This Ramadan, help NCPCF better serve Muslim political prisoners!  Each donation will be matched up to $5,000 so donate today to double your impact! Your generous support is needed to help NCPCF expand its programmatic work, something especially crucial during this time of heightened Islamophobia and increased targeting of Muslims as part of the War on Terror. Please donate today and help spread the word to your networks! 

Innocent until proven Muslim

Muslims and Muslim Americans have continued to be targeted in the "War on Terror," due to policies post 9/11 that have relied on the rationale of collective responsibility.  Unfortunately, Muslims have and continue to face consequences ranging from illegal detention, entrapment, torture, pre-emptive prosecution and even death.  In the United States alone, over 200 Muslims have been detained and preemptively prosecuted. The National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms directly serves these Muslims and their families while also confronting the policies that resulted in their imprisonment. This Ramadan be a part of making the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms the premier organization in support of Muslim political prisoners and their families!

Why do we exist?

Muslim imprisonment under the umbrella of the War on Terror has dramatically increased.  In fact the founder of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms was a political prisoner named Sami Al-Arian, a computer engineering professor at University of South Florida, detained for over 5 years for advocating against the use of state secrets in a vicious government campaign.  Recognizing the urgency to create an organization that combated post 9/11 abuses that disproportionately impact Muslims, Dr. Al-Arian helped found the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms. The NCPCF rose out of the need to: 

• directly serve Muslim prisoners and their families because of the stigma, isolation, and barriers to legal justice that they face.
• combat the myriad of national security policies that disproportionately impacts Muslims 

Our coalition includes organizations such as the Muslim Legal Fund of America, the Center for Constitutional Rights, ICNA Council for Social Justice, and Defending Dissidents Foundation, amongst others. The NCPCF is the only organization which works to support this community and that's why we need your help! 

The stories behind the names

Mohammed Shnewer, Dritan Duka, Shain Duka, and Eljvir Duka Victims of FBI Entrapment in the Fort Fix 5 Case. 

The Holy Land Five- HLF5 Case

The Holy Land Foundation was the largest Muslim charity in the United States. Shortly after 9/11, the U.S government shut down the organization and seized its assets. In 2004, it charged its founders with providing material support to Hamas, based on the fact that they distributed charity to Palestinians through Zakat committees that were in the Gaza strip and West Bank. Although the initial trial resulted in a hung jury, a retrial the following year found all the founders guilty on all counts. 

Ghassan Elashi was one of the Holy Land Five, convicted of providing charitable aid to widows and children in Palestine. Like all the cases, he was not charged with an acts of violence, yet he was sentenced to 65 years in prison. 

He is pictured here with his youngest son, Omar. Omar loves his father very much, and so at one time ran to give him a hug on parting. At the time Mr. Elashi was in the very restrictive Communications Management Unit.  Because of this infraction, he was allowed no contact at all with his family for a year and a half.

Protecting your civil liberties - because freedom matters

Educating the public

An NCPCF project has been to educate the public about the miscarriages of justice in today’s United States, from mass surveillance of Muslim communities, entrapment by agent provocateurs, to preemptive prosecution. The use of solitary confinement is particularly egregious, and it is very heavily used against Muslim prisoners. NCPCF has constructed a replica of a solitary cell, which allows people to experience first-hand what this torture is like. The cell is covered with posters of Muslim political prisoners who have spent a great deal of time in these conditions.  The cell has been displayed in Texas, Iowa, North Carolina and Florida.

Events usually feature family members of the political prisoners telling their stories. In the second picture, Noor Elashi is telling her father’s story at the First United Church of Tampa. Her father is Ghassan Elashi, one of the Holy Land Five. Unless something changes, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Providing support to prisoners and families

For the past four years, the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms (NCPCF) has been sending $100 to the canteen accounts of hundreds of prisoners to help them celebrate Ramadan. This money helps them purchase items such as dates for Ramadan, other food items, writing supplies, tooth brushes, and other necessities. From an inmate: "I thought the $100 increase in my commissary was an error until I received your letter. Imagine how many inmates' faces turned from a frown to a smile. The generosity of your practice is rare as it is welcome." 

Additionally, NCPCF has organized annual family retreats, for the last five years,  providing families of those impacted by War on Terror policies an opportunity to come together for both healing and planning for further advocacy for their loved ones. 

Make NCPCF the premier organization in supporting Muslim political prisoners

This Ramadan, help us raise $10,000 to help us better serve Muslim political prisoners!  With your help, we will be able hire full-time staff to make the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms the premier organization in support of Muslim political prisoners and their families.  Your support will specifically help us continue and grow our educational programs while also continuing to serve prisoners and their families through commissary funds and annual families' conferences.  

"I've attempted to contact other organizations only to be turned down, thrown to another organization, or used to promote whatever fundraiser they were hosting at the time. NCPCF was different. Even when everything goes wrong, even when money is tight, they still manage to pull through for my family and for others like us even going so far as to contribute money from their own pockets. I suddenly morphed from this girl who was shy to talk and always hidden to this young lady who knew what she wanted to say and how she wanted to say it. Their workshops helped me and my family talk to the media, lobby, protest, and deal with inner feelings that I never knew existed. NCPCF is more than a simple organization to me, they are family." 

-Reem Jayyousi, whose father Kifah Jayyousi was unjustly convicted and sentenced to over 12 years in a federal prison.

How you can help 

Donate and share our campaign on your social media channels!  And don't forgot to use the LaunchGood sharing tools above!