But I thought that No One in the Detroit area has ever been related to the Holy land foundation ?
Maybe , Detroit (Dearborn ) Is a little hub of underground activity for radical Islam .
Qur'an 5:41
"Whomever Allah wants to deceive you cannot help. Allah does not want them to know the truth because he intends to disgrace them and then torture them."
Freep.com
A Syrian-born man was indicted in federal court in Detroit for lying to federal officials about his ties to a charity that the U.S. Department of Treasury says provided aid to the militant Palestinian group Hamas, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said Friday.
Mohamad Mustapha Ali Masfaka, 47, of Detroit has been charged with attempted naturalization fraud, making false statements to FBI investigators and immigration officials, and perjury. If convicted of the charges, he faces up to 23 years in prison and up to $750,000 in fines.
According to federal investigators, Masfaka was employed by Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in 1997 and 1998 and ran the group's operations in the Detroit area including organizing and participating in fund-raising events.
The group gave money to the Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Hamas, investigators said. The U.S. government considers it a terrorist group.
In 2002, Masfaka failed to mention his employment with the Holy Land Foundation in an application for naturalization with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. In 2003, he told FBI agents he only worked for the group as a singer for fund-raising events but never received compensation.
However, investigators uncovered cashed checks showing that Masfaka's role was more extensive than he admitted and they he had been paid for his work.
Masfaka was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection when he attempted to reenter the United States from Canada via the Ambassador Bridge, McQuade said Friday.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Man hid link to Hamas funding, U.S. charges Detroit
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Supporters of Holy Land defendants accuse government of preying on fear
Guilty , Guilty , Guilty , That was the verdict ! will it stick ? I certainly hope so , These jackass's Have dragged this whole thing out long enough , They certainly will appeal the verdict , I just hope that The Government's case was good enough !
A few observations,
Being a human - does not excuse you from being a criminal!
Fear-Mongering- What a joke , breaking the law is "ILLEGAL" Fear Mongering has nothing to do with Prosecuting A "Criminal" who has Broken the Law!!!
I always fear the sweetest , most kind Hearted people in my life , ( they tend not to be Honest with you, And Manipulative )
Hamas , May very well do Humanitarian work ! And they do things to help save peoples lives ! But they also commit acts of terrorism And Murder to do those things !!!!They don't cancel each other out !
AND this one piss's me Off-
"Going forward ... the government must be more pro-active about furnishing guidance to Muslim-Americans who merely wish to fulfill their religious obligations," he said.
How about "Muslims" Learn to blend in ,Tolerate ,Don't Discriminate ,Keep Their silly Psycotic ,Backwards ass , dark ages ,CULT ! in their own country !!
AND quit coming here thinking you are going to get your way here! we are not going to Accept it !!!!
dallasnews
....
The verdicts came down slowly and cast a pall over an already somber courtroom. "Guilty" was heard over and over again.
Most family members and friends of the five defendants in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial remained stoic Monday as justice was meted out, but one person sobbed: "My dad is not a criminal. He's a human!"
For the roughly 150 supporters at the Earle Cabell Federal Building in downtown Dallas, that may best summarize their take on the outcome of one of the nation's biggest and most important terrorism financing trials.
Supporters say the government's case was built on fear-mongering, and they stand by long-held assertions that Holy Land was a legitimate charity concerned only with providing relief to Palestinians living in poverty and hardship under the decades-long Israeli occupation.
Some supporters cried quietly after the verdicts were read. Some looked in shock, disbelief registering on their faces. Tension filled the air.
As people began to quietly file out of the courtroom, many supporters shouted words of encouragement to the defendants. Some of the defendants defiantly flashed victory signs.
Defense attorneys did not talk to The Dallas Morning News, but are already discussing appeals.
The subdued reaction to the verdicts was in cold contrast to the jubilation they felt 13 months ago as the first Holy Land trial ended mostly in a mistrial when a confused and beleaguered jury deadlocked after 19 days of deliberations.
The second jury wrestled just eight days with the massive and complex case.
The journey for supporters has been far longer: Holy Land and its leadership had been investigated since the early 1990s. President George W. Bush announced that the foundation had been shut down in 2001. Indictments came in 2004.
John Wolf, a friend and member of the Hungry for Justice coalition, said he'd known the defendants for 12 years.
"I'm not surprised," he said of the verdicts. "I think the government had their do-over and they learned from their mistakes. It's hard to accept because I don't believe the gentlemen are guilty. These guys are the sweetest, clean-hearted people."
During the trial, defense attorneys accused the government of bending to Israeli pressure to prosecute the charity, and of relying on old evidence. But jurors agreed with the government's contention that at least $12 million raised in the U.S. had been illegally funneled to Hamas after that organization was banned as a terrorist group by the federal government in 1995.
In light of the crimes and the likely length of their sentences, which will come later, the judge ordered that all five defendants be immediately taken into custody. One, Ghassan Elashi, is already serving a 6 ½ -year sentence in federal prison for export law violations.
His daughter, an outspoken critic of the prosecution, read a statement calling the verdicts a low point for the United States of America.
"My dad is a law-abiding citizen," said Noor Elashi. "My dad was persecuted for his political beliefs and his humanitarian work in Palestine. ... He saved lives and now he's paying the price. I'm very proud of him."
Ms. Elashi, visibly angry, said she had not shed any tears over the verdicts because she knew that her father was being persecuted "because he saved lives."
"I feel heartbroken that a group of my fellow Americans fell for the prosecution's fear-mongering," she said.
"This is not over," she added.
Some supporters have said that the defendants, even if convicted, would be considered freedom fighters or folk heroes.
Peter Margulies, a Roger Williams University law professor who studies terrorism financing cases, said the government has won the case, but has work to do for American Muslims.
"Going forward ... the government must be more pro-active about furnishing guidance to Muslim-Americans who merely wish to fulfill their religious obligations," he said.
That may be too little, too late for some.
Mohammed Wafa Yaish, Holy Land's former accountant and a witness of the trial, said after the verdicts were read that he is angry that the prosecution brought up the Taliban and al-Qaeda during the trial.
"What does giving charity to the Palestinians in the refugee camps have to do with this?" he said. "They scared the jurors. Fear is the No. 1 government tactic."
Monday, September 15, 2008
2nd Trial for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
The same trial which CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator. New York Sun
Prosecutors are set today to take a second run at convicting officers of a Texas-based charity that the government contends was a Hamas beachhead in America, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.[...]
"It's hugely important in terms of what the overall law enforcement approach is going be for the government in the post-9/11 era," a former federal terrorism prosecutor, Andrew McCarthy, said. "It's desperately important that we make it unambiguous that we can use the 'material support' statutes and go after the financial element of radical Islam."
Prosecutors contend that the Holy Land Foundation, formerly known as the Occupied Land Fund, was part of a web of groups across the globe set up on behalf of Hamas, a Palestinian Arab political movement that has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks in recent years. The indictment claims that the foundation, which once billed itself as America's largest Muslim charity, funneled $12 million to local Palestinian relief groups, known as Zakat committees, which were under the control of Hamas.
