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A World Vision Employee Is Still Awaiting Fair Trial in Israel
The charges against him don’t make sense. And his day in court has been delayed again and again.
Ken Chitwood|February 16, 2021
Image: Illustration by Kume Pather
Every day, at least once and sometimes more, Khalil el-Halabi logs on to Twitter and posts pictures, videos, and appeals on behalf of his son Mohammad.
Tagging people he believes might come to his aid—human rights lawyers, politicians, and journalists—he calls for justice and mercy. On January 4, he posted, “To our Israeli neighbours. My son will be brought to court for the 154th time Tuesday facing a charge he has not committed without any credible evidence.”
He closed the tweet with a quote from Amos 5:24: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Khalil’s son Mohammad el-Halabi is the former Gaza director for World Vision International. He was arrested by Israeli authorities in 2016 on allegations of aiding terrorists by diverting millions of dollars from the evangelical humanitarian aid group to arm militants in Gaza—charges Mohammad el-Halabi, still employed at World Vision as a zonal manager, adamantly denies.
After more than four years, Halabi is still awaiting justice. He hasn’t had the chance to defend himself or even see much of the evidence against him. Human rights experts with the United Nations say Halabi has also been denied access to his lawyer and tortured. His case is causing consternation among politicians and legal experts and has cast a cloud over evangelical organizations doing charitable work in Gaza and the West Bank.
“World Vision has not seen any credible evidence supporting the charges,” said Kevin Jenkins, World Vision International’s president and CEO, in a statement immediately after the arrest. “None of the allegations against Mohammad el-Halabi have been tested in an open court, ...
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/march/world-vision-gaza-israel-halabi-justice-delay.html
_____
Verdict Nears for Palestinian Accused of Diverting World Vision Funds
Mohammad el-Halabi has refused plea deals that would “pollute” the image of Christian aid organization, lawyer says.
Ken Chitwood|September 13, 2021 06:00 AM
Image: Momen Faiz/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Mohammad el-Halabi believes the truth will set him free.
The former Gaza director of World Vision has now spent more than half a decade in prison, and according to his lawyer, the Israeli government has offered him plea deal after plea deal. He could potentially go home if he would only confess that funding for the Christian humanitarian aid organization was diverted to support terrorism.
But Halabi has refused.
“He is saying he will not admit to things he never did,” Maher Hanna, who represents Halabi, told CT. “He will not pollute the image of World Vision just to get a personal discount and go home to be with his children.”
Hanna, himself a Christian, said this is one of the remarkable things about this case that has not been noted in the international headlines: A Muslim man who worked for a Christian organization is refusing, under severe pressure and at great personal risk, to betray one of the largest evangelical charities in the world and harm its future work.
“We should admire that position that Muhammad is taking for himself. It’s a high Christian value,” Hanna said.
Close observers and insiders say Halabi’s trial looks like it will conclude this fall. The Israeli court could reach a verdict as early as this month.
The case has been making its way through the Israeli justice system—tediously and obscurely—since Halabi was arrested by the state security service while attempting to pass through the Erez checkpoint between Gaza and Israel on June 15, 2016.
Halabi was subsequently accused of using his position with World Vision to aid Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist militant group that has governed Gaza since 2007. Israeli officials allege he was diverting funds meant to feed and educate children to instead help Hamas prepare another surprise attack on Israel.
If the accusations against him are true, Halabi is responsible for what TheGuardian reported would have been “the biggest aid money heist in history.”
Founded in 1950, World Vision is one of the world’s largest charities, operating in nearly 100 countries, with an annual budget exceeding $3 billion. It sometimes hires non-Christian administrators, such as Halabi, and receives lots of support from international governments and secular institutions. But World Vision also has clear Christian commitments and a mission “to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed” and “promote human transformation, seek justice, and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God.”
When Halabi was arrested, serious suspicion fell on the humanitarian work the group was doing in Gaza. Evangelical donors in the US—a significant part of World Vision’s support—started asking tough questions. Some governments, including those in Australia and Germany, immediately halted funding for World Vision projects.
