| Revision as of 23:57, 15 November 2015 editE.M.Gregory (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users45,004 edits remove major POV violation from lede; it is cited further down the page← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 19:01, 1 August 2019 edit undoTajotep (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, New page reviewers36,275 edits ←Changed redirect target from Steven Emerson#Investigative Project on Terrorism to The Investigative Project on TerrorismTag: Redirect target changed | ||
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| {{infobox organization | |||
| |name = Investigative Project on Terrorism | |||
| |image = | |||
| |size = | |||
| |abbreviation = IPT | |||
| |motto = | |||
| |formation = 1995 (Project) / 2006 (Foundation) | |||
| |type = ] | |||
| |leader_title = Executive Director | |||
| |leader_name = ] | |||
| |headquarters = ], ] | |||
| |website = | |||
| }} | |||
| '''The Investigative Project on Terrorism''' (IPT) is a Washington D.C. based non-profit research group founded in 1995 by ]. The organization maintains a large intelligence archive on extremist groups and individuals either actively involved in or suspected of involvement in ]. IPT researches and records suspected terrorist funding activities, and investigates operational structures of extremist groups in the US and around the world, including ], ], ], and ]. IPT provided testimony to Congressional committees and subcommittees on international terrorism, and considers itself "a principal source of critical evidence to a wide variety of government offices and law enforcement agencies, as well as the US Congress and numerous public policy forums." | |||
| ==History and mission== | |||
| The Investigative Project on Terrorism was founded by ] in 1995, shortly after the release of his documentary film, '']'', which first aired in the United States in 1994 on the PBS series Frontline.<ref name="about">{{cite web | url=http://www.investigativeproject.org/about.php | title=About The Investigative Project on Terrorism | publisher=IPT | accessdate=March 3, 2014}}</ref><ref name="international">Ziegler, Andrew, , '']'', January 15, 2008. Accessed April 1, 2014.</ref> The documentary was faulted for misrepresentation, and ] accused Emerson of "creating mass hysteria against American Arabs."<ref>{{cite book|title=Terrorism financing: origination, organization, and prevention|publisher=Hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Eighth Congress, first session,|page=Vol 4 p.178|accessdate=1 February 2015|ISBN=0756740304}}</ref> | |||
| In a television interview after the 1995 ], Emerson incorrectly pointed at Muslim terrorists, suggesting the bombing showed a Middle Eastern trait.<ref name="FAIR">{{cite web | url=http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/Steven-Emersons-Crusade/ | title=Steven Emerson's Crusade | publisher=Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting | date=January 1, 1999 | accessdate=January 28, 2015 | author=John F. Sugg}}</ref> Emerson has stated that he was chastened by the experience and learned a lesson.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/i48-hours-i-tracking-terror/ | title=''48 Hours'': Tracking Terror - Steve Emerson Watches Islamic Terrorist | publisher=Cbs News | date=30 January 2015 | accessdate=1 February 2015}}</ref> ''The Cambridge Companion to American Islam'', which describes Emerson as a discredited terrorism expert and Islamophobe, also mentioned this error.<ref name=CambridgeCompanion>{{cite book|author1=Hammer, Julie|author2=Safi, Amid|title=The Cambridge Companion to American Islam|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107002418|page=8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OBPKKFUyZaUC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=22 January 2015|quote=Islamophobe Steven Emerson (the discredited "terrorism expert" who falsely identified Muslims as being behind the Oklahoma city bombings committed by Timothy McVeigh)}}</ref> Christopher Bail, author of ''Terrified: How Anti-Muslim Fringe Organizations Became Mainstream'', postulated that Emerson's doctoring of FBI evidence in his film ''Terrorists Among Us'', his speculation about Muslim involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing and widespread criticism from Muslim American organizations resulted in most major media outlets abandoning IPT until the 2001 ].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bail|first1=Christopher|title=Terrified: How Anti-Muslim Fringe Organizations Became Mainstream|date=Dec 21, 2014|publisher=]|isbn=9781400852628|page=31|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kl-BAAAQBAJ&}}</ref> | |||
