The Holy Land Foundation (HLF), once the largest Muslim charity in the US, had long been a target of pro-Israel organizations due to its substantial support for impoverished Palestinians living under occupation.
The Palestinian-led US-based community organization ‘Within Our Lifetime’ announced on Thursday the release of Palestinian-American political prisoner Mufid Abdulqader, a member of the ‘Holy Land Foundation 5’, after 16 years of imprisonment.
Abdulqader had been sentenced in November 2008 by a federal jury to 20 years in prison on charges of providing material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization in the United States.
The Holy Land Foundation (HLF), once the largest Muslim charity in the US, had long been a target of pro-Israel organizations due to its substantial support for impoverished Palestinians living under occupation.
The charity raised millions of dollars for essential aid in occupied Palestine, mitigating the humanitarian impact of the occupation.
BREAKING: Palestinian-American political prisoner Mufid Abdulqader of the Holy Land Foundation 5 is free after being wrongfully imprisoned for 16 years!
Within Our Lifetime joins Mufid’s family, loved ones, community and people of conscience around the world in celebrating his… pic.twitter.com/stqSCgbMMW
— Within Our Lifetime (@WOLPalestine) December 12, 2024
Since 1993, the foundation’s leaders were placed under FBI surveillance, and, according to the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network Samidoun, “racist and Zionist commentators like Steven Emerson repeatedly attacked the Foundation.”
Samidoun also highlighted that the HLF faced increasing pressure during the post-Oslo period, as financial sanctions and new laws criminalized support for groups listed as ‘Foreign Terrorist Organizations.’
The situation worsened after September 11, 2001, when the US government, under the guise of counterterrorism efforts, froze HLF’s assets, raided its offices, and labeled it a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ organization.
CALL TO ACTION:
HLF5 political prisoner Mufid Abdulqader was recently diagnosed with Covid-19 and is fighting for his life in a Texas prison. Help him to be granted immediate compassionate release by writing a letter to the judge!
Link with more info: https://t.co/lBH81WkGjT pic.twitter.com/0BkqAsxZ18
— Palestinian Youth Movement (@palyouthmvmt) July 19, 2020
In 2004, the homes of five HLF leaders — Ghassan Elashi, Shukri Abu Baker, Mufid Abdulqader, Mohammed el-Mezain, and Abdulrahman Odeh — were raided, and the men were arrested. Their trial began in 2007.
Despite what many have described as weak evidence and reliance on anonymous testimony from Israeli intelligence agents, which defense attorneys could not cross-examine, the initial trial ended in a mistrial.
According to the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), jurors reported that the evidence was insufficient, with one juror describing the case as “strung together with macaroni noodles.”
Today Mufid AbdulQader was released after having lost almost two decades of his life in a prison cell after a sham trial meant to punish charities supporting Palestine.
It’s time to free them all @FreeTheHLF5 pic.twitter.com/aQrsoQdsh4
— Dr. Omar Suleiman (@omarsuleiman) December 12, 2024
However, the government retried the case in Dallas, introducing sensationalist and unverified testimony from Israeli occupation agents.
Noor Elashi, the daughter of Ghassan Elashi, pointed out that this was the only US case where a courtroom witness was allowed to remain anonymous, preventing cross-examination.
In 2008, the five men were convicted and sentenced to extraordinarily long prison terms.
Shukri Abu Baker and Ghassan Elashi received 65-year sentences.
Abdulrahman Odeh, Mohammed el-Mezain, and Mufid Abdulqader were sentenced to 15 to 20 years each.
MUFID ABDULQADER: A VOICE FROM WITHIN AMERICA’S ‘SECURE HOUSING UNITS’#HVWOT https://t.co/el7bczhYuB pic.twitter.com/X2XkNUbbCS
— CAGE International (@CAGEintl) April 8, 2016
By 2020, Abdulrahman Odeh and Mohammed el-Mezain were released, though el-Mezain was subsequently detained by ICE and deported to Turkiye.
Mufid Abdulqader is now free, while Shukri Abu Baker and Ghassan Elashi remain imprisoned, facing decades more behind bars.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
