September 7, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
A new blog has sprung up in the wake of the contentious trial of five officials of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, in Richardson, Tex., who are accused of funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Holy Land Foundation Trial blog is written by Harold Knight, a self-described Christian academic in Dallas. He revamped his blog to provide almost daily commentary on the trial because he says the mainstream news media’s coverage has been bias towards Israel.
Mr. Knight’s left-leaning and pro-Palestinian comments heavily criticize the government’s prosecution of the Muslim charity.
“The government has woven a tale of subversion and support for terrorism by relying on three kinds of sources,” statements taken out of context by the accused officials, tax records, and improper evidence from Israeli security agencies.
Aside from the political and civil-liberties questions raised by the trial, several nonprofit groups see it as a test case for how the Bush administration has investigated charities for suspected ties to terrorists.
Read The Chronicle‘s article about the investigation of Muslim charities.
What do you think? Is the government’s case strong? Or has it relied too heavily on questionable evidence as Mr. Knight asserts? What implications does the trial have for the nonprofit world? Share your thoughts by clicking on the comments link below.
