Interpal - Appendix B

Special Information
Bulletin

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S)

December 2004
(Updated and revised)

Part III

Appendix B (5-6)

Two documents dealing with the transfer of $33,800 by Interpal to Al-Islah Charitable Society, Ramallah-Al-Bireh¹³

13. The documents were found in the offices of Al-Islah Charitable Society in Bethlehem during Operation Defensive Shield (April 2002).

Document No. 5

Translation

[Interpal emblem]		PO Box 3333
The Palestine Relief and Development Fund	Interpal	London , NW6 1RW
		Tel: 0181 450 8002
		Fax: 0181 450 8004
		Email:info@interpal.org
		Website: www.interpal.org

No. BTR/01/16
transfer of funds/receipt advice form
date: 18/01/01
important note
this form must be completed and returned to interpal immediately after receiving
the amount stated below
Name of Beneficiary: Al-Islah Charitable Society – Ramallah
tfr date : 15/01/01
Please be advised that the following amount has been transferred to your account. Details as follows:
Bank Name: Al-Aqsa Islamic Bank,¹⁴Ramallah Branch, viaCity Bank, New York
Account No: 36144786
Amount: $33,800
Special Comments: The aforementioned funds constitute payment of funds to which you are entitled for [the Muslim holy month
of] Ramadan 2000. Please rush us the reports in writing with copies.”¹⁵
declaration
We confirm receipt of the above-mentioned payment by Interpal. We undertake to use the said amount only as specified. We also undertake to provide Interpal with a detailed report supported by photographs, written documentation and any other documentation concerning the project/programme.
Name and signature
Al-Islah Charitable Society, Ramallah
Jamal Muhammad al-Tawil
Date [handwritten]: 23-1- 2001

15. A bank operating in the PA-administered territories and affiliated with Hamas. Hamas’ “charitable societies” have used it to receive money from “outside” [the PA-administered territories]. Beit al-Mal al-Filisteeni al-Arabi, Hamas’ investment company in the PA-administered territories, was one of the founders of the Al-Aqsa Islamic Bank and its main stockholders. The bank operated in partnership with City Bank in New York, a partnership which ended in 2001 because of its connections with Hamas. The bank was designated as supporting terrorism by American Executive Order 13224 and its assets frozen.
16. The comment was not inserted as a matter of course. The correspondence between Interpal and Hamas institutions in the West Bank often indicates lax Intepal supervision and inspection of how Hamas spends the contributions it receives. That can be seen from the “charitable societies’” reluctance to provide updated, detailed reports of their expenditures. Jamal Muhammad al-Tawil, who promised to spend the money on the purposes for which it was intended, is one of Hamas’ most senior functionaries in the West Bank. According to the documents in Israeli possession, Interpal has not taken effective measures to ensure the implementation of its strict procedures for monitoring the fate of the, and to prevent some of the money from being used to fund Hamas activities.

Document No. 5

Original Document

The transfer of $33,800 through the City Bank of New York on January 15, 2001. It is signed by Jamal Muhammad al-Tawil, the founder and chairman of Al-Islah Charitable Society in Ramallah and a high-ranking Hamas activist in the West Bank (currently – January 2005 – in Israeli custody). He opened the Ramallah branch of Al-Islah Charitable Society to provide legal cover for the transfer of funds from abroad to Hamas.

Document No. 6

Original Document

A receipt for a contribution of $33,800 to Al-Islah Charitable Society in Ramallah-Al-Bireh ( January 18, 2001) via Al-Aqsa Bank and sent by Interpal.

Appendix B (7)

Indications of irregularities in Interpal’s data regarding Al-Islah Charitable Society in Ramallah

Translation

[Interpal emblem]	INTERPAL	PO Box 333
Palestinian Relief and Development Fund	helping palestinians in need	London
		NW6 1RW
		Tel: 0208 450 8002
		Fax: 0208 450 8003
		E-mail: info@interpal.org
		Website: www.interpal.org

[Handwritten note in left above main text:] For the fourth time, please answer our fax at the earliest opportunity.¹⁷

Wednesday, October 13[?], 2001

In the name of Allah the all-merciful

Esteemed brothers, Al-Islah Charitable Society – Ramallah, may Allah preserve you, may peace be upon you, Allah’s mercy
and his blessings

The Palestinian Fund greets you and wishes that Allah, the omnipotent, may receive your deeds willingly and alleviate your grief.
After having examined your file we found we did not have a questionnaire filled out by you regarding information [about your organization]. We are therefore enclosing a copy of the questionnaire. In view of its extreme importance, we ask that you fill it out and sent it back to us by fax at the earliest opportunity. The additional required documents may be sent to us by [regular] mail at a later date.

With great respect and estimation
‘Essam Yussuf
The Palestinian Fund [for Relief and Development]

17. This note shows that ‘Essam Yussuf’s previous appeals to the “charitable society” went unanswered. The words “for the fourth time” are underlined twice by Yussuf. We have no indication as to whether a response was sent following this reminder.

Appendix B (7)

Original Document

Appendix B (8)

Transfer of funds from Interpal and other Hamas-affiliated organizations within the Union of Good to Al-Islah Charitable Society

Translation

In the name of Allah the all-merciful

Union of Good		General Secretariat of
		the Union of Good

As one, together we will build Palestinian society and support its resolute stance

November 27, 2001

Honorable broths at Al-Islah Charitable Society, Ramallah, may Allah preserve them

May peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and his blessings

With regard to our previous letter to you about projects for [the holy Islamic month of] Ramadan for the year 1422,¹⁸please prepare a report and media survey according to the table below:

18. 1422 Islamic years [which are shorter than Gregorian years] have passed since AD 622, when Muslims started counting; 1422 represents 2001.

