| FrontPageMag.com | Articles By Robert Spencer | Articles By Hugh Fitzgerald | Books | Islam 101 | Qur'an Blog | Robert Spencer Bio |  |
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
It was during the first Holy Land Foundation trial last year that the Muslim Brotherhood memorandum about their "grand jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within" came to light. This verdict is a huge official recognition of the reality of that stealth jihad, and a huge setback for the likes of CAIR, which was named an unindicted co-conspirator in this case.
"Holy Land Foundation defendants guilty on all counts," by Jason Trahan for the Dallas Morning News, November 24 (thanks to K.):
A jury on Monday determined that the Holy Land Foundation and five men who worked with the Muslim charity were guilty of three dozen counts related to the illegal funneling of at least $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.The unanimous verdicts are a complete victory for the government, which streamlined its case and worked hard to carefully educate jurors on the complex, massive evidence presented in the trial.
The prosecution's victory is also a major one for the lame duck administration of President George W. Bush, whose efforts at fighting terrorism financing in court have been troubled, even though the flow of funds seems to be effectively shut down.
It was the second trial where the government attempted to convict the men and the now-defunct, Richardson-based Holy Land Foundation itself. It took the jury eight days of deliberations to reach its decisions – less than half the time it took jurors to deadlock end up with an almost complete mistrial last year on the first go-around.
"My dad is not a criminal!" sobbed one courtroom observer after the verdicts were read. "He's a human!"
Huh? Criminals aren't human now? Cut the victimology, "courtroom observer." For one day, at least, your plots are exposed. But of course, we will see more and more of this as time goes by. Read on.
Opening statements at the Earle Cabell Federal Courthouse in downtown Dallas began Sept. 22. Over the past two months, prosecutors attempted to prove that five former charity organizers used Holy Land, once the largest Muslim charity in the U.S., to funnel an estimated $60 million to the militant group – most of it before 1995.Hamas was designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. in 1995, and the trial centered on the $12 million the government said Holy Land and supporters funneled to the group after that date.
Defense attorneys argued that the foundation was a legitimate, non-political charity that helped distressed Palestinians under Israeli occupation. They accused the government of bending to Israeli pressure to prosecute the charity, and of relying on old evidence predating the 1995 designation.
Holy Land was formed in the late 1980s, and was shut down by U.S. government regulators in December 2001. The case was indicted in 2004.
Last year's trial of the same five defendants ended in a hung jury Oct. 22, 2007. Jurors deliberated for 19 days before they deadlocked.
Even before the verdicts were read, supporters on both side of the aisle were prepared to claim a moral victory.
Critics of the government case argued that even convictions would carry an asterisk noting that it took untold millions of taxpayer dollars, 15 years of investigation and two long, high-profile trials to finally convince a jury of the defendants' guilt.
The strategy now, of course, will be to portray these jihadists as martyrs -- a tried-and-true strategy that has been used for decades, going back to the fog of disinformation that for years surrounded that old Communist spy, Alger Hiss:
"I suspect that they will be viewed much the same way that Mandela was viewed by the black South African population – as freedom fighters who have dedicated their lives to the liberation of Palestine," William Moffitt, the Virginia defense attorney who represented two former university professors, Abdelhaleem Ashqar and Sami Al-Arian, said before the Holy Land verdicts.Mr. Ashqar and Mr. Al-Arian were acquitted in trials in Chicago and Florida on similar charges that they steered support to Palestinian terrorists.
Mr. Ashqar was sentenced to 11 years in prison last year for refusing to testify for a grand jury about his Hamas ties. Dr. Al-Arian pleaded guilty in 2006 to a charge of supporting Palestinian Islamic Jihad and is being held on contempt charges for refusing to co-operate in another terrorism support investigation. But both are viewed as folk heroes by some in the Muslim community.
Mr. Moffitt said Holy Land and the other cases are "show trials" where the government attempted to use "events that happened over 10 years ago" as evidence of crimes well before statutes specifically outlawing terrorism support were enacted.
"I think that the purpose of these trials was to further, in the minds of the public, the so-called ‘war on terrorism,'" he said. "There are legitimate terrorist organizations out there. But we've tried to make every group that doesn't agree with us like al-Qaeda."...
Hamas has gloried in the murders of civilians. That is not a simple matter of demonizing "every group that doesn't agree with us."
Posted by Robert at November 24, 2008 4:31 PM
Print this entry
| Email this entry
| Digg this
| del.icio.us
|
"The prosecution's victory is also a major one for the lame duck administration of President George W. Bush..."
Hooray for the Bush Administration! The media has called President Bush a "lame duck" for at least a year. I previously only heard the term "lame duck" applied to Congress after a November election. The current Congress is a lame duck session.
For a "lame duck" president, he has accomplished a lot in his last few months of office.
![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 24, 2008 4:59 PM
"Critics of the government case argued that even convictions would carry an asterisk noting that it took untold millions of taxpayer dollars, 15 years of investigation and two long, high-profile trials to finally convince a jury of the defendants' guilt."
