As I mentioned previously, please keep in mind as you read this that Dr. Ehrenfeld is the target of a legal jihad, and needs contributions to her organization to continue her work and defend herself against the legal harassment of the libel terrorists that target her. See my sidebar for links for further information.
United Arab Emirates64
Like every Muslim country, the UAE collects mandatory Islamic charity (zakat: the Third Pillar of Islam -- an annual wealth tax), of 2.5 percent to 20 percent from Muslim institutions and companies. Being non-Muslims, foreign banks and oil companies theoretically don't pay zakat. But foreign banks and oil companies do pay at least 20 percent of their profits in the form of a mandatory tax rather than zakat. In 2003, the UAE established an independent federal agency collecting zakat on government tax revenues from "companies listed on the Dubai Financial Market and Abu Dhabi Securities Market ... oil-producing companies and branches of foreign banks." In 2007 these revenues were estimated at $13.5 billion.65
Although presenting itself to the West as a moderate ally, the UAE has consistently supported the peaceful and violent advancement of shari'a and terrorism worldwide. In 2006, to support suicide bombing, the UAE gave $100 million to the Palestinian Authority to build a new town named Sheikh Khalifa City, in honor of the UAE president. The city houses families of "shahids and prisoners" and was built on the ruins of Morag, one of the evacuated Israeli settlements in Gaza.66
On July 27, 2005, the Palestinian Information Center carried a public HAMAS statement thanking the UAE for [its] "unstinting support." The statement said: "We highly appreciate his highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan (UAE president) in particular and the UAE people and government in general for their limitless support ... that contributed more to consolidating our people's resoluteness in the face of the Israeli occupation."
The HAMAS statement continued: "the sisterly UAE had ... never hesitated in providing aid for our Mujahid people pertaining to rebuilding their houses demolished by the IOF .... The UAE also spared no effort to offer financial and material aids to the Palestinian charitable societies."67
Indeed, as documented by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (CSS),68 Hamas charitable societies are known as integral parts of the Hamas infrastructure, and are outlawed by the United States and Israel.
As we consider the support terrorism -- so much of which is linked to the Religion of Peace -- gets from "charities", it is worth keeping in mind Sibel Edmonds' quotes.
From 'The Stakes Are Too High for Us to Stop Fighting Now' An interview with FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds by Christopher Deliso August 15, 2005:
SE: You know how they always talk about these Islamic charities funding the terrorists, right?
CD: Yes...
SE: Well, and this is not a firm statistic, just a sort of ratio... but these charities are responsible for maybe 10 or 20 percent of al-Qaeda's fundraising. So where is the other 80 or 90 percent coming from? People, it's not so difficult!
From An Interview with Sibel Edmonds, Page Two by Chris Deliso, July 1, 2004:
CD: [snip] At several points you state that such organized crime networks employ "semi-legitimate organizations" as their point of interface with governments and the "legit" world. Can you explain exactly what you mean?
SE: These are organizations that might have a legitimate front -- say as a business, or a cultural center or something. And we've also heard a lot about Islamic charities as fronts for terrorist organizations, but the range is much broader and even, simpler.
CD: For example?
SE: You might have an organization supposed to be promoting the cultural affairs of a certain country within another country. Hypothetically, say, an Uzbek folklore society based in Germany. The stated purpose would be to hold folklore-related activities -- and they might even do that -- but the real activities taking place behind the scenes are criminal.
CD: Such as?
SE: Everything -- from drugs to money laundering to arms sales. And yes, there are certain convergences with all these activities and international terrorism.
CD: So with these organizations we're talking about a lot of money --
SE: Huge, just massive. They don't deal with 1 million or 5 million dollars, but with hundreds of millions.
