Despite No Links to Violence, Founders of Muslim Charity Sentenced to Lengthy Terms for Donations to Needy Palestinians

It was the second trial against the Holy Land foundations’s five leaders after the first ended in a mistrial. The government’s case relied on Israeli intelligence as well as disputed documents and electronic surveillance gathered by the FBI over a span of fifteen years.

Defendants Ghassan Elashi and Shukri Abu Baker each received 65-year prison sentences. At his sentencing hearing, Elashi said: “Nothing was more rewarding than…turning the charitable contributions of American Muslims into life assistance for the Palestinians. We gave the essentials of life: oil, rice, flour. The [Israeli] occupation was providing them with death and destruction.”

Another defendant, Mohammad El-Mezain, was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He was found guilty of supporting Hamas but acquitted on thirty-one other charges. Volunteer fundraiser Mufid Abdulqader was sentenced to twenty years in prison. And the fifth defendant, Abdulrahman Odeh, was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. All five defendants plan to file appeals.

We go now to Dallas where we are join by Noor Elashi, she’s the daughter of Ghassan Elashi, the chairman of the Holy Land who was sentenced to 65 years. And joining us from her home in Albuquerque via videostream is Nancy Hollander, a defense attorney who represented former Holy Land CEO Shukri Abu Baker. We invited Jim Jacks, the lead prosecutor in the case, on the show but his office declined.

Nancy Hollander, attorney for former Holy Land CEO Shukri Abu Baker.

Noor Elashi, daughter of Ghassan Elashi, Holy Land board chairman who was sentenced to sixty-five years in prison.