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== History ==
=== Early history (
In 1988, Shukri Abu Baker established a tax-exempt charity, called the Occupied Land Fund, based in [[Indiana]]. The following year the charity raised $300,000. Two years later the OLF was incorporated by Baker, [[Ghassan Elashi]], and
[[Mousa Abu Marzook]], a political leader of [[Hamas]] and long time US resident, donated $210,000 to HLF in the early 1992. The donation was made before Hamas became a Designated Terrorist Organization.<ref>[[Miko Peled|Peled, Miko]] (2018) ''Injustice. The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five''. Just World Books. {{ISBN|978-1-68257-085-2}}. p. 133</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-1996-06-13/html/CREC-1996-06-13-pt1-PgE1081-4.htm|title=Congressional Record, Volume 142, Issue 87 (Thursday, June 13, 1996) |website=www.govinfo.gov|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref> During this time, the US government alleged that Marzook led Baker, el-Mezain, and Elashi to create other Hamas-supporting organizations in the United States, including media entity [[Islamic Association of Palestine]], and the [[United Association for Studies and Research]] (UASR).<ref name=":0" /> Abu Baker was reported having been on IAP's board. The 1992 donation was fully disclosed on the HLF's tax returns. Marzook was deported from the US to Jordan in 1997. He was [[indict]]ed on August 20, 2004, by a US federal [[grand jury]] in [[Chicago, Illinois]]. He and two other individuals were charged with a 15-year conspiracy to raise funds for terrorist attacks against [[Israel]]. Neither HLF nor any HLF officer was charged in the Chicago indictment.
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In 2000, HLF raised over $13 million, making it the largest [[Muslim]] charity in the United States.
=== Terrorism designation (
On December 4, 2001, under [[Executive Order 13224]] issued by President [[George W. Bush|Bush]], the Holy Land Foundation was designated a Domestic Terror Organisation and closed down.<ref>Peled. p. 84</ref> According to the [[United States Department of Treasury]], HLF was making donations to Hamas run charities, ("[[zakat]] committees") and to schools "that served Hamas's ends by encouraging children to become [[suicide bomber]]s and to recruit suicide bombers by offering support to their families".<ref name="13224-e">{{cite web |url=http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/terrorist-illicit-finance/Documents/designationsum-.pdf |title=Additional Background Information on Charities Designated Under Executive Order 13224 |publisher=Ustreas.gov |access-date=2014-10-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602150934/http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/terrorist-illicit-finance/Documents/designationsum-.pdf |archive-date=2013-06-02 }}</ref>
In December 2005, the European Union froze its European assets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_340/l_34020051223en00640066.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-01-07 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060107142924/http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_340/l_34020051223en00640066.pdf |archive-date=January 7, 2006 }}</ref>
Charges were filed against senior members of the HLF on 27 July 2004.<ref>Peled. p. 91</ref>
In October 2008, the [[United States Department of the Treasury]]'s [[Office of Foreign Asset Control]] designated HLF a [[Specially Designated Global Terrorist]].<ref name="usblock" />
=== Related groups ===
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InfoCom also maintained the web sites for HLF and [[Islamic Association of Palestine|IAP]] (Islamic Association of Palestine).<ref>{{cite web |date=December 18, 2002 |title=Fact Sheet on the Elashi Brothers and InfoCom |url=http://siteintelgroup.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=news1902&Category=news&Subcategory=0 |publisher=SITE Intelligence Group |access-date=November 24, 2008}}{{dead link|date=November 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>
== Chronology of events ==
Before the designation of HLF as a terrorist organization, the government had been surveilling the organization pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ("FISA") as well as several individuals due to suspect activity.<ref name="ca5.uscourts.gov"/> In 1993, one month after the signing of the [[Oslo Accords]], Baker and Elashi participated in a public meeting in Philadelphia secretly recorded by the FBI. During this meeting, participants discussed their opposition to the Oslo Accords and their support of Hamas. Baker instructed that "if anyone should inquire about the purpose of the meeting, participants should explain that it was a 'joint workshop' between HLF and the IAP."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions%5Cpub%5C09/09-10560-CR0.wpd.pdf|title=Revised January 13, 2012 "The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit" United States of America vs Mohammad El-Mezain; Ghassan Elashi; Shukri Abu Bakr; Mufid Abdulqader; Abdulrahman Odeh; Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, also known as HLF. " No. 09-10560, Filed December 7, 2011, pg. 11}}</ref> He also stated that participants should not refer to "samah" or Hamas spelled backwards explicitly, mentioning that it would be better for participants to obscure the meaning by saying "Sister Samah."<ref name=":1" /> Following this meeting, in 1994 the government searched the houses of two unindicted co-conspirators, Ismail Elbarasse and Abdelhaleen Masan Ashqar, where they found numerous documents labeling HLF as a fundraising arm for Hamas.<ref name=":1" />