World Vision leaders took the allegations seriously. The organization did not immediately put out a strong statement in Halabi’s defense, but instead expressed its commitment to cooperating with authorities and said, “World Vision is committed to the highest standards of accountability, and conducts regular internal and external financial audits.”
The group suspended its Gaza programs indefinitely in August 2016. Then it contracted one of the world’s largest multinational law firms to conduct an external, independent forensic investigation. After examining over 280,000 emails and documents, interviewing 180 people, and forensically examining every aspect of the Gaza operation between 2011 and 2016, the law firm delivered a 264-page report.
A person with firsthand knowledge of the investigation said, “The investigation did not find even a hint of funds being diverted to Hamas or any schemes or collusions involving other World Vision employees or third parties.” Investigators also couldn’t find “any material evidence suggesting [Halabi] was affiliated with, or worked for, Hamas.”
Although the law firm made suggestions for improving financial controls—a normal outcome of any financial review—the investigators actually found Halabi was diligent in assuring World Vision avoided any entanglement with Hamas, even inadvertently.
That report was finished in 2017; prosecution against Halabi continued for another four years and counting.
Additional reporting from the US Agency for International Development and the Australian and German governments corroborated the results of the independent audit, finding zero evidence of diverted funds.
Without credible accounting evidence, sources familiar with the prosecution told CT that the case against Halabi rests on the testimony of one former World Vision employee and a fellow prisoner who claims he heard Halabi confess to the crime.
However, the prosecution—citing national security concerns—has presented most of its case in closed hearings. At the several open hearings that have been held, no evidence of guilt appears to have been presented. Hanna has also not been allowed to see all the evidence against his client, and when he was shown some documents, he wasn’t allowed to see the originals, make copies, or take notes.
Representatives at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have condemned the secretive process, saying it is “not worthy of a democratic state.”
Hanna said it is like being thrown into the ocean with one’s hands and feet tied. Nevertheless, he says Halabi’s innocence has been established beyond a reasonable doubt.
“The charges against him are ridiculous,” he said. “They limited me from accessing important material because it would just be embarrassing if they allowed me to see it all or put it out in the public.”
Now Halabi waits for the courts to reach a verdict, trusting that the truth is enough to set him free.
His father, Khalil el-Halabi, said Mohammed is confident because he is innocent.
“They offered him several deals to get out of prison in three or five years, to be released to hug his wife and children in Gaza again,” the elder Halabi told CT, “but he has always told them the truth—‘I am innocent, my work was humanitarian, I served the poorest families in Gaza.’”
Khalil said he has been encouraged that as his son refuses to tarnish the reputation of a Christian aid organization, Christian communities in Gaza, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem have shown Halabi their support. Catholic and Orthodox churches rang their bells during his court sessions and “still today, many Christian brothers send gifts to his children and messages of solidarity to his family,” he said.
Sara Bach, a World Vision supporter from Hildesheim, Germany, said it does not matter to her whether Mohammed el-Halabi is Muslim or not. She supports World Vision because it “has embraced causes and policies that address real world issues and injustices for the poor and vulnerable.”
The human suffering in the Palestinian territories is one cause she doesn’t think evangelicals should ignore.
For more than half a decade now, though, World Vision’s work in Gaza has remained suspended while the Muslim former director sits in prison and rejects plea deal after plea deal.
“That means that the case isn’t just against a single man,” said Bach. “Children and families are suffering because of the loss of trust and support from World Vision in Gaza. That’s a real tragedy.”
www.christianitytoday.com
_____
Mohammad El Halabi Trial Overview
On June 15th, 2016, Mohammad El Halabi, the manager of operations for World Vision in Gaza, was arrested on his way home from routine meetings. After 50 days in Israeli state detention, Mohammad was charged with providing support to Hamas. Mohammad, pled not guilty to all charges made against him.
