Charity convicted in terrorism financing trial By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press Writer NOV 24,08
DALLAS – A Muslim charity and five of its former leaders were convicted Monday of funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, finally handing the government a signature victory in its fight against terrorism funding.
U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis announced the guilty verdicts on all 108 counts on the eighth day of deliberations in the retrial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, once the nation's largest Muslim charity. It was the biggest terrorism financing case since the attacks of Sept. 11.Money is the lifeblood of terrorists, plain and simple, U.S. Attorney Richard Roper said. The jury's decision attacks terrorism at its core.The convictions follow the collapse of Holy Land's first trial last year and defeats in other cases the government tried to build. President George W. Bush had personally announced the freezing of Holy Land's assets in 2001, calling the action another step in the war on terrorism.After Monday's verdict, family members showed little visible reaction until the jury left. Several women sobbed loudly.My dad's not a criminal! one nearly inconsolable woman said loudly. Court personnel told the family to calm her down, and as family members rushed her out of the courtroom, she said, They treated him like an animal.Ghassan Elashi, Holy Land's former chairman, and Shukri Abu-Baker, the 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. Holy Land itself was convicted of all 32 counts.I feel heartbroken that a group of my fellow Americans fell for the prosecution's fear-mongering theory, Elashi's daughter, Noor, said outside the courthouse late Monday. This is truly a low point for the United States of America, but this is not over.She said that she was proud of her father and that he was paying the price for saving lives.My dad was persecuted for his political beliefs, she said. It's as pure and simple as that.
Attorneys for the defendants said an appeal is planned.
A sentencing date hasn't been scheduled, but the punishments could be steep. Supporting a terrorist organization carries a maximum 15-year sentence on each count; money laundering carries a maximum 20 years on each conviction.Solis ordered the Holy Land leaders detained, citing the long prison terms they may face and their ties to the Middle East.Holy Land was accused of giving more than $12 million to support Hamas. The seven-week retrial ran about as long as the original, which ended in October 2007 when a judge declared a mistrial on most charges.Holy Land wasn't accused of violence. Rather, the government said the Richardson, Texas-based charity financed schools, hospitals and social welfare programs controlled by Hamas in areas ravaged by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The U.S. designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1995 and again in 1997, making contributions to the group illegal. Government officials raided Holy Land's headquarters in December 2001 and shut it down.Prosecutors labeled Holy Land's benefactors — called zakat committees — as terrorist recruiting pools. The charities, the government argued, spread Hamas' violent ideology and generated loyalty and support among Palestinians. It was a womb to the tomb cycle, prosecutor Barry Jonas told jurors during closing arguments last week. Holy Land supporters told a different story. They accused the government of politicizing the case as part of its war on terrorism, while attorneys for the foundation said Holy Land's mission was philanthropy and providing much-needed aid to the Middle East. They reminded jurors that none of the zakat committees are designated by the U.S. as terrorist fronts, and that Holy Land also donated to causes elsewhere, including helping victims of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
No one here is engaging in acts of terrorism, Theresa Duncan, attorney for Baker, said during closing arguments. A chaotic courtroom scene ended last year's original trial, which lasted nearly two months and kept jurors deliberating for 19 days. But they deadlocked on many counts, and when a judge polled the panel about other verdicts, some disavowed their vote. The confusing finish led U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish to declare a mistrial, and leaders of the defunct charity rushed outside to celebrate. Observers last year panned the government for presenting a bloated case too complicated for jurors to follow. Prosecutors responded this year by dropping nearly 60 charges in the trial and tightening their narrative to jurors, even offering a kind of road map to help the panel follow the money. But nearly 15 boxes of evidence wheeled into court on a flatbed still impressed the size of the case, as did the more than one hour that Solis needed to read aloud the indictment. Two other high-profile terror-financing trials in Chicago and Florida ended without convictions on the major counts. Associated Press writers Schuyler Dixon and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.
Bush insists vision of Palestinian state lives By Jeffrey Heller and Matt Spetalnick – Mon Nov 24, 8:00 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President George W. Bush declared in farewell talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday that the vision of a Palestinian state remained alive, despite failure to achieve their goal of a peace deal this year.With two months left in office, Bush reiterated that the eventual creation of a democratic Palestinian state alongside Israel -- an objective he now leaves to President-elect Barack Obama -- would help end decades of Middle East conflict.I believe that vision is alive and needs to be worked on, Bush told reporters as he and Olmert, who will also step down early next year, held a final meeting at the White House.The United States, Israel and the Palestinians have all acknowledged they will not have a peace accord in place before Bush vacates the White House on January 20, missing a target date set at an Annapolis peace conference a year ago.
