Militant Islam Monitor > Weblog > Islamic Academy of Florida still teaching kids after instructor/directors are jailed on terrorism charges and use of school for Jihad funding Islamic Academy of Florida still teaching kids after instructor/directors are jailed on terrorism charges and use of school for Jihad fundingJune 18, 2005
MIM:The Islamic Academy of Florida founded by terrorist operatives Sami Al Arian and Sammeeh Hammoudeh is still open for business despite being directly linked to Jihad funding, which begs the question as to if the graduates will be holding their next school reunion in prison to accomodate their former teachers and administrators now on trial as terrorists.The FBI raided the school and $350,000 in vouchers from the Florida Pride scholarship program were revoked in the belief that the funds were used for the terror activities of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad . According to the indictment, Sami Al Arian gave the address of the IAF to someone who inquired where they could send a contribution to the 'Palestinian cause'. MIM:On June 14th Michael Fechter of the Tampa Tribune wrote that Jihad financed IAF codirector and teacher Hammoudeh's studies and reported that: "... jurors in the terror support trial of Hammoudeh, former USF professor Sami Al-Arian and two other defendants heard testimony Tuesday that Hammoudeh taught at a private school and worked at a think tank. Such work, even done voluntarily, wouldn't be allowed, testified David Austell, USF's director for international student services. "In no case can the student work off campus without authorization" from immigration officials, Austell said. Prosecutors say he was on another payroll, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's, and that Al- Arian brought him here to help launder its money... Hammoudeh pursued a number of graduate degrees at USF during the 1990s, filling out required visa applications each time. He also taught at the Islamic Academy of Florida, a private school Al-Arian helped run, and worked at a think tank Al-Arian founded. Al-Arian, Hammoudeh and two other men are on trial on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and providing material support to the terrorist group. Other records indicate the Islamic Community of Tampa, the formal name of Al-Arian's mosque, contributed nearly $36,000 in 1996 to cover Hammoudeh's education expenses while he pursued a master's degree in religious studies..." MIM: Note that the Islamic Community of Tampa mosque (which was also known as Al Qassam, after the most radical mosque in Gaza) is located in the vicinity of the school and were essentially being operated together. The IAF is listed on the website of the innocuously named International Board of Educational Research and Resources (IBERR) which is a Saudi and UAE funded Wahhabist enterprise directed by Cat Stevens aka Yusuf Islam, designed to provide Islamist 'educational' materials to Muslim schools worldwide. Note that Al Arian gave his email addressat the University of Southern Florida where he was a professor and leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in North America. http://www.iberr.org/addresses.htm Sami, Al Arian, Islamic Academy of Florida, 5910 E. 130th Ave., Tampa, FL, 33617, 813-987-9282, 813-985-4343, [email protected] MIM: The Islamic Academy of Florida also received funding from the North American Islamic Trust which does the same work as IBERR worldwide . The Northeast Intelligence Network website quotes Robert Spencer (director of Jihad Watch) who wrote:
According to a St.Petersburg Times : "...Islamic Academy of Florida. That school was co-founded by former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, who was arrested and is awaiting trial on charges that he raised money for Palestinian terrorists. In Al-Arian's indictment, Islamic Academy of Florida was described as a front for Al-Arian's terrorist fundraising. At the time of his arrest, Al-Arian's school drew only a handful of students from Hernando County. However, four Hernando County Muslims were then part of its governing board. Since the indictment and Al-Arian's arrest, those board members have resigned from Al-Arian's school, and the local families have withdrawn their students, some of them transferring to Universal Academy..." http://www.sptimes.com/2004/05/21/Hernando/Living__learning_thei.shtml MIM: Joe Kaufman, the chairman of Americans Against Hate issued this press release asking the question as to why the Islamic Academy of Florida has been allowed to continue teaching children when two of it's founders and directors , Sami Al Arian, and Hammoudeh, are now on trial for terrorism charges which involve the murder of more then 100 people. A third director, Sami Al Arian's brother in law , Mazen Al Najjer, was deported in 2003 and is now reported to be living in Jordan or Syria. ISLAMIC ACADEMY NAMED AS PART OF AAH CALLS FOR U.S. GOVERNMENT TO SHUT DOWN SCHOOL (Coral Springs, FL) On February 20, 2003, the United States government issued a 120-page, 50-count indictment against eight individuals for their roles in a terrorist cell based in Tampa, Florida. According to the indictment, a think tank, a charity and a children's school were being used as fronts for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). This "PIJ Enterprise," as the government referred to it, was said to have had conducted multiple acts involving murder, extortion, money laundering and various forms of fraud. At this point, both the think tank, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), and the charity, the Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP), have been shut down. Yet the school, the Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF), still remains. Americans Against Hate (AAH) questions how this is possible, given the fact that three of those charged were Directors of IAF, including two of the school's co-founders, Sami Al-Arian and Mazen Al-Najjar. And another of the indicted individuals, Ramadan Abdullah Shallah - who was soon to take over as head of PIJ - was a teacher there. Also, there was evidence to prove that those wanting to give funds to help Palestinians were told to donate to the school. Additionally, in July of 2003, in light of the school's ties to terrorist activity, payments to IAF in the form of government provided student tuition vouchers were suspended. Later, after further investigation, the school was cut off completely from the voucher program. Joe Kaufman, AAH Chairman, stated, "We cannot understand, after all that has come out about the PIJ Tampa cell, that the Islamic Academy of Florida is still in existence. The cloak of silence that has enveloped those associated with the school is proof that IAF still has much to hide. We can only hope, with all of the new testimony presented in court, that the government will act to shut down this threat to American and Israeli society." Joe Kaufman is available for interview. E-mail: [email protected] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1418799/posts
