DALLAS, Texas, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) — A high-profile battle in the US "war on terror" is in the hands of 12 Texas jurors who must decide whether what was once America's largest Muslim charity was actually a front for Palestinian terrorists.
Government prosecutors allege that the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development raised millions of dollars for Hamas, but they do not accuse the charity of directly financing terrorist activity.
Instead prosecutors say humanitarian aid was used to promote Hamas, a multi-faceted Islamist political, social and armed movement which now controls the Gaza Strip, and allow it to divert existing funds to militant activities.
Over the two-month terrorism financing trial, government prosecutors cited more than a decade of secretly recorded phone conversations, mountains of financial documents and evidence seized by the Israeli military.
Jurors began deliberations late Wednesday after three days of closing arguments by seven attorneys. A decision in the case -- the largest of its kind in US history -- could take days.
President George W. Bush personally announced the shutdown of the Texas-based foundation three months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, claiming it as a victory in the "war on terror."
The United States designated Hamas a terrorist group in 1995 and outlawed any support to the group, including humanitarian aid.
Scores of other Muslim charities were subsequently implicated in the administration's attempts to block the transfer of funds to terrorist groups, a move roundly criticized by many in the Muslim community as fueled by prejudice.
The Holy Land trial follows several significant defeats in similar court cases and prosecutors in Dallas implored jurors to move slowly through the evidence during deliberations.
"Take your time," prosecutor Nathan Garrett said in closing arguments Wednesday. "I don't want you to rush to judgment."
According to the government, the Holy Land Foundation is a product of the Muslim Brotherhood, formed in the early 1980s around the time of the first Palestinian uprising, or intifada.
The network's purpose was to advocate for Islamist causes in the United States, with Holy Land tapped to solicit financial aid to help newly formed Hamas battle the Israelis, it said.
Prosecutors said Holy Land illegally sent more than 12 million dollars to Palestinian charity committees controlled by Hamas and that the Texas foundation singled out families of suicide bombers for support.
Attorneys for five former Holy Land organizers, all of Palestinian descent, said that the government's evidence reeked of anti-Muslim prejudice and dealt with activities well before the United States outlawed contact with Hamas.
They say the government's case is influenced by the Israeli government and relies heavily on two Israeli government agents -- one from Shin Beth and another from the Israeli military -- who testified that the zakat, or charity, committees to which Holy Land contributed were controlled by Hamas.
They countered with testimony from the former US consul general in Jerusalem who was also formerly the State Department's second-highest-ranking intelligence official.
Edward Abington testified that his work in the region, and his daily intelligence briefings, never revealed that those or any other zakat committees were affiliated with Hamas.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, showed jurors transcripts of secretly recorded conversations in which the Holy Land organizers praised suicide bombings by Hamas and spoke in code about the group.
Evidence showed that Holy Land flew in militant Hamas leaders and clerics to headline often fiery fundraisers inside the United States.
In a seized videotape, one defendant, part of a Palestinian folk band frequently hired to perform at Holy Land functions, pretended to "kill" a man playing an Israeli on stage at a US fundraiser.
Defense attorneys argued such actions were covered by American free speech protections and was not evidence that the charity supported terrorism.
"This case will say a lot about us as a people," said defense attorney Linda Moreno during her closing arguments Wednesday.
"We're asking you to be courageous, to look beyond the fear that they're trying to impose in this courtroom. Look beyond prejudice."
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