Most analysts were skeptical from the start, saying Bush's peace bid was too little, too late, after much of his two terms largely disengaged from Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.Despite that, Olmert -- who will leave under a cloud of corruption charges after a February 10 parliamentary election -- showered Bush with praise for setting the Annapolis process in motion and reaffirmed a two-state solution as the only possible way to achieve peace.Obama, who visited Israel and the occupied West Bank in July, pledged at the time -- in an apparent swipe at Bush's last-minute peace efforts -- not to wait a few years into my term or my second term if I'm elected to press for a deal.
LAME-DUCK POLICIES
Although Olmert has vowed to pursue peace until his last day in office, little progress has been made in negotiations and public interest in Israel in the lame-duck leader's policies is waning as an election campaign gathers speed.Opinion polls in Israel show former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party leading the ruling centrist Kadima faction in the election.Netanyahu has said he would focus peace efforts on shoring up the Palestinian economy rather than on territorial issues, a policy that could spell the end of the Annapolis process.
Olmert has been increasingly vocal about what he sees as the need for Israel to relinquish nearly all the land it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war in return for peace, while retaining major Jewish settlement blocs.Palestinian officials said the commitment came too late and Olmert's successor as Kadima leader, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, has not voiced support for his position.It's not easy to try to change the paradigm, Bush said, alluding to the obstacles to Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Bush had been looking for an end-of-term foreign policy success to boost a legacy burdened by the unpopular Iraq war.But peace talks launched after Annapolis have been hobbled by Israeli political upheaval, disputes over Israeli settlement expansion and violent flare-ups in and around the Gaza Strip.Iran's nuclear program was also on the agenda, but neither leader mentioned it when reporters were allowed briefly into the Oval Office at the start of the meeting.
Gazans using tattered notes because of cash crunch By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer – Mon Nov 24, 4:18 pm ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Desperate Gazans crowded into banks Monday, jostling to get to the front of lines as they sought to withdraw money amid a worsening currency shortage caused by Israeli sanctions.Israel has refused to allow cash to enter Gaza in recent weeks to ratchet up pressure on the ruling Hamas militant group. With the supply of currency dwindling, banks have limited withdrawals over the past two weeks, and some have posted signs telling customers they cannot take out any more money.The United Nations halted cash handouts to 98,000 of Gaza's poorest residents last week, and economists and bank officials warn that tens of thousands of civil servants won't be able to cash their paychecks next month.No society can operate without money, but that's the situation we are reaching in Gaza, said Gaza economist Omar Shaban.Israel and Egypt have restricted movement through Gaza's border crossings since the Islamic militants of Hamas violently seized control of the coastal territory in June 2007.Since then, closures have been eased or tightened, depending on the security situation. But even in quiet times, when Gaza militants refrained from firing rockets at Israeli border towns, only limited shipments of food, medicine and commercial goods were allowed in.
Israel has not permitted currency shipments into Gaza since October. Earlier this month, it tightened the trade blockade in response to rocket fire, bringing widespread power blackouts, disruptions in water supplies and severe shortages of cooking gas and flour.On Monday, Israel allowed in 30 trucks of food and medicine and it also let diesel fuel reach Gaza's power plant. But European Union officials said it was just enough oil to keep the plant running for a day, and aid officials said the food and medicine deliveries would have little impact on dire shortages of basic goods.Israeli officials decided late Monday to close the crossings again Tuesday because a rocket was fired at Israel during the evening, the Defense Ministry said.Israel has said it keeps out currency because it fears Hamas will use the money to finance attacks.But the cash shortage has little effect on Hamas, which sneaks money into Gaza through smuggling tunnels from Egypt and does not deal with the formal banking system. The group pays out its cash to its loyalists and the thousands of people employed in its network of social services.The Israeli shekel is a widely used currency in the Gaza Strip, and the territory needs at least 400 million shekels, about $100 million, each month in new currency to replace aging notes and to pay salaries, economists say.The main source of currency is the moderate Palestinian government in the West Bank, which normally sends cash each month to pay 70,000 civil servants. The government still claims authority over Gaza, despite losing control of the territory to Hamas.Israeli defense officials said they had not ruled out further cash transfers, but said nothing could be delivered while fighting persists.Shlomo Dror, an Israel Defense Ministry spokesman, questioned the seriousness of the currency shortage. We are used to the Palestinians inventing things and we are looking into their claim, he said.In Gaza, some people go to banks almost daily to withdraw their salaries in installments.I'm begging the bank to give me shekels, said civil servant Shawkat Othman, who had to stand in line four hours last week. His bank informed customers they could withdraw only 700 shekels ($175) a day.
