Terror has a bank account

[JohnLocke]

Terror has a Bank Account
Friday, February 27, 2004
Haaretz

...Although Israel has raided Palestinian banks in the past, this operation was of a wholly different order. It is an expression of an understanding that has emerged quite belatedly in the political and security echelons, that the economic front is one of the main battlefields in the war against terrorism. The chain of terror that ends with the suicide bomber in a city bus does not begin with those who send the bomber or with the bomber's spiritual mentors. The first link in the chain is the fund raiser. To produce the explosives, to purchase weapons and most of all, to pay the families of the suicide bombers and their commanders - all this costs a lot of money.

Most of the money for financing terror comes from the Arab states, Iran and Islamic charities around the world. The money trail is complicated and difficult to track down and prove. That is apparently why implementing a systematic approach to dealing with the problem has taken so long. Only lately have the security agencies begun devoting the necessary resources to combating it.

Raids on bank branches and computer centers are a legitimate means to use in the war on terror. In the wake of 9/11, the United States preceded Israel in taking tough steps, including shutting down "charity funds" and outlawing Islamic organizations that are tied to terror. But confiscating money from a bank does not necessarily harm the financial capabilities of terror groups, and there is concern that more such actions will harm innocent account holders, or even bring down the banks.

In such a complex operation it is very important to avoid causing collateral damage and making poor use of confiscated funds. According to Israel Defense Forces officers, the orders for the operation indeed specified such care. As opposed to the wide-scale destruction and damage caused by soldiers to civil Palestinian infrastructure in West Bank towns during Operation Defensive Shield, soldiers were not allowed this time into the banks, and all the activity inside the branches was conducted by officers from the Shin Bet and police.

The operation will now be considered successful if in addition to the confiscation of the funds, Israel is able to present proof that indeed they were used for terror, and at the same time it institutes a proper procedure for account holders to appeal the confiscation of their money....
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Read the rest here.

[Resistance]

1. oh I thought this was going to be about

American support for Israel.

[JohnLocke]

2. Hilarious.

You object to seizing terrorist funds?

[aquart]

3. Did you?

Because so many Israelis blow up buses full of schoolchildren?

[Name removed]

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[JohnLocke]

8. Explain yourself.

How is seizing terrorist money "robbing banks"?
And it's "a lot" not "alot."

[Jim Sagle]

4. Follow the money. But when happens when it tracks back to the EU?

[MikeGalos]

5. Or when it tracks back to the US

and Sami al-Arian's "charitable" fund raising organization in Tampa.

Of course, it would be entertaining again to show the pictures of al-Arian and Bush when al-Arian took a break from raising funds for terrorists to raise funds for Bush. Oh. Wait a minute. Maybe that wasn't taking a break.

[Name removed]

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[madrchsod]

9. i see that the idf

is now in charge of the economic resources of the palestinian people. i guess that throws out the cooperation between the israeli government and the palestinian authority on the banking problems. i`m at a loss why the idf didn`t raid the banks that sharon and his son`s corruption money was stashed. i doubt that sharon and his bunch could care less about the palestinