Other Group

KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development (KindHearts)

Type:

Islamic Fundraising Platform

Status:

Defunct (shut down in 2006)

Formation:

2002

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KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development (KindHearts) is a defunct fundraising and humanitarian aid organization that was connected to terrorism It was listed as the progeny of other fundraising entities that were convicted of providing material support to Hamas and Al Qaeda, including the Holy Land Foundation for Humanitarian Development (HLF) and the Global Relief Foundation (GRF). 1

The United States Treasury Department froze KindHearts’ assets and threatened the group with terrorist designation which produced years of legal action. Through the American Civil Liberties Union, KindHearts sued the Treasury and won, establishing a new legal precedent that barred government agencies from assigning terrorist designations to organizations without cause or due process. KindHearts eventually settled with the U.S. Treasury and dissolved. 2

Background

Following the December 2001 asset freeze and law enforcement actions against the Hamas-affiliated Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and the Al Qaeda-affiliated Global Relief Foundation (GRF), former GRF official Khaled Smaili established KindHearts in January 2002 with the declared purpose of providing humanitarian aid to people irrespective of religious or political affiliation. 2 U.S. Congressional testimony and federal tax forms suggests that KindHearts’ real purpose was to continue the fundraising efforts of both HLF and GRF in light of their respective closures. 1 3

From 2002 to 2006, KindHearts claimed that it was cooperating with the U.S. Treasury Department and implementing Treasury’s Anti-Terrorist Financing Voluntary Guidelines. However, in January 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice served grand jury subpoenas on KindHearts board members and its accountants at Ernst and Young, requiring them to produce all records relating to KindHearts from January 2002 to February 2006. In February 2006, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) froze the assets of KindHearts and executed a search warrant seizing all records, computers, equipment, and publications from its headquarters and the residence of the group’s president, Khaled Smaili. 1 2

Litigation

Legal Action

Following the freezing of KindHearts’ assets, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the U.S. Treasury Department threatened to designate KindHearts as a “specially designated global terrorist” (SDGT) based on classified evidence, without providing it with the opportunity to defend itself. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) represented KindHearts in the ensuing litigation surrounding its frozen assets, beginning with a challenge to this threat by the OFAC. In October 2008, a federal judge granted the ACLU’s request for an emergency order blocking the government from designating KindHearts as an SDGT without further judicial review. 4

In August 2009, the federal district court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled for the first time that the government cannot freeze an organization’s assets without obtaining a warrant based upon probable cause. The court also held that the government violated KindHearts’ right to due process by freezing its assets without providing adequate notice of the basis for the freeze or a meaningful opportunity to defend itself. 4

In October 2009, United States District Court Judge James Carr of the federal district court for the Northern District of Ohio issued a temporary restraining order against the U.S. Treasury barring further action against KindHearts. The court said the action was necessary for it to consider a remedy to the Constitutional violations against KindHearts, as found in the August 2009 ruling. While both parties prepared briefs to find a remedy, KindHearts announced in 2011 that it planned to dissolve after reaching a settlement with the Treasury. 2

Settlement

In May 2012, lawyers for KindHearts announced a settlement agreement with the U.S. Treasury ending the litigation on terms favorable to the charity. The three-page settlement agreement spelled out a step-by-step process for resolving the case by allowing KindHearts to pay its debts and distribute its remaining funds among a list of approved charities before it dissolved. At that point, the Treasury removed KindHearts from its terrorist list and paid its attorney fees. Neither side admitted to any wrongdoing. KindHearts was officially removed from the designated terrorist list in July 2014. 2 5 6

Relationships to Other Terrorist Fundraising Groups

Although KindHearts reached a settlement with the United States government, in its founding, operation, and closure, KindHearts maintained close connections to other pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas groups including American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), the Global Relief Foundation (GRF), and the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP). AMP’s staff and structure is and has been linked to the HLF. From 1995 to 2001, according to United States government estimates, “HLF sent approximately $12.4 million outside of the United States with the intent to willfully contribute funds, goods, and services to Hamas.” 7 HLF was founded by Hamas’s deputy director, Mousa Abu Marzook, who was at that time living in the United States. Marzook provided HLF with $210,000 in startup funds. 8 After the closure of HLF, seven of its officers were indicted, five were convicted and sent to prison for providing material support to Hamas, and at least four individuals who worked for or on behalf of HLF went on to work for or on behalf of AMP. 3

