in the
Philadelphia meeting. The searches yielded numerous documents corroborating
the creation of the Palestine Committee and its oversight of HLF as a
fundraising arm for Hamas. The documents included organizational flow charts,
bylaws, and meeting minutes. The amended bylaws identified HLF under its
previous name, the Occupied Land Fund, as the “official organization which
represents the financial and charitable aspect to support the homeland people
in the occupied territories.”   The bylaws further showed that the Muslim
Brotherhood had directed the collection “of donations for the Islamic Resistance
Movement.”
      In January 1995 the President issued Executive Order 12947, designating
Hamas as a Specially Designated Terrorist (“SDT”). The designation prohibited
financial transactions with or for the benefit of Hamas and authorized the
Treasury Department to block assets within the jurisdiction of the United States
inwhich Hamas had an interest. The Executive Order determined, in part, that


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“grave acts of violence committed by foreign terrorists that disrupt the Middle
East peace process constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the
national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” Hamas was
further designated as a foreign terrorist organization (“FTO”) by the State
Department in 1997