Hezbollah flag |
Mosques in the United States that follow the Shiite Islam of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini are lending more than moral support to radical Islam; they are sending financial support, according to reports from investigators.
After all, it was the 2007 Holy Land Foundation trial that was called the largest terrorism financing prosecution in American history that set all sorts of precedents, including the naming of such prominent Muslim advocates as the Council on American-Islamic Relations as unindicted co-conspirators.
Dozens of convictions resulted after the government alleged the charity, the largest Islamic charity in the U.S. at the time, was raising money for Hamas.
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Allegations that mosques now are raising funds for Hezbollah come from Sam Bazzi, director of the Islamic Counterterrorism Institute and others.
He reports he's been in mosques and has seen how the fundraising works.
"They are contributing to Hezbollah indirectly because every Shi'a Muslim has to pay a 20 percent yearly tax on their savings. This goes basically to the clerics as a donation," he said.
"Hezbollah supporters in the U. S. mosques send money to their bank accounts in Lebanon. When they go to Lebanon for vacation in the summer, they go to the clerics in the mosques in Lebanon and pay the Khums (offering) to the mosque in Lebanon. When they do that, they're giving it to Hezbollah," he said.
But the State Department in 1997 designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
Hezbollah, founded in Iran, has a stated goal of destroying the state of Israel. It has attacked American, French and Israeli forces, has kidnapped and held hostages, killed 241 in an attack on U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon and reportedly exercises virtual control in Lebanon.
A coming book called "Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance" details what Americans should know about Islam's influence.
Northeast Intelligence Network affiliated terrorism researcher and investigative journalist Lee Kaplan also has gone undercover at two allegedly Hezbollah-supporting mosques in the San Francisco Bay Area, and he has come away with reports of fundraising.
Kaplan, whose intelligence gathering accuracy has been recognized by the Israeli government, says the Shia Association Bay Area mosque in San Jose, Calif., and the Masjid al-Islam mosque in Washington, D.C., are major players in the fundraising and indoctrination process.
The Washington mosque and a newly opened mosque in Oakland, Calif., are led by former Black Panther Abdul Alim Musa, a Shiite-supporting cleric who boasts of building a network that reaches across the U.S.
The San Jose mosque, led by Musa confederate Nabi Raza Mir, frequently shares its platform with Canadian-born imam Asad Jafri.
Kaplan says the indoctrination is usually subtle and the recruiting rhetoric is veiled.
"Neither imam will ever openly recruit for Hezbollah because the FBI could arrest and prosecute them," he said.
Kaplan notes in an article on the San Jose mosque that Mir makes indoctrination a major part of building the support network. Kaplan writes that Mir heavily pushes the philosophy of the Khomeinist regime.
"Brochures urge mosque attendees to never cooperate with the FBI. In fact, the entire mosque gives constant tributes to the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the man who led the Iranian revolution that took U. S. embassy personnel hostage in 1979," Kaplan writes.
Bazzi agrees.
"They are heavily involved in indoctrination. Basically Hezbollah has become the role model. They were able to establish using propaganda and marketing basically that Hezbollah was successful in defeating Israel," he said.
"What they do is they bring these Lebanese guys and go to the various homes and informally indoctrinate American youth who are of Afghan origin, Indian origin, Pakistani origin and Iraqi origin. I witnessed that myself," the researcher said.
The mosques did not return WND requests for comment.
The researcher says that Asaf Jafri is a major part of the indoctrination and radicalization effort . The researcher says the Canadian-born and U. S. educated imam is well known in the Bay Area and is a frequent visitor.
"I've been to the home meetings. I know the mosque in San Jose and I know Mir," Bazzi said. "Jafri comes and leads tours to the area mosques. He lectures at the mosques and he lectures in people's homes.
"He openly supports Hezbollah. He talks about the greatness of Hezbollah and the badness of the United States. He tells these things to the young people," the researcher explained.
"He is dangerous and is a great indoctrinator and he's very persuasive," Bazzi said. "He has the kids willing to go out and commit acts of sabotage."
The researcher also says that the fundraising and indoctrination has allowed Hezbollah to have a wider reach into the U.S.