HLF maintained a close partnership with the Islamic Association for Palestine, which provided media, communications, and fundraising services. Like HLF, IAP was founded with startup money from Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook. 9 According to evidence presented at the HLF trial, “numerous donation checks…made payable to…IAP,” were “deposited into HLF’s bank account,” in some cases with the memo line, “for Palestinian Mujahideen [martyrs] only.” 10 After American teenager David Boim was murdered by Hamas, his family sued IAP and its affiliates in 2000 under the Anti-Terrorism Act, arguing that IAP’s Hamas fundraising made IAP liable for Boim’s death. The lawsuit resulted in a $156 million dollar judgment against IAP and its co-defendants which IAP never paid because the judgment forced IAP to cease operations. 11 12

In 2006, the United States Treasury Department froze the assets of KindHearts in relation to its connection to HLF, referring to KindHearts as the “progeny” of HLF. 13 reasury alleged that KindHearts coordinated fundraising with an official from the HLF even after HLF was named a terrorist entity. The Treasury further asserted that KindHearts and the HLF deposited money into the same overseas bank account owned by HLF. 13 KindHearts also utilized IAP as a fundraiser and organizer, according to the group’s IRS 990 forms.  14

KindHearts was run by Khaled Smaili, a former employee of the Global Relief Foundation (GRF). 13 GRF was officially registered as a charity in Palos Hills, Illinois. In 2002, the Treasury sanctioned it for funding al-Qaeda. 15 Faced with this and other evidence, the organization agreed to disband. KindHearts’ Illinois representative was former IAP and then-AMP leader Abdelbaset Hamayel. 16 AMP’s future chairman (and SJP founder) Hatem Bazian also helped raise money for Kindhearts in 2004. 17

Opposition to Holy Land Foundation Convictions

In 2018, anti-Israel activist and author Miko Peled published a book titled Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five in which he details potential concerns about the guilt of the convicted HLF fundraisers. Peled argued that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Treasury, and local police forces accosted the HLF and its employees during the investigation and trial. The initial trial produced a hung jury, and during the retrial in 2008, the prosecution included testimony in the trial from “Avi,” a pseudonym assumed by an Israeli intelligence agent whose qualifications the defense was unable to probe. However, all five men were convicted. 18

Post-Dissolution Legacy

Although KindHearts dissolved after reaching a settlement with the United States Treasury Department, its employees moved into roles with different organizations in the terrorism financing network and their affiliated groups continued their work, including through the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). 3

Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) and Holy Land Foundation Connections

As a result of the Islamic Association for Palestine’s (IAP) fundraising for Hamas, IAP was sued by the Boim family, an American family whose son was killed by Hamas. The Boim family argued that IAP, similar to the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), continued its work after its dissolution through American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) as several IAP employees went on to work for AMP. 3

The former president of IAP, Rafeeq Jaber, prepared the tax forms to help launch AMP’s fiscal sponsor, the AJP Educational Foundation. Jaber has been identified in the Palestinian press as the “spiritual father” of AMP’s coalition of like-minded organizations. 19 20 Abdelbaset Hamayel, IAP’s secretary general, was never named as an officer or an executive, but his name appeared on the AJP Educational Foundation’s IRS 990 form as the person, “who possesses the organization’s books and records.” 21

Abdelbaset Hamayel

In addition to fundraising for KindHearts, as the organization’s Illinois representative, Abdelbaset Hamayel was later featured on AMP’s social media as the group’s executive director. 22 16 He remains active in AMP’s Chicago chapter and went on to sit on AMP’s national board. 23 24 Hamayel has also been involved in political fundraising and campaigning. He co-hosted a fundraiser for ardent pro-Palestinian U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). 25

Hatem Bazian

AMP’s chairman, Students for Justice in Palestine founder Hatem Bazian, was a frequent speaker at IAP events. 26 He also helped raise money for Kindhearts in 2004. 17 Bazian is considered a leading scholar in the Islamophobia studies field having founded the Islamophobia Studies Center. He is editor-in-chief of the Islamophobia Studies Journal and co-founder and president of the International Islamophobia Studies Research Association (IISRA), and he advised on the 2021 UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief report on “Countering Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred to Eliminate Discrimination and Intolerance Based on Religion or Belief.” He also contributed to the Carter Center 2018 report, “Countering the Islamophobia Industry Toward More Effective Strategies.” 27

Bazain is also the chairman of the board of the Muslim Legal Fund of America. He has authored five books, the latest being Erasing the Human: Collapse of the Postcolonial World and the Refugee-Immigration Crisis, edited eight volumes of the Islamophobia Studies Journal, and edited hundreds of published articles. 27

In 2009, Bazian was a co-founder and professor at Zaytuna College, the first accredited Muslim liberal arts college in the United States and a senior lecturer in the departments of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Between 2002 to 2007, Bazian also worked as an adjunct professor of law at Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to Berkeley, Bazian woked as a visiting professor in religious studies at Saint Mary’s College of California from 2001 to 2007, and as an advisor to the Religion, Politics and Globalization Center at UC Berkeley. 27

