On September 6, the European Union finally abandoned the
sophomoric position that the social and political wings of Hamas are
somehow distinct from the group's military wing, banning not only the
Izz al Dinn al Qassam Brigades but Hamas overall. This should have made
it harder for Hamas to raise financing in Europe.
But less than three weeks later, in the first test of the new EU policy, Britain's
Charity Commission for England and Wales unfroze the accounts of the U.K.-based
Palestinian Relief and Development Fund, or Interpal, one of the largest Hamas
front organizations operating in Europe. Why?
On August 21, the U.S. Treasury Department had fingered five charities, including
Interpal, as Hamas front organizations and branded them "Specially Designated
Global Terrorist" entities. While the Charity Commission cleared it of
terror financing charges in 1996, Interpal has since been implicated in a several
international terrorism cases.
Following the U.S. designation, the Commission quickly froze Interpal's accounts
pending a complete investigation, forcing the charity to receive the commission's
special approval before sending donations abroad.
The Charity Commission's decision to unfreeze Interpal's accounts was therefore
an unwelcome surprise. The Commission claims U.S. authorities failed to provide
evidence to substantiate their charges, a point that is disputed by the relevant
U.S. official. But even if it is true that that they didn't, the Commission
does not take into account the plethora of open source evidence linking Interpal
to Hamas.
Consider the following examples of openly available evidence the Charity Commission
failed to consider:
Already in 1996, the year the Charity Commission first cleared Interpal, authorities
determined that the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) and the
World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), both Saudi charities associated with
al Qaeda, were funding Hamas through Interpal. In documents confiscated at
the time, recipient Hamas organizations were asked to send thank-you letters
directly to IIRO and
WAMY rather than to Interpal. Last year, Israeli raids of Hamas run charities
in the West Bank netted material lauding Hamas suicide attacks and records
showing that the IIRO donated at least $280,000 to the Tulkarm committee and
other Palestinian organizations linked to Hamas.
A recently disclosed 1996 CIA document on world-wide charitable organizations
financing terror refers to Hamas operatives and front organizations throughout
Europe, including the U.K., Denmark, Austria, and Croatia. The document reveals
that even then authorities were aware that Hamas fronts like Human Appeal International
and Human Relief International were operating offices in London.
Authorities now know the trend continued after the Charity Commission last
cleared Interpal of charges linking it to Hamas in 1996. The index of documents
seized in last year's raids of West Bank charity committees revealed that Interpal
and similar organizations contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hamas
charities, often specifying that the funds were to benefit "the families
of martyrs," in other words, blatant payments for suicide bombings. Interpal
features prominently in these
documents, which include accounting spreadsheets, written correspondence, and
more.
Shortly after September 11, the FBI tied Interpal to the Holy Land Foundation
for Relief and Development (HLFRD), the largest Hamas front in America
until in was shut in December 2001. According to an FBI memorandum on the
HLFRD, Hamas members tied to terrorist activity often run the charity committees
funded Interpal, HLFRD and others.
For example, Fadel Muhammad Salah Hamdan of the Ramallah charity committee, Ahmed
Salim Ahmed Saltana of the Jenin charity committee, and Khalil Ali Rashad Dar
Rashad of the Orphan Care Association in Bethlehem were all involved in Qassam
Brigades operations. Interpal openly reports its funding of these and other suspect
charity committees.
The FBI memo also stated that "FBI analysis linked Sanabil, Interpal and
the HLFRD." Sanabil, a Hamas front in Lebanon through which Interpal transferred
funds, was among the Hamas fronts designated in August. The report added, "a
review of the HLFRD's financial records shows that on April 11, 2000, the HLFRD
wired Interpal $66,000.00."
U.S and German investigators also tied Interpal to Sheikh Mohammad Ali Hassan
al Moayad. In addition to heading the Yemen office of the al Aqsa International
Foundation, a Hamas front organization operating on several continents, Moayad
was arrested in Germany for providing money, arms, communication gear, and recruits
to al Qaeda. As proof of his ability "to get money to the Jihad," Moayad
offered an FBI informant a receipt showing he transferred $70,000 to Interpal.
Moayad also told FBI
informants he provided $3.5 million to Hamas and $20 million to al Qaeda.
Most recently, telephone intercepts introduced in the case of Shaykh Raed Salah,
an Israeli-Arab leader charged with funneling money to Hamas through Islamic
charities he ran, reveal Salah engaged in conversations with Interpal officials
and other Hamas financial supporters throughout Europe.
Given all this, it boggles the mind that the Charity Commission could make the
mistake of clearing a demonstrated Hamas front organization like Interpal --
a second time -- given the wealth of publicly available evidence of its ties
to Hamas. In fact, a senior U.S. Treasury Department official recently testified
before the U.S. Congress that the U.S. provided the Commission "definitive
proof" Interpal financed Hamas.
In the first test of the EU's decision to ban Hamas, Britain's Charity Commission
has then failed miserably. Inexplicably, the Commission ignored the plethora
of readily available, unclassified evidence, choosing instead to turn a blind
eye to the blood money Hamas openly raises in the U.K. |
