Hawala on the march

On Aug. 5, the State Department has released its annual country reports on terrorism.  Among the findings are that hawala (the money transfer system established by Islamic law) in Syria and Pakistan continue to pose significant international security risks.  Excerpts follow:

Pakistan

Unlicensed informal hawalas (money changers) still operated illegally in parts of Pakistan. The informal and secretive nature of the unlicensed hawalas made it difficult for regulators to effectively combat their operations. Most illicit funds were moved through unlicensed operators, including through bulk cash smuggling.

Syria

Syria’s financial sector remains vulnerable to terrorist financing. An estimated 70 percent of all business transactions are conducted in cash and as many as 80 percent of all Syrians do not use formal banking services. Despite Syrian legislation requiring money-changers to be licensed by the end of 2007, many continued to operate illegally in Syria’s vast black market, which is believed to be as large as Syria’s formal economy. Regional “hawala” networks remained intertwined with smuggling and trade-based money laundering – facilitated by corrupt customs and immigration officials – raising significant concerns that the Syrian government and business elites could be complicit in terrorist financing schemes.

The report also indicates that additional work needs to be done against hawala and terrorist financing in Saudi Arabia, Gaza and the West Bank, and the United Arab Emirates.

Modern jizya table

Many modern Muslims and Leftists defend the “theory” and “history” of the jizya. At the same time they tell us not to worry about the jizya because they claim that it no longer exists. That is a lie. Not only does jizya still exist, but it often takes place around the world under government auspices. We’ve covered this many times on this blog, but it’s time for a recap:

Contemporary jizya examples and government complicity

Country	Description	Government role?	Source
Pakistan	Jizya against Sikh & Christian homes, shops, and churches	“Government policies do not afford equal protection” to religious minorities	U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report 2009: Pakistan
Pakistan	Jizya imposed against Sikhs by Taliban, 2009 to present	Part of a 2009 truce between Pakistan & Islamic militants	Sikh News Network
Iraq	Jizya demanded of Christians in Baghdad & Mosul	N/A	U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report 2009: Iraq
Philippines	Tax authority offered to MILF Islamists	Part of government proposed “peace accord” in 2010	Iran Press TV
Philippines	Jizya demanded of Catholics in 2008	N/A	U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report 2009: Philippines
Yemen	Jizya imposed against Jews	Jizya used as “bargaining chips” by Yemeni politicians	Professor Adel Al-Sharjabi, Sana’a University

More coverage from Money Jihad:

• More on jizya against Sikhs here
• Additional commentary on Pakistan-Taliban truce here
• More on the situation of Yemeni Jewish jizya here
• Recap of the U.S. State Department’s finding’s here

Tax preference for Cordoba Initiative, tax penalty for pro-Israel group

While the developers of the Ground Zero Mosque may finagle tax-exempt financing (see Creeping Sharia), a pro-Israel organization is being denied tax-exempt status by the IRS according to a new lawsuit.  Check out the coverage on TaxProf Blog:  Lawsuit: IRS Using Bob Jones University to Deny Tax-Exempt Status to Pro-Israel Charity.

Oh, an in addition to tax-free financing, it’s worth noting that a lot of mosque projects involve interest-free financing from the North American Islamic Trust.  From NAIT’s website:

NAIT has advanced millions of dollars in interest-free loans to centers to complete their infrastructure projects. Relationship with NAIT (e.g. the case of Tulsa, Oklahoma) can help in inducing the signing of construction contracts in the face of limited immediate availability of construction funds. Affiliation with NAIT helps in obtaining and renewing property tax exemption, and in dealings with the IRS.

NAIT is the waqf (Islamic endowment) component of the Islamic Society of North America.  Remember that ISNA, NAIT, and CAIR were all unindicted co-conspirators of the Holy Land Foundation, the American Islamic charity convicted of funding Hamas.

Zakat Foundation & Muslim Hands unite

The Zakat Foundation touts itself as a transparent, four-star Islamic charity about whom Charity Navigator stated, “The Zakat Foundation has demonstrated exceptional financial health, outperforming most of its peers in its efforts to manage and grow its finances in the most fiscally responsible way possible.”  The Chicago Tribune recommended it as an organization that readers could make donations to for Haiti earthquake relief in January.  And Hillary Clinton’s State Department bragged about the Zakat Foundation’s efforts in its servile America.gov coverage of Muslim American charity in Haiti.

It’s the kind of organization that you would donate zakat to this Ramadan.  An organization that would never sully itself by consorting with nefarious pro-Hamas charities of Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s Union of Good charity network, right?

Wrong.