Former PLO operative and anti-terrorism lecturer Walid Shoebat says the full extent of the network has yet to be revealed, but it is operating on several fronts
"There's a lot of credit card fraud and things like that, of raising funds for operatives. There were in Mexico badges from officers on the border that were in the possession of Hezbollah operatives trying to enter the country," Shoebat explained.
"I was sitting next to a Border Patrol officer on the border yesterday and he told me he captured several. Of course the FBI took the case immediately. But they were of Afghan origin, which tells me there is Shi'a infiltration into the country," he said.
"So there's definitely a Hezbollah infiltration into this country to raise support for the operation in Lebanon, so there's no question about it," said Shoebat.
The infiltration of Hezbollah is the subject of a report by Fox News and another report done by San Diego's Channel 10.
Kaplan believes that the network is only going to grow if the plans announced by imam Abdul Alim Musa at the opening of the Institute for Counter Zionist American Psychological Warfare in Oakland, Calif. are any indication.
Kaplan went undercover to the opening ceremony. He says Musa's stated goal is the destruction of the United States, and his future projects are designed to make it happen.
"To promote the 'revolution' in the U.S., Musa announced his projects in the making, including a College of Islamic Movement Studies offering classes in Arabic, practical Quran and Hadith Studies, Islamic character studies, historical studies of various Islamic movements and 'strategic management under conditions of repression,'" Kaplan explained.
Kaplan points out that the comment about studying "various Islamic movements" is likely "a euphemism for studying groups like Hezbollah and Hamas."
Kaplan adds that there's more. He says Musa is concerned about the physical and strategic state of his followers.
"There's also a fitness program that includes boxing and a Department of Strategic and Islamic Studies which will focus on analysis of world events affecting Muslims and strategic planning for a better world," Kaplan said.
"Musa was clear that the 'better world' is one that promotes the goals of the current regime in Iran," he said.
According to Musa, who Kaplan notes is a follower of Iranian Shiite Islam and the Ayatollah Khomeini, the U. S. demise can't come soon enough.
"He started his lecture on July 24th by declaring, 'The demise of the United States as the global superpower could come far more quickly than anyone could have imagined," Kaplan said. "Musa went on to say, 'A realistic assessment of domestic and global trends suggests that within 10 or 15 years from now, we could witness the full collapse of the American century.'"
Kaplan said Musa "went on to praise this scenario saying, 'Although future historians may identify the Bush administration, the invasion of Afghanistan (2001), and the invasion of Iraq (2003) as the start of America’s downfall, we believe that the real starting point of America’s decline was born out of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979.'"
Shoebat affirms Kaplan's research.
Shoebat also says that the U.S. has reason to be concerned about Hezbollah's activities in the continental U. S. but adds that most of America's attention has been directed to Hamas and CAIR.
Shoebat points out that while the groups hate one another, they cooperate.
"It's the Islamic Society of North America. This is a web and they all collaborate with each other. This is why when I say Islam I get ridiculed because it's really the Islam organizations working together," Shoebat stated.
"You see Hamas carrying the flag for Hezbollah. You see Hezbollah carrying the flag for Hamas. What is that? Collaboration," he said.
Listen to Shoebat:
Shoebat raises the question of who is sending the groups the money. He says the strongest collaboration is in fundraising.
"There is a collaboration between Shi'a and Sunnis in fundraising. There always has been and there always will be. They hate each other yet they cooperate with each other," Shoebat added.
Islam researcher and co-author of "Muslim Mafia" David Gaubatz affirms Kaplan's research, and he also verifies the cooperation between Shiite and Sunni operations.
"He is right on target with the recruiting part. I can say that based on what Shia Muslims have directly told me is that jihad is permissible against their enemies and it is every Muslim's responsibility to support them financially and spiritually. In addition I have seen Shia material directly making these same commands," Gaubatz stated.
Gaubatz adds that Musa is not limited to Iranian radicalism.
"He has made connections with a wide array of Muslim leaders during the decade, both Sunni and Shia, and stressed that unity was a primary objective for the Islamic movements success," Gaubatz explained.
"Regardless of Sunni or Shia, the ultimate goal of Islam is for an Islamic Nation (caliphate) under strict Shariah law. This imam is trying to unite the Sunni and Shia as one. Both Sunni and Shia share the same ideology as Israel being their enemy and anyone who supports them is also an enemy of Islam," he said.
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