-- from the article above
And that is part of the problem: "It took untold millions of taxpayer dollars, 15 yeas of investigation and two long, high-profile trials to finally convince a jury of the defendants' guilt."
How many FBI agents had to work full-time, how many police holding people in custody, how many court-appointed lawyers, how many prosecutors, how many of this and how many of that, and at what expense, simply to punish those whose adherence to a Total Belief-System makes them the enemies, to that very extent, of the legal and political instititutions of the non-Muslims who built this country, for the Shari'a, which they wish to impose everywhere, flatly contradicts in every important way the Constitution of the United States? How many? At what expense? And the more Muslims are permitted, out of dreamy inattention, or negligence on the part of the government that is itself criminal, into this and other Infidel lands, especially in Western Europe, the more unpleasantness, the more physical danger, and the more hideous expense we shall have to pay, when a halt to Muslim immigration by now, at the very least, is the minimum that a state run by those aware of the ideology of Islam, and of the natural consequences, seen in the attitudes and behavior of Muslims over 1350 years, from Spain to the East Indies, of that ideology, should have imposed, but as yet has been too afraid to do so.
Posted by: Hugh at November 24, 2008 5:06 PM
Great news, but did anybody else pick up on the complacency implicit in the statement:
"... even though the flow of funds seems to be effectively shut down." ?
Just exactly how has that determination been made?
Posted by: Paleologus at November 24, 2008 5:08 PM
Boo yah!
Posted by: eve_anne_gelical at November 24, 2008 5:26 PM
Ok now on to CAIR. Let's get them behind bars.
Posted by: Mystical Time Traveler at November 24, 2008 5:28 PM
Looks like Joe Kaufman has something to add to the Anti-CAIR website.
Posted by: eve_anne_gelical at November 24, 2008 5:28 PM
F*ckin'-A.
Posted by: undaunted at November 24, 2008 5:37 PM
Oh, snap! I hereby proclaim this to be "Douglas Farah and Steven Emerson Day!" That is soooooo kickass.
Now can we ban the Ikhwan? Please?
Posted by: jdamn at November 24, 2008 5:39 PM
oh yeah! great stuff!
Posted by: USorThem at November 24, 2008 5:49 PM
Poor Thing
Your Dad can still be a human. But he is still a convicted criminal. To jail with your Dad.
Posted by: Kuffar at November 24, 2008 5:58 PM
Probably my favorite quote is:
"My dad is not a criminal!" sobbed one courtroom observer after the verdicts were read. "He's a human!"
These stories are going to be showing up more often.
Christopher Hamilton
The Right Opinion, for the Right Wing
at November 24, 2008 6:26 PM
"Mr. Moffitt [William Moffitt, the Virginia defense attorney who represented two former university professors, Abdelhaleem Ashqar and Sami Al-Arian], said said Holy Land and the other cases are "show trials" where the government attempted to use "events that happened over 10 years ago" as evidence of crimes well before statutes specifically outlawing terrorism support were enacted."
-- from the article above
"Show trials"? You mean like the trials in Moscow in the period 1935-1937, when Stalin, working through the ferocious Andrey Vyshinsky, accused all kinds of Old Bolsheviks, Kamenev and Bukharin and others, of engaging in spying and "wrecking" on behalf of Great Britain and other capitalists, successfully managed to kill off all of his old comrades?
"Show trials" as in the trial of Rudolf Slansky and others (mainly Jews) who were convicted by a kangaroo communist court in Czechoslovakia, circa 1950?
"Show trials" as are common in totalitarian societies?
Is that what William Moffitt, sworn to uphold the Constitution, and member of the Bar in Virginia, thinks is an appropriate term to describe the vast amounts of patiently accumulated evidence, the thousands of documents, the scrupulous adherence by the government to all of the protections afforded defendants by the Constitution? "Show trials"? He, this Moffitt, disgusts.
And as for his business of these men being -- so it is clearly implied -- persecuted for things that happened...oh, so very long ago, at least ten years ago, what would he, this William Moffitt, defense attorney and a member of the Virginia Bar, think of those who thought that in 1955, or even in 1965, or 1975, or ever, that it would be unseemly, it would be cruel, it would be wrong, to prosecute Nazi war criminals.
He may have gone to law school. He may have his clients and his billable hours. He may get all kinds of money. What he lacks, of course, is moral sense.
Posted by: Hugh at November 24, 2008 6:28 PM
This is great news for all us who relish our Western freedoms and culture. And to those who have forgotten that the US has not been hit by terrorists since 2001, shame on those who do not remember for those who do not will repeat history.
Posted by: ZenaWarriorPrincess at November 24, 2008 6:43 PM
People - read the caption under the pic in the article.
The son's name is "Jihad." I kid you not. Go see.
Posted by: darcy at November 24, 2008 7:10 PM
Now would be a great time to make a list of all of the Politicians that have been associated with this organization. No matter what the Party 'name names'.
Can we please see lists of politicians.
Let Washington D.C. know that association bears responsibility.
