A spokeswoman for Jimmy Carter says that, despite national outcry,
the former president is going ahead with plans Saturday to deliver the
keynote speech at a fundraiser of a Muslim organization that federal
prosecutors and a federal judge say is a front group for the terrorist
group Hamas.
In what it’s calling a “major” get, the terror-tied Islamic Society
of North America has booked Carter as the featured speaker at its
national convention in Detroit tomorrow.
It marks the first time that ISNA, which claims to be a moderate
umbrella organization for American Muslim groups, has hosted a U.S.
president. Carter has also agreed to participate in a breakout
discussion session at the event.
In 2007, the Justice Department implicated ISNA in a plot to funnel more than $12 million to Hamas terrorists.
According to an unsealed court document,
Justice labeled ISNA an unindicted co-conspirator in the successful
trial of the Holy Land Foundation, which acted as Hamas’ fundraising arm
in America. Much of Holy Land’s leadership is now behind bars.
Hamas is officially designated a terrorist group by the U.S.
government. Former Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz says Carter, as
“an all-out supporter of Hamas,” may be violating federal laws against
providing “material support to a listed terrorist organization.”