They're also upset that the US is transferring money to Fatah to strengthen that group. I'd be upset also, but not for the reasons that Hamas is. I think both Hamas and Fatah should rot in hell for all the violence they've spawned. Fatah is not a legitimate partner in peace either. They've shown themselves to be incapable of governing and have used their proxy terror groups to attack Israelis.
Seven Hamas thugs were killed after an anti-tank weapon was fired at the IDF. Headlines in CNN, Washington Post, and elsewhere simply mention that six Palestinians were killed, not that those killed were Hamas terrorists.
Meanwhile, the leader of a Georgia mosque has pleaded guilty of aiding Hamas. No surprise that he was involved with the Holy Land Foundation, which was shut down because it was funneling aid to Hamas.
Support for Hamas is illegal, because the government deems it a foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors said Mr. Shorbagi provided financial help to the group from 1997 until the Holy Land Foundation was shut down five years ago. In pleading guilty to material support of terrorism, he agreed to serve a maximum prison term of 15 years and pay restitution of at least $240,000 to unidentified victims of that support.Well, the reason that people should be discouraged from giving to Palestinian relief groups is that the money is siphoned off to the terror operations.
Still, the plea agreement provides that if he cooperates “truthfully and completely,” as is expected, the government may recommend a lesser sentence.
Michael J. Trost, an Atlanta lawyer representing Mr. Shorbagi, declined to characterize the government’s case, but did say “mitigating factors” would become public at sentencing.
President Bush ordered the Holy Land Foundation closed in December 2001, saying that by raising money in the United States and funneling it to Hamas, the group “pays for murder abroad.”
Seven former board members and fund-raisers for Holy Land, six of whom are American citizens, have previously been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists because they gave money to charities believed run by Hamas and to the orphans and families of “martyrs” killed in the Palestinian conflict.
There has been little public examination of the evidence against the defendants, however, and the government’s efforts have been criticized because of their high level of secrecy.
“The facts of these cases are never actually released,” said Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, based in Washington. “There’s no public scrutiny except what the government chooses to release. The perception is that they’re being heavy-handed and the Muslim community is being unfairly targeted.”
John W. Boyd, a partner in an Albuquerque law firm that has represented the Holy Land Foundation, said he was not familiar with the particulars of the case against Mr. Shorbagi and so could not comment on its merits. But he did say he was dismayed to hear that a donor to Holy Land had been charged, since, he said, that was likely to discourage people from giving to Palestinian relief organizations.
And CAIR should be the last folks to comment on the matter, since they're knee deep in terror-apologia and supporting groups that fund terrorism, including the Holy Land Foundation shennanigans. Oh, and they've seen their members convicted of terror related charges.
UPDATE:
Israel has completed 72 hours of raids into Gaza to deal with the ongoing terror threat. A Fatah terrorist was killed in Israeli airstrikes.
Technorati: terrorism, nasrallah, fatah, Gilad, Shalit, Olmert, Eliyahu, Asheri, Ashri, Abbas, Regev, Goldwasser, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel, hizbullah, hezbullah, hezbollah, lebanon, syria.
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