Council
under President Clinton, but he was not noticed as an expert and did not testify
under Rule 702. The defendants challenge testimony he gave about the dangers
posed by Hamas violence to the United States’ strategic interests in the Middle
East and to American support of the Oslo peace accords. Simon testified that the
violence interferes with the peace process and affects the United States’ vital
interests in maintaining stability in the region and easing Arab resentment
toward America. At one point, when asked why the United States should care

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     Hamas.
      The chairman of the Palestine Committee in the United States, Hamas
leader Marzook, maintained contact information for Baker, El-Mezain, and
Elashi in his personal telephone book. Although El-Mezain told the FBI that he
had no relationship with Marzook other than occasional holiday telephone calls,
telephone records showed that Marzook called El-Mezain 52 times from 1989 to
1993. After Marzook was designated as a SDT and was taken into custody,
Baker explained to a newspaper reporter that his name was likely in Marzook’s
phone book because Marzook had made a large donation to HLF.              That
conversation was captured in a wiretap. Baker claimed that Marzook had
written one check and HLF did not hear from him again. He also