FrontPageMagazine.com | June 8, 2005 Florida's tuition voucher program is designed to help improve the education level of children who attend schools which do not meet educational standards. In 2003, Florida taxpayers indirectly subsidized the Islamic Academy of Florida in Tampa, with over $350,000 in funds. Why is this a problem? What makes funding an Islamic school any different from funding a Christian school? The difference is that at the time, the school's principal was none other than Sami Al Arian, who was under indictment for terrorism-related charges. He is at this very moment going to trial. The Florida Islamic Academy was founded in 1992 by Sami Al-Arian. North American Islamic Trust holds the the title to the school property, as well as to the Tampa-area mosques at 130th Ave. E in Temple Terrace, FL and at 6307 Barclay Avenue in Spring Hill, FL. The trust owns about 27 percent of the 1,200 mosques in the United States. The North American Islamic Trust is a subsidiary of the Islamic Society of North America. The Florida Islamic Academy is explicitly named in the indictment: And then later goes on to state: The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Jihad-Shiqaqi Faction (PIJ), including the ICP, WISE, IAF, and others known and unknown, constituted an "enterprise" (hereinafter referred to as the "PIJ Enterprise"), as defined by Title 18, United States Code, Section 1961(4); that is, a group of individuals and entities associated in fact which engaged in, and the activities of which affected, interstate and foreign commerce. The enterprise constituted an ongoing organization whose members functioned as a continuing unit for a common purpose of achieving the objects of the enterprise. On or about May 5, 2002, SAMI AMIN AL-ARIAN and SAMEEH HAMMOUDEH caused an employee at IAF to tell an unidentified woman during a telephone conversation that the woman should write a check to IAF after she indicated she wanted to send money for the Palestinians. Yet, despite this, the Islamic Academy of Florida continued to receive money from the tuition voucher program in Florida through July 2003. On July 19, 2003, the Palm Beach Post reported that payments to the school were being suspended. John Kirtley, founder of the voucher organization Florida PRIDE, said he is suspending payments to the Tampa-based Islamic Academy of Florida, which has been under scrutiny by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI in relation to its founder and former Director Sami Al-Arian. Al-Arian stands accused of being the North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group responsible for numerous suicide bombings in Israel. Florida PRIDE provides the Islamic school with money that it collects from corporations. The corporations in turn get to deduct the amount of their donations - up to $5 million - from their state taxes. According to the Palm Beach Post article, the school received approximately $350,000 from Florida PRIDE for tuition for 100 underprivileged students in 2003. This makes up more than 50% of the school's revenue. Islamic Academy of Florida has since been removed from the Florida PRIDE program completely. How many more of these schools will eventually be linked to terrorism? How many of their faculty and staff have ties to terrorist organizations? Those questions need to be answered. ------------------------------ http://news.tbo.com/news/MGB08YC2Z9E.html Jihad Paid For Studies, Feds Say By MICHAEL FECHTER But jurors in the terror support trial of Hammoudeh, former USF professor Sami Al-Arian and two other defendants heard testimony Tuesday that Hammoudeh taught at a private school and worked at a think tank. Such work, even done voluntarily, wouldn't be allowed, testified David Austell, USF's director for international student services. "In no case can the student work off campus without authorization" from immigration officials, Austell said. Prosecutors say he was on another payroll, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's, and that Al- Arian brought him here to help launder its money. His defense attorney denies that and says Hammoudeh organized charity for needy children in Palestine. Hammoudeh pursued a number of graduate degrees at USF during the 1990s, filling out required visa applications each time. He also taught at the Islamic Academy of Florida, a private school Al-Arian helped run, and worked at a think tank Al-Arian founded. Al-Arian, Hammoudeh and two other men are on trial on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and providing material support to the terrorist group. Other records indicate the Islamic Community of Tampa, the formal name of Al-Arian's mosque, contributed nearly $36,000 in 1996 to cover Hammoudeh's education expenses while he pursued a master's degree in religious studies. Meanwhile, retired FBI agent Edith "Eddie" Tuttle testified about a 1995 search of Al-Arian's home. Through Tuttle, prosecutors introduced dozens of new exhibits including videotapes, Al-Arian's personal telephone book, financial records and a 1993 Islamic Jihad calendar. Defense attorney William Moffitt asked whether political material was seized during the search. "I remember seizing items that said `Islamic Jihad' if you deem that political," she said. Stephen Bernstein, Hammoudeh's attorney, argued that the chain of evidence on one exhibit may be in dispute. Tuttle testified that she found a money transfer request initiated by Hammoudeh in the Al- Arian home. But Bernstein showed the court a photocopy in which the think tank's name, WISE, was handwritten across the top with a box number indicating it may have been seized there. If so, Bernstein said, it would have been found with other receipts seized that Hammoudeh received for donations. U.S. District Judge James Moody allowed the receipt into evidence after Tuttle pointed to her initials on the original. She said she did that to "tie down" the evidence.
Reporter Michael Fechter can be reached at (813) 259-7621. MIM: The first 1996 filing of the Sunbiz regisration shows Sami Al Arian and Mazen Najjar on the officers and directors. A later filing for the lists Al Arian co defendent Hammoudeh on the board of directors. This listing on the Florida Division of Corporations was filed in 1992.
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