The UK and France not clamping down on Hamas charities

By Olivier Guitta

Talking or not with Hamas and supporting financially the Palestinian Authority or not have been questions in the minds of Europeans and US officials.
If some in Europe, especially the UK and France, refused to close down Hamas charities while Hamas was not in power, I do not think they will do so today.
I wrote a piece for Front Page Magazine on that topic.

Here is an excerpt:

Some Europeans leaders have adopted a wait and see attitude and decided to give Hamas time to �get their act together�. In light of past history, one should not be surprised by this European appeasement. Indeed, way before this election and the Hamas victory, some Europeans have been unresponsive in clamping down on the terrorist group.
One telling example is that of some of Hamas charities, based in Europe. They are flourishing, left alone by European authorities. The British Interpal and the French Comit� de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (CBSP) are among them.
As early as 1997, the CBSP was outlawed in Israel. The U.S. followed suit in 2003 with Executive Order 13224, which entailed freezing assets of the CBSP and designating it as a supporter of terrorism. President Bush then personally asked France to do the same and clamp down on this Hamas front headquartered in Paris.

Proof of CBSP�s involvement with Hamas is piling up. In fact, Israel arrested on September 25 one of Hamas top fundraisers, Abu Asama. The fund managed by Asama was used for rewarding the families of shahids (martyrs, i.e. Palestinian suicide bombers) and financing Hamas. According to Israeli policed cited by the Jerusalem Post, most of the funds were collected in Europe through mainly Interpal and CBSP. They were using as conduit an umbrella organization called the Charity Coalition, founded by Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi, the radical Qatari Muslim preacher and star of Al Jazeera. Incidentally CBSP�s and Interpal�s leader, respectively Khaled Muhammad Ahmad Al Shouli and Assam Yusuf Haber Ben Amni, head the Charity Coalition.

TrackBack