Bush Legitimizes Harm to Palestinian Children
Muslim charity faces terror trial in US24 July 2007
by Jason Trahan
"The Bush administration is arguing that providing medical and nutritional assistance to sick and starving Palestinian children amounts to supporting terrorism," said Khalil Meek, president of the Muslim Legal Fund of America, at a news conference Tuesday.
DALLAS, United States (AFP) -A Muslim charity which became the largest in the United States was created for the sole purpose of funding terrorism, prosecutors said Tuesday, in a case set to test the government's legal weapons in the war on terror.
Prosecutors contend the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development sent more than 12 million dollars to committees in the Palestinian territories controlled by Hamas, which Washington calls a terrorist organization.
However, supporters of the charity say it simply provided aid to the victims of the bloody Arab-Israeli conflict and that the foundation was in no way linked to Hamas, a multifaceted social, political and militant group.
"The evidence will show that this organization was funded from its creation as a fundraising mechanism, to funnel money to a terrorist organization, Hamas," lead prosecutor Jim Jacks said in opening statements.
The bulk of the money was specifically directed to the families of Hamas "martyrs" and agents detained in Israeli prisons, prosecutor Nathan Garrett said.
"Minimal support" was given to "legitimate charitable causes" in order to provide the organization with a "cloak of legitimacy," he added.
The mammoth case, the largest of its kind in US history, will feature reams of documents, many of which were supplied by the Israeli government.
Defense attorneys are expected to seize on this point, telling jurors that any evidence originating from Israeli sources carries a political taint.
The 12 million dollars in question makes up about a fifth of the 57 million dollars Holy Land collected between 1992 and 2001, much of which was raised at mosques and fundraisers throughout the United States.
Prosecutors say that money, donated to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel, freed up funds which Hamas could then divert from its own charitable activities to suicide bombings.
To convict, jurors must be convinced that the charity and its organizers sent humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories knowing it would help Hamas.
The US government designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1995, making it illegal to support the group, even in the form of humanitarian aid.
In two other similar terrorism financing trials, US prosecutors failed to get convictions on the most serious terrorism support charges, calling into question the government's ability to tie American charities to terrorist groups.
"This case is about delivering charity to people who desperately need it," said Nancy Hollander, a lawyer for Holy Land president and spokesman Shukri Abu Baker.
"None of these men is charged with committing a single act of violence."
Seven of Holy Land's top executives and the organization itself are charged with money laundering, tax evasion and conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. Two of the men are on the run.
US regulators froze the Texas-based charity's assets three months after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, capping what was then an eight-year investigation.
President George W. Bush hailed the crackdown in a Rose Garden news conference where he said the charity was among those who "do business with terror."
After the United States froze Holy Land's assets, scores of Muslim charities and leaders were implicated in the administration's attempt to block what it considered more funneling of funds to terrorist groups.
This policy has been roundly criticized by many in the Muslim community as fueled by Islamic prejudice made worse after the September 11 attacks.
"The Bush administration is arguing that providing medical and nutritional assistance to sick and starving Palestinian children amounts to supporting terrorism," said Khalil Meek, president of the Muslim Legal Fund of America, at a news conference Tuesday.
Meek said the case was "based upon secret evidence supplied by a foreign government stretching the rules of evidence in our court system to the point of absurdity."
The 11 women and seven men on the Holy Land jury are expected to sit for at least three months of testimony.
by Jason Trahan
"The Bush administration is arguing that providing medical and nutritional assistance to sick and starving Palestinian children amounts to supporting terrorism," said Khalil Meek, president of the Muslim Legal Fund of America, at a news conference Tuesday.
DALLAS, United States (AFP) -A Muslim charity which became the largest in the United States was created for the sole purpose of funding terrorism, prosecutors said Tuesday, in a case set to test the government's legal weapons in the war on terror.
Prosecutors contend the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development sent more than 12 million dollars to committees in the Palestinian territories controlled by Hamas, which Washington calls a terrorist organization.
However, supporters of the charity say it simply provided aid to the victims of the bloody Arab-Israeli conflict and that the foundation was in no way linked to Hamas, a multifaceted social, political and militant group.
"The evidence will show that this organization was funded from its creation as a fundraising mechanism, to funnel money to a terrorist organization, Hamas," lead prosecutor Jim Jacks said in opening statements.
The bulk of the money was specifically directed to the families of Hamas "martyrs" and agents detained in Israeli prisons, prosecutor Nathan Garrett said.
"Minimal support" was given to "legitimate charitable causes" in order to provide the organization with a "cloak of legitimacy," he added.
The mammoth case, the largest of its kind in US history, will feature reams of documents, many of which were supplied by the Israeli government.
Defense attorneys are expected to seize on this point, telling jurors that any evidence originating from Israeli sources carries a political taint.
The 12 million dollars in question makes up about a fifth of the 57 million dollars Holy Land collected between 1992 and 2001, much of which was raised at mosques and fundraisers throughout the United States.
Prosecutors say that money, donated to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel, freed up funds which Hamas could then divert from its own charitable activities to suicide bombings.
To convict, jurors must be convinced that the charity and its organizers sent humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories knowing it would help Hamas.
The US government designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1995, making it illegal to support the group, even in the form of humanitarian aid.
In two other similar terrorism financing trials, US prosecutors failed to get convictions on the most serious terrorism support charges, calling into question the government's ability to tie American charities to terrorist groups.
"This case is about delivering charity to people who desperately need it," said Nancy Hollander, a lawyer for Holy Land president and spokesman Shukri Abu Baker.
"None of these men is charged with committing a single act of violence."
Seven of Holy Land's top executives and the organization itself are charged with money laundering, tax evasion and conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. Two of the men are on the run.
US regulators froze the Texas-based charity's assets three months after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, capping what was then an eight-year investigation.
President George W. Bush hailed the crackdown in a Rose Garden news conference where he said the charity was among those who "do business with terror."
After the United States froze Holy Land's assets, scores of Muslim charities and leaders were implicated in the administration's attempt to block what it considered more funneling of funds to terrorist groups.
This policy has been roundly criticized by many in the Muslim community as fueled by Islamic prejudice made worse after the September 11 attacks.
"The Bush administration is arguing that providing medical and nutritional assistance to sick and starving Palestinian children amounts to supporting terrorism," said Khalil Meek, president of the Muslim Legal Fund of America, at a news conference Tuesday.
Meek said the case was "based upon secret evidence supplied by a foreign government stretching the rules of evidence in our court system to the point of absurdity."
The 11 women and seven men on the Holy Land jury are expected to sit for at least three months of testimony.
Labels: Palestine, United States
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 4:13 AM
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