turkey…; the fall of Communism and the liberation of Islamic states; the
endurance of the International Movement in face of many shocks (The Gulf crisis, the
internal conflicts..)”
41
The same document hints at internal security problems for the Brotherhood and a direct
role in trying to counter the information coming from the confessions of arrested
Ikhwan
members (possibly Hamas members, but not explicitly stated in the document) in Israel and the
Palestinian territories. The document says that the “
movement is destroyed.”
how to mitigate the damage, particularly by using dead drops (a technique utilized to covertly
pass material), further compartmentalizing Brotherhood work and adding security precautions.
At the same time, it is clear that the Brotherhood groups in the United States were
steadily branching off and building groups that were to be perceived as independent entities, but
in reality were all linked and to this day, it appears many still are. A document titled “Annual
Report for year 89-1990, Presented to the Organizational Conference,” states that:
discovery of moles” does not mean “that the42 The document analyzes why some of those captured confess, and
“The Central Committee for Palestinian Activism in America is in charge of planning,
directing and following up on all work related to and connected to the Group. It includes
several committees and organizations, some of which are: The Islamic Association of
Palestine, the Occupied Land Fund, The United Association for Studies and Research, the
Office of Foreign Affairs, The Investment Committee, The Rehabilitation Committee, the
Medical Committee and the Legal Committee.”
43
This is an unambiguous statement by the Brotherhood (Group) linking the IAP, the OLF
(which later became the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development),
Association for Studies and Research (USAR), the Group’s main think tank for many years. The
same document notes that the HLF invested $100,000 in real estate with an ICNA-affiliated
group, further indications of a strong relationship.
the Group helped form the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in 1994. CAIR is first
mentioned by name in the Brotherhood documents as part of the July 30, 1994 agenda of the
Palestine Committee.
become the most prominent public face of the Group. CAIR’s leadership was taken directly from
the IAP and Palestine Committee.
44 and the United45 In order to bolster its outreach capabilities,46 CAIR would grow to become the leading Ikhwan voice in the media and
40
Government Exhibit 003-0015; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.,
http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/iap_internalmemo.pdf
.
41
Government Exhibit 003-0010; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p. 1.
42
Government Exhibit 003-0010; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p. 1.
43
Government Exhibit 003-005; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p. 3.
44
the name change from Occupied Land Fund to Holy Land Foundation for Relief and
Development was made after extensive consultations inside and outside the Brotherhood
organization.
Government Exhibit 003-008; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p. 6. It is interesting to note that
45
Government Exhibit 003-008; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p. 6.
46
Government Exhibit 003-0078; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p. 6
http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/HLF/palcomm_meetingminutes.pdf
.
Nine Eleven / Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation – ©2007
http://www.nefafoundation.org
www.nefafoundation.org – info@nefafoundation.org
10
Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad, who co-founded CAIR and serve as CAIR's chairman
emeritus and executive director, respectively, were listed as individual members of the
Brotherhood's Palestine Committee in America. Ahmad and Awad also served as president and
public relations director of the IAP, respectively. Interestingly, the exhibits show, on Oct. 5, 1994
CAIR received a $5,000 donation from the HLF, with the notation “CBS” in the memo line.
two days before, CBS had aired a piece identifying the HLF and IAP as groups funding Hamas.
47 Just48
The story led to a major outcry by
and it seems reasonable to assume that the money was given to CAIR to help fund the efforts to
counter the CBS story, which included a letter-writing campaign and public protestations of the
innocence of the named groups.
What makes the donation notable is that, in written testimony before the U.S. Congress,
CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad stated that it was “an outright lie” to say CAIR had received
any money from the HLF, as Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project had stated. In his
testimony, Awad challenged Emerson to produce “even a shred of evidence to support his
ridiculous claim” that his group had received any such donation.
check was unknown to Congressional investigators or the law enforcement community. Given
that such a donation was not illegal or unexpected, such a vehement (and false) denial raises
interesting questions that can only be answered by accepting the Group’s definition of itself as a
clandestine organization that cannot reveal its true nature or the ties among different entities that
make up the Group.
This desire to obscure the real nature of different Group organizations carries over into
their security preparations. In an undated security manual, everything from classification systems
to compartmentalization of information, secure meeting protocols, sweeping for bugs, and other
issues are addressed. In addition, protocols on establishing what could be said publicly, how to
quickly destroy documents, and how different parts of the Group could interact and contact each
other are carefully outlined.
nothing illegal in this operation, but it is not in keeping with the behavior of normal charitable
organizations. It is, however, consistent with the behavior of front organizations seeking to hide
their true identities and purposes.
