Muslim Charity Charged in U.S. with Funding Hamas.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Texas-based Muslim charity and seven of its directors and fundraisers have been charged with supporting the militant Palestinian group Hamas and with money laundering and conspiracy.

A federal grand jury in Dallas returned the 42 charges against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and the seven men in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday.

“Today, a U.S.-based charity that claims to do good works is charged with funding the works of evil,” Attorney General John Ashcroft told a news conference. “The indictment alleges that the Holy Land Foundation was created for the purpose of providing financial and material support to Hamas,” he said. “It is alleged that over the years, the Holy Land Foundation provided significant financial resources to Hamas, known Hamas leaders and key strategists.”

Holy Land Foundation, which was once the largest U.S.-based Muslim charity, was shut down when the U.S. government seized its assets after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. …

The indictment accused Holy Land and its members of illegally sending $12.4 million to support Hamas since 1995.

In addition to the charity, the indictment charged Shukri Abu Baker, Mohammad el-Mezain, Ghassan Elashi, Haitham Maghawri, Akram Mishal, Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulraham Odeh.

And none of the newspapers or wire services that have written about this story have ever mentioned that one of these indicted conspirators, Ghassan Elashi, was the founder of the Texas chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations—CAIR.