Islamic 'Charity' Drops Libel Suit Over Terror Claim
Russ | 23.08.2007 08:50
Another libel lawsuit by another Hamas-linked Islamic charity has been dropped, right around the point where they would have had to grant discovery requests: Libel suit over terror claim is dismissed.
At the request of the group that filed it, a libel lawsuit against a former Bush administration official and others has been dismissed. The suit was over a recent book that alleged a U.S.-based Islamic charity funded Middle East terrorists.
The lawsuit was filed in April in Los Angeles County Superior Court by Kids in Need of Development, Education and Relief against Matthew Levitt, who served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the Treasury Department until earlier this year. The suit also named Yale University Press and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy for publishing the book last year.
The Dallas-based charity, known as KinderUSA, alleged in its lawsuit that Levitt’s book, “Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad,” inaccurately alleged that the organization had funded Hamas. In one passage, Levitt made a connection between KinderUSA and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a now-shuttered Islamic charity that has been accused by the federal government of funneling money to Hamas.
Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, has been a government witness in the current Dallas trial of Holy Land, which has denied any support of Hamas or terrorism. In a statement, the institute called the dismissal of the lawsuit a “complete victory” for Levitt and the book’s publishers.
KinderUSA’s attorney, Todd Gallinger, said the organization decided to request the dismissal of the lawsuit so it could focus its limited resources on charity rather than costly litigation.
Here are some interesting facts about KinderUSA that the media never seem to get around to sharing:
* KinderUSA removed from their web site all mention of former board member Dalell Mohmed (who was also a board member of Hamas front group The Holy Land Foundation), even though the WHOIS information for ‘kinderusa.org’ still shows that name as their site manager.
* In another page now removed from their site, but still accessible at the Internet Archive, the founders of the terror-supporting International Solidarity Movement, Huwaida Araf and Adam Shapiro, are listed as “advisors.”
* Another founding member, Riad Abdelkarim, was arrested in Israel on suspicion of funneling money to terrorists, and was also on the board of the Holy Land Foundation.
The lawsuit was filed in April in Los Angeles County Superior Court by Kids in Need of Development, Education and Relief against Matthew Levitt, who served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the Treasury Department until earlier this year. The suit also named Yale University Press and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy for publishing the book last year.
The Dallas-based charity, known as KinderUSA, alleged in its lawsuit that Levitt’s book, “Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad,” inaccurately alleged that the organization had funded Hamas. In one passage, Levitt made a connection between KinderUSA and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a now-shuttered Islamic charity that has been accused by the federal government of funneling money to Hamas.
Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, has been a government witness in the current Dallas trial of Holy Land, which has denied any support of Hamas or terrorism. In a statement, the institute called the dismissal of the lawsuit a “complete victory” for Levitt and the book’s publishers.
KinderUSA’s attorney, Todd Gallinger, said the organization decided to request the dismissal of the lawsuit so it could focus its limited resources on charity rather than costly litigation.
Here are some interesting facts about KinderUSA that the media never seem to get around to sharing:
* KinderUSA removed from their web site all mention of former board member Dalell Mohmed (who was also a board member of Hamas front group The Holy Land Foundation), even though the WHOIS information for ‘kinderusa.org’ still shows that name as their site manager.
* In another page now removed from their site, but still accessible at the Internet Archive, the founders of the terror-supporting International Solidarity Movement, Huwaida Araf and Adam Shapiro, are listed as “advisors.”
* Another founding member, Riad Abdelkarim, was arrested in Israel on suspicion of funneling money to terrorists, and was also on the board of the Holy Land Foundation.
Russ