Summary
The largest US charity providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians before 9/11, according to the Palestine Legal/CCR Report; five Palestinian-Americans involved with it were prosecuted for material support for terrorism (The Palestine Exception to Free Speech: A Movement Under Attack in the US, PDF p.41-42).
Details
- Prosecutors relied on testimony from anonymous agents of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, that the men sent aid to zakat (charity) committees in Palestine that they asserted were “under the influence of” Hamas (PDF p.41).
- After a mistrial, the government secured a conviction in the second trial even though, the Report says, it had failed to furnish evidence that the funds supported violent acts and USAID had funded the same committees; the men received sentences of up to sixty-five years (PDF p.41-42).
- In October 2012 the Supreme Court refused to review the case, despite constitutional issues the Report names, including denial of the right to confront the anonymous Israeli secret service agents in violation of the defendants’ Sixth Amendment rights (PDF p.42).
Related pages
The Palestine Exception to Free Speech: A Movement Under Attack in the US, Hamas, Freedom of Expression