Boston, Mass.

Texas Terrorism Trial Ties Boston mosque leaders to Extremist Network

Dennis Hale, President of Citizens for Peace and Tolerance, called today for a public investigation of the Boston Redevelopment Authority's sale of land to the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) for the construction of New England's largest mosque.

Hale noted that officers of the largest Muslim charity in America, The Holy Land Foundation (HLF), convicted in Texas last week of funding Middle East terrorism, have ties to the ISB and its close affiliate, the Muslim American Society. "The convictions in Texas are a victory in the government's efforts to prevent charities from being used to support terrorism," said Hale. The Holy Land Foundation and five of its organizers were convicted for sending more than $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. "It is shocking to discover the ties between the HLF and the leadership of the Islamic Society of Boston," said Hale.

Hale enumerated the ties:

• "Hossam Al Jabri, President of the Muslim American Society's Boston branch (MAS Boston), which now controls the ISB Cultural Center, personally donated money to the HLF while they were sending funds to Hamas," Hale said. "And the Islamic Society of Boston as an organization sent thousands of dollars to the HLF as well."
• "Jamal Badawi, an ISB Trustee, was a frequent speaker at HLF fundraising events, and was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF prosecution."
• "Osama Kandil, the ISB Board Chairman, founded the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA), which provided venues for HLF fundraising events where Hamas members made explicit calls to murder Israelis." For its role in Hamas fundraising, MAYA was also listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF trial.

"Now," Hale continued, "the mosque, which was built by the Islamic Society of Boston, has been taken over by the Muslim American Society (MAS). MAS was founded by top Muslim Brotherhood leaders and states that it is guided by Muslim Brotherhood ideology. The Brotherhood inspires and provides the justification for the anti-West Jihad." Hale cited a document from the HLF investigation, which describes the Muslim Brotherhood's goal in America as a "Grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying Western Civilization from within." Hale noted that "this same document praises the contribution of ISB Trustee Jamal Badawi to the Muslim Brotherhood's efforts."

"And finally," Hale said, "the Boston Phoenix published last week an expose, 'Menino's Mosque,' which shows that the BRA did not perform due diligence when it approved the sale to the ISB of public property at a steep discount for the construction of a mosque financed mostly by Saudi Arabia. The Mayor intended to help a group of local African American Muslims build a house of worship. Instead, he wound up giving the mosque to a group controlled and financed by the Saudis,Boston Phoenix Hale said. Boston PhoenixThe BRA role is further complicated,Boston Phoenix according to Hale, Boston Phoenixby the role of Muhammad Ali-Salaam, an official of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), who was also an ISB member and fundraiser for the mosque. The BRA recently told a judge that their records on the ISB matter have 'disappeared.' Today we call upon the FinCom's chairman, Paul Minihane, and its Executive Director, Jeff Conley, to initiate a long overdue investigation into the conduct of the BRA."

CPT is an interfaith citizens group. It was sued by the ISB for "defamation" after asking questions about the radical leadership of the ISB in 2004, based on news reports that the founder of the ISB, Abdulrahman Alamoudi, was serving a 23-year prison term for a terrorist conspiracy and fund-raising for Al-Qaeda, and that an original ISB Trustee, Yusuf al Qaradawi, was calling for the wholesale murder of Jews and homosexuals, and is now barred from entering the U.S. Also sued were the Boston Herald, Fox 25, and over a dozen individuals and organizations. The ISB dropped its lawsuit in 2007.