Brothers jailed by US and expelled to Gaza speak out

It was those dealings that would draw the government’s attention. “The United States government used the concept of guilt by association,” Bayan said. “There were some financial transactions between me and [Hamas political bureau deputy chairman] Mousa Abu Marzouk’s wife, who happened to be my cousin. The government didn’t like this, and indicted us mainly because of this relationship.” The “core issues,” he added, related to the Holy Land Foundation and also Abu Marzouk.

Abu Marzouk’s status as a “specially designated terrorist” allows the US government to criminalize his business transactions, personal property and even family relationships, without ever charging him with a crime or putting him on trial. It detained Abu Marzouk for 22 months after his designation, before releasing him without charges and deporting him to Jordan in 1997.

The Holy Land Foundation, once the largest Islamic charity in the United States, was shut down with an executive order from the Bush administration in December 2001. Ghassan Elashi and four other men associated with the foundation were arrested and, as The Electronic Intifada reported earlier this year, were “subjected to two extraordinary trials that, amongst other court precedents, relied on testimony from an anonymous Israeli intelligence agent. The men were accused of providing material support to Hamas, a Palestinian political party declared a terrorist organization by the US State Department, by funding Islamic charitable committees in Palestine through the Holy Land Foundation.”

Though they were not accused of committing or financing any violent acts, the five are serving out decades-long prison sentences for supporting charities that the State Department agency USAID continued to fund long after the Holy Land Foundation men were indicted. The Holy Land Foundation case is part of a pattern of the US government criminalizing Palestine advocacy and charity work while it funds the Israeli occupation and sheilds the state from accountability.

Report: Children of Immigrants Study More

arielnietzsche:

There is this under the surface whisper among some who call themselves conservative that these “immigrants” who are trying to make our country a minority-majority country; xenophobia exists to be certain.  Some say they’re just lazy and they want to just live off welfare to absorb all of our social services like a plague of locusts searching for sustenance.  But – that’s not true at all.  Immigrants come here because they want a better life and they push their kids to take advantage of all the opportunities that they may not have had otherwise.

As it relates to education – there is no lack of effort in the aggregate.  They’re working towards a better life and in doing so – they’re making our country a better country.  And we know there is a direct correlation to education and our country’s success over the long haul.  As far as I’m concerned – come on over (as long as we’ve processed a criminal check) …. welcome home.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics brings us the chart HERE:

Adolescents with immigrant parents spent, on average, more time on education-related activities (237 minutes per day) from 2003 to 2010 than adolescents with native-born parents (211 minutes per day).

Economix points out HERE:

By the way, since I’m guessing this question will come up: Bigger educational time commitments are true for children of both Asian immigrants and Latin American immigrants.

Children of Asian immigrants spend about 51 minutes more per day on educational activities than do children of native-born whites. That’s true even when you control for family characteristics like income, parents’ education and number of siblings.

Children of Latin American immigrants spend on average 18 more minutes per day in educational activities than the children of their white, non-Hispanic native-born counterparts, although that gap is not statistically significant. Once the Labor Department’s researchers controlled for differences in family composition, the gap widened to a statistically significant 35 minutes per day.

What is your favorite Spanish word? It might say a lot about you and your identity

univisionnews:

Read on to find out what is Gael Garcia Bernal’s favorite Spanish word.

By ARTURO CONDE

Every summer, the Instituto Cervantes, a Spanish cultural organization with 73 centers around the world, celebrates “El día E,” a day to commemorate the Spanish language and its international community of nearly 500 million Spanish speakers.

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New legislation shields undocumented from ICE

univisionnews:

For Isaura García, calling 911 led to her undocumented status to be exposed to ICE.

By ALBERT SABATÉ

Pushed to desperation by her abusive boyfriend, the petite 21-year-old dialed for help.

“Without knowing, I called the wrong number – it was a number I thought was the correct one, but in reality [it] brought me more problems,” said Isaura García, a victim of domestic abuse.

When the undocumented Latina called the police in Los Angeles, she had no idea she’d be the one going to jail that night.

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Michelle Obama: Keep immigrant families together

univisionnews:

The First Lady was pressed about President Obama’s immigration policies.

By JORDAN FABIAN

First Lady Michelle Obama appeared on Univision this weekend to defend her husband’s work on immigration reform, specifically on the issue of deportations.

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