52:(HLF). As a fully compliant charity its mission was to provide aid for Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Jordan. Following Israel's deportation of 413 Palestinians across the Lebanese border in December 1992 the HLF provided food and tents for their hillside encampment. In 1995 the HLF expanded its relief work to other areas including Bosnia, Albania (where their bakery supplied bread for US troops), Chechnya, Turkey and parts of Africa. The HLF was the first Texas-based group to send funds to Oklahoma following the 19 April 1995 bombing, as well as blood donations and fifty volunteers fundraising. During the years 2000–2001 the HLF raised $ 13,000,000, making it the largest Muslim charity in the US. On 4 December 2001 President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13224 closing the HLF. On 27 July 2004 Ghassan Elashi along with other senior members of the HLF were arrested in a dawn raids by the FBI.
134:. On 13 October 2006, Elashi was sentenced to seven years in prison. The second case ended in a mistrial in 2007, but Elashi and his codefendants were convicted after a retrial in November 2008. In 2009, Elashi was sentenced to 65 years in prison on federal charges of funneling 12 million dollars to Hamas.
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where his father was working for the Riyadh Bank. After one year in a local school he was sent to a boarding school in Egypt for a year before returning to Gaza City to live with his grandparents. In June 1967 he was visiting his parents when the war broke out. Unable to return to Gaza he finished
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and local police. They spent 4 days searching the building, confiscating thousands of documents and downloading data from over 200 computers. InfoCom's bank account containing $ 100,000 was frozen. During the raid of the 7,800 sq ft offices the 1,400 sq ft sub-let to the Holy Land
Foundation, used
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so the convicts could aid their lawyers with their appeals. On 20 April 2010, U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis ended the requirement, facilitating their move to more secure facilities. In addition the men were required to speak
English when talking with outsiders. Elashi was moved to a more secure
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Charity & Security
Network has charged that the convictions send a "chilling message" to US NGOs, in part because they are uncertain how to determine which charities are acceptable. One indication of that uncertainty, the group states, is that the charitable committees that Holy Land was
225:, with whom he had three daughters and three sons. The couple moved to Los Angeles where he and his brother founded a company, International Computer and Communications Inc. In 1988 the company had annual sales of $ 300,000 and by 1995 sales had grown to almost $ 5 million.
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and
Abdulraham Odeh. According to Peled, "American justice can convict a hundred innocents for one who is guilty". The families of Elashi and Shukri Abubaker maintain that their convictions were wrong and that they have suffered unjust long-term imprisonment.
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Benthall, J. (2016). An unholy tangle: Boim versus the Holy Land
Foundation. In Islamic charities and Islamic humanism in troubled times (pp. 99-107). Manchester University Press.
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leader. Ghassan was released with restrictions on his movements, his brothers, who were not US citizens, were held in solitary confinement for 18 months.
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In 1992 the family moved to
Richardson, Dallas where the brothers started a new company, InfoCom. Amongst InfoCom's contracts was one for streaming
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480:"After Israel's Designation of Human Rights Groups as "Terrorists," Biden Should Release Palestinian-Americans Imprisoned Over Similar Claims"
213:. In 1972 he was able to visit Gaza on a tourist visa. In 1978 he enrolled in the ESL school, Cleveland, Ohio, and then studied accounting at
114:. He and his co-defendants contended that the Holy Land Foundation funded only legitimate humanitarian projects in Palestinian territories.
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32:, a group that was designated by the United States as a terrorist organization in 2001. At the time, Elashi served as vice president of
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298:"Senior Leader of Hamas and Texas Computer Company Indicted for Conspiracy to Violate U.S. Ban on Financial Dealings with Terrorists"
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convicted of working with were never "placed on the U.S. government's list of organizations supporting terrorism." In 2018, activist
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Peled. pp. 1 (Executive Order), 51 (founding of HLF), 52 ($ 13 million), 63 (deportees), 72 (Oklahoma), 91, 92 (arrest)
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80:, a local radio station reported that the FBI was investigating whether the attack was in retaliation for the raid.