Returning to Ehrenfeld and Lappen:
Hamas also included a special tribute, promising to "never forget the generous donations of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan [al Nahayan of Abu Dhabi],"69 the current UAE president's father. The multibillionaire was an early PLO patron and, from the 1970s until his 2004 death, contributed millions of dollars to the PLO's terror agenda, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad.70
Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan was the first Arab ruler to understand the strategic importance of economic jihad71 against the West. He was first to use oil as a political weapon after the 1973 Yom Kippur War.72 He was also the major sponsor of the first international Islamic bank, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). The bank was created to serve as "the best bridge to help the world of Islam, and the best way to fight the evil influence of the Zionists."73 BCCI, which was shut down in July 1991 by New York City district attorney Robert Morgenthau,74 funded and otherwise facilitated terrorist organizations and states, including the Sandinistas, Hezbollah, abu Nidal, the PLO, al Qaeda, Syria, Libya, Iran's Islamic revolution -- as well as Pakistan's nuclear program, to create the "Islamic Bomb."75
BCCI is a scandal worth looking into. It was deeply linked to narcotics trafficking, organized crime, and covert activities of the West, as well as the funding of terrorism. In fact, it was a classic example of the kinds of things Sibel Edmonds later came across.
Immediately before the 1991 Gulf War, Sheikh Zayed branded the United States the Muslims' "number two enemy" after Israel. As of this writing, the UAE votes against the United States 70 percent of the time in the UN.76
It is interesting how we were maneuvered into battling Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Even in 1990-1, the winds of war were fanned by lies and propaganda.
Many of our "allies" in the Persian Gulf have continuously called for jihad against Israel and the United States. Short of abandoning Israel and siding with terrorists, there is no policy the United States can have for the Middle East that will not be deemed a justification for terrorism, and even should the United States go that far, the reprieve -- if there were one -- would be short-lived, lasting only until Israel were destroyed and the jihadists could focus their attention more exclusively on America.
Consequently, the whole exercise of siding with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries against Hussein's Iraq was to some extent like siding with Stalin's Russia against Hitler's Germany; we would perhaps be foolish to even delude ourselves into thinking that we have chosen the lesser of two evils.
Human Appeal International (HAI), a UAE government-run "charitable" organization, whose board includes the UAE president,77 continues to fund Hamas and other Palestinian organizations, "martyrs," and Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons and their families. The HAI modus operandi includes transferring funds to the Palestinian Red Crescent, whose West Bank and Gaza branches Hamas runs. Hamas, in turn, distributes the money to Hamas "charities." The Toronto, Canada, Orient Research Center reports that the UAE compensation plan for the Palestinian intifada in 2001 included $3,000 for every Palestinian shahid, $2,000 for his family, $1,500 for those detained by Israel, and $1,200 for each orphan. In addition, the families of terrorists whose homes Israel demolished each received $10,000. Also in 2001, the UAE held two telethons to support the "martyrs'" families. One entitled "We Are All Palestinians" raised 135 million dirham, or $36.8 million, and another called "For Your Sake Palestine" raised 350 million dirham, or $95.3 million.
My denunciation of the terrorists should not be construed as to imply blanket endorsement of Israeli operations to destroy the homes of families of terrorists and suicide bombers. I think it is, in principle, wrong to hold a family responsible for the actions of one of its members, just because the people are family members. If it can be shown that those family members actually helped perpetrate the terrorist act, then that of course begins to be a far different matter.
On 15 February 2005, the Hamas Web site reported on funds transferred from HAI to two West Bank Hamas front organizations, IQRA and Rifdah, outlawed in Israel.78 On 22 March 2005, the Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam reported that in 2004 the UAE Red Crescent donated $2 million to Hamas "charities" for 3,158 terrorists' orphans.79
A detailed 25 March 2005 report, in the Palestinian daily Al Hayat al-Jadeeda, noted that the UAE Friends Society transferred $475,000, through the UAE Red Crescent, to West Bank "charitable" organizations in Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarem to distribute to families of "martyrs," orphans, imprisoned Palestinians, and others.
And in July 2005, Osama Zaki Muhammad Bashiti of Gaza's Khan Younis was arrested while returning from the UAE80 for often transferring as much as $200,000 at a time to the Gaza branch of Hamas.
As long as there is this support network for terrorism, the terrorism will continue: in an environment where there is no hope, and where "religious" institutions fan the flames of hatred and promise virgins in heaven for sexually-frustrated males (in a society wherein wealthy males have up to four wives, and others do without), getting to Allah by means of a suicide attack on innocent civilians becomes a viable option for helping one's family and getting one's frustrations out -- the perfect storm.
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