Israel, settlers reach outpost compromise By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer – Mon Nov 24, 2:36 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Israel's government and West Bank settlers have reached a compromise that will avoid the immediate evacuation of an unauthorized West Bank outpost, both sides said Monday.The outpost of Migron, north of Jerusalem, will be moved near another West Bank settlement, according a document the government submitted to the Supreme Court. But the government says that won't happen in the near future, because it will take time to plan a new site and build homes. That process is likely to take years, and in the meantime the some 45 families at Migron will stay where they are.
The government was responding to a Supreme Court appeal submitted by the Palestinian owners of the land on which Migron sits.Migron was built without government authorization on privately owned Palestinian land, beginning in 1999. But the government has provided electricity and water grids, a road and security. It is one of about 100 unauthorized outposts in the West Bank.The dovish Israeli group Peace Now harshly criticized the compromise, saying the settlers and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, whose ministry arranged the deal, were merely buying time.Yishay Hollender, a spokesman for the Yesha Council, the settler umbrella group that struck the deal with the government, said the compromise was in the settlers' best interests and would avoid a violent evacuation. The new site was to the east of the existing settlement of Adam, near Jerusalem, he said, and was in effect a new settlement.
Hezbollah now three times stronger than in 2006 war: Israel Mon Nov 24, 1:25 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told parliament on Monday that the Shiite militant group Hezbollah is three times stronger now than it was during the 2006 Lebanon war.The firepower of Hezbollah has grown threefold since the Second Lebanon War, he told MPs.It has missiles that can reach the towns of Ashkelon, Beersheba and Dimona (in southern Israel more than 200 kilometres or 125 miles from the Lebanese border). Today Hezbollah has 42,000 missiles.Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets at communities across northern Israel during the 34-day war in the summer of 2006, killing more than 40 civilians and sending another million fleeing south.Barak renewed warnings issued by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert earlier this year that in any new war Israel would take tougher action against civilian infrastructure than it did in 2006, when a power station and Beirut airport were hit and in all more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.The integration of Hezbollah into the Lebanese state exposes Lebanon and its infrastructure to in-depth attacks in the event of a new conflict, he said, referring to the formation earlier this year of a national unity government in Beirut that includes Hezbollah and its allies.
The Israeli defence minister also renewed his support for an extension of the six-month Gaza truce with the Islamist Hamas movement that went into force on June 19.I do not regret any of the months of calm, he told MPs.In the months preceding the entry into the force of the truce, we were recording as many as 500 mortar or rocket attacks a month in southern Israel against just a dozen in the months since the truce.Barak rejected calls by cabinet colleagues, including Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon and Trade and Industry Minister Eli Yishai, for a major ground offensive into Gaza to topple the Hamas administration there.To all the warmongerers I say: you have nothing to teach me about war or peace or my duties, said Barak, a reserve general and former army chief.I am defence minister, not war minister, and my job is to maintain as far as possible the maximum of security for Israeli citizens.In any case, if a pre-emptive operation proves necessary, the army will act.Barak also reiterated Israel's refusal to rule out any option to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon.We have said that Israel will leave no option off the table and we advise others to do the same, the minister told MPs.We think what we say but I would advise that we should not elaborate, particularly at the moment, as it would do nothing but harm to Israel.Israel and its US ally suspect Iran of seeking to develop an atomic bomb under cover of its civilian nuclear programme, a charge Tehran strongly denies.
Rice defends Bush's record on Mideast peace, lack of deal Sun Nov 23, 4:40 pm ET
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday defended President George W. Bush's administration's failure to help bring off a Mideast peace deal by year's end.The administration had made the goal of a deal by the end of the year an important target.Even though there was not an agreement by the end of the year it is really largely because of the political situation in Israel, Rice told reporters en route home from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima.Israel's parliamentary elections are scheduled for February 10 next year.Referring to the peace process she stressed: It is in pretty good shape.
Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrived in Washington early Sunday for talks with Bush on Monday, ahead of his handover to Barack Obama.For Ehud Olmert, it is a farewell visit to a close friend and an ally, an Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP before Olmert's departure. He wants to solidify the promises made to Israel by the Bush administration.During his three-day stay, Olmert hopes to get commitments from Bush on Iran's nuclear programme, after Obama indicated during the election campaign that he might be open to talking with Tehran.
Israel, the only nuclear power among Middle East nations, suspects Iran of covertly developing nuclear weapons -- a claim that Tehran rejects.Olmert's trip is likely to be his last, as he is stepping down amid suspicion of corruption.
Israel military urges contingency plan for Iran strike Sun Nov 23, 4:15 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – A security assessment drawn up Israeli defence chiefs calls for contingency plans to be drawn up for military action against Iran, the Haaretz daily reported on Sunday.The assessment, to be presented to ministers next month as part of the National Security Council's annual review, also calls for Israel to prevent new Palestinian elections at all costs, even at the expense of a row with its US ally, the paper said.Defence chiefs put Iran's threat to Israel's survival at the top of the list of challenges they face, followed by the strategic threat of long-range missiles and rockets from various countries in the region.Israel faces these threats almost alone, Haaretz quoted the report as saying.It is imperative to mobilise the international community and obtain regional cooperation. The new American administration is an opportunity to do this.Defence chiefs warn that Israel has a limited window in which to act before Iran obtains nuclear arms and regional hegemony.They call for Israel to establish a military option against Iran, in case other countries abandon the struggle, and advise the cabinet to work discreetly on contingency plans to deal with a nuclear Iran.Their assessment also recommends close cooperation with the United States to prevent a deal between Washington and Tehran that would undermine Israeli interests.The leaking of the report came as outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was due in Washington for talks with US President George W. Bush which were expected to be dominated by the perceived threat from Iran.
The two governments suspect Tehran of seeking to develop an atomic weapon under cover of its civilian nuclear programme, a charge Iran strongly denies.Washington is installing an advanced radar system in Israel to boost defences against any ballistic missile threat from Iran. It will go operational in mid-December, army radio reported on Saturday.Defence chiefs also warn that Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas might disappear from the political arena when his term ends on January 9, undermining prospects for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.They say there is a risk of the Islamist Hamas movement repeating the upset victory it won in 2006 parliamentary elections, and recommend preventing elections in the Palestinian Authority, even at the cost of a confrontation with the United States and the international community.Abbas's supporters insist that the Palestinian constitution allows the president to remain in office until new parliamentary elections are held in 2010, but Hamas insists it will not recognise his authority beyond January.Defence chiefs want plans drawn up for a major ground offensive in the Gaza Strip in the event of the collapse of the Egyptian-brokered truce with Hamas which went into force in June.If the truce collapses and conflict is resumed in the Gaza Strip, Israel must act to topple Hamas's rule there, Haaretz quoted them as saying.Defence chiefs also urge the government to press ahead with direct peace talks with Syria, in the expectation of a more supportive position from the new US administration.An agreement with Syria must be advanced, despite the heavy price Israel would have to pay, Haaretz quoted the assessment as saying.
Withdrawal from the entire Golan Heights right down to the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main water source, is a price worth paying for removing Syria from the Middle East conflict and weakening the radical axis between Syria, Iran, Hamas and Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, the defence chiefs advised. They also urged Israeli vigilance about US arms supplies to its Arab allies, particularly Egypt and Saudi Arabia, warning that they could undercut Israel's edge, especially in the air.
Abbas calls on Obama to implement Arab peace plan By ALI DARAGHMEH, Associated Press – Sat Nov 22, 1:42 pm ET
NABLUS, West Bank – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday urged Barack Obama to get involved in Mideast peacemaking efforts immediately after becoming the U.S. president in January.Abbas, who spoke at an economic conference in the West Bank town of Nablus, also asked Obama to endorse a pan-Arab peace initiative that offers full peace with Israel in return for its withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza and parts of Jerusalem.The Arab Peace Initiative was first proposed in 2002 by dozens of Arab countries that do not have ties with Israel. It requires Israel to leave the lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast War.We ask Obama to become immediately involved in the peace process, and to adopt the Arab initiative, Abbas said.Abbas' call to Obama came after he appealed directly to Israelis by taking out full-page Hebrew-language newspaper ads Thursday that said the Arab initiative would bring peace to the region.Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the chief negotiator with the Palestinians over the past year, has welcomed the plan as a positive gesture, but says its positions on key issues such as final borders, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees are unacceptable.Instead of living in an island of peace it will live in an ocean of peace, he said.However, a year of negotiations between Palestinians and Israel has not brought tangible results.Abbas said Saturday that Israel's actions, such as continued construction of settlements and the West Bank separation barrier, contradict Israel's declared willingness to make peace.These acts truly make one wonder whether they (the Israelis) mean peace or not, he said. Those who want peace don't do this. They don't build a wall or a settlement in our throats ... We are ready to stretch out our hands in peace, but all of these acts leave hatred in one's soul.