World Vision condemns any diversion of aid funding and strongly condemns any act of terrorism or support for those activities.
In response to the charges against Mohammad, World Vision suspended our work in Gaza and commissioned an externally-conducted forensic audit. The audit, completed in July of 2017, found no evidence of diversion of funds and no material evidence that El Halabi was part of or working for Hamas.
At World Vision, we strive to assist vulnerable children in some of the most difficult contexts imaginable. It is tragic that this issue is taking us away from our work on important issues of injustice and poverty affecting billions of children around the world. We are committed to acting in a way that is transparent, respectful of the ongoing legal process, upholding our values as an organisation, and builds trust in humanitarian organisations.
We remain committed to understand the truth behind the allegations made against Mohammad El Halabi.
World Vision is a global Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. World Vision has worked in Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza since 1975.
www.wvi.org
_____
I call on the world to help my son, an aid worker wrongfully imprisoned by Israel
Khalil El Halabi
Mohammad El Halabi has been detained for five years without trial, accused of diverting $50m in aid funds to Hamas
Mohammad El Halabi, director of World Vision’s humanitarian operations in Gaza. Photograph: Dudu Grunshpan/Reuters
Thu 30 Sep 2021 12.00 BST
Last modified on Fri 1 Oct 2021 12.33 BST
Children around the world have been returning to school classrooms in recent weeks, including here in the Gaza Strip. For my 10-year-old grandson, Faris, the new school year began without his father to take him to school or help him with homework.
His father – my son, Mohammad El Halabi – has not been home with his family for more than five years. Instead, he sits in an Israeli jail on the basis of trumped-up charges.
As this paper recently reported, his case is a truly extraordinary story. It is a shocking indictment of Israel’s so-called “justice” system.
Mohammad worked for World Vision, a US-headquartered global relief charity, becoming the director of its humanitarian operations in Gaza. Deeply committed to helping families and children in desperate need, he was profiled as one of the UN’s “Humanitarian Heroes”.
Despite – or perhaps because of – his selfless work supporting Gaza’s people, Israeli officials had my son in their sights. On 15 June 2016, Mohammad was detained at Erez Crossing, after returning back home from a meeting at the World Vision office in Jerusalem.
He was held without access to a lawyer for weeks, during which time he says he was beaten up by interrogators – the UN has said his treatment under interrogation “may amount to torture”. The indictments, publicised with great fanfare by Israeli officials and diplomats, were preposterous; my son was accused of diverting up to $50m (£37m) of aid money over seven years to Hamas. In addition, the indictment accused him of diverting thousands of tons of “dual-use” iron, brought in by World Vision through the Kerem Shalom crossing for its projects, for the benefit of Hamas.
The figures involved vastly exceeded World Vision’s average annual budget in Gaza. Moreover, the NGO says it never even used the Kerem Shalom crossing, or imported iron into Gaza.
These were only some of the many holes in the accusations.
After my son was indicted, World Vision commissioned an audit of its operations: no evidence was found to substantiate Israeli claims. Indeed, a World Vision spokesperson said its investigations revealed substantial evidence that “Mohammad worked to ensure World Vision avoided improper interactions with Hamas”. The Australian government – a World Vision donor – also investigated and found no evidence that funds had been diverted.
For five years, Israeli prosecutors have failed to produce any concrete evidence against my son. Instead, they rely on the supposed testimony of a witness who says he heard Mohammad confess, and a former World Vision employee.
Israeli officials have even refused to allow those in Gaza named as allegedly assisting Mohammad in the conspiracy to come to court to testify as defence witnesses that the whole thing is nonsense.
Tellingly, ever since the second year of his incarceration, they have been offering him freedom if he agrees to a plea bargain. But Mohammad has refused to admit to a crime he didn’t commit.
As a parent who has raised my children to work for peace and to provide humanitarian work, I have worked day and night for his release. I defend my son because I am sure of his innocence and I am confident that the fake accusations levelled against him are because of his humanitarian work.
