US charity's terrorism financing case wraps up

A jury was expected to begin deliberations Tuesday on whether leaders of the largest Islamic charity in the United States were guilty of financing terrorism or simply provided charity to needy Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

The two-month long terrorist financing trial against five former leaders of the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation concluded Monday as lawyers made their closing arguments to jurors, said the Dallas Morning News.

The United States government charged that the foundation, which was shut down in 2001, funneled $12 million to the Palestinian group Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. Since 1995 U.S. law has forbidden providing support in any form to Hamas.

“The Holy Land Foundation was created to support Hamas,” Prosecutor Barry Jonas was quoted by the paper as saying in his concluding arguments Monday. These defendants “gave fuel that runs the Hamas engine.”

But the defense countered that the foundation – which started in the early 1990s -- was a legitimate charity that funded charities working on behalf of Palestinians oppressed by Israel. The U.S. has not designated the zakat, or alms, committees it funded as terrorism organizations.

Defense attorney Theresa Duncan, representing former Holy Land CEO Shukri Abu Baker, noted in her closing argument that the foundation had submitted its finances to annual audits and sought advice following the U.S. designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization but was rebuffed, according to the paper.

“This case has always been about charity,” the paper quoted her as saying. “This case is not about exploiting needs for a political agenda.”

According to Treasury and Justice Department officials the foundation "masqueraded as a charity" but really funded Hamas with "blood money" that supported overseas suicide bombings.

But Duncan argued that her clients were “providing relief to people was not just a job, it was a religious obligation.”

A 2007 case against the charity ended in a mistrial and the acquittal of Baker, one of five defendants.

This case is not about exploiting needs for a political agenda

Theresa Duncan, defense attorney