Solana hopes Obama tackles Mideast peace from day one Fri Nov 21, 2:42 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Friday that he hoped that US president-elect Barack Obama tackles the Arab-Israeli peace process as soon as he assumes office on January 20.I think that that process will require much more of a dynamic, Solana told reporters on a visit to Washington following a meeting the previous evening with Obama's representative Madeleine Albright.It will be very difficult to do it before the election in Israel but I think that this new administration should get much more engaged from the very first day and try to create a dynamic in this process, Solana said.After assuming office in 2000, President George W. Bush's administration put the Middle East peace process on the back burner.And since the administration in November 2007 relaunched the first serious Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in seven years, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have refused to pressure the two sides into an agreement.
I think this is one of the key issues that the president elect has to take on and I hope very much that he moves very fast on that, said Solana.The European Union works with the United States, Russia and the United Nations on the Middle East diplomatic quartet.The (Palestinian-Israeli) negotiation has to be bilateral -- there has to be an agreement between the parties -- but that does not mean that you have to be withdrawn, Solana said.So I do think they have to let them talk between themselves but be ready to play the catalytic effect that would be necessary. If not, it may drag, he warned.
Israel in new bid to strip Arab ex-MP of nationality by Jean-Luc Renaudie Jean-luc Renaudie – Fri Nov 21, 2:01 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit launched proceedings on Friday to revoke the citizenship of Arab former MP Azmi Bishara, who fled Israel last year amid claims he had spied for Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, a ministry spokesman said.The move came less than three months after the Israeli High Court rejected a previous bid to strip Bishara of both his nationality and his parliamentary pension and drew an angry reaction from the ex-MP's political party.
The minister asked in a letter addressed to (internal security service) Shin Beth chief Yuval Diskin and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to give their advice on the case as soon as possible, the spokesman said.In his letter, Sheetrit said the move was necessary as Bishara had visited enemy states (Lebanon and Syria), assisted the enemy in exchange for money and had contacts with the Lebanese terror organisation Hezbollah.On September 1, the High Court rejected a petition filed by Danny Danon, a senior member of the right-wing opposition Likud party, for Bishara to be stripped of his nationality and pension rights for treason.The court argued it had no legal standing to revoke Bishara's citizenship or to block his pension benefits.Bishara's party, the National Democratic Assembly (Balad), described the new proceedings launched by Sheetrit as vindictive, racist and in violation of international law.
The Jewish state has never and will never strip any of its Jewish citizens of their nationality whatever they do, said Balad MP Jamal Zahalka.Even Yigal Amir, prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassin, was not stripped of his nationality as the legal provisions for revoking citizenship are aimed solely against Arabs.In June, the Israeli parliament endorsed in a preliminary vote a bill that would make it possible to revoke the nationality of any MP suspected of harming state security, sparking outrage among the 10 MPs from Arab-led parties who described the bill as racist.But the draft legislation still has to pass three more votes before it becomes law.
Bishara fled Israel in April 2007 amid allegations he advised Hezbollah and directed its rocket fire against Israel during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets against communities across northern Israel during the 34-day war, killing more than 40 civilians and sending another million fleeing south.
Bishara has repeatedly denied spying for Hezbollah and has highlighted his criticism of the Shiite militant group during the war for rocketing Arab villages inside Israel.He has accused the Israeli authorities of conducting a witchhunt against him because of his virulent criticism of their policies.Before leaving Israel, Bishara had campaigned vigorously for the rights of the 1.4 million-strong Arab minority who account for 20 percent of Israel's population and are descended from those who remained in Israel after the 1948 war.In 2006, the Israeli High Court threw out legal proceedings against him for backing popular resistance against Israel while on a visit to Syria in June 2001, ruling that his statement was not an incitement to violence.In April 2003, another court dismissed charges against him for organising illegal trips to Syria, given his then parliamentary immunity.
