Yet another pulls the wool over the eyes of criminal law...
Cross posted from Morning Coffee:
The top fundraiser for an Islamic charity walked out of a detention facility to cheers from a few dozen supporters, more than two years after the government claimed his group had ties to terrorism.
Hamdan, who founded a mosque in Anaheim, was arrested on immigration charges in July 2004 as federal authorities unsealed an indictment against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. The government charged that the Texas-based charity funneled millions to the Palestinian
militantTerrorist group Hamas.He was convicted of overstaying a student visa he got 27 years ago and ordered deported. The Holy Land Foundation's president, chairman and director of endowments were charged with terrorism-related crimes.
Had US Immigration Law been enforced, 15 of the 19 9-11 Hijackers would not have been in the country on on that infamous date.
Hamdan, who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, has acknowledged traveling around the country as a Holy Land fundraiser. He insists, however, he has no information to support allegations the group aided Hamas, which the United States has labeled a terrorist organization.
"My mission was purely humanitarian, to help the children and the disadvantaged people in Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and around the world," he said during an earlier hearing.
Full AP Story here
Here is a little about the Holy Land Foundation:
July 27, 2004- The U.S. Justice Department handed down a 42-count indictment against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, an organization long suspected of supporting terrorists by funneling money to Hamas. The federal indictment named the Foundation and its top leaders in a conspiracy to provide aid to a terrorist organization and the families of suicide terrorists.
The indictment also charged that HLF provided more than $12.4 million to individuals and organizations linked to Hamas between 1995 and 2001. The group raised a total of $57 million since its incorporation in 1992 but only reported $36.2 million to the IRS, according to the indictment.
Others Indicted from the Holy Land Foundation:
Shukri Abu Baker: co-founder, president and chief executive officer.
"Numerous FBI sources have identified Baker as being a member of Hamas," according to a memo drafted by former FBI counterterrorism director Dale L. Watson. Baker was introduced as the "senior vice president in Hamas"
At least eleven trips by Hamas leaders to the U.S. were charged to two American Express accounts bearing Baker's name along with HLF's, according to the FBI. (One account used HLF's original name, the Occupied Land Fund.)
Ghassan Elashi: co-founder, chairman and former executive director.
On July 7, Elashi was found guilty of illegally exporting goods to Syria and of money laundering. He is also awaiting trial on charges that he and four of his brothers (who together ran a computer company, InfoCom) had financial dealings with Musa Abu Marzuq, a Hamas leader and designated terrorist.
One of the founders of the Islamic Association for Palestine.
A founding board member of the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Related by marriage to Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzuq.
The 9-11 Commission was very critical of Law enforcement and Intelligence communities for failing to "connect the dots". The first line of defense is to keep the damn dots out of the country. Some criticism is certainly due to the 9th Circus as well as the District judge for not immediately deporting the damn dots when Law Enforcement connects them.
**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.**
