Tracking Terrorism

Did a North Texas charity finance Palestinian terrorists? Jeffrey Kahn, assistant professor of law at SMU, discussed the United States’ ongoing case against the Holy Land Foundation this summer on National Public Radio.

Kahn, an expert on counterterrorism, American constitutional law and human rights, said that during the federal trial in Dallas, prosecutors will try to follow the path of $12 million the Holy Land Foundation says it sent to help poor and orphaned Palestinians. The government alleges the money instead supported Hamas’ suicide bombings and other terrorism.

“To the extent that Hamas provides for a wide variety of medical and social welfare needs in Gaza and the West Bank as well as engages in acts of terrorism, every penny saved can be used in a terrorist context,” said Kahn on the July 16 “Morning Edition.”

Read the complete transcript here.

Kahn received the 2007-08 Maguire Teaching Fellow Award from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility for his course “Perspectives on Counterterrorism.” Kahn previously served as a trial attorney for the U.S. Justice Department, including in the Criminal Division to conduct research on Russian criminal procedure. His books include Federalism, Democratization and the Rule of Law in Russia (Oxford University Press, 2002).