To: swisstrader who wrote (124173 ) 1/29/2001 1:40:54 PM From: Karin Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 769670 'Hezbollah Hillary' Took Thousands From Arafat Crony A family with close ties to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat contributed thousands of dollars to Senate candidate Hillary Clinton at a secret fund raiser in May, Federal Election Commission records reviewed by NewsMax.com show. The family of Hani Masri donated $6,000 directly to Mrs. Clinton's campaign on May 11 and 12 of this year. On May 12, Clinton attended a fund raiser at Masri's Washington, D.C., mansion - which, as the Jewish Forward reported later that month, was closed to the press and was not even listed on her daily schedule. In May alone, Masri himself donated $134,000 to the Democratic Party - money that could be funneled into Clinton's Senate campaign. FEC records show a handful of other Masri contributions to various Democratic causes going all the way back to 1995, but nothing like the burst of generosity in May 2000. The Masri family controls the Palestinian Development Investment Co., a business entity with ties to Yasser Arafat. Masri himself has been described as "an advisor" to Arafat. According to the Forward, another company run by Masri, Capital Investment Management Corp., was awaiting approval from the Clinton administration for a $60 million loan guaranteed by U.S. taxpayers through the Overseas Private Investment Corp (OPIC). Masri told the Forward that he was asked by Mrs. Clinton's campaign to stage the secret fund raiser. FEC records show a total of $9,000 contributed directly to Clinton by Mr. Masri, his wife, Cheryl, and other apparent relatives, Jane and Zaher Masri, on or shortly before the day of the event. All their contributions list Washington, D.C., or Virginia addresses. Masri's Capital Investment Management Corp. is located in McLean, Va. Six weeks after the secret gathering, the Clinton campaign returned $3,000 to Zaher Masri for reasons that are unclear. A total of $50,000 was raised at the off-the-record event. In the final weeks of the campaign, Mrs. Clinton has come under fire for attending a June fund raiser sponsored by the American Muslim Alliance, which reportedly advocates violence against Israel. Clinton denied any knowledge of the group's sponsorship, though two White House documents, an e-mail and even a photograph of her at the event holding a plaque bearing the AMA's name have emerged to contradict her alibi. Meanwhile, her solicitation of friends of Yasser Arafat at an event deliberately concealed from the press has gone virtually unreported.