One of the key strategies employed in setting up different front groups and organizations
appears to have been to use family members to hold important, interlocking positions within
different organizations. These family members, in turn, often were related to Hamas leaders.
Ikhwan-related groups, protesting the innocence of the groups,49 At the time the existence of the50 As with receiving donations from a legitimate organization, there is51
While familial relationships are not proof of criminal association or guilt, the use of family
members to insure secrecy and compartmentalization within organizations is common tradecraft
in clandestine groups.
The Smoking Gun
The need for trusted cadres working on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United
States is evident if one understands the Group’s self-articulated goals in this country.
47
http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/HLF/hlf_cair_5k.pdf.
48
Oct. 28 because it had incorrectly shown video of a mosque that was not linked to any of the
mentioned entities.
CBS Evening News Transcript, Oct. 3, 1994. The network later issued a minor correction on
49
and Homeland Security, “Terrorism: Two Years After 9/11, Connecting Dots, American Muslim
Community Under Siege,” September 10, 2003,
Written Testimony of Nihad Awad Before the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology
http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/MB/nihad.pdf
.
50
page 12.
Government Exhibit 002-0101; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., English translation begins onhttp://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/securitymanual.pdf.
51
ties:
To make this point the government prepared the following chart showing some of the familyhttp://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/HLF/familiallinks.pdf.
Nine Eleven / Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation – ©2007
http://www.nefafoundation.org
www.nefafoundation.org – info@nefafoundation.org
11
One document titled “An Explanatory Memorandum; On the General Strategic Goal for
the Group in North America”
and unambiguously articulates the goals of the Muslim Brotherhood, articulated elsewhere by
Yousef al Qaradawi and other
United States. Dated May 22, 1991, it is important both for its content as well as its authoritative
authorship, carrying the weight of the
The author, Mohamed Akram, is probably the same person as Dr. Mohamed Akram
Adlouni (or Adluni). At the time of writing, Adlouni was one of the key players within the Muslim
Brotherhood in the U.S. He was a member of the Shura Council and five departments within the
apparatus including, the Planning department; the Special Committee and the Secretary of the
Palestine Committee.
Foundation in Lebanon and the director of the al-Quds International Institute.
note that the International al-Quds Foundation is headed by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the
most influential
In order to establish his authority in the Explanatory Memorandum, Adlouni states that
his authority is derived from the 1987
highest governing bodies of the Brotherhood in the United States. To claim this authority he
quotes the group’s agreed goals from that conference, including:
52 stands out as being of particular importance because it so clearlyIkhwan leaders, in the context of the Brotherhood efforts inside theShura Council and the Organizational Conference of 1987.53 Currently Adlouni is the Secretary General of the International al-Quds54 (It is interesting toIkhwan thinkers and theologians of recent decades.)Shura Council and Organizational Conference of 1987, the
“Enablement of Islam in North America, meaning: establishing an effective and stable
Islamic Movement led by the Muslim Brotherhood which adopts Muslims’ causes
domestically and globally, and which works to expand the observant Muslim base, aims at
unifying and directing Muslims’ efforts, presents Islam as a civilization alternative, and
supports the global Islamic state wherever it is.”
55
After going into some detail in establishing the relevance and authority of his missive,
Adlouni spends considerable time on the fundamental concept of settlement, central to the
Muslim Brotherhood-led efforts in North America. He describes settlement as necessary so “
Islam and its Movement become a part of the homeland it lives in
also defined as follows:
That.” The process of settlement is
“In order for Islam and its Movement to become “a part of the homeland” in which it lives,
“stable” in its land, “rooted” in the spirits and minds of its people, “enabled” in the live of its
society and has firmly established “organizations” on which the Islamic structure is built
and with which the testimony of civilization is achieved, the Movement must plan and
struggle to obtain “the keys” and the tools of this process in carry out this grand mission as
a “Civilization Jihadist” responsibility which lies on the shoulders of Muslims and – on top
of them – the Muslim Brotherhood in this country…”
56
This last statement clarifies that the concept of settlement is not intended solely to allow
the
for the conquest of the land by Islam. Adlouni is clear when he writes about the role of the
Muslim Brother in North America, built on his previous statements, and is also clear that the
Brothers must understand both the gravity and importance of their undertaking in the process of
settlement:
Ikhwan-led Muslims in North America to live peacefully, but is, in fact, part of jihad or holy war
“The process of settlement is a “Civilization-Jihadist Process” with all the word means. The
Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating
and destroying the Western civilization from within and “sabotaging” its miserable house
by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is
52
Government Exhibit 003-0085; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al.
