
 |
|
Dec. 4, 2008
Michael Freund: France vs. the Jewish right to reproduce
Frida Ghitis:
Heed the security lessons of deadly siege
Dec. 3, 2008
Steven Emerson: Yes, the terrorists are winning
Don Terry: Lifetime, no see
Dec. 2, 2008
Melanie Phillips: The Mumbai atrocity is a wake-up call for a frighteningly unprepared world
Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Strategic Motivations for the Mumbai Attack
Dec. 1, 2008
Max Freidlander, as told to Jacklyn C. Wadler: India Inkings
Mark Steyn: Whodunit!?
Nov. 28, 2008
Rabbi Ahron Rapps: An evil seed that didn't have to be
Melanie Phillips: Carpe diem --- or can we all relax now?
Nov. 26, 2008
Michael Feldberg: Meet the Orthodox Jew who laid groundwork for scientific development of ordnance that undergirds America's current world leadership
Andrea Simantov:
Shades of life
Nov. 25, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Getting Emotional For Influence
The Kosher Gourmet
by Ethel G. Hofman : Thanksiving feast!
Nov. 24, 2008
Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: 'I just Became a grandchild!'
Barry Rubin: Don't flatter your enemies, protect your friends
Nov. 21, 2008
Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Money matters?
Caroline B. Glick:
Civilization walks the plank
Nov. 20, 2008
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bronfman's blindness
The Kosher Gourmet
By Linda Gassenheimer: Portobellos add a hearty flavor to pasta with pesto
Nov, 19, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Spread the wealth? Jewish tradition and income equality
Elliot B. Gertel:
'Mad Men': Tackling prejudices or reinforcing them?
Nov, 18, 2008
Dr. Debby Schwarz Hirschhorn: The End of the Age of Reason
Jonathan Tobin: Does Barack + Bibi = Disaster?
Nov, 17, 2008
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The End of the Age of Reason
Diana West: Gulling Americans into making terror legit?
Nov, 14, 2008
Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The Power of Spiritual Inertia
Caroline B. Glick: The perils ahead
Nov, 13, 2008
Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: How Bush and Obama together could change the Middle East dynamic
The Kosher Gourmet
by JeanMarie Brownson: Sweet and savory, crispy and meltingly tender bestilla
Nov, 12, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Tyrannical Co-Workers
Michael Doyle: High Court to consider today donated monuments that may have religious messages in public parks
Nov, 11, 2008
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Will Obama stop government officials considering institutionalizing financial jihad?
Jonathan Tobin: They Will Decide Their Own Fate
Nov, 10, 2008
Rabbi Avi Shafran: $8 billion, modern-day Tower of Babel being built?
Barry Rubin: A letter to the president-elect from a Middle East realist
Nov, 7, 2008
Rabbi Francis Nataf: Of Children and Immortality
Caroline B. Glick: Livni's Obama strategy
Nov, 6, 2008
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: How I tricked a classroom of apathetic students into grasping the fallacy of moral relativism
The Kosher Gourmet
By Gina Kim: Tips for making the perfect soup --- includes recipes
Nov, 5, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Destitute Debtors
Bruce Weinstein: 'Religulos': Bad title,even worse movie
Nov, 4, 2008
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Treasury Dept. submits to Shariah law
Frida Ghitis: A surprise for Obama in the Middle East
March 22, 2007
J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)
|
| |
Jewish World Review
August 12, 2004
/ 25 Menachem-Av, 5764
Pursuing Terror's Financiers: Time to Get Serious About The Saudi Connection
By
Neal M. Sher
The former Director of the Office of Special Investigation in the US Justice Department wants to know why we must wait for a Hamas inspired, Saudi rewarded catastrophe to hit at home before we truly take seriously the threat posed by Saudi backing of terrorism
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
There is no way to sugar coat it: Saudi Arabia has for years been engaged
in a criminal conspiracy to give aid, comfort and material support to mass
murderers. That is the only conclusion to be drawn from the highly
publicized announcement by Attorney General Ashcroft that a Dallas-based
"charity", the Holy Land Foundation and seven of its official had been
indicted for supporting the Hamas terrorist organization. The Saudi
government, our supposed ally, has in reality been the Holy Land
Foundation's partner in crime.
