Embed JavaScript if statement in html email

I have an html email template that needs to add additional rows if there are items. I did a lot of research and thought the following code wouldve solved it but it is not:

<tr>
    <td height="30"></td>
</tr>
{!IF( = "", "", "<p style="font-size:17px;">Item 1</p>")}
{!IF( = "", "", "<p style="font-size:17px;">Item 2</p>")}
{!IF( = "", "", "<p style="font-size:17px;">Item 3</p>")}
{!IF( = "", "", "<p style="font-size:17px;">Item 4</p>")}
<tr>
    <td height="30"></td>
</tr>

If anyone has any advice on what exactly I am doing wrong I would appreciate it.