| IPT maintains a data center which includes archival information relating to the past activities of known Islamic terrorist groups. They also investigate suspected funding activities and networks of Islamic extremists in the US and abroad. IPT obtains information from a variety of sources, including "websites, list-serves, publications, informants, undercover recordings, government records, court documents, and so on". IPT has provided useful evidence to law enforcement and government agencies, and occasionally provides testimonial evidence during special committee hearings of the US Congress.<ref name="about"/><ref name=international/><ref>{{cite book|author=Jeffrey H. Norwitz|title=Pirates, Terrorists, and Warlords: The History, Influence, and Future of Armed Groups Around the World|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LZcp7qgzgzAC&pg=PA206|year=2009|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing Inc.|isbn=978-1-60239-708-8|page=206}}</ref> IPT has been criticized by various proponents of Islam. The ] think-tank, ] (CAP), stated that the IPT was one of ten foundations constituting what it called "the Islamophobia network in America".<ref>{{cite book|author=Greg Barrett|title=The Gospel of Rutba: War, Peace, and the Good Samaritan Story in Iraq|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ZtAu9jwDTy0C&pg=PA147|year=2012|publisher=Orbis Books|isbn=978-1-60833-113-0|page=147}}</ref> | |||
| In January 2014, former congressman and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, ], was named the Shillman Senior Fellow for IPT specializing in national security, international relations, global terrorism and cyber security.<ref name=Newswire>{{cite news|publisher=PRNewswire-USNewswire|date= January 14, 2014 | title=The Honorable Pete Hoekstra Joins The Investigative Project On Terrorism As The Shillman Senior Fellow | url=http://www.myfoxchattanooga.com/story/24448215/the-honorable-pete-hoekstra-joins-the-investigative-project-on-terrorism-as-the-shillman-senior-fellow |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311110317/http://www.myfoxchattanooga.com/story/24448215/the-honorable-pete-hoekstra-joins-the-investigative-project-on-terrorism-as-the-shillman-senior-fellow |archivedate=2014-03-11}}</ref> | |||
| ==Indictments and trial evidence== | |||
| According to an article in the ]'s ''Middle East Quarterly'', "the IPT has access to information and intelligence to which the government is not privy, and has been instrumental in shutting down more than a dozen Islamic charitable terrorist and nonviolent front-groups since 2001."<ref name=MEQ>{{cite web|publisher=Middle East Quarterly|url=http://www.meforum.org/2578/steven-emerson-combating-radical-islam#_ftn26|title=Steven Emerson Combating Radical Islam|date=Winter 2010|accessdate=March 2014}}</ref> | |||
| On December 2001, CBS: ''48 Hours'' - Erin Moriarity interviewed Steven Emerson, Executive Director of IPT, for the CBS television documentary series, ''48 Hours''. The episode, "Target Terrorism", was broadcast on January 30, 2002. Emerson said that ] was running an organization in the United States that "was one and the same as the Islamic Jihad".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.steveemerson.com/4266/target-terrorism|title=Target Terrorism}}</ref> In February 2003, Arian was indicted for alleged fundraising and material support activities on behalf of terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). According to the ''Tampa Bay Times'', Arian signed a plea agreement in which he admitted to "conspiring to help people associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad" and covering up his knowledge of the PIJ associations by lying to Jim Harper, a St. Petersburg reporter covering Al-Arian in the mid-1990s, and others.<ref name=SPTimes>{{cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2006/04/23/Hillsborough/In_his_plea_deal_wha.shtml|work =Tampa Bay Times|title=In his plea deal, what did Sami Al-Arian admit to?|date=April 23, 2006|accessdate=March 22, 2014}}</ref> | |||
