The senior leadership of the Holy Land Foundation was convicted today of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists – in this case, Hamas – as well as money laundering and tax evasion. The Dallas Morning News describes the changes each side made to their case after the first prosecution ended in a mistrial. The indictment is available here.
The leaders had been accused of routing money to Hamas’ non-militant wings – zakat committees affiliated with the organization which perform social services in territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Hamasusescommittees for recruitment and logistical support. Moreover, since the zakat committees are under Hamas’ organizational umbrella and money is fungible, donations to the committees can wind up directly funding terrorist attacks.
Federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 2339, precludes providing “material support” to groups on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations. Such support includes “property, tangible or intangible, or service, including currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel (1 or more individuals who may be or include oneself), and transportation, except medicine or religious materials.” Financial donations, of course, are included.
