The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
December 13, 2024

Mufid Abdulqader Freed After 16 Years Behind Bars for Work with Pro-Palestinian Charity
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Palestinian American man who was convicted and imprisoned in 2008 for
his work with the charity Holy Land Foundation has been released from
federal prison. Mufid Abdulqader, one of the so-called Holy Land 5, was
released to a halfway house Thursday. Abdulqader and his four
co-defendants - Ghassan Elashi, Shukri Abu Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain and
Abdulrahman Odeh - received sentences of up to 65 years under the Bush
administration, accused of working for a terrorist organization.

The Holy Land Foundation raised millions of dollars for Palestinians
living under Israeli occupation, making it a target for pro-Israel
groups in the U.S. Their case was widely denounced as political
persecution during the height of the so-called war on terror and
shuttered what was once the largest Muslim charity in the U.S. Shukri
Abu Baker and Ghassan Elashi remain behind bars.


.