The case of the Holy Land Five – Mohammed el-Mezain, Ghassan Elashi, Shukri Abu Baker, Abdulrahman Odeh, and Mufid Abdelqader – is one of the most prominent, and most troubling, cases of Palestinian political prisoners imprisoned in US jails. Serving sentences of up to 65 years, the five imprisoned Palestinians were accused of nothing more than fundraising for charity in Palestine.
Prosecuted under the “material support” laws that have been used to criminalize financial and other support for Palestinians under occupation, the HLF5 were accused and convicted – after a hung jury in their first trial – of ” conspiring to give charity to zakat committees that prosecutors argued were fronts for Hamas.” The star witness for the government in the case was an anonymous Israeli intelligence officer allowed to testify under a pseudonym.
On 17-18 May, Al Jazeera Documentary channel will release a new, two-part documentary examining the Holy Land Foundation 5 case. The documentary will be presented in Arabic, with English subtitles.
Part 1 will air on Tuesday, 17 May, at 19:00 GMT and again at 23:00 GMT. (19:00 GMT is 2:00 PM Central US Time, or 9:00 PM Central European Time. Visit http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/ to convert Greenwich Mean Time to your local Time Zone)
Part 2 will air on Wednesday, 18 May at 19:00 GMT and again at 23:00 GMT. (19:00 GMT is 2:00 PM Central US Time, or 9:00 PM Central European Time. Visit http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/ to convert Greenwich Mean Time to your local Time Zone)
The new documentary can be livestreamed online at: http://doc.aljazeera.net/