My son believes deeply in the work he was doing. World Vision in Gaza funded humanitarian projects and psychological help for children, providing support for farmers and fishermen. It distributed school supplies to children.
He believed the economic blockade of Gaza fomented violence, and that humanitarian work reduces it – a subject that he addressed when invited to speak at Australia’s federal parliament in 2014.
As a reflection of who Mohammad is, and in light of the absolute travesty that is his trial, there have been growing calls for justice and an end to this excruciating legal process. Last November, UN rights experts called on Israel to either “release [Mohammad] … or immediately grant him a fair trial”.
Israeli media has also noted the “unusual restrictions” placed on my son’s lawyer, Maher Hanna. As an editorial in the Jerusalem Post noted, Hanna has been shown just some of the supposed evidence – and what was made available he could only see without taking notes or being given a copy. As Hanna says, even Kafka would not have conceived of a trial this absurd.
If there were due process, I am confident Mohammad would be able to prove his innocence. But, from the moment he was arrested and held for weeks without a lawyer, all the way through the years of court hearings, the entire story has been characterised by injustice.
It has also been inhumane. The prosecution has encouraged Mohammad to admit to a lesser crime he didn’t commit, which he has refused to do. All the while I am deprived of my son – and his children are deprived of their father.
The verdict is expected in the coming weeks, and I still believe justice can prevail. There is a growing awareness of Mohammad’s plight. Anyone who raises their voices can make a difference – from governments and humanitarian workers to all people of good conscience. Speak up, end this injustice, and bring Mohammad home.
Khalil El Halabi worked for four decades as an education supervisor in the Gaza Strip for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
www.theguardian.com
The charges against him don’t make sense. And his day in court has been delayed again and again.
Ken Chitwood|February 16, 2021
Image: Illustration by Kume Pather
Every day, at least once and sometimes more, Khalil el-Halabi logs on to Twitter and posts pictures, videos, and appeals on behalf of his son Mohammad.
Tagging people he believes might come to his aid—human rights lawyers, politicians, and journalists—he calls for justice and mercy. On January 4, he posted, “To our Israeli neighbours. My son will be brought to court for the 154th time Tuesday facing a charge he has not committed without any credible evidence.”
He closed the tweet with a quote from Amos 5:24: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Khalil’s son Mohammad el-Halabi is the former Gaza director for World Vision International. He was arrested by Israeli authorities in 2016 on allegations of aiding terrorists by diverting millions of dollars from the evangelical humanitarian aid group to arm militants in Gaza—charges Mohammad el-Halabi, still employed at World Vision as a zonal manager, adamantly denies.
After more than four years, Halabi is still awaiting justice. He hasn’t had the chance to defend himself or even see much of the evidence against him. Human rights experts with the United Nations say Halabi has also been denied access to his lawyer and tortured. His case is causing consternation among politicians and legal experts and has cast a cloud over evangelical organizations doing charitable work in Gaza and the West Bank.
“World Vision has not seen any credible evidence supporting the charges,” said Kevin Jenkins, World Vision International’s president and CEO, in a statement immediately after the arrest. “None of the allegations against Mohammad el-Halabi have been tested in an open court, ...
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/march/world-vision-gaza-israel-halabi-justice-delay.html
_____
Verdict Nears for Palestinian Accused of Diverting World Vision Funds
Mohammad el-Halabi has refused plea deals that would “pollute” the image of Christian aid organization, lawyer says.
Ken Chitwood|September 13, 2021 06:00 AM
Image: Momen Faiz/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Mohammad el-Halabi believes the truth will set him free.
The former Gaza director of World Vision has now spent more than half a decade in prison, and according to his lawyer, the Israeli government has offered him plea deal after plea deal. He could potentially go home if he would only confess that funding for the Christian humanitarian aid organization was diverted to support terrorism.
But Halabi has refused.