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| author = Attorney General John Ashcroft
| title = Prepared Remarks re: Holy Land Foundation Indictment
| publisher = United States Department of Justice
| date = July 27, 2004
| url = http://www.justice.gov/archive/ag/speeches/2004/72704ag.htm
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| date = December 8, 2004
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4080499.stm
| access-date = November 24, 2008}}</ref> In 2007, this decision was reversed by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago and sent back to the trial court.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}
In 2008, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reheard the case en banc.<ref name="Rowe">{{cite web|last=Rowe|first=Laura B.|title=Ending Terrorism with Civil Remedies: Boim v. Holy Land Foundation and the Proper Framework of Liability|url=http://www.kentlaw.iit.edu/Documents/Academic%20Programs/7CR/v4-2/rowe.pdf|publisher=Seventh Circuit Review vol 4 Iss. 3 spring 2008|access-date=2013-09-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017084809/http://www.kentlaw.iit.edu/Documents/Academic%20Programs/7CR/v4-2/rowe.pdf|archive-date=2013-10-17|url-status=dead}}</ref> On November 3, 2008, the 7th Circuit "upheld in large measure a $156 million award to the parents of David Boim, a 17-year-old U.S. citizen murdered by members of Hamas while visiting Israel."
"The en banc court agreed with [Washington Legal Foundation] that those who donate funds to a known terrorist group are responsible under U.S. law for the group's actions – even if the donors contend that they only intended to support the group's "humanitarian" activities."<ref>{{cite web|title=Boim v Holy Land Foundation |url=http://www.wlf.org/litigating/case_detail.asp?id=552|publisher=Washington Legal Foundation}}</ref>
"The court also rejected the 7th Circuit panel's conclusion that there was not sufficient evidence to find Hamas was responsible the teenager's death."<ref>{{cite web|title=7th Circuit En Banc Upholds Damages Against Muslim Groups For Financing Hamas|date=6 December 2008|url=http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2008/12/7th-circuit-en-banc-upholds-damages.html|publisher=The Religion Clause}}</ref><ref name="Rowe" />
== The civil case ==
Following the closure of the HLF offices Shukri Baker and Ghassan Elashi lodged a civil case to unfreeze HLF assists and reverse the designation of the HLF as a Terrorist Organisation. The case was held before Judge [[Gladys Kessler]], a [[Bill Clinton]] appointment. The Executive Order was based on an "administrative record" explaining the reasons behind the decision to designate the HLF as a terrorist organisation. The report claimed that the HLF was a front for Hamas. The report contained a number of documents including one that claimed Shukri Baker was a member of Hamas. None of the statements quoted were taken under oath. The key claim was a list of 70–80 orphans who had received support from the HLF and that they were children of Hamas fighters. Baker and Elashi's lawyers analysed the list and found that only three of the fathers were involved in armed resistance. They had been killed preparing a bomb. They also noted that the list contained children of 11 men killed by Hamas for collaborating with the Israeli secret services. Another document contained a statement from a former manager of the HLF Jerusalem office which the lawyers were able to prove was a fabrication.<ref>Peled. pp. 102, 103</ref>▼
▲The key claim was a list of 70–80 orphans who had received support from the HLF and that they were children of Hamas fighters. Baker and Elashi's lawyers analysed the list and found that only three of the fathers were involved in armed resistance. They had been killed preparing a bomb. They also noted that the list contained children of 11 men killed by Hamas for collaborating with the Israeli secret services. Another document contained a statement from a former manager of the HLF Jerusalem office which the lawyers were able to prove was a fabrication.<ref>Peled. pp. 102, 103</ref>
Before the case could proceed and be presented to a jury Judge Kessler dismissed the case and ordered that all evidence submitted be struck from the record. This decision was appealed. The [[Circuit court#Federal courts of appeals|Circuit Court of Appeals]] found that Judge Kessler had been mistaken in dismissing the case but that since this was a special case involving national security they would let the decision stand. The appellants were denied permission to appeal to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]].<ref>Peled. pp. 105, 106</ref>
In 2003 the HLF's lawyers learnt that there was a criminal investigation underway. Their lawyer, John Boyd, later said they regretted filing the civil case since it led the Government to abandon the original charges which had been so effectively refuted and create a completely new case.<ref>Peled. pp. 102, 107</ref>
