By Teddie Kelly
May 25, 2024
The Holy Land 5 are five Palestinian humanitarian aid workers — Shukri Abu Baker, Ghassan Elashi, Mohammad El-Mezain, Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulrahman Odeh — who were prosecuted under the USA Patriot Act in 2004.
All five were associated with a popular non-profit, The Holy Land Foundation, whose fundraising efforts were mischaracterized as “material support” for terrorism on the grounds that the social services, health care and educational programs they funded won Hamas the “hearts and minds” of Palestinians.
The U.S. government attained convictions by use of classified evidence and prosecutorial misconduct. Twenty years later, the Holy Land Five are still held in federal prison.
– Report by Teddie Kelly
