http://www.investigativeproject.org/3677/exclusive-adc-misleading-sob-story-on-elashi
The news release
from the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) depicts a
family torn apart by a heartless bureaucracy. Two brothers, stateless
Palestinians, were "taken by ICE and the U.S. Air Marshalls (sic) from
their children in Texas and sent to Egypt," where they are not welcome.
The release conveyed the ADC's "extreme
disappointment" over the move. "The actions of DHS and ICE are alarming,
troubling, and intolerable. ADC has demanded, and will continue to
demand, a clear explanation as to why these brothers were deported,"
said ADC Legal Director Abed Ayoub.
The brothers are never named. If they were, the explanation would be quite clear.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism has
confirmed that the men deported last week are Bayan and Basman Elashi.
Both are convicted felons tied to a terror-financing network based out
of Dallas. And both had final orders of deportation issued against them
in 2008 and 2009 that were never appealed, immigration records show.
Yet another brother, Ghassan Elashi, was a
founder and chairman of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and
Development (HLF), an American fundraising arm
for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. HLF was part of the
"Palestine Committee," an umbrella organization created by the Muslim
Brotherhood in America to help Hamas politically and financially. Basman
Elashi, along with brothers Ghassan and Hazim, also appears on a telephone list
of Palestine Committee members. Basman's entry is just above Nihad
Awad, founder and executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations.
The Elashi brothers also worked for Infocom, a webhosting company in Richardson Tex. Prosecutors say the company received $250,000 from Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook, who was indicted in the case.
Bayan Elashi was Infocom's chief executive
officer. Basman was its logistics and credit manager. In 2004, each was
convicted of money laundering, export violations to Libya and Syria
involving computer shipments and making false statements to federal
officials. In a separate trial a year later, Bayan Elashi was convicted
on 10 counts of dealing in the property of a Specially Designated
Terrorist for transactions with Marzook, while Basman was convicted on
one count.
Bayan Elashi was sentenced
to 84 months in prison, while Bayan was sentenced to 80 months. Brother
Hazim Elashi, Infocom's manager of personal computer systems, was
sentenced to 66 months after being convicted in the case, and was
deported from the United States in April 2008.
Ghassan Elashi is serving a 65-year sentence after being convicted in the HLF case.
The ADC did not find any of this
information significant enough to mention. Rather, it claimed that the
deportation was done clumsily, with the Elashis essentially dumped on a
tarmac with no place to go.
"The brothers do not have permission to
stay in Egypt. Further, due to the blockade of Gaza and Israeli polices
they cannot enter Palestine. The brothers are currently detained at the
airport in Cairo, and appear likely to be detained indefinitely."
Standard procedure in any deportation case
is for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to work with the host country
before the person is sent back. It isn't clear whether the claims about
the Elashis being detained at the airport are true.
However, the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza is open five days each week, and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh expressed confidence
Thursday that the new Muslim Brotherhood-led government in Egypt soon
will open it permanently, allowing them to cross into Palestinian
territory.
In addition, Ayoub decried "the deplorable
living conditions in Gaza resulting from an illegal blockade," and
questioned why the Elashis would be sent there. Israel's blockade of
Gaza, stemming from Hamas's takeover of the territory and subsequent
campaign of rocket fire at Israeli civilian communities, was declared legal
by a United Nations review because "Israel faces a real threat to its
security from militant groups in Gaza." In addition, while Gaza is
economically in turmoil, the Red Cross has said there is no humanitarian crisis there. In fact, some aspects of life appear relatively comfortable.
The ADC is considered a respectable organization. President Obama took the time to deliver a recorded message for the group's recent convention.
In this case, however, it has issued an
alert that seems deliberately misleading in order to take a shot at the
Department of Homeland Security and cast the plight of the Elashis in a
sympathetic tone that doesn't match their records.
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