let us see what love can do

All Muslims are terrorists—that’s what prosecutors and a witness insinuated Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008 during the third day of the Holy Land Foundation retrial after the jury left for the day. It quickly became more apparent than ever before that the five defendants are being targeted for the religion they follow.

Individuals who often use statements such as these—By God. Thank God. In the name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. Peace be Upon You. God Willing. May God Bless You. And Praise be to God—are Islamists, which makes them Muslim Brotherhood members, which makes them anti-Israeli, which in turn makes them terrorists, argued government witness Atef Shafik, a senior language analyst for the FBI.

“Persons who speak that way are persons who are Islamists,” prosecutor Jim Jacks told U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis as he pushed to include Shafik’s obviously bias perspective to the jury. “The way we speak gives away who we are.”

When asked to define Islamists, Shafik said, They are devout Muslims who follow the Sharia Law. They refer extensively to religious texts, such as Quran and Hadith. And they call for the destruction of Israel.

His sources for his conclusion, he explained, are the media and the fact that he lived in Egypt the first 27 years of his life.

Defense attorneys made it clear that Shafik, who is Christian, was no expert on Islam. Defense attorney Theresa Duncan said Shafik’s words expressed pure bigotry and were clearly “an attack on Islam.”

Judge Solis said he would make a ruling Thursday morning on whether Shafik’s perspective could be presented to the jury.

http://www.freedomtogive.com/?q=node/140

Dear Brothers & Sisters,Best Greetings / Assalmo Alykom
/From Waseem Nasrallah

Today Monday September 15, 2008 the Re-Trial of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) begins. Please keep yourself informed about this important legal case. Also please pray for these brothers during this blessed month of Ramadan.

What is this Case About?

This case is about criminalizing feeding the children, orphans, and widows.

The government is accusing 5 brothers of supporting a terrorist organization “Hamas”. They claim that through feeding the children of Palestine HLF also indirectly supported Hamas.

Why is this case important?

Not only did the government shut down the Holy land Foundation in 2001, they also indicted 5 brothers in 2004 as part of a conspiracy to provide material support to organizations linked to Hamas (not direct support). These organizations are called Zakat Committees in Palestine. The Zakat committees operated legally under Israeli law. Also, the committees were supported by USAID (A US government agency) and the United Nations. So I ask, ‘why was the HLF singled out’?

A lawyer for Holy Land, John Boyd, said, ”The local Palestinian charities that the foundation supported were also getting funds from the American Government, the United Nations, the Red Cross, and others. I won't even speculate now as to why under these circumstances Holy Land Foundation should have to struggle with this idea that somehow by engaging in charitable efforts in Palestine … that the Holy Land Foundation is now having to fend off a theory that somehow charity equals terrorism,".

In addition the US Government filed a brief to the court listing 306 Muslim individuals and Muslim organizations as Un-indicted Co-Conspirators (UCC) as part of the HLF Case. They made the list public.