Muslim Charity Found Guilty of Aiding Terrorism

The Foundation and five of its leaders were found guilty on 108 charges of channeling millions of dollar to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, formerly the largest Muslim Charity in the United States, has finally been stopped. On November 24 the Foundation and five of its leaders were found guilty on 108 charges of channeling millions of dollar to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.

Suspicions about the Holy Land Foundation began in the 1990's, due to its funding of programs sponsored by Hamas, which was declared a terrorist organization in 1995. In 2001, President Bush froze the charities assets as one of the assaults in the war on terror which began after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Cases involving the financing of terrorist organizations have been hard to prosecute. The Holy Land case is one of three attempted and is considered a landmark victory. The other two cases, in Florida and Illinois, ended without convictions.

The Holy Land Foundation case collapsed last year after the judge declared a mistrial since the jury had deliberated for nineteen days without a verdict. Two months ago the case was re-tried.

The convictions, which included charges for aiding terrorist organizations and money laundering, could produce prison sentences for some leaders of 15 to 20 years. Some could end up spending the rest of their lives in prison.

According to the Associated Press, Ghassan Elashi, Holy Land's former chairman, and Shukri Abu-Baker, Holy Land's chief executive, were convicted of a combined 69 counts, including supporting a specially designated terrorist, money laundering and tax fraud.

Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulrahman Odeh were convicted of three counts of conspiracy, and Mohammed El-Mezain was convicted of one count of conspiracy to support a terrorist organization.

The Holy Land Foundation itself was convicted of all 32 counts. It will be required to forfeit about $12.4 million to the government.

The jury deliberated eight days before reaching their decision. Defense attorneys have indicated they will appeal and no date for sentencing has been determined.

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Randy Sly is a communications specialist and Associate Editor for Catholic Online. A former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, he has served in full time Christian ministry for over 30 years. He and his wife Sandy came into the full communion of the Catholic Church three years ago.

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