With an elevated terror alert, more stringent security measures and
election day approaching, one cannot avoid wondering whether we are on
the brink of another disaster as horrific as 9/11 or worse. As we cope with
the prospect of a repeat calamity, we would do well to remember that the
sophisticated and complex hijacking operation of three years ago is not the
only form of terrorism against which we must guard. Indeed, many experts
have long been warning that the this country is dangerously vulnerable to
the types of individual suicide bombings to which Israel has been
subjected for years and which we now see on an almost daily basis in Iraq.
It is within this context that the Justice Department deserves much credit
for Holy Land indictment. Echoing President Bush's post-9/11
declaration of an all out military, diplomatic and law enforcement war on
terror, General Ashcroft warned that the Holy Land Foundation prosecution
makes clear that "[t]here is no distinction between those who carry out
terrorist attacks and those who knowingly finance terrorist attacks...the
Unites States will ensure that both terrorists and their financiers meet
the same, certain justice."
Moreover, it is well understood that terror
networks have no geographical bounds; tactics of indiscriminate murder
learned in the Middle East under the guidance of the likes of Hamas have
the potential of visiting wholesale destruction and wreaking havoc anywhere
and everywhere, including the U.S; those who support such activities are
accomplices to mass murder.
A key element to the indictment is the charge of engaging in a criminal
conspiracy to finance the outlawed Hamas by providing funds earmarked for
the families of suicide murderers. Through such support, the indictment
reads, the defendants "effectively rewarded past, and encouraged future
suicide bombings and terrorist activities...." And so, our government
seeks to put the Holy Land Foundation Seven away for a long, long time.
While the outcome, of course, remains to be seen, it would be naive to
think that these defendants are the only ones who have been giving aid and
financial comfort to the relatives deadly terrorists. Far from it.
Before its demise, Saddam's Iraq proudly, although not surprisingly
gave, $25,000 to the families of suicide bombers. He was not in that
murderous boat alone. His partner in what our government considers to be a
serious crime was none other than the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Not some
rogue Saudis, not a fringe element seeking to destabilize the nation. No,
the Saudi government itself. And how do we know this? How can we be sure
that this is not just another of what the Saudis have in the past described
as a spurious, dastardly attempt to undermine the good name of the House of
Saud. The answer is simple. There is evidence. Iron clad, irrefutable
evidence in the form of documentation captured in 2002 from Palestinian
Headquarters by Israel.
This material leaves no doubt that under the auspices and control of the
Saudi Ministry of Interior large sums of money were directed through Hamas
to support families of terrorists known to have carried out suicide
bombings. The same type of bombings that are possible right in our own
neighborhoods. Indeed, the documents actually provide the names of those
involved and the details of their murderous acts. The families of each
"martyr" received 20,000 Riyal, which was approximately $5300. Moreover,
among the beneficiaries of Saudi largesse, was at least one family of a
terrorist who murdered an American.
As if to highlight the extent of Saudi support for Hamas, the documents
contain what amounts to a formal protest by Arafat to authorities in
Riyadh, complaining that the funds should instead be directed to the
Palestinian Authority rather than Hamas and other radical groups affiliated
with it. Some of the very same Hamas affiliated "charitable" committees
with which the Saudis dealt are also identified in the Holy Land Foundation
indictment as facilitators and accomplices in terror.
These distressing facts about our supposed "ally" in the all out fight
against terror have been known to the intelligence and law enforcement
communities for some time. Saudi duplicity has even prompted the
bi-partisan introduction last year of The Saudi Arabia Accountability Act,
designed in part to press Saudi Arabia to desist from providing support for
the families of known terrorists. Not surprisingly, Saudi apologists and
spinmeisters immediately went to work and the proposals have not progressed
through the legislative process.
So far, it seems rather clear that under the very standards established by
our government, the Saudi regime has gotten away with supporting and
facilitating mass murder. No amount of high priced, smoothly delivered
double talk can change those hard facts. Must we wait for a Hamas inspired,
Saudi rewarded catastrophe to hit at home before we truly take seriously
the threat posed by Saudi backing of terrorism? First, we must not be
taken in by the disingenuous rhetoric from slick officials at the Saudi
Embassy; they must know that we mean business, and not just oil business.
The passage of a strengthened Saudi Arabia Accountability Act would be a
good beginning.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes inspiring articles. Sign up for our daily update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Neal M. Sher, a New York based government relations consultant, is the former Director of the Office of Special Investigation in the US Justice Department. Comment by clicking here.
© 2004, Neal M. Sher
|