DALLAS – Jury deliberations begin Wednesday morning in the case of five men accused of routing millions of dollars to Hamas. Closing arguments in the terror-support trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and its former officers ended late Tuesday afternoon.
After the second full day of hearing from attorneys, U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis suggested jurors select a foreperson and go home for the evening. The men are accused of routing millions of dollars to Hamas through a series of Palestinian charities prosecutors say were controlled by the terrorist group.
But defense attorneys cast the men as humanitarians merely seeking to assuage the suffering of Palestinian women and children living under occupation. Any heated rhetoric jurors saw on videotapes of HLF fundraising rallies or on wiretaps involving the defendants was the result of frustration, they said, and not a desire to help Hamas.
In the government's final word, federal prosecutor James Jacks said that by giving money to Palestinian charities, known as zakat committees, that were controlled by Hamas, the defendants contributed to Hamas' stated goal of impeding efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict peacefully. That, in turn, perpetuates the suffering the defendants claim they want to relieve. Read more ...
After the second full day of hearing from attorneys, U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis suggested jurors select a foreperson and go home for the evening. The men are accused of routing millions of dollars to Hamas through a series of Palestinian charities prosecutors say were controlled by the terrorist group.
But defense attorneys cast the men as humanitarians merely seeking to assuage the suffering of Palestinian women and children living under occupation. Any heated rhetoric jurors saw on videotapes of HLF fundraising rallies or on wiretaps involving the defendants was the result of frustration, they said, and not a desire to help Hamas.
In the government's final word, federal prosecutor James Jacks said that by giving money to Palestinian charities, known as zakat committees, that were controlled by Hamas, the defendants contributed to Hamas' stated goal of impeding efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict peacefully. That, in turn, perpetuates the suffering the defendants claim they want to relieve. Read more ...
Source: IPT News
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