| In the 2007 and 2008 ] Trials - prosecution relied on evidence produced by IPT, one of the three groups responsible for much of the analysis of exhibits and the links from Holy Land Foundation (HLF) to Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), and the extended MB network.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/special_panel_on_holy_land_fou.php|author=Andrew Cochran|title=Special Public Event: Panel on Holy Land Foundation & Muslim Brotherhood|date=November 29, 2007|accessdate=March 21, 2014}}</ref> On May 27, 2009, in federal court in Dallas, "U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis sentenced the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and five of its leaders following their convictions by a federal jury in November 2008 on charges of providing material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization."<ref>{{cite web|publisher=DOJ Office of Public Affairs|url=http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/May/09-nsd-519.html|title=Federal Judge Hands Downs Sentences in Holy Land Foundation Case|date=May 27, 2009|accessdate=March 21, 2014}}</ref> As a result of IPT's vast archives on the activities of Hamas front groups in the United States Law enforcement officials commented that IPT had an instrumental role in prosecuting and convicting the Holy Land Foundation, a trial that resulted in sweeping convictions for all defendants in 2008.<ref name=MEQ/> | |||
| ==Funding== | |||
| {{expand section|date=March 2015}} | |||
| The fund-raising arm of the Investigative Project on Terrorism is the Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation, a ] tax-exempt organization established in 2006 by Steven Emerson. The Foundation is operated for the most part by SAE Productions, a ]-based company that was also founded by Emerson in 1994.<ref name=about/><ref>Nathan Guttman and Larry Cohler-Esses, '']'', 17 November 2010, </ref> According to an officer of SAE Productions, the arrangement avoids the need for the kind of public disclosure associated with tax-exemption and is necessary for security reasons: "The very nature of our work mandates that we protect the organization and its staff from threats posed by those that are the subject or our research by preserving the confidentiality of our methods."<ref>Ray Locker, Managing director, IPT, Letter to '']'', 24 November 2010, </ref> | |||
| An article by Bob Smietana in the '']'' says that money is transferred from the non-profit foundation to the for-profit production company, SAE.<ref name=tenessean>{{cite web|last1=Smietana|first1=Bob|title=Anti-Muslim crusaders make millions spreading fear|url=http://archive.tennessean.com/article/20101024/NEWS01/10240374/Anti-Muslim-crusaders-make-millions-spreading-fear|publisher=The Tennessean}}</ref><ref name=nashville>{{cite journal|author=John Sugg|title=What people in Nashville now know about Steven Emerson|journal=Washington Report on Middle East Affairs|date=Jan–Feb 2011|pages=25ff|url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA246256987&v=2.1&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=89b9aae87cebce3b042dc4334c2da18c}}{{paywall}}</ref> In 2008, the non-profit paid {{USD}}$3,390,000 to SAE Productions for whats was described as "management services", while Emerson was SAE's sole officer.<ref name=tenessean/> IPT published a statement in response noting that, "At issue in the Tennessean story is the relationship between the IPT Foundation, a tax-exempt charity, and SAE Productions, a for-profit company run by IPT Executive Director Steven Emerson. The foundation accepts private donations and contracts with SAE to manage operations. The Tennessean article pays only lip service to the legitimate security issues that dictated this structure and that the IRS has reviewed and approved it."<ref>{{cite web|title=Note to Readers on Tennessean Story|publisher=IPT|url=http://www.investigativeproject.org/2278/note-to-readers-on-tennessean-story|date=October 25, 2010|accessdate=March 5, 2014}}</ref> | |||
| IPT has stated that it "accepts no funding from outside the United States, or from any governmental agency or political or religious institutions".<ref name=about/> In 2002 and 2003, Emerson received a total of $600,000 in grants from the ], a conservative-leaning policy research foundation.<ref name=tenessean/> | |||
| == See also == | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{Reflist|2}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * {{official website|http://www.investigativeproject.org}} | |||
| * (video) | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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