Hamas backers jailed in Texas (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: BBC

Two founder members of what was once the biggest Muslim charity in the US have each been jailed for 65 years.

Shukri Abu Baker, 50, and Ghassan Elashi, 55, were convicted of channelling funds to the Palestinian militant group, Hamas.

Three other members of the Holy Land Foundation were jailed for between 15 and 20 years by a Dallas court.

The charity was found guilty last year of sending $12m (£7.4m) to fund social programmes controlled by Hamas.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8071113.stm

[aquart]

1. Hamas? But they're such fine people.

Duly elected government, I thought.

Well, clearly I'm confused.

[sellitman]

3. Gosh what a shocker!

[ohio2007]

5. Who are we to judge those that judge themselves so well .

Some truth behind the Texas ruling is that they may have boasted about to much information on the stand

Judge Solis, after cutting him off over the objections of his defense attorney, told the convicted man, "You didn't tell the whole story. Palestinians were in a desperate situation, but that doesn't justify supporting Hamas."

snip

It has been illegal to offer Hamas support since it was designated a terrorist organization by the Unites States in 1995.

snip

Evidence showed that Holy Land organizers' openly pro-Hamas rhetoric at fundraising rallies in the early 1990s was toned down after President Bill Clinton designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Elashi is already serving a 6 ½-year sentence in federal prison for export law violations. In the Holy Land trial, jurors found him guilty on 35 charges, including support of Hamas, money laundering and tax fraud.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestne...

Al Capone was done in by tax laws also and looks like they kept the same kind of company

Hamas Deadly Campaign Against Suspected Collaborators
February 2009 : Warning,(Graphic Violence)

snip
Hamas forces and militias in the Gaza Strip have engaged in a campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of “collaborating” with Israel as well as opponents and critics.
At least two dozen men have been shot dead by Hamas gunmen in this period. Scores of others have been shot in the legs, kneecapped or inflicted with other injuries intended to cause permanent disability, subjected to severe beatings which have caused multiple fractures and other injuries, or otherwise tortured or ill-treated.
The targets of Hamas’ deadly campaign include former detainees accused of “collaborating” with the Israeli army who escaped from Gaza’s Central Prison when it was bombed by Israeli forces on 28 December 2008, as well as former members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces and other activists of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party.

snip

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1d6_1234539823

disclaimer;
Don't go there unless the volume is off and you read the text only.


Just saying,
don't expect Barack to issue a pardon anytime before 2017 unless you think Hamas handles themselves well and treats their rivals with the respect they deserve

[Alamuti Lotus]

2. And yet, much more American money continues to flow to the beneviolent IDF unabated

Fantastic.

[Baby Snooks]

4. But Hezbollah is okay...

Isaam Fares, the deputy foreign minister of Lebanon and owner of The Wedge Group in Houston, at one time openly supported Hezbollah and probably still does. Just not openly.

Isaam Fares is another FOB - friend of the Bushes. So the Republicans look the other way.

Bill White who is the mayor of Houston and who hopes to become the next US Senator from Texas was head of The Wedge Group in Houston before he became mayor. And basically said he didn't involve himself in the "personal affairs of his employer" when asked about the matter.

Bill White is a former chair of the Texas Democratic Party and served in the Clinton administration. So the Democrats look the other way.

Hamas is bad. But Hezbollah apparently is okay.

[BOG PERSON]

6. Does that mean I shouldn't have been sending them pizzas all this time?

see here : www.pizzahamas.org

[sellitman]

10. Your pizza exploded

The link is gone.

Was it selling Lg Pizza's with C4 topping?

[No Elephants]

7. Obviously, Hamas needs better corporate lawyers to set up a string of corporations so that

donations could not be traced so easily.

[proteus_lives]

8. They knew the risk.

But decided to aid terrorists anyway. No great loss.

[buckrogers1965]

9. Hypocrisy

Not too long ago I remember police chiefs publicly encouraging people to donate money to the IRA.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ira/repor...
http://www.ex.ac.uk/politics/pol_data/lectures/ARTICLES...
http://www.whistlestopper.com/forum/archive/index.php/t...

To quote from the last link: "September 1997, I was in McDonalds in Waikiki, Honolulu and a Noraid collection box was clearly displayed on the counter. Maybe you can start to imagine my disgust. It took everything in me not to throw the darned thing at the branch manager (Yes! I did complain in the strongest terms). That was the last time I ever set foot in McDonalds. How would Americans feel if they came to the UK and saw collection boxes for Al Qaeda on display?"

Not a single American ever went to prison in the USA for providing material support to the IRA. An organization that was attacking our closest ally.