The Red Crescent is the Palestinian branch of the International Red Cross, an avowedly neutral humanitarian organization. The HLF says it is a foundation dedicated to providing relief to Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.

According to the ADL, the HLF "has provided support to families of suicide bombers and others with links to Hamas, which continues to sponsor international acts of terrorism and is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department."

Several Arab-American groups have charged in recent years that the ADL is too quick to label Islamic charities as terrorist-linked.

State Department officials said that they suspect that the HLF has ties to Hamas because it gives aid to the families of suicide bombers.

Yasin took issue with the State Department position on the HLF.

"Every time an individual commits a suicide bombing it is a tragedy," he said. "If the State Department wants to criminalize the care of widows and orphans, that lies on their conscience, not ours."

The World Jewish Congress and the ADL have accused the Palestinian Red Crescent of using ambulances to carry rocks and molotov cocktails to hot spots in the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israeli military officials said that gunfire had originated from Red Crescent offices and ambulances on at least five occasions.