“He is saying he will not admit to things he never did,” Maher Hanna, who represents Halabi, told CT. “He will not pollute the image of World Vision just to get a personal discount and go home to be with his children.”
Hanna, himself a Christian, said this is one of the remarkable things about this case that has not been noted in the international headlines: A Muslim man who worked for a Christian organization is refusing, under severe pressure and at great personal risk, to betray one of the largest evangelical charities in the world and harm its future work.
“We should admire that position that Muhammad is taking for himself. It’s a high Christian value,” Hanna said.
Close observers and insiders say Halabi’s trial looks like it will conclude this fall. The Israeli court could reach a verdict as early as this month.
The case has been making its way through the Israeli justice system—tediously and obscurely—since Halabi was arrested by the state security service while attempting to pass through the Erez checkpoint between Gaza and Israel on June 15, 2016.
Halabi was subsequently accused of using his position with World Vision to aid Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist militant group that has governed Gaza since 2007. Israeli officials allege he was diverting funds meant to feed and educate children to instead help Hamas prepare another surprise attack on Israel.
If the accusations against him are true, Halabi is responsible for what TheGuardian reported would have been “the biggest aid money heist in history.”
Founded in 1950, World Vision is one of the world’s largest charities, operating in nearly 100 countries, with an annual budget exceeding $3 billion. It sometimes hires non-Christian administrators, such as Halabi, and receives lots of support from international governments and secular institutions. But World Vision also has clear Christian commitments and a mission “to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed” and “promote human transformation, seek justice, and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God.”
When Halabi was arrested, serious suspicion fell on the humanitarian work the group was doing in Gaza. Evangelical donors in the US—a significant part of World Vision’s support—started asking tough questions. Some governments, including those in Australia and Germany, immediately halted funding for World Vision projects.
World Vision leaders took the allegations seriously. The organization did not immediately put out a strong statement in Halabi’s defense, but instead expressed its commitment to cooperating with authorities and said, “World Vision is committed to the highest standards of accountability, and conducts regular internal and external financial audits.”
The group suspended its Gaza programs indefinitely in August 2016. Then it contracted one of the world’s largest multinational law firms to conduct an external, independent forensic investigation. After examining over 280,000 emails and documents, interviewing 180 people, and forensically examining every aspect of the Gaza operation between 2011 and 2016, the law firm delivered a 264-page report.
A person with firsthand knowledge of the investigation said, “The investigation did not find even a hint of funds being diverted to Hamas or any schemes or collusions involving other World Vision employees or third parties.” Investigators also couldn’t find “any material evidence suggesting [Halabi] was affiliated with, or worked for, Hamas.”
Although the law firm made suggestions for improving financial controls—a normal outcome of any financial review—the investigators actually found Halabi was diligent in assuring World Vision avoided any entanglement with Hamas, even inadvertently.
That report was finished in 2017; prosecution against Halabi continued for another four years and counting.
Additional reporting from the US Agency for International Development and the Australian and German governments corroborated the results of the independent audit, finding zero evidence of diverted funds.
Without credible accounting evidence, sources familiar with the prosecution told CT that the case against Halabi rests on the testimony of one former World Vision employee and a fellow prisoner who claims he heard Halabi confess to the crime.
However, the prosecution—citing national security concerns—has presented most of its case in closed hearings. At the several open hearings that have been held, no evidence of guilt appears to have been presented. Hanna has also not been allowed to see all the evidence against his client, and when he was shown some documents, he wasn’t allowed to see the originals, make copies, or take notes.
Representatives at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have condemned the secretive process, saying it is “not worthy of a democratic state.”
Hanna said it is like being thrown into the ocean with one’s hands and feet tied. Nevertheless, he says Halabi’s innocence has been established beyond a reasonable doubt.
“The charges against him are ridiculous,” he said. “They limited me from accessing important material because it would just be embarrassing if they allowed me to see it all or put it out in the public.”
Now Halabi waits for the courts to reach a verdict, trusting that the truth is enough to set him free.