Posted by: alaskan1000 at November 24, 2008 8:05 PM
"Jihad" is a popular name within a certain group of people (humans) - two of the men currently facing trial in Australia for attempted mass murder (jihadi activities) have sons called Jihad. One of them translated the word as meaning 'a celebration of life'
Posted by: jewcat at November 24, 2008 8:31 PM
This just hasn't been Sami al-Aryan's year. First a charge of contempt, and now this.
It couldn't happen to a more deserving scumbag.
at November 24, 2008 8:39 PM
I'm delighted to see the defendants found guilty on all 108 counts. We also know that CAIR was outed as an unindicted co-conspirator in this trial. There had been legislation introduced in Congress stating that no unindicted co-conspirator could have any dealing with the US government. Whether or not the legislation passed given CAIR's association with a group that conspired to aide HAMAS (a group that murders civilians) the US government should have nothing to do with CAIR beyond working to close down of CAIR.
Posted by: Roxane at November 24, 2008 8:58 PM
"He, this Moffitt, disgusts...What he lacks, of course, is moral sense."
Hugh, indeed. I am disgusted to share a surname and common ancestry with Mr. Moffitt. Our family is an old and distinguished from Scotland, and we have emigrated to every corner of the globe taking our 'Spero Meliora' with us.
We have aspired to greater things for ourselves, our families and our countries. It seems that Mr. Moffitt has aspired to cheap lawyer weasel words, his billable hours and a fat paycheck, leaving real truth and the greater good for his country and family behind. What a wonderful legacy for his Moffitt children.
.
Posted by: Lorem Ipsum at November 24, 2008 10:00 PM
from the article: “It’s a sad day,” said Mohammed Wafa Yaish, Holy Land’s former accountant and himself a witness of the trial. “It looks like helping the needy Palestinians is a crime these days.”
Yeah, it's a shame they won't be helping needy 'Palestinians'acquire RPGs.
Posted by: Lorem Ipsum at November 24, 2008 10:15 PM
from the article: “It’s a sad day,” said Mohammed Wafa Yaish, Holy Land’s former accountant and himself a witness of the trial. “It looks like helping the needy Palestinians is a crime these days.”
Yeah, it's a shame they won't be helping needy 'Palestinians'acquire RPGs.
Posted by: Lorem Ipsum at November 24, 2008 10:15 PM
Although I can't / won't second guess a jury's motives, I always find it troublesome when it takes multiple attempts to convince 12 Americans of a crime involving terrorism. I sometimes believe the government piles too many complicated charges on top of one another, each charge dependant on the prior charge, thereby confusing the main issues. I do find it worrisome that one of these men was aquitted on 32 of 33 charges during the first trial. That jury missed something important. Regardless, the Prosecution should be congratuled for getting the convictions at any cost in time and monies spent. This is not about money, it's about getting to the truth, unraveling and exposing complicated schemes that are deliberately and expertly designed to confuse and undermine a free and trusting society over a long period of time.
Posted by: Van Austin at November 24, 2008 10:51 PM
Hey, where is Abdullah Mikail Mackay when we need comment from the other side? No doubt, he's disappointed that his friends are going to the pokey. Perhaps for a LONG time.
Abdullah Mikail Mackay suddenly falls silent in the face of these convictions. Who'd a thunk?
Posted by: scanderbeg at November 24, 2008 11:10 PM
Oh, forgot to mention that there is NOTHING on the CAIR website about the verdicts. They have also apparently fallen silent, as has Abdullah Mikail Mackay.
Posted by: scanderbeg at November 24, 2008 11:12 PM
AM is probably "grooming" his next boyfriend.
Posted by: undaunted at November 24, 2008 11:30 PM
What can anyone add to the giddy posts above? Only that it's about time WE won! And isn't it appropriate that almost on the same day, the magnificent BILLBOARD on the Detroit-Toledo turnpike, (SHARIA LAW THREATENS AMERICA) made its appearance!!!
Excuse me all you atheists but it's time to say God Bless America!
Posted by: angryamerican at November 25, 2008 1:13 AM
It is about time that the murderers are stopped and prevented of raising money used to kill more people.
I read that some Muslims complained about the treatment they received by the Holy Land foundation.Maybe they start understanding that this foundation is using them, keeping them in despair and poverty .The money raised was never used to help the Palestinian people . It was used to help the crooks live a lavish life style (Arafat's wife is living in Paris with her daughter and advocating for jihad from her luxury apartment )
Go and blow up yourself for Allah,your family will get some money and you will be in paradise with 72 virgins and a glass of wine......
Now those arrests are only a first step, next we have to declare the association illegal with all other Muslim foundations and put a stop at their propaganda of "Islam is peace"
at November 25, 2008 8:48 AM
Now on to Caring Hearts and other such "charities" that have been taking money from stupid people in this country for years.
F*cking awesome. Great job.
Posted by: John_Doe at November 25, 2008 10:14 AM
(Note: The Comments section is provided in the interests of free speech only. It is mostly unmoderated, but comments that are off-topic, offensive, slanderous, or otherwise annoying stand a chance of being deleted. The fact that any comment remains on the site IN NO WAY constitutes an endorsement by Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch, or by Robert Spencer or any other Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch writer, of any view expressed, fact alleged, or link provided in that comment.)