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On July 5, 2007, Judge Fish again denied the defendants request to prevent the government from introducing or relying upon any communications from lines that the defendants could not access and prohibit the government from using forty-five transcripts of conversations that the defendants never received in summary form.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-txnd-3_04-cr-00240/pdf/USCOURTS-txnd-3_04-cr-00240-11.pdf|title=United States District Court – Northern District of Texas Dallas Division, "United States of America, Plaintiff, vs. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (01), Shukri Abu Baker (02) Mohammad El-Mezain (03) Ghassan Elashi (04) Mufid Abdulqader (07), and Abdulraham Odeh (08), Defendants." Criminal Action No. 3:04-CR-240-G. July 5, 2007.}}</ref> Judge Fish denied the request stating that the "forty-five intercepts constitute less than twenty-three percent of the intercepts the government intends to use at trial" and that the government offered starting in August 2005 to seek declassification of any intercepts the defendants would request. Judge Fish criticized the defendants' lawyers as having "drag their feet" and "having refused to seek declassification of specific documents for at least eighteen months after the government offered its assistance, the defendants now wish to place blame on the government for their own failure to seek declassification of documents in preparation for trial." Of the government's 200 transcripts designated for use at trial, the defendants had access to full transcripts for 50 of the intercepts, and access to 105 declassified summaries of additional intercepts. They roughly had access to 155 of 200 or 77.5% of the intercepts the government planned to use at trial.<ref name="auto"/>
Critics pointed out erroneous evidence produced during the trial. For example, over defence objection, the government called two anonymous witnesses:
The government did not allege that HLF paid directly for suicide bombings, but instead that the foundation supported terrorism by sending more than $12 million to charitable groups, known as zakat or charity committees, which provide social goods and services. The prosecution said the committees were controlled by Hamas, and contributed to terrorism by helping Hamas spread its ideology, recruit supporters, and provide a front for laundering money and soliciting donations.<ref name="Eaton" /> Some of these charitable committees were still receiving US funding through the USAID program as late as 2006. Although none of the zakat committees were included on the Treasury Department list of designated terrorist organizations, the government alleged that HLF knew these charities were controlled by Hamas and acted as a branch of Hamas within the United States. Avi testified that the zakat committees were controlled by Hamas starting in 1991. Moreover, conversations captured from the Philadelphia meeting in 1993 had Hamas leader Muin Shabib discussing the zakat committees relationship to Hamas. Another 1991 letter addressed to Baker used similar language implying Hamas control of the zakat charities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions%5Cpub%5C09/09-10560-CR0.wpd.pdf|title=Revised January 13, 2012 "The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit" United States of America vs Mohammad El-Mezain; Ghassan Elashi; Shukri Abu Bakr; Mufid Abdulqader; Abdulrahman Odeh; Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, also known as HLF. " No. 09-10560, Filed December 7, 2011, pg. 13–14}}</ref> This evidence established HLF's relationship with Hamas prior to 1995. Following Hamas' designation, financial documents and testimony showed that HLF provided funds to the same Hamas-controlled zakat committees as prior to the designation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions%5Cpub%5C09/09-10560-CR0.wpd.pdf|title=Revised January 13, 2012 "The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit" United States of America vs Mohammad El-Mezain; Ghassan Elashi; Shukri Abu Bakr; Mufid Abdulqader; Abdulrahman Odeh; Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, also known as HLF. " No. 09-10560, Filed December 7, 2011, pg. 14}}</ref> Evidence seized in an Israeli raid from the zakat committees buttressed this claim, as video recordings showed school ceremonies and other events that promoted Hamas ideology, such as teaching children plays about suicide bombings, as well as the connections of multiple Hamas leaders to the zakat committees.<ref name="ca5.uscourts.gov"/>
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== 2008 retrial and convictions ==
The HLF retrial began on August 18, 2008. The prosecution again presented the two anonymous Israeli witnesses, "Avi" and "Major Lior."<ref>{{cite web|title=Judgement No. 09-10560|url=http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions%5Cpub%5C09/09-10560-CR0.wpd.pdf|publisher=United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit}}</ref> In an effort to strengthen its unsuccessful presentation at the first trial, the prosecution added testimony from former National Security Council staff member Steven Simon, from Treasury Department official Robert McBrien, and from Mohamed Shorbagi, who had pleaded guilty to charges unrelated to HLF and was cooperating with the prosecution. The prosecution also placed into evidence documents that, according to "Major Lior," the IDF had recovered from the Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah during an IDF operation in 2002 known as "[[Operation Defensive Shield]]."<ref name="LRB-2015-01">[http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n02/francis-fitzgibbon/low-hanging-fruit Low-Hanging Fruit – Francis FitzGibbon on the show trial of the Holy Land Foundation] (January 2015), ''[[London Review of Books]]''</ref>
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The five convicted individuals were [[Ghassan Elashi]], former CEO Shukri Abu-Baker, [[Mufid Abdulqader]], Abdulrahman Odeh, and Mohammad El-Mezain.
