Of course, this fits right in with the proposition that opposition to jihad terrorism is “racism.”
“Jury starts deliberations in terrorism financing trial,” by Mike Robinson for Associated Press, :
CHICAGO – Jurors heard a final emotional appeal from a federal prosecutor Thursday then began deliberations at the trial of two men accused of bankrolling terrorism by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“For too long these defendants have committed a variety of criminal violations and the time for accountability has arrived,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid J. Schar said, concluding four days of closing arguments.
Former Chicago grocer Muhammad Salah, 53, and Abdelhaleem Ashqar, 48, are accused of furnishing money and recruits to Hamas – the militant group that won recent elections in the Palestinian territories but is classified by the U.S. government as a terrorist group.
After hearing from Schar, jurors received instructions from U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve and began deliberating at 3:35 p.m.
Prosecutors told jurors during the three-month trial that the two men were major operatives within the international network raising money for Hamas.
They said the money was used to finance murders, bombings and kidnappings aimed at toppling the government of Israel.
Defense attorneys said the money represented charitable donations aimed at easing the suffering of Palestinians living in refugee camps since the birth of Israel and suffering under Israeli army occupation.
In an emotional appeal to jurors on Wednesday, Ashqar attorney William Moffitt likened Hamas to movements around the world led by such champions of human rights as Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.