Bush "Justice" Served
By Jim Lane
On November 24, Bush Administration attorneys got what they
wanted from a jury in Dallas. The second extended version of the Holy Land Foundation
Trial ended with a "guilty" verdict against five former leaders of
the nation's largest Muslim charity.
A hung jury had ended the first trial. The third one will be
an appeal that is already underway, according to Hadi Jawad. Jawad is a leader
of the Dallas Peace Center and civil rights groups who helped organize coalition
support for Ghassan Elashi, Shukri Abu Baker, Mufid Abdulqader, Abdulrahman
Odeh, and Mohammad El-Mezain. Spokespersons for the coalition included State
Representative Lon Burnam, Chip Pitts of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee,
and various leaders of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has also entered one
important aspect of the case: the government is threatening legal action against
a hit list of some "300 unindicted co-conspirators" who make up most
of the important Muslim organizations in America.
In both trials, Dallas activists held daily vigils outside the
Federal Courthouse. Connections were made with homeless street people. The support
coalition began bringing food and warm clothing for them, and common cause was
made. The conclusion of the second trial came on day one of the third month
of vigils. Hadi Jawad says that over 3,000 people took part. "We've had
up to 300 at one time!" he points out.
The essential accusation is that the Holy Land Foundation of
Richardson, Texas, raised money to help the destitute population of Palestine.
They claim that at least some of the money passed through the Hamas organization,
which was designated a "terrorist organization" in 1995. Supporters
of the defense say that virtually no evidence was given to show that any donations
to Hamas after 1995 can be traced to the defendants.
According
to Hadi Jawad and other trial observers, government prosecutors were little
concerned about justice. He says, "All their statements to the jury were,
'don't be concerned about the law.' That was a shocking statement to hear...
that it isn't about the law but that it is about terrorism, and about fear.
It was on fear mongering that the government based their case. They scared the
jury. They showed videos of fund raisers, and some of them were exciting because
the Palestinians are fighting a brutal occupation. People have the right to
resist a foreign occupation. They used those videos to create fears in the mind
of the jurors and the court... Justice was not done from the beginning. Their
case was based on lies and fear mongering from the beginning. It was the U.S.
government saying to Muslim organizations in the U.S. 'Don't confront U.S. policy
in the Middle East, or you will pay the price!"
Those who watched the trial carefully were particularly incensed
that the government relied on an anonymous witness. "Avi" claimed
to be an agent of the Israeli Secret Police, but no one knows for sure who or
what he may be and just how reliable his testimony is.
It is obvious to all that government lawyers consider the case
important. Legal proceedings against the defendants have already eaten up millions
of dollars and dragged out for 15 years and two long trials.
It is especially ironic that the prosecutor's success came on
the same day that the Bush Administration announced 14 new presidential pardons
of convicted criminals. U.S. Labor Against the War and other organizations are
raising a cry for war crime indictments against Bush functionaries. Progressives
all over the Western Hemisphere are demanding the release of the Five Cubans
who landed in prison after having attempted to end U.S. based terrorism against
their native country. Only a handful of the many victims of the Guantanamo special
prison have had any kind of legal hearing. News reports say that the government's
number-one "terrorist" captive, Ahmed Hamdon - who is accused of being
a chauffeur for Osama bin Laden -- is being sent home to Yemen. Americans are
hoping that the government being sworn in this January will restore the Bush-distorted
definition of "justice."
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