* Abu-Baker was sentenced to 65 years.
* Elashi, also a member of the founding Board of Directors of the Texas branch of the [[Council on American-Islamic Relations]] (CAIR), was sentenced to 65 years.
* Mufid Abdulqader was sentenced to 20 years.
* Abdelrahman Odeh was sentenced to 15 years.
* El-Mezain, former endowments director, sentenced to 15 years.
Because of the potential lengthy sentences for the [[criminal conviction]]s, the individual defendants were remanded into custody without [[bail]] pending any appeal.<ref>{{cite news|title=Guilty Verdicts in Holy Land Foundation Retrial |work=CBS 11 / TXA 21 Dallas Fort-Worth |date=November 24, 2008 |url=http://cbs11tv.com/local/holy.land.retrial.2.872727.html |access-date=November 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210132823/http://cbs11tv.com/local/holy.land.retrial.2.872727.html |archive-date=December 10, 2008 }}</ref>
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British barrister Francis FitzGibbon QC has called the second trial a 'show trial' which relied on 'untested and untestable evidence,' hearsay evidence, prejudicial evidence, and the showing to the jury of additional material which was not part of the evidence at all. These add up to 'patent failings and abuses in the legal process.'<ref name="LRB-2015-01" /> FitzGibbon also doubts the strength of the prosecution's case because, among other reasons, the [[United States Agency for International Development]] funded the same zakat committees named in the indictment of the HLF, and continued to do so for three years after it had shut down the HLF.<ref name="LRB-2015-01" />
In 2018, [[Miko Peled]] published the book ''Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five'', in which he catalogs the trial of the criminalization and dismantling of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, leading to the arrest and jailing of Foundation President Shukri Abu Baker, Chairman [[Ghassan Elashi]], Mohammad el-Mezain, [[Mufid Abdulqader]] and Abdulraham Odeh. According to Peled, "the American justice [...] can convict a hundred innocents for one who is guilty".<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://theintercept.com/2018/08/05/holy-land-foundation-trial-palestine-israel/|title=The Unjust Prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation Five|first=Charles|last=Glass|website=The Intercept|date=5 August 2018}}</ref> Peled also argued that none of the recipients of aid were family members of suicide bombers and questions why the Hamas as continued to flourish since the foundation shut down.<ref name=":5" />
Civil rights attorney Emily Ratner wrote that the use of anonymous and hearsay evidence by the prosecutors was "constitutionally questionable" at best.<ref name="br" /><ref name="er" /> Additionally, much of the evidence used to convict the Holy Land Foundation was "secret evidence" which the defense was unable to read or even know who made it.<ref name="br" /><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/crsj/vol20/iss1/7/|title = The Holy Land Foundation Case: The Collapse of American Justice|journal = Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice|date = September 2013|volume = 20|issue = 1|page = 45|last1 = Nancy|first1 = Hollander}}</ref> According to [[Marjorie Cohn]], professor emerita of the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, the trial was a "grave miscarriage of justice" and "capitalized on post-9/11 Islamophobic hysteria" in order to convict the Holy Land Five. [[Pulitzer Prize]] journalist [[Chris Hedges]] describes it as "one of the most egregious cases of injustice committed to date against Muslim leaders in the United States."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://justworldbooks.com/books/injustice/|title = Injustice|publisher = Just World Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bethlehem.edu/2021/11/11/the-struggle-for-a-democratic-state-in-historic-palestine/|title = The Struggle for a Democratic State in Historic Palestine – Bethlehem University| date=11 November 2021 }}</ref>
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=== Family reactions ===
On
=== Prosecution response ===
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On February 22, 2022, Nida Abu Baker, the daughter of Shukri Abu Baker produced a two part documentary on the ''Holy Land 5'', directed by Mohammad Omar. It discusses the controversy regarding the trial and history of the Holy Land Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Holy Land 5 Film Screening – Massachusetts Peace Action |url=https://masspeaceaction.org/event/holy-land-5-film-screening/ |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=masspeaceaction.org |language=en-US}}</ref>{{Portal|Palestine|Islam}}
== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2|refs=
<ref name=npr2>
[https://www.npr.org/2011/03/03/134227726/data-graphics-population-of-the-communications-management-units Data & Graphics: Population Of The Communications Management Units], Margot Williams and Alyson Hurt, [[NPR]], March 3
</ref>
}}
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