Islamic Association of Palestine

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Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) was an Islamist organization that raised money in the United States for Hamas. It purported to write articles of a factual nature on issues that "Zionist controlled" westernized media failed to report. It called itself "a not-for-profit, public-awareness, educational, political, social, and civic, national grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a just, comprehensive, and eternal solution to the cause of Palestine and suffrages of the Palestinians." For a time it also used the name American Muslim Society.^[1]

Founders include:^[2]

Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, funder and 1989 member of IAP Board of Directors, Specially Designated Global Terrorist.^[3]
Sami Al-Arian, cofounder of Islamic Society of North America and supporter of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

It published a magazine, Tareeq Filistine (Road to Palestine), Ila Filastin,^[2] and newspapers Al-Zaytuna and Muslim World Monitor.

The Anti-Defamation League accused the IAP of issuing anti-Semitic propaganda and having links to terrorists. The U.S. government considers the IAP a front for Hamas in the United States.

In December 2004, a federal judge in the U.S. city of Chicago ruled that the IAP (along with the Holy Land Foundation) was liable for a $156 million dollar lawsuit for aiding and abetting the terror group Hamas in the death of a 17-year-old David Boim, an American citizen. Though IAP has already had its assets frozen by the U.S. executive branch of the government, this was the first time a U.S. court officially linked IAP to Hamas.^[2]^[1] This case was recently appealed to United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit which overturned the verdict.

The organization was the parent organization of Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.^[2]^[4]^[5]^[1]

KindHearts listed the IPA as its "Fundraiser Organizer" in its tax exemption filings.^[2]

[edit] Reporting controversy

On October 3, 2001, IAP released a press statement which said:

According [to] the Israeli Hebrew radio, Kol Yisrael Wednesday, Peres warned Sharon that refusing to heed incessant American requests for a cease-fire with the Palestinians would endanger Israeli interests and turn the US against us. At this point, a furious Sharon reportedly turned toward Peres, saying "...I want to tell you something clear, don’t worry about American pressure on Israel, we the Jewish people control America, and the Americans know it."

However, the radio station in question has said that no such broadcast occurred, and the incident was not reported by any independent media organization.^[6] The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, a pro-Israeli media watchdog group, has asserted that the quote was fabricated for political purposes.