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An Overdue Release From Custody

by TChris

Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan was a fundraiser for Holy Land Foundation, an Islamic charity. The government shut down HLF, contending it was a front for Hamas. It then detained Hamdan -- for two years -- because it viewed him as a threat to national security.

The government has never been able to produce evidence that Hamdan is a threat to anyone. While the government claims that Hamdan is deportable because he overstayed a student visa that was issued 27 years ago, Hamdan appealed the deportation order, and most immigrants in his shoes would be released pending the outcome of that appeal. It took two years for Hamdan to finally win his release, over the government's objection.

Why was Hamdan treated differently?

Shakeel Syed, executive director, Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, sees it this way: "It looks to us as if the government is making examples of people who speak out or are prominent in the community. Otherwise, this was a simple immigration violation case."

Assuming Mr. Hamdan did overstay his 27-year-old visa, he had not been in trouble with the law (before this), according to one of his attorneys, and there was an amnesty in 1986. The attorney believes it unlikely the government will be successful in deporting him to Jordan.

An Orange County Register editorial expresses the outrage we should all feel:

If the government was going to make a claim about national security, it should at the very least have filed charges that backed up the accusation. Keeping people in prison because somebody in government says they're a national security threat is the way of tyrannies, not of constitutional republics governed by the rule of law. The fact that the judiciary finally recognized this injustice is encouraging, but the fact that Mr. Hamdan could be imprisoned for two years on such frivolous grounds suggests that American traditions of fair play and due process are shakier than we might have hoped.

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    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 05:09:04 PM EST
    Just did a quick search on Holy Land on Wikipedia and it states that Holy Land is deemed a terrorist organization by the Eurpoean Union as well as the US. If it is, then this man was channeling funds to a terrorist group. If Wikipedia is correct then your headline that he was a fundraiser for a charity is purposefully misleading. And then I must ask why would you purposefully mislead?

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#2)
    by squeaky on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 05:15:02 PM EST
    bocajeff-
    Just did a quick search on Holy Land on Wikipedia...
    Have you seen this? Just saying....

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 06:23:52 PM EST
    Squeaky, When doing my research I forgot to search for comedian's take on world affairs. I was looking for something a tad more serious. I did a Google search and according to sites found on that search the European Union does consider the Holy Land Foundation a Terrorist Organization. Is this right or wrong? If it is right then TL's lead sentence is deliberately misleading and seems to protect the true agenda of a terrorist against the position of the U.S. government. TL has every right to support a fundraiser for a terrorist organization, but I would like some clarity on this matter so we can know if TL really means this or if I'm mistaken.

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#4)
    by Sailor on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 06:41:35 PM EST
    TL has every right to support a fundraiser for a terrorist organization, but I would like some clarity on this matter so we can know if TL really means this or if I'm mistaken.
    Uhh, locoboca is forgetting that a US judge let him go ... why does jeff hate America?

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 06:53:45 PM EST
    Sailor, I wasn't responding to the charges though I remain curious as to why you and TL conveniently leave out the fact that the Holy Land Foundation is considered a terrorist organization by the European Union? Refrain from your personal attacks until you can answer the above question. The judge may have made the right determination in the case, but it doesn't detract from the fact that Holy Land is considered a terrorist organization that you and TL simply describe as a charity. It's misleading.

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#6)
    by Sailor on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 07:14:27 PM EST
    Sorry for the comedic rout (sic ;-) but you completely ignored TC's point, Hamdan is only charged with a 27 year old visa prob, not terrorism. We're talking about Hamdan's case, not Holy rollers. See the difference?

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#7)
    by squeaky on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 07:17:35 PM EST
    bocajeff-
    I did a Google search and according to sites found on that search the European Union does consider the Holy Land Foundation a Terrorist Organization. Is this right or wrong?
    You are right, just as Colbert points out, HLF is a 'terrorist organization' according to several sources including Wikipedia..... Oh, and your conclusion:
    If it is right then TL's lead sentence is deliberately misleading...
    is not logical. You are forgetting that according to several sources HLF is a charity. Have you checked Wikipedia to see if the elephant population in Africa has tripled in size yet. According to several sources it already has and is continuing to do so at an ever increasing rate.

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#8)
    by Rick B on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 07:31:20 PM EST
    OK, BocaJeff, I just spent 30 minutes on google trying to find the source of the statement that the Holy Land Foundation is on the European Union List of Terrorist organization. No luck. There are hundreds of references to this legendary list, mostly from American sources, but a few British or Italian. But a list? I can't find it. So where is this alleged list? It's beginning to look like a rather effective propaganda gambit to me. Oh, and when the existence of such a list cannot be determined, how could failure to address such a list be considered "deliberate?" Please show me the list. Not another reference to the list, but the list itself. Also, if you can find such a list, I want to know what organization created it, what their sources of information were (a lot of stuff goes back to the US Treasury Department Office of terrorism and finance - if you find the list, it probably is also sourced there.) and how they processed such information to ensure that it was accurate. My bet is that you can't find any such list, and if you do it is either fraudulent or is sourced to the U.S. Governnment somewhere.

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#9)
    by Rick B on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 07:36:51 PM EST
    As for charges:
    Hamdan is only charged with a 27 year old visa prob, not terrorism
    There was a general amnesty for all immigration violaters in 1986. If there is no other charge against him, then that is a charge brought under an old law that is no longer enforceable. Looks like the Judge decided there were no valid charges.

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#10)
    by Peter G on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 08:02:03 PM EST
    Rick B: Maybe the immigration judge determined that Hamdan, like Zonker in Dooonesbury, has been a college student for 27 years, and thus that there had been no visa fraud at all.

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#11)
    by orionATL on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 08:40:00 PM EST
    could we just skip all the crap above about what hamdan or holy land foundation were or what they intended to do? nowadays, the united states government detains or charges arab individuals, citizens or not, depending on the political usefulness to the administration of that charge. without knowing the details of his case, i am willing to assert that hamden was detained for the political benefit of the bush administration, not for any serious crimes he committed or intended to commit.

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Aug 04, 2006 at 02:35:20 AM EST
    Yes, as Americans, let's celebrate that the rule of law, for once, will out. It's too damn rare not to rejoice. Hamdan is a fine Supreme Court ruling. We will be frustrated by the ways the administration tries to subvert it, but we can also take some heart that it may end up having much to do with saving our country. This guy has suffered grievously, and maybe we, and the rest of the world, will have benefitted greatly from his travails. I think we should treat him more respectfully now.

    Re: An Overdue Release From Custody (none / 0) (#13)
    by Bill Arnett on Fri Aug 04, 2006 at 11:23:34 AM EST
    bocajeff- There are also over 200,000 names on the U.S. "Terrorist Watch Lists" which includes many luminaries, e.g., Senator Ted Kennedy. It will require great deal of evidence and proof before I believe the government's assertions that ANYONE is a "terrorist" or "terrorist supporter" and I believe that to just be common sense. Isn't that why we have judges and juries? Or, you could chose to believe that we have over 200,000 "terrorists" living right here in America. It must be true. They're on a list.