His father, Khalil el-Halabi, said Mohammed is confident because he is innocent.
“They offered him several deals to get out of prison in three or five years, to be released to hug his wife and children in Gaza again,” the elder Halabi told CT, “but he has always told them the truth—‘I am innocent, my work was humanitarian, I served the poorest families in Gaza.’”
Khalil said he has been encouraged that as his son refuses to tarnish the reputation of a Christian aid organization, Christian communities in Gaza, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem have shown Halabi their support. Catholic and Orthodox churches rang their bells during his court sessions and “still today, many Christian brothers send gifts to his children and messages of solidarity to his family,” he said.
Sara Bach, a World Vision supporter from Hildesheim, Germany, said it does not matter to her whether Mohammed el-Halabi is Muslim or not. She supports World Vision because it “has embraced causes and policies that address real world issues and injustices for the poor and vulnerable.”
The human suffering in the Palestinian territories is one cause she doesn’t think evangelicals should ignore.
For more than half a decade now, though, World Vision’s work in Gaza has remained suspended while the Muslim former director sits in prison and rejects plea deal after plea deal.
“That means that the case isn’t just against a single man,” said Bach. “Children and families are suffering because of the loss of trust and support from World Vision in Gaza. That’s a real tragedy.”
Verdict Nears for Palestinian Accused of Diverting World Vision Funds
Mohammad el-Halabi has refused plea deals that would “pollute” the image of Christian aid organization, lawyer says.
www.christianitytoday.com
_____
Mohammad El Halabi Trial Overview
On June 15th, 2016, Mohammad El Halabi, the manager of operations for World Vision in Gaza, was arrested on his way home from routine meetings. After 50 days in Israeli state detention, Mohammad was charged with providing support to Hamas. Mohammad, pled not guilty to all charges made against him.
World Vision condemns any diversion of aid funding and strongly condemns any act of terrorism or support for those activities.
In response to the charges against Mohammad, World Vision suspended our work in Gaza and commissioned an externally-conducted forensic audit. The audit, completed in July of 2017, found no evidence of diversion of funds and no material evidence that El Halabi was part of or working for Hamas.
At World Vision, we strive to assist vulnerable children in some of the most difficult contexts imaginable. It is tragic that this issue is taking us away from our work on important issues of injustice and poverty affecting billions of children around the world. We are committed to acting in a way that is transparent, respectful of the ongoing legal process, upholding our values as an organisation, and builds trust in humanitarian organisations.
We remain committed to understand the truth behind the allegations made against Mohammad El Halabi.
World Vision is a global Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. World Vision has worked in Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza since 1975.
Mohammad El Halabi Trial Overview
Overview and official statements regarding the arrest and trial of World Vision's area manager from Gaza, Mohammed El Halabi, who was accused of providing support to Hamas.In 2016, Mohammad El Halabi, the manager of operations for World Vision in Gaza, was arrested. He was later accused by the...
www.wvi.org
_____
I call on the world to help my son, an aid worker wrongfully imprisoned by Israel
Khalil El Halabi
Mohammad El Halabi has been detained for five years without trial, accused of diverting $50m in aid funds to Hamas
Mohammad El Halabi, director of World Vision’s humanitarian operations in Gaza. Photograph: Dudu Grunshpan/Reuters
Thu 30 Sep 2021 12.00 BST
Last modified on Fri 1 Oct 2021 12.33 BST
Children around the world have been returning to school classrooms in recent weeks, including here in the Gaza Strip. For my 10-year-old grandson, Faris, the new school year began without his father to take him to school or help him with homework.
His father – my son, Mohammad El Halabi – has not been home with his family for more than five years. Instead, he sits in an Israeli jail on the basis of trumped-up charges.
As this paper recently reported, his case is a truly extraordinary story. It is a shocking indictment of Israel’s so-called “justice” system.
Mohammad worked for World Vision, a US-headquartered global relief charity, becoming the director of its humanitarian operations in Gaza. Deeply committed to helping families and children in desperate need, he was profiled as one of the UN’s “Humanitarian Heroes”.
