Why should the U.S. care so much about Hamas?
Isn't that Israel's prob.... never mind!
"Ex-Professor Is Sentenced in a Hamas Case"
CHICAGO, Nov. 21 (AP) — A former business professor accused of taking part in a Palestinian terrorist network was sentenced Wednesday to more than 11 years in prison for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury.
The defendant, Abdelhaleem Ashqar, 49, a former associate professor of business at Howard University in Washington, was taken into custody by federal marshals immediately after the sentencing.
In a passionate, arm-waving statement before sentencing, Dr. Ashqar painted a grim picture of the suffering of Palestinians in the occupied territories and said that some of his own relatives had been killed or jailed.
He said he would rather go to prison than betray his people as they strived to free themselves from Israeli domination. “The only option was to become a traitor or a collaborator,” Dr. Ashqar said, “and this is something that I can’t do and will never do as long as I live.”
The case, based on a long-running federal investigation of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, was closely watched as a major Justice Department initiative in the war on terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Dr. Ashqar and a co-defendant, Muhammad Salah, were acquitted this year on a racketeering conspiracy charge that accused them of bankrolling Hamas. But prosecutors presented telephone records showing that Dr. Ashqar had been in contact with Hamas leaders.
Dr. Ashqar was convicted of obstruction of justice and criminal contempt for refusing to testify before the grand jury on June 25, 2003, even after he had been granted immunity from prosecution. Mr. Salah was convicted of lying on a document and sentenced to 22 months in prison.
Defense lawyers said Judge Amy J. St. Eve of Federal District Court imposed an unusually stiff sentence on Dr. Ashqar given the complex political background. In addition to 11 years and 3 months in prison, he was fined $5,000."
That's what happens when you don't snitch and read government-written scripts!
Maybe you can join him sometime soon, Amurkn!
