<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br><br>
US charity arrests raise questions regarding 'war on terror'<br><br>
By Hussein Ibish<br><br>
The Daily Star<br>
26 August 2004<br><br>
<a href="http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=7731" eudora="autourl">http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=7731<br><br>
</a>WASHINGTON: In a case with profound implications regarding the<br>
nature and focus of the US "war on terror," on July 27 US<br>
authorities arrested the leadership of one of the largest Muslim<br>
charities in the United States, the Holy Land Foundation for<br>
Relief and Development.<br><br>
Three additional indictments handed down on Aug. 20 were said by<br>
US authorities to also be part of efforts to stop the flow of<br>
money from the United States to the Palestinian militant group<br>
Hamas. A Hamas senior official who was indicted on Aug. 20, Moussa<br>
Abu Marzook, told the Associated Press in Syria: "Hamas did
not<br>
take a penny from the Holy Land Foundation. Hamas has its own<br>
means of funding and that is not connected to any institution in<br>
the West."<br><br>
The 42-count indictment accuses the senior officers and<br>
fundraisers of Holy Land of using the charity to "provide<br>
financial and material support" in excess of $12.4 million to<br>
"Hamas-controlled organizations in the West Bank and Gaza, as
well<br>
as for direct payment to individuals whom (Holy Land) supported on<br>
behalf of Hamas, including family members of martyrs and<br>
prisoners." The case appears to rely heavily on information<br>
provided by Israeli intelligence,<br><br>
with federal authorities citing "critical assistance from our<br>
foreign allies and partners."<br><br>
Among the accused arrested on July 27 were Holy Land's founder,<br>
Shukri Abu Baker, its executive director Ghassan Elashi, Mohammed<br>
al-Mezain, Mufid Abdel-Qader and Abdel-Raham Odeh. Also indicted<br>
were Haitham Maghawri and Akram Mishal, both said to be outside<br>
the United States. A former fundraiser, Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan, was<br>
also detained, and is presumed to be a material witness in the<br>
case.<br><br>
Indicted along with Abu Marzook in the second case, and arrested<br>
on Aug. 20, were Mohammed Salah, whose Chicago-based Koranic<br>
Literacy Institute was the subject of a controversial civil asset<br>
forfeiture in the late 1990s, and Abdel-Haleem Ashqar, who has<br>
previously been held on contempt of court charges for refusing to<br>
testify in other cases. Neither man has been connected to the<br>
charity.<br><br>
John Boyd, a lawyer for Holy Land, told The New York Times:
"This<br>
is completely unfounded, and if the Holy Land Foundation is given<br>
an opportunity to defend itself, it will be able to rebut every<br>
charge made in this indictment.''<br><br>
The American Muslim community was shocked when the federal<br>
government in December 2001, froze the assets of Holy Land, along<br>
with two lesser known charities. With outstanding assets estimated<br>
to be in excess of $7 million, and having been listed as a<br>
suggested charity on the State Department's website, Holy Land was<br>
among with most respected American Muslim institutions.<br><br>
But for years it had been the subject of accusations, mainly from<br>
journalist Steven Emerson and his one-time associate, the<br>
self-described "terrorist hunter" Rita Katz, that it was a
"front"<br>
or fundraising arm of Hamas-related social service organizations.<br>
These charges were not taken seriously by many people, because of<br>
the long history of false accusations from Emerson and his<br>
associates against Arab and Muslim Americans.<br><br>
Holy Land challenged the seizure of its assets, filing a suit in<br>
federal court against the government in March 2002. In response,<br>
the government declared its intention to re-designate Holy Land as<br>
a "terrorist organization" itself, rather than merely treating
it<br>
as a supporter or fundraiser. Lawyers for the charity say they<br>
were given two weeks to challenge the accusations in a voluminous<br>
memo from the Justice Department. They say they declined to try to<br>
meet what they call an impossible deadline. In May 2002, the<br>
government officially re-classified the group a "specially<br>
designated terrorist."<br><br>
Holy Land's lawsuit proved a complete failure, as neither the<br>
federal district court judge nor the appellate court would allow<br>
the charity to introduce evidence challenging the government's<br>
claims. Though these rulings created a minor uproar among legal<br>
scholars, the Supreme Court refused to hear Holy Land's appeal and<br>
the rulings stood.<br><br>
Civil liberties groups insisted that since Holy Land had never<br>
been allowed to defend itself, the government should either bring<br>
criminal indictments against its leaders, or unfreeze the assets.<br>
On July 27, the indictments came.<br><br>
The accusations against Holy Land and the other charities have<br>
created a conundrum for American Muslims regarding how to perform<br>
their religious obligation of zakat - charitable giving - when<br>
some of the best known charities, implicitly endorsed by the State<br>
Department and enjoying federally-approved tax-free status, are<br>
now accused of being criminals.<br><br>
Arab-American and Muslim groups have repeatedly suggested that the<br>
government provide some mechanism to assure Muslim donors that the<br>
groups to which they contribute are not suspected of any crimes,<br>
but to no avail. Additionally, the effort, spearheaded by Salam<br>
al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs<br>
Council, to get the remaining Holy Land funds, estimated to be<br>
about $5 million, released to a mutually acceptable third party<br>
charity has met with little success.<br><br>
Central to the Holy Land case are key civil liberties and foreign<br>
policy issues defining development of the US war on terror.<br><br>
Free speech and freedom of conscience in the United States could<br>
be compromised if giving money to humanitarian operations overseas<br>
run by people with the wrong opinions becomes a serious crime. Few<br>
Americans are aware of the vast social-service network run by<br>
Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and - like the Israeli government but<br>
unlike many others - US authorities seem to recognize no<br>
difference between the humanitarian, political and para-military<br>
branches of the movement.<br><br>
The indictments against Holy Land suggest the money in question<br>
was allegedly passed to "charitable fronts" for Hamas, and in
part<br>
provided as aid for the families of its activists who were jailed<br>
or killed. "In this manner, defendants effectively rewarded
past,<br>
and encouraged future, suicide bombings and terrorist activities<br>
on behalf of Hamas," the government says.<br><br>
If the case proves to be based solely on support for humanitarian<br>
groups run by people with the wrong opinions or the wrong<br>
associations, or aid to people who have the wrong relatives, then<br>
otherwise lawful activity will be a crime more because of the<br>
opinions being implicitly expressed than any violent acts. Since<br>
"material support" laws were enacted, civil liberties
scholars<br>
have warned that they could develop into a form of "thought
crime"<br>
in the US.<br><br>
In July, the US government was rebuffed by a jury in Idaho that<br>
acquitted a Saudi student of "supporting terrorism" by setting
up<br>
websites that allegedly praised terrorism in Chechnya and Israel.<br>
He was charged under a provision of the US Patriot Act makes that<br>
makes it illegal to provide "expert advice or assistance"
to<br>
terrorists.<br><br>
The recent arrests suggest that just as US foreign policy has<br>
become difficult to distinguish from Israeli attitudes, US law<br>
enforcement increasingly sees little difference between<br>
nationalist groups fighting Israeli occupation and Al-Qaeda's<br>
worldwide terrorist network.<br><br>
Opponents of Israel are thus increasingly treated as opponents of<br>
the US by American law enforcement, while the same standard is not<br>
applied to other nationalist groups such as Irish, Basque, Tamil,<br>
Iranian, Colombian that engage in terrorism.<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
</font><font size=3><a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">www.freedomarchives.org</a></font></body>
</html>