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429:"Heavy Sentences Handed out in Holy Land Trial Send Chilling Message to U.S. NGOs – Charity & Security Network"
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for storage and multimedia production, was also searched and documents, video tapes and equipment taken. After the
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Shapiro, E. J. (2014). The Holy Land
Foundation for Relief and Development: A Case Study. US Att'ys Bull., 62, 23.
95:. The second charge referred to a $ 250,000 investment belonging to Ghassan's second cousin who was married to a
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In a second trial that concluded in
November 2008 (the first had ended in a mistrial), Elashi was convicted of
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INFOCOM Corporation and Its
Operators Sentenced in Federal Court U.S. Department of Justice, October 13, 2006
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179:, leading to the arrest and jailing of Foundation Elashi, President Shukri Abu Baker, Mohammad el-Mezain,
217:. While there he established their first Muslim Student Organisation. A year later he transferred to the
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In 2004, Elashi and two of his brothers were convicted for illegally shipping computer technology to
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where he completed his master's degree in accounting in 1981. In March 1985 he married Majida, from
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In 1990 Elashi, along with Shukri Baker and
Mohammad Elmazain, founded the charitable group
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91:. The export violation referred to 4 computers and a printer that had been found in
454:"Holy Land Foundation 5 'are victims of the US' unjust persecution of Palestinians"
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The five Elashi brothers were arrested 18 December 2002 and charged with violating
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On 5 September 2001 the InfoCom offices were raided by around 80 agents from the
28:-American businessman who was sentenced to prison in 2008 for his work with the
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has condemned the trial as it was based on hearsay evidence and called on the
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300:(Press release). United States Department of Justice. 18 December 2002
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Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government
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Ghassan Elashi was born on 19 December 1953 in a suburb of
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The Unjust Prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation Five
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Injustice. The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five
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Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five
130:, while they were U.S. State Department-designated
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398:. Saturday 1 May 2010. Retrieved on 21 May 2010.
177:Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
50:Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
106:crimes related to financial dealings with the
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320:"Five Convicted in Terrorism Financing Trial"
232:TV Arabic channel and hosting their website.
571:Palestinian expatriates in the United States
141:, to allow the convicted men to stay in the
139:Federal Correctional Institution, Seagoville
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519:. pp. 8–16 including details of childhood
372:"Holy Land founders get life sentences."
359:"Mistrial in Holy Land Foundation trial"
566:Palestinian expatriates in Saudi Arabia
150:#29687-177, is serving his sentence at
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137:Elashi was originally housed at
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379:. 28 May 2009. 28 May 2009.
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89:Special Designated Terrorists
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415:. Retrieved on 21 May 2010.
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143:Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
132:state sponsors of terrorism
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591:University of Miami alumni
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192:to release all 5 accused.
413:Federal Bureau of Prisons
148:Federal Bureau of Prisons
345:10 February 2010 at the
395:The Dallas Morning News
204:. In 1958 he moved to
546:People from Gaza City
215:Kent State University
171:published this book,
556:Funding of terrorism
511:. Just World Books.
190:Biden administration
78:September 11 attacks
44:Holy Land Foundation
30:Holy Land Foundation
458:Middle East Monitor
326:. 24 November 2008.
219:University of Miami
104:terrorism financing
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34:InfoCom Corporation
484:Human Rights Watch
460:. 26 November 2022
324:The New York Times
186:Human Rights Watch
517:978-1-68257-085-2
287:Peled. pp. 83, 89
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108:Palestinian
26:Palestinian
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248:References
230:al-Jazeera
169:Miko Peled
118:Conviction
61:US Customs
202:Gaza City
343:Archived
236:See also
158:Response
507:(2018)
110:group,
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223:Yatta
211:Cairo
128:Libya
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112:Hamas
97:Hamas
93:Libya
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