In a Zakat Foundation video from January, the foundation’s national director, Khalil Demir, is seen in the Dominican Republic consulting with Muslim Hands official Abdul Latif about how to get aid to Muslim Haitian earthquake victims.  Muslim Hands is a member of the Union of Good meaning they fund Hamas.  Notice the Muslim Hands t-shirt:

Zakat Foundation's Khalil Demir (left) with Muslim Hands official (right)

 A separate YouTube video confirms the identity of the Muslim Hands official as Abdul Latif (wearing the same t-shirt):

Spreadin’ the word about Al Jihad bi-al-Mal

Take heart, dear reader.  You’re not alone in your concerns about the financial jihad against us.  You’re not the only one who wants to follow the money behind the Ground Zero Mosque.  You’re not the only one who wants to know where Al Qaeda gets its financing.  You’re not the only one who recognizes that the Islamists receive most of their funds through taxes mandated by Muhammad, and that Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s “jihad with money” must be resisted at every turn.  The jihadist is being unveiled.  The word is spreading.

As of this week, this blog has been viewed over 20,000 times.  Thank you, Money Jihad readers & referrers!  And thank you, WordPress, for providing nifty little charts and summaries like this:

If I had a dollar for every visit, I’d have $16,000 after I pay my 20 percent khums tax of $4,000 to my local imam…

Money Jihad's average monthly readership since inception

Weekly word: blacklist

Random House defines a blacklist as “a list of persons under suspicion, disfavor, censure, etc.”

We often apply the term “blacklist” to any terrorist designations by the U.S. State Department, Treasury Department, the United Nations, and FATF.  But each organization’s blacklisting carries its own specific meaning.

The State Department designates foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.  Designation serves as a stigma and a sign of American disapproval, and members of designated FTOs are “inadmissible and removable” from the United States.

Treasury designates and sanctions countries and individuals under a mix of executive and Congressional authorities, usually within the context of identifying people, companies, or countries that have some role in financing terrorism, not just espousing terrorist views or even engaging in terrorist acts.  Treasury designations require American banks to freeze any accounts held by the designee and prevent Americans from doing business with the terrorists.

Designations by the United Nations, for example, blacklisting by the UN’s Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee, result in asset freezes, bans on international travel, and arms embargos in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1267.

FATF identifies countries that are sponsors of or have such weak controls that they are high risks for money laundering.  Officially FATF calls them “non-cooperative countries,” but it’s a blacklist.  Corporations in FATF member countries should avoid doing business with blacklisted countries or be at risk of indirectly helping those countries launder money for terror.

By the way, FATF is based in Paris, and they should probably blacklist France itself for its steadfast business relationships with Iran, itself a blacklisted country.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Al Yazid, background by Weasel Zippers

When 9/11 money man Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, a.k.a. Sheik Saeed al Masri, died in May this year, national security analysts speculated on who would succeed him.

Now we know.  His name is محمد عبدالله حسن أبو الخير or Muhammad Abdallah Hasan Abu-al-Khayr or Abdallah al-Halabi.  Don’t you love how easy it is to understand Arabic naming conventions and terrorist aliases?  Let’s just stick with “Abu-al-Khayr.”

Abu-al-Khayr photo from Dar Al Hayat

In 1999, Abu-al-Khayr recruited terrorist Shadi Abdallah who was later put on trial in Germany.

At some point Abu-al-Khayr served as a body guard to Bin Laden and married into the Bin Laden family.  No press reports at the time this post was prepared indicated which one of Bin Laden’s 25 or 26 children Abu-al-Khayr has married.  Bin Laden has four wives, and since his fourth wife is 27 and Abu-al-Khayr is 35, that probably (and hopefully) rules her out as the mother-in-law.

Abu-al-Khayr appeared on Saudi Arabia’s 85 “most wanted” list in 2009.  As of yesterday, Abu-al-Khayr was designated as a terrorist financier by the U.S. Treasury Department and the United Nations.  This means that U.S. and other banks will freeze his assets, that Americans cannot do business with him, that he is banned from travel, and he is subject to an arms embargo from the U.N.

TFI Under Secretary Stuart Levey says the move “will help to ensure that that al-Qai’da remains in severe financial straits.”

Levey: I've gotta get my arms around this

Bureaucrat blockhead: jihadist involvement in Pakistani flood relief no big deal because “the needs are so vast”

At the daily State Department briefing on Aug. 23, 2010, Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman (a former aid to Al Gore, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton) dismissed concerns about the involvement of terrorist organizations in Pakistani flood relief because “the needs are so vast.”

If you have any trouble with the video above, here’s the transcript:

Beaucoup zakat for Pakistan

One gets the impression looking at this chart from a presentation entitled “Islamic Radicalization in Europe” by Dr. Mia Bloom University of Georgia that France is at the forefront of the Islamization of the West.