Osama Abuirshaid

Osama Abuirshaid is the executive director of American Muslims for Palestine and sits on its board. He works closely with Hatem Bazian. Abuirshaid worked as the editor of the Islamic Association for Palestine’s newspaper, Al- Zaytounah. 28 He regularly publishes articles in English and Arabic promoting Hamas and has also published interviews that highlight his communications with Hamas leader Abu Marzook and other Hamas leaders in Gaza. 3 In 2014, Abuirshaid was featured on the website of Hamas’s self-declared military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades. 3

Abuirshaid is a board member of the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), an umbrella organization of eight major national American Muslim organizations. He lectures frequently on Middle East and American politics. He is a regular commentator on Palestinian and Middle Eastern affairs as well as on American domestic and foreign policy on various Arabic satellite television channels such as Al-Jazeera. He authored or co-authored several books in Arabic and he published dozens of studies and articles in Arabic and English on issues relevant to the Middle East and its political climate. He is a community activist and speaker. Abuirshaid completed his Ph.D. in political science at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. 29

Abuirshaid’s has maintained his connections to terrorism after working with KindHearts staff such as Hatem Bazain. Abuirshaid travels frequently to Turkey where he meets with and attends conferences run by Sami al-Arian, who pled guilty to providing material support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization. 30 31 32 Abuirshaid also travels to Qatar, where he is a non-resident scholar for the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS), an organization funded by the Qatari government that hosts Hamas’s top leadership, including Khaled Meshal and Osama Hamdan, at its events. 33 34

Khaled Smaili

KindHearts was founded and run by Khaled Smaili, a former employee of the Global Relief Foundation (GRF). 13 GRF was officially registered as a charity in Palos Hills, Illinois. In 2002, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned it for funding al-Qaeda. 15 Faced with this and other evidence, GRF agreed to dissolve. 3 There is little evidence to suggest that Smaili continued his work in any public role with other terrorism fundraising entities. 3

