UK cash funded Hamas suicide bombings
British charity still operating in open
Posted: February 2, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein
2005 WorldNetDaily.com
A major Islamic organization raising millions of dollars in Britain
"to provide humanitarian aid to peoples of the Middle East"
transferred money to a Hamas charity that provided funds to the
families of Palestinian suicide bombers and pays for suicide
operations, according to documents found in the Palestinian
territories.
On its website, Interpal, established in 1994, says it is a British
charity "that focuses solely on the provision of relief and
development aid to the poor and needy of Palestine and the world over,
primarily in Palestine and the refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon."
The charity reportedly raised more than $8 million last year.
But documents discovered and declassified this month from Israel's
2002 Operation Defensive Shield and operations in the Palestinian
territories last year, along with other supportive evidence released
through the Center for Special Studies in Israel and shared with WND,
show Interpal transferred large sums to the Bethlehem Orphan Care
Society.
The society, outlawed in Israel in 2002, was being run by Dr. Ghassan
Issa Mahmoud Harmass, a high-ranking Hamas figure in Bethlehem.
Security sources say that aside from some humanitarian work it did to
endear itself to the Palestinian population, the society passed on
funds to Hamas’ terrorist apparatus, and gave money to the families of
Hamas suicide bombers.
Documents found in the Palestinian Preventative Security offices in
Bethlehem shows the PA ordered its security services to infiltrate the
society and discovered it was being run by known Hamas activists,
obtained money from Interpal and worked in conjunction with other
Hamas institutions in the West Bank. The PA often spies on Hamas to
ensure it does not gain enough power to challenge the dominant Fatah
party.
According to other documents later found by the IDF in the society's
offices, the charity received funds from Interpal on many occasions.
One report dealing with contacts between Hamas members and
representatives of the society mentions the receipt of funds from
Interpal. Also found was a memorandum from Interpal regarding a
donation it made to the society.
The documents are the latest evidence connecting the British charity
to Hamas.
Documents released last month also showed Interpal funded other Hamas
organizations. Among them is Hamas' Al-Islah Charitable Society in
Ramallah. A receipt from Jan. 15, 2001, printed on Interpal
stationary, showed the transfer of $33,800 through the City Bank of
New York. It was signed by Jamal Muhammad al-Tawil, the founder and
chairman of Al-Islah and a high-ranking West Bank Hamas activist
recently arrested by Israeli forces.
Interpal was declared an illegal, terror-supporting organization in
Israel because of its alleged links to Hamas and was outlawed in the
United States in August 2003 after being designated by a U.S.
executive order "an entity that commits, threatens to commit or
supports terrorism."
The British charity's former chairman and current vice-chairman of the
board of trustees, Essam Silah Mustafa, is a well-known Hamas
activist. Israel's Shin Bet has declared Mustafa "one of the most
prominent individuals in Hamas' financial system in the Western
world."
Interpal's founder, Ibrahim Brian Hewitt, a British citizen who
converted to Islam reportedly in the 1980s, told the British daily
Guardian newspaper it was "possible" some of Interpal's funds may have
gone to Hamas, but he claimed Hamas' social services were not managed
by the terror group's "military wing."
"Interpal is one of the most important channels through which money is
poured into the Hamas infrastructure in the Palestinian areas, and
Britain has been and will continue to be provided with plenty of
evidence" a security source told WorldNetDaily.
British authorities investigated Interpal several times in the past,
and the charity has had its UK bank accounts temporarily frozen, but
Britain's Charity Commission in 2003 dropped the investigation for
"lack of evidence" that Interpal was connected to any terrorist
organization.
The charity currently operates unimpeded in Britain.
"The [British] authorities are afraid of the large Muslim community,"
said a security source. "Britain's failure to close Interpal and take
action against Hamas' charities is coming from internal politics."
.
|
|
| User: "tw" |
|
| Title: Re: UK cash funded Hamas suicide bombings |
02 Feb 2005 09:47:04 AM |
|
|
<itwill@happen.com> wrote in message
news:1107358244.602c9c09fad93d74483586450e33e558@teranews...
UK cash funded Hamas suicide bombings
British charity still operating in open
Posted: February 2, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein
2005 WorldNetDaily.com
A major Islamic organization raising millions of dollars in Britain
"to provide humanitarian aid to peoples of the Middle East"
transferred money to a Hamas charity that provided funds to the
families of Palestinian suicide bombers and pays for suicide
operations, according to documents found in the Palestinian
territories.
Pretty much the same as NORAID in Boston and New York then? (except the IRA
bombers didn't generally have the good grace to take themselves out at the
same time)
"The [British] authorities are afraid of the large Muslim community,"
said a security source. "Britain's failure to close Interpal and take
action against Hamas' charities is coming from internal politics."
How ironic...
.
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
