It’s comedy. But it’s also real. Ami Horowitz recently did a series of “man on the street” interviews with Portland State University students while presenting himself as a member of Hamas. The students listened politely and nodded their heads even after Horowitz told them that Hamas intends to strike soft targets in Israel such as cafes and schools. Several students wished him good luck and told him they’d be willing to donate $10 to $15…
Jordan-based Arab Bank PLC has settled on an amount to pay in damages to the families of terror victims. The bank was found liable in 2014 for helping process transactions for Hamas that facilitated terrorist attacks. The amount of the settlement wasn’t disclosed, but Arab Bank previously offered $12 million in a deal rejected by the judge.
From The New York Times last month (h/t El Grillo):
Arab Bank Reaches Settlement in Suit Accusing It of Financing Terrorism
Three days before a first-of-its-kind damages trial was supposed to start, a Middle Eastern bank has reached a settlement with hundreds of American plaintiffs, including victims of terrorist attacks around Israel, who had filed a lawsuit against the bank accusing it of supporting terrorism.
A spokesman for the bank, Arab Bank, and a spokeswoman for one of the law firms representing the plaintiffs confirmed on Friday that an agreement had been reached but declined to offer additional details, including the amount of the settlement.
Last year, a jury in Federal District Court in Brooklyn found Arab Bank liable for financing terrorism by processing transactions for members of the militant Islamic group Hamas.
The second phase of the trial, assessing the damages Arab Bank would have to pay to some victims of attacks by Hamas, was scheduled to start on Monday.
All of the plaintiffs are American victims of Hamas attacks or relatives of people who were killed…
Nearly 60 million Swedish crowns flowed last year from Sweden’s taxpayers through the international charity Islamic Relief to programs in the Palestinian territories that blur the lines between social services and the financing Hamas operatives. From the opinion pages of Arutz Sheva:
Op-Ed: The Connection between Swedish Aid and Hamas Institutions
Sweden’s taxpayers are funding organizations that have names like Islamic Relief, but promote war and terror instead of welfare and peace.
Published: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 4:20 AM
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), which comes under the Swedish foreign ministry, has for several years cooperated with the organization Islamic Relief (IR). According to the SIDA documentation, SIDA renewed its agreement with IR last year giving the international organization more than 59 million SEK(6,8 million USD) for various aid projects.
However IR is not only an organization associated with aid. It is also associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and with funding terror organizations, and therefore terror-listed by the United Arab Emirates since last year. In 2006 the Israeli authorities were notified of IR’s terror connections, resulting in the arrest of IR’s project manager at that time. Iyaz Ali. Ali confessed that he was in contact with the Hamas and had transferred funds to organizations linked to Hamas.
Since June, 19, 2014 IR has been forbidden to work from within Israel, including Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”). Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said in a statement, that IR is a source of funds for Hamas and that Israel has no intention of allowing it to operate and assist terrorist activity against Israel. According to the Israeli Foreign ministry, IR’s activities in Judea and Samaria and Gaza were carried out by social welfare organizations controlled and staffed by Hamas operatives. The intensive activities of these associations have been designed to further Hamas’s ideology among the Palestinian Arab population, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs states.
After the Israeli ban, IR last year commissioned an “independent investigation” of its office departments and activities in the Palestinian “territories”. The investigation found no evidence of links to Hamas. However, the investigation took place long after the accusations against the organization were publicized and did not cover the entire international organization.
Criticism against the IR has also been made by the Gatestone Institute, a New York-based think tank, revealing that current Islamic Relief Worldwide board members have links to anti-Semitic and Islamist movements.
In the IR’s aid project Emergency Cash-for-Work, which was funded by SIDA between 2008-2014 with over 32 million SEK (3,69 USD), internships for unemployed academics were arranged in Gaza institutions and organizations. Islamic University of Gaza (IUG), founded by Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, is one of the institutions that has benefited from these unemployed academics. To date, the university is governed by Hamas members and activists.
At IUG, Hamas developed its Qassam rockets and the campus store sells assorted Hamas propaganda and DVD movies that pay tribute to terrorism. Additionally, televised anti-Semitic plays have taken place at the university. Sixteen of the teachers and lecturers at the university are elected Hamas politicians and many of the Hamas elite have either lectured or studied at IUG.
To top it off, the internationally notorious, anti-Semitic Islamic preacher Yusuf al Qaradawi, who advocates for terror attacks against Israeli civilians (including babies), has become IUG’s own Honorary Doctor.
In other words: Sweden has provided a labor force for a university that is a terrorist and anti-Semitic stronghold for Hamas, and has paid for it. Swedish tax money has paid the wages of academics in universities like IUG, is supposed to help hospitals and institutions in local municipalities. Instead of using that money for job creation and true peace efforts for the people in Gaza, Hamas has used it on weapons and terror tunnels…
Ruad Al-Aqsa, the Al-Jaffar Fund, and Muslims for Al-Aqsa Association have been raided and closed by Israeli authorities for financing Hamas affiliates. News reports like this demonstrate the importance of Western donors conducting due diligence prior to partnering with pro-Palestinian “charities.” We are presented with a series of shell charities that, on the surface are distant from Hamas, but in reality are staffed by the same employees who work directly for Hamas and their “charitable” institutions.
Hat tip to Rushette. From Israel Hayom on Jan. 13:
Shin Bet closes 3 Muslim charities over alleged terror ties
Police, Shin Bet security agency shut down three Muslim associations deemed unlawful for inciting violence in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount • Organizations suspected of financing terrorist activity, including groups affiliated with Hamas.
The Shin Bet security agency on Monday shut down three Muslim charities that authorities believe incited violence against Jews and Israeli security forces, especially in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount. The move followed a decision by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who outlawed all three groups in late December based on the Shin Bet’s recommendations.
A joint statement by the Shin Bet and police Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit identified the organizations as Ruad Al-Aqsa, the Al-Jaffar Fund for Art and Literature, and the Nazareth-based Muslims for Al-Aqsa Association.
The organizations, which were formed in October 2014 by the radical northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, are also suspected of financing terrorist activity, including groups affiliated with Hamas, Agence France-Presse said.
“These groups were formed with aim of funding activities meant to undercut the security of visitors to the Temple Mount, and to inflame tensions and prompt [public] disturbances, while undermining Israel’s sovereignty on the compound,” the Shin Bet said.
Money Jihad 
U.S. publicly names Saudi Hamas bankroller
September 14, 2015Saudi high rollers have been funding jihad for decades. U.S. officials usually only talk about it in generalities. But the Treasury Department has recently announced sanctions against several Saudis including Abu-Ubaydah al-Agha, a high-ranking money man for the terrorist group Hamas, and Mahir Salah, who launders money for Hamas through front companies in Saudi Arabia.
From Agence France-Presse on Sept. 11 (h/t El Grillo):
Posted in News commentary | Tagged front company, Hamas, Saudi Arabia, Treasury Department | 4 Comments »