Despite – or perhaps because of – his selfless work supporting Gaza’s people, Israeli officials had my son in their sights. On 15 June 2016, Mohammad was detained at Erez Crossing, after returning back home from a meeting at the World Vision office in Jerusalem.
He was held without access to a lawyer for weeks, during which time he says he was beaten up by interrogators – the UN has said his treatment under interrogation “may amount to torture”. The indictments, publicised with great fanfare by Israeli officials and diplomats, were preposterous; my son was accused of diverting up to $50m (£37m) of aid money over seven years to Hamas. In addition, the indictment accused him of diverting thousands of tons of “dual-use” iron, brought in by World Vision through the Kerem Shalom crossing for its projects, for the benefit of Hamas.
The figures involved vastly exceeded World Vision’s average annual budget in Gaza. Moreover, the NGO says it never even used the Kerem Shalom crossing, or imported iron into Gaza.
These were only some of the many holes in the accusations.
After my son was indicted, World Vision commissioned an audit of its operations: no evidence was found to substantiate Israeli claims. Indeed, a World Vision spokesperson said its investigations revealed substantial evidence that “Mohammad worked to ensure World Vision avoided improper interactions with Hamas”. The Australian government – a World Vision donor – also investigated and found no evidence that funds had been diverted.
For five years, Israeli prosecutors have failed to produce any concrete evidence against my son. Instead, they rely on the supposed testimony of a witness who says he heard Mohammad confess, and a former World Vision employee.
Israeli officials have even refused to allow those in Gaza named as allegedly assisting Mohammad in the conspiracy to come to court to testify as defence witnesses that the whole thing is nonsense.
Tellingly, ever since the second year of his incarceration, they have been offering him freedom if he agrees to a plea bargain. But Mohammad has refused to admit to a crime he didn’t commit.
As a parent who has raised my children to work for peace and to provide humanitarian work, I have worked day and night for his release. I defend my son because I am sure of his innocence and I am confident that the fake accusations levelled against him are because of his humanitarian work.
My son believes deeply in the work he was doing. World Vision in Gaza funded humanitarian projects and psychological help for children, providing support for farmers and fishermen. It distributed school supplies to children.
He believed the economic blockade of Gaza fomented violence, and that humanitarian work reduces it – a subject that he addressed when invited to speak at Australia’s federal parliament in 2014.
As a reflection of who Mohammad is, and in light of the absolute travesty that is his trial, there have been growing calls for justice and an end to this excruciating legal process. Last November, UN rights experts called on Israel to either “release [Mohammad] … or immediately grant him a fair trial”.
Israeli media has also noted the “unusual restrictions” placed on my son’s lawyer, Maher Hanna. As an editorial in the Jerusalem Post noted, Hanna has been shown just some of the supposed evidence – and what was made available he could only see without taking notes or being given a copy. As Hanna says, even Kafka would not have conceived of a trial this absurd.
If there were due process, I am confident Mohammad would be able to prove his innocence. But, from the moment he was arrested and held for weeks without a lawyer, all the way through the years of court hearings, the entire story has been characterised by injustice.
It has also been inhumane. The prosecution has encouraged Mohammad to admit to a lesser crime he didn’t commit, which he has refused to do. All the while I am deprived of my son – and his children are deprived of their father.
The verdict is expected in the coming weeks, and I still believe justice can prevail. There is a growing awareness of Mohammad’s plight. Anyone who raises their voices can make a difference – from governments and humanitarian workers to all people of good conscience. Speak up, end this injustice, and bring Mohammad home.
Khalil El Halabi worked for four decades as an education supervisor in the Gaza Strip for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
I call on the world to help my son, an aid worker wrongfully imprisoned by Israel | Khalil El Halabi
Mohammad El Halabi has been detained for five years without trial, says Khalil El Halabi, a former UNRWA education supervisor
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