References

  1. “Treasury Freezes Assets of Organization Tied to Hamas.” U.S. Department of the Treasury. February 19, 2006. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/js4058
  2.  “KindHearts Case Timeline.” Charity & Security Network. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://charityandsecurity.org/litigation/kindhearts_timeline/
  3. Schanzer, Jonathan. “Congressional Testimony – From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing.” GOP House Ways and Means Committee. November 15, 2023. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Schanzer-Testimony.pdf
  4.  “KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc. v. Geithner et al.” ACLU. November 22, 2011. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://www.aclu.org/cases/kindhearts-charitable-humanitarian-development-inc-v-geithner-et-al#press-releases
  5. “Kindhearts v. Geithner – Settlement Agreement.” ACLU. Accessed December 30, 2024.  https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/kindhearts_v__geithner_-_settlement.pdf
  6. “Counter Terrorism Designation Removal – Specially Designated Nationals List Update.” U.S. Department of the Treasury. July 11, 2014. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20140711
  7. United States of America v. Mohammad El-Mezain, Appeal No. 09-10560, (5th Cir. 2011). Accessed December 30, 2024. (https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions%5Cpub%5C09/09-10560-CR0.wpd.pdf)
  8. Eric Lichtblau with Judith Miller. “Threats and Responses: The Money Trail; 5 Brothers Charged With Aiding Hamas.” The New York Times. December 19, 2002. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/19/us/threats-and-responsesthe-money-trail-5-brothers-charged-with-aiding-hamas.html.
  9. United States District Court Northern District of Texas, USA v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, “Payments from Marzook to the Islamic Association for Palestine,” (Northern District of Texas, September 29, 2008), accessed April 15, 2016. (Archived version available at https://web.archive.org/web/20170124224335/https:/coop.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/hlf2/09-29-08/Marzook%20IAP.pdf)
  10. United States of America v. Mohammad El-Mezain, Appeal, 09-10560 (5th Cir. 2011), page 170. Accessed December 30, 2024. (http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions%5Cpub%5C09/09-10560-CR0.wpd.pdf)
  11. Stanley Boim v. American Muslims for Palestine, Appeal, No. 20-3233 (7th Cir. 2021). Accessed December 30, 2024. https://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca7/20-3233/20-3233-2021-08-16.pdf?ts=1629151216.
  12. Boim v. American Muslims for Palestine, No. 17-03591 (N.D. Ill. May 17, 2022). Accessed December 30, 2024. https://casetext.com/case/boimv-am-muslims-for-palestine-2.
  13.  U.S. Department of the Treasury, Press Release. “Treasury Freezes Assets of Organization Tied to Hamas.” February 19, 2006. Accessed December 30, 2024. Archived version available at https://web.archive.org/web/20150221125322/http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/pressreleases/Pages/js4058.aspx
  14. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, “2003 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990): Kindhearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc.” Accessed December 30, 2024. (https://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/020/020534702/020534702_200312_990.pdf?_ga=1.209492948.777103848.1460262044)
  15. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Press Release. “Treasury Department Statement Regarding the Designation of the Global Relief Foundation.” October 18, 2022. Accessed December 30, 2024. (https://web.archive.org/web/20150221030642/https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/pressreleases/Pages/po3553.aspx)
  16. “KindHearts Annual Fund Raising Dinner for Palestine & KindHearts’Annual Contest.” KindHearts. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20050515004402/http:/www.kindhearts.org/upcoming%20event/set%204%20prinout.pdf
  17. “The MSA of Scripps Ranch Highschool & KindHearts Present: Palestinians in agony! Fundraising Dinner.” Amcha Initiative. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://www.amchainitiative.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/05/Bazian-Kindhearts.pdf
  18. Glass, Charles. “The Unjust Prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation Five.” The Intercept. August 5, 2018. Accessed December 20, 2024. https://theintercept.com/2018/08/05/holy-land-foundation-trial-palestine-israel/
  19. “IAP Contact Information,” Islamic Association for Palestine. Accessed December 30, 2024. Archived version available at https://web.archive.org/web/20030407164156/http:/www.iap.org/contactus.htm.
  20. “Hundreds of thousands in the streets of American cities supporting Gaza].” Maan (Palestinian Authority). August 11, 2014. Accessed December 30, 2024. (https://www.maannews.net/news/719809.html
  21. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service. “2014 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990): AJP Educational Foundation Inc.” Accessed December 30, 2024. https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2014/271/365/2014-271365284-0ba3397f-9.pdf.
  22. AMP-Chicago. Facebook. August 29, 2014. Accessed December 30, 2024.  https://www.facebook.com/ampalestinechicago/photos/pb.550789245010379.-2207520000.1459717920./681386211950681/?type=3&theater.
  23. Khairi Obed. Facebook. November 26, 2021. Accessed December 30, 2024. (https://www.facebook.com/100000732467966/videos/pcb.4927141430653557/485633742749114)
  24. “AMP National Board,” American Muslims for Palestine. Accessed December 30, 2024. Archived version available at https://web.archive.org/web/20160211193901/http://www.ampalestine.org/index.php/about-amp/ampnational-board.
  25. @CanaryMission Post. X. February 5, 2024. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://x.com/canarymission/status/1754615882641539429
  26. First Amended Complaint, Boim v. American Muslims for Palestine, No. 17-03591 (N.D. Ill. Filed December 17, 2019). Accessed December 30, 2024. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.339873/gov.uscourts.ilnd.339873.179.0_2.pdf.
  27. “Dr. Hatem Bazian – Chairman.” Muslim Legal Fund for America. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://mlfa.org/teams/dr-hatem-bazian-chairman/
  28. “Profile: American Muslims for Palestine,” Anti-Defamation League. Accessed December 30, 2024. (https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/israel-international/israel–middle-east/americanmuslims-for-palestine-2013-03-29-v4.pdf)
  29. “Our Team – Dr. Osama Abuirshaid.” American Muslims for Palestine. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://www.ampalestine.org/about-amp/our-team
  30. Osama Abuirshaid. Facebook. September 7, 2023. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=308535011860639&set=pb.100081124266537.-2207520000&type=3
  31. Mohammed Mushanish. Facebook. February 2, 2020. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2936284903120021&set=pb.100002156192208.-2207520000&type=3
  32. U.S. Department of Justice, Press Release. “Sami Al-Arian Sentenced To 57 Months In Prison For Assisting Terrorist Group.” May 1, 2006. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2006/May/06_crm_260.html
  33. “ACRPS Academic Symposium on the Legal Status and Political Significance of Jerusalem.” Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies. February 24, 2018. Accessed December 30, 2024. (https://www.dohainstitute.org/en/Events/Symposium-on-the-Legaland-Political-Status-of-Jerusalem/Pages/index.aspx)
  34. “In a Symposium Preceding Conference on the Palestinian Cause, Hamdan: ‘The Resistance Continues’; Erekat: ‘Negotiations Will Never Relinquish Palestinian Justice.’” Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies. December 7, 2013. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://www.dohainstitute.org/en/News/Pages/In_a_Symposium_Preceding_Conference_on_the_Palestinian_Cause_Hamdan_The_Resistance_Continues;_Erekat_Negotiations_Will_Nev.aspx
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