France home to biggest Muslim population in West

France has more Muslims than Lebanon or Kuwait.

Where there are Muslims, there is also zakat.

Many French Muslims give at their mosques.  But for those who give to charities, the largest include: 

• Comité de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (CBSP).  The CBSP is a member of the Union of Good network of Hamas donors.
• Le Secours Islamique (Islamic Relief – France).  Le Secours Islamique is one of the partner organizations of Hany el Banna’s International Islamic Relief Worldwide.  Counterterrorism Blog has alleged that IRW supports foreign terrorist organizations.
• Muslim Hands.  The British-based Muslim Hands is another Union of Good/Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood affiliated charity.  The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report covered the opening of a Muslim Hands office in France in 2008.

The website “Respaix Conscience Musulmane” recently urged readers to contribute to Pakistani flood relief by making a donation to any one of those three charities.

The inclusion CBSP in fundraising appeals for Pakistan is especially infuriating.  France is notorious for its refusal to designate CBSP as a terrorist organization, while Israel, the U.S., the Netherlands, and Germany have all recognized CBSP’s perfidy.  Any Frenchman who gives his money to CBSP might as well give his money directly to the Pakistani Taliban.

More sick details on jizya against Sikhs

On Wednesday, Malkajgiri Lok Sabha blog posted an article about the slaughter of Sikh religious minorities in Pakistan.  Money Jihad has covered the imposition of the jizya on the Sikhs before (here, here, here, and here) but what caught my attention was the unprecedented detail that this post provided.  Take a gander of this excerpt:

The phenomenon “Pakistani Taliban” was unknown before 9/11. However, the significance of Jihadi elements in the tribal belt can be traced back to the early 80’s when the area became a launching pad for the CIA and ISI-driven holy war (jihad) against the former Soviet Union. With the Soviet withdrawal, the US agenda of jihad inside Afghanistan ended. But the strategic importance of the area remained intact for Pakistan which had to use, for many years to come, the tribal area for running training camps for jihadis, pursuing its policy of strategic depth against India as well as to have an upper hand with neighbouring Afghanistan.

Nevertheless, these games did not disturb the traditional tribal way of life and the Sikh families were living a normal life as before. With the rise of Pakistani Taliban in the past few years and their march to take control of the tribal areas, the traditional tribal code of ethics which ensured security for the Sikh community in the area gave way to the extremist ideology of Taliban. After establishing their writ, Taliban offered three options to non-Muslims — “Become Muslims, pay jizya or vacate the area.”

To set an example, Taliban last year demolished 11 houses of the Sikh community in the Orakzai Agency for refusing to pay ‘jizya’. The action was ordered by the then Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) chief for Orakzai Agency, Hakimullah Mehsud, after the deadline given to the Sikh community for payment of jizya passed.

“Sharia had been enforced in the area and every non-Muslim has to pay protection money”, Hakimullah Mehsud had announced.

CAIR lies about hawala

After it became clear that the would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad used hawala to finance his failed attack, the English-language Russian news channel RT interviewed Nihad Awad from the Council on American-Islamic Relations about hawala.

When asked about the terrorist and criminal uses of hawala, Awad made the wildly fanciful statement that “the 9/11 Commission has exonerated the hawala system…”

Actually, Mr. Awad, the staff of the 9/11 Commission found just the opposite in their monograph on terrorist financing as follows:

Al Qaeda moved much of its money by hawala before 9/11. In some ways, al Qaeda had no choice after its move to Afghanistan in 1996; the banking system there was antiquated and undependable. Hawala became particularly important after the August 1998 East Africa bombings increased worldwide scrutiny of the formal financial system. Bin Ladin turned to an established hawala network operating in Pakistan, in Dubai, and throughout the Middle East to transfer funds efficiently. Hawalas were attractive to al Qaeda because they, unlike formal financial institutions, were not subject to potential government oversight and did not keep detailed records in standard form. Although hawaladars do keep ledgers, their records are often written in idiosyncratic shorthand and maintained only briefly. Al Qaeda used about a dozen trusted hawaladars, who almost certainly knew of the source and purpose of the money. Al Qaeda also used both unwitting hawaladars and hawaladars who probably strongly suspected that they were dealing with al Qaeda but were nevertheless willing to deal with anyone.

The full interview, which includes a ridiculous comparison between Wall Street and hawala, and a series of softball questions for Awad, is available here.  It’s quite telling that Russian news producers regard Awad, the man behind CAIR’s fundraising efforts, as hawala expert, isn’t it?