DhafirTrial

Katherine Hughes Truthout 3/08/10

In a time and place where Muslims have learned it’s prudent to be silent, we should be especially grateful to Shamshad Ahmad for having the courage to write his book “Rounded Up.” (more…)

A Review by Katherine Hughes

In a time and place where Muslims have learned it’s prudent to be silent, we should be especially grateful to Shamshad Ahmad for having the courage to write his book Rounded Up. (more…)

Please sign the petition for Dr. Dhafir, and let others know about it.

We are asking that Dr. Dhafir’s sentence be commuted to time served and our goal is to get at least 1000 signatures.  Sitting through virtually all of the 14-week trial, I came to know Dr. Dhafir as a man of the utmost compassion and integrity, it is the least he deserves.

Sign petition here NO NEED TO DONATE TO iPETITONS WHEN YOU SIGN

This post provides an overview for people who heard about Dr. Dhafir’s case at the recent National Assembly Conference:

Dhafir Case Summary

ACLU Statement on the case. (more…)

The Syracuse Post-Standard just let me know that it is unwilling to print a letter the Dr. Dhafir Support Committee sent two weeks ago because it included a request for donations for a “political cause.” The letter also has to be 250 words or less. I responded immediately with the letter below, but not fast enough for it to be in tomorrow’s paper, on Muslim Solidarity Day. It will be published in Friday’s paper.

To the Editor: (more…)

Letter from The Dr. Dhafir Suport Committee, sent to the Syracuse Post-Standard on 2/11/09

To the editor:

February 26, 2003, marks the sixth anniversary of the arrest of prominent local oncologist, Dr. Rafil Dhafir. On that same day, 150 Muslim families were interrogated because they had donated to his charity “Help the Needy.” Dr. Dhafir was “guilty” of sending aid to Iraq during the brutal embargo on that county, the effects of which very few Americans know. (more…)

By Katherine Hughes 9/29/08

Given the surge of interest in Islam in the post 9/11-period, Parvez Sharma’s decision to focus his movie, A Jihad for Love, on Islam was very timely. His decision was an opportunity for some redress of western anti-Muslim propaganda that has been incessant since 9/11 (more…)

Crime of Compassion: A Court Watcher’s Story of the ‘War on Terror’

In the aftermath of 9/11, the U.S. government flailed about, seeing “terror cells” everywhere.  It targeted for prosecution many prominent Muslims across the country, particularly those associated with Muslim charity. Dr. Rafil Dhafir is one of these people.  He was held without bail for 31 months and then sentenced to 22 years in a U.S. prison for a crime he was never charged with in a court of law — money laundering to help terrorist organizations.  His real crime was speaking out against the U.S. and U.K.-sponsored UN sanctions on Iraq and sending aid to starving Iraqi civilians during the brutal embargo.

In Syracuse, New York, where he was tried, art student Katherine Hughes took a leave from her studies in order to witness his trial.  Her passion for the preservation of civil liberties was ignited 36 years ago when she saw a documentary of the Allies going into the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.  Since then she has known that if anything similar happened in her lifetime she didn’t want to be a bystander.

One of a dozen people who volunteered as Court Watchers for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Hughes attended the 17-week trial and took notes for 5 hours each day. Dismayed by what she witnessed in the courtroom and the uncritical coverage in the local newspaper, she has dedicated the last 10 years to seeking justice for Dr. Dhafir.

This film is the story of the terrible cost of one man’s humanitarian outreach, and one woman’s efforts to shed light on how the U.S. government so thoroughly perverted a system of justice it purports to uphold.

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 9/18/14

I have all the footage for this film and now need to raise money to pay a skilled professional to put it together. If you would like to help, you can make a contribution by wire transfer, check or money order.  Mail to:

Bob Elmendorf, Dr. Dhafir Support Committee, P.O. Box 76, Malden Bridge, NY 12115

Please make checks payable to: Dr. Dhafir Support Committee, with “Documentary” in the subject line. Please note these donations are not tax-deductible.

In these difficult economic times not everyone has cash to spare, but you can still help by letting others know about the case.

Thank you,

Katherine