Muslim fundraiser awaits Texas verdict

BUENA PARK, Calif. - To his family, Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan is a passionate champion for the poor who lost two years of his life to an overzealous government.




To federal authorities, he is a dangerous man who served as a key fundraiser and spokesman for a sham charity that funneled millions to international terrorists.

Now, five of Hamdan's former colleagues are awaiting a verdict on terrorism-support charges in Dallas ― and the outcome there could help determine whether Hamdan is deported or allowed to remain in the U.S., where he has lived since 1979.

If the five colleagues who worked with Hamdan at the Holy Land Foundation are acquitted "that will have a huge impact on his case," said Stacy Tolchin, one of Hamdan's attorneys. "If the leaders are not aware, then how can they go after him?"

The government has been fighting to deport Hamdan to his native Jordan since 2004 and named him as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Dallas terrorism-support case, which went to the jury Wednesday after a two-month trial.

He has not been charged with terrorism, but a federal immigration judge found that he committed terrorist activities in his work for the foundation.

"I have no connection to terrorism, none whatsoever," Hamdan said. "There's no way they can prove that one single cent of any money I raised went to anything but the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people."

But federal officials say they have a videotape of Hamdan standing in front of a Hamas flag during a fundraising event for the foundation and recordings of him advocating Islamic jihad. They also accuse him of providing material support to a designated terrorist organization, Hamas.

"We believe he does pose a threat to domestic security," said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who declined to elaborate. "We are confident we will prevail."

Hamdan, 47, was arrested by federal immigration agents in July 2004 after an early morning raid on his home in Buena Park. The raid came at the same time that federal authorities indicted seven of his former colleagues on terrorism-support charges for their work with the foundation, which was shut down by the government in 2001. Two of the seven remain at large.

Hamdan was not indicted in the foundation case, but was instead arrested for violating his immigration status by working while in the U.S. on a student visa. He says he had applied for amnesty and was in the U.S. legally while awaiting his permanent status.

He remained in federal detention in San Pedro for two years as attorneys argued over his fate in a series of legal battles that stretched from district court to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to the federal Board of Immigration Appeals.

He was released from immigration detention last summer but is still required to wear an electronic ankle bracelet at all times, observe a 10 p.m. curfew and remain within 50 miles of the suburban home he shares with his wife and children.

His life has been on hold for months as he awaits an appeals court ruling that could block his deportation.

The father of six believes that, as a Palestinian refugee, he will be tortured if he is returned to Jordan. His children are all U.S. citizens who were born in this country, including one who is studying to become an attorney and another who attends the University of California, Irvine.

"This is ridiculous, this whole thing. I have resided in this country since 1979," Hamdan said at a recent interview at his home. "If it's not my home by now, at least it's the home for my children."

His attorneys dispute key facts in the government's case. They say Hamdan was not standing in front of a Hamas flag, but a symbolic Islamic flag, during a fundraising speech. They also point out that when the videotape was made, Hamas had not yet been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

There is no evidence that any of the Muslim groups funded by the Holy Land Foundation were controlled by Hamas, they say, and none have been listed by the U.S. government as terrorist organizations.

Depending on the outcome in Dallas, Tolchin said, attorneys from either side could petition for a new hearing before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

"If it's relevant, we would want a court to reconsider what happened in his case," she said.

For now, Hamdan and his wife, Entesar, are trying to live normally with the threat of his deportation still looming. They refuse to discuss what they will do if that happens, but say they would be hard-pressed to separate their close-knit family.

The Hamdans say their children still show signs of the trauma of being separated from their father for two years.

"I felt really bad because I couldn't even touch him for two years, and he was behind the glass," said Hamdan's youngest son, 11-year-old Omar. "It's freaky because he still could be taken away. I hope he's not, but at least he's home now and I can hug him and stuff."