Project¹⁹	$ Amount	Benefactor²⁰
Aid to Palestinian families	10,000	Interpal -- Britain
Aid to Palestinian families	10,000	Al-Aqsa Fund – Germany [a Hamas-affiliated organization]
Aid to Palestinian families	10,000	Al-Aqsa Fund – Holland [a Hamas-affiliated organization]
Support of the Palestinian consumer	5,805	Interpal, Britain; Al-Aqsa, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Denmark; Sanabil [Spikes of Wheat] Al-Aqsa], Sweden; the Palestinian Charitable Society (BCSP), France; the Palestinian Aid Committee, Switzerland

19. As previously noted, after money has been transferred into the hands of Hamas activists, in all probability, Interpal has not taken effective measures to check how the money was spent on projects defined, generally speaking, as “aid to Palestinian families” or “support of the Palestinian consumer.”
20. The institutions mentioned are all recognized as designated European Hamas-affiliated fund-raising organizations . The money is transferred by the Union of Good, of which Interpal is a leading member.

May Allah receive [your deeds with his blessing] and bless you with peace, his mercy and his blessing

The general secretariat of the Union of Good

Tel: 49 241 66037
Fax: 49 241 63925
Email: info@101days.org

Appendix B (8)

Original Document

Appendix B (9)

Al-Islah Charitable Society,²¹ Bethlehem branch: part of the terrorism-supporting apparatus

21. The exact translation of the Society’s names is Al-Islah Social Charitable Society. However, the translation appearing on its emblem, for unknown reasons, is Al-Aqsa Social Reconciliation Committee .

Overview

The following document was found in the files of the Bethlehem branch of Al-Islah Charitable Society. It deals with the gift of $100 presented by the Society to the families of shaheeds on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr [the three-day holiday ending the Muslim holy month of Ramadan], 2001.

A random examination of the names indicates that the families are those of terrorist-operatives who died during the ongoing violent Palestinian-Israeli confrontation, some of them important figures, from all the leading Palestinian terrorist organizations: Hamas, Fatah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The money was given to them by the Saudi Arabian-based World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) charitable organization (previously mentioned) in collaboration with Interpal.

A Palestinian Preventive Security report mentions the Al-Islah Charitable Society on its list of Hamas institutions as active in the Bethlehem area and as receiving contributions from abroad [See Appendix F(1)].

Appendix B (9)

Original Document

Appendix B (10)

Al-Islah Charitable Society, Bethlehem branch, stresses the importance of opening centers for Qur’an memorization as a means of combating “negative (i.e., permissive) environment” created primarily by the Christians in the Bethlehem district.

Overview

There is a population of approxinately 40,000 Christians living in the Bethlehem district (about 25% of the total number of residents) who live in a state of tense relations with their Muslim neighbors. The tension, which has increased during the ongoing violent Palestinian-Israeli confrontation, is manifested by attacks on Christians perpetrated by the Palestinian terrorist organizations, an unending exodus of Christians to countries abroad and a parallel significant increase in the Muslim population.

The following document illustrates how contributions sent to Al-Islah Charitable Society ( from organizations including Interpal) is used to exacerbate the pressure on the Christian population of the Bethlehem district.

Translation

Al-Islah Charitable Society
Bethlehem Branch

No. 281/2001
Date: March 26, 2001

To: The honorable brothers at the World Assembly of Muslim Youth,²² may Allah preserve you, and may peace and the mercy of Allah and his blessings be upon you.

In re: Centers for Qur’an memorization
We of the Bethlehem branch of the Al-Islah Charitable Society consider it of primary importance to open centers for Qur’an memorization in our city, [to] whose cultural environment [by implication, Christian and permissive] [our people] have maximum exposure. A number of factors influenced the situation:

22. The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) is an international Muslim charitable organization founded in Saudi Arabia with branches all over the globe. Most of the aid it send to the PA-administered territories is handed over to Hamas institutions and serves several purposes, one of which is funding its terrorism-supporting apparatus. WAMY collaborates with Interpal to transfer financial contributions to the PA-administered territories and was outlawed by Israel in 2002.

There are all the missionary activities of the various [Christian] institutions in the realms of culture, education, health, welfare, economics, sports, etc., whose numbers reach approximately 80% of the active institutions in the district, and they operate intensively and effectively.

There is a considerable percentage of Christians, with their customs and traditions, the exposure to which has a significant [by implication, negative] influence on our society in this district.

An influx of [apparently, Christian] residents from other districts contributes to the weakening of many of the restraints our religion [Islam] place on us, and of our leaders and traditions.

The above factors and others play an important role in creating the lifestyle of those who live here, and that makes it our duty to make a serious, energetic effort to ensure change and personal improvement. The central idea behind Qur’an memorization is obedience to Allah and doing what pleases him, and correcting the behavior of the youth, which is growing lax. After all, only in Allah will we find the strength [to correct their behavior].

Honorable brothers! Your organization, thanks be to Allah, supervises close to 50 centers for Qur’an memorization and has drawn many students, both male and female. That requires a great effort in supervision and inspection as well as the necessary expenses which cannot be avoided, to ensure that studies continue uninterrupted, especially among young, undisciplined learners, so that their learning will not be contingent upon moods and desires alone, but subordinate to rules and regulations which will preserve the status and continuation of those studies.

We request that the relations between [our two organizations] be continued as it is the source of great good in the service of [our Muslim] religion and of great benefit to Muslims who will [thereby] be saved from perversions and permissiveness, under the shadow of conditions which are not hidden from anyone.

We pray that Allah, may he be ever exalted, will preserve and protect you.

Your brothers at Al-Islah Charitable Society

Appendix B (10)

Original Document

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