November 25, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes
A guilty verdict in a trial against a Muslim charity has set off a firestorm among blog writers.
On Monday, a federal jury in Dallas declared the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and five former employees guilty of illegally funneling at least $12-million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. A previous hearing of the case ended in a mistrial last year.
David Hazony, an Israeli scholar, hails the jury’s decision as an important step in fighting terrorism and says that it sends a signal to donors that they need to scrutinize where their money goes.
Writing for Commentary, a conservative magazine, he says, “Perhaps many donors to such organizations really are looking to help the Palestinians address their difficult humanitarian position. But as anyone involved in the nonprofit sector will tell you, philanthropists are not powerless to influence the work of the organizations they give to. If building Palestinian schools were so important to them, how hard would it be to make sure the money stayed out of the terrorists’ hands? If the answer is ‘very difficult,’ then there are plenty of needy Muslims elsewhere in the world who could use their money instead.”
But Harold Knight, who has been following the story on his Holy Land (Re)Trial blog, decries the whole affair. Mr. Knight writes that the defendants were only guilty of humanitarian impulses.
“We Americans have now stooped so low as to condemn American citizens for seeking to give food to the hungry, to provide something to drink for the thirsty, to welcome the stranger, to give clothing to the naked, to provide care for the sick, and to minister to those in prison,” he writes.
Mr. Knight says the trial was unfair in part because the judge allowed evidence from an Israeli intelligence agency.
Also, the families of the defendants have created a Web site, Freedom to Give, to protest the trial.
Read The Chronicle’s article about how charity leaders hope the Obama administration will change how the federal government has sought to prevent charitable dollars from supporting terrorism overseas.
What do you think? What does the Holy Land verdict mean for the nonprofit world? Click on the comments link to share your views.