53
0001; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.3-4.
Government Exhibit 003-0064; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.8; Government Exhibit 003-
54
http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/MB/AlQuds2.pdf;
http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/MB/AlQuds.pdf
.
55
Government Exhibit 003-0085; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.18.
56
Government Exhibit 003-0085; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.19.
Nine Eleven / Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation – ©2007
http://www.nefafoundation.org
www.nefafoundation.org – info@nefafoundation.org
12
made victorious over all other religions. Without this level of understanding, we are not up
to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves for Jihad yet. It is a Muslim’s destiny to
perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes,
and there is no escape from that destiny except for those who chose to slack. But, would
the slackers and the Mujahedeen be equal.”
57
The writer understands that the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. is not strong enough to
perform the “
Civilization Jihad” on its own but clearly sees the Muslim Brothers as the vanguard.
“As for the role of the Ikhwan, it is the initiative, pioneering, leadership, raising the banner
and pushing people in that direction. They are then to work to employ, direct and unify
Muslims’ efforts and powers for this process. In order to do that, we must possess a
mastery of the art of “coalitions”, the art of “absorption” and the principles of
“cooperation”.
they have”, their best specializations, experiences, arts, energies and abilities. By people
here we mean those within or without the ranks of individuals and organizations. (…) To
me, there is no choice for us other than alliance and mutual understanding of those who
desire from our religion and those who agree from our belief in work. And the U.S. Islamic
arena is full of those waiting…, the pioneers.”
58 “We need to adopt the principle which says, “Take from people…the best59
To emphasize the strength of the Group, the author concludes by listing 29 groups under
the heading: “A List of our organizations and the organizations of our friends [Imagine if they all
march according to one plan!!!].”
Muslim Student Association, the North American Islamic Trust, the Muslim Arab Youth
Association, the International Institute of Islamic Thought, and the Occupied Land Fund (later the
HLF) and other groups that continue to operate publicly as independent groups with no ties to
each other or to the Muslim Brotherhood.
60 Those listed include the Islamic Society of North America, the
Conclusion
The documents demonstrate unambiguously that the international Muslim Brotherhood
has, for more than three decades, carried out a systematic plan to wage “civilization jihad” against
the United States, with the aims of making the nation part of the broader Islamic
Muslim global state. This has been the task of the inter-related organizations that make up the
Muslim Brotherhood presence here. While membership in the Muslim Brotherhood is not illegal,
the Group has shown a keen desire to portray each group as independent and unaffiliated within
the
organizations and security and secrecy are sources of worry and discussion.
The documents also show that while not publicly advocating violence, the Brotherhood
has engaged in weapons training and has maintained a specific, clandestine security branch to
monitor law enforcement and intelligence agencies’ interest in the Brotherhood activities. It is
interesting to note that none of the documents deal with the stated goals of the Group
organizations, such as protecting the legal rights of Muslims or insuring their civil rights are
honored. Rather, in both tone and tenor, the documents deal with the advancement of the
“civilization-jihad” theme in different ways, demonstrating that this was the primary goal of these
organizations since their inception.
The initial verdict in the trial of the Holy Land Foundation leaves the case unresolved. A
new trial, promised by the Department of Justice, may result in a less ambiguous verdict. But
whether criminal culpability for funding terrorism is found or not, the documents make clear that
the Muslim Brotherhood and its multiple organizations in this country are seeking an agenda far
different from the one they publicly claim to advocate.
caliphate orIkhwan structure. To this end, strict security measures have been implemented in the
57
Government Exhibit 003-0085; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.21.
58
Government Exhibit 003-0085; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.21.
59
Government Exhibit 003-0085; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.22.
60
Government Exhibit 003-0085; 3:04-CR-240-G; U.S. v. HLF, et al., p.32.
www.nefafoundation.org

“The Muslim Brotherhood
in the United States”

October 26, 2007
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)