A Malmo court acquitted the head of the al-Aqsa Foundation in Sweden on charges that Khaled al-Yousef used funds from the charity to support Hamas. “This is good. Now the work of sending money to children can continue,” said al-Yousef’s defense attorney Laue Traberg. Al-Yousef was charged with violating terror financing laws, with an alternative charge of violating sanctions laws. As head of the al-Aqsa organization, he oversaw the collection of donations for Palestinian children suffering in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. According to his indictment, money ended up at organizations wit ties to Hamas – which is designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union. In its ruling, the Malmö District Court stated that Hamas and Israel have a relationship to one another akin to a state of war. That Israel has declared illegal a number of organizations to which al-Yousef’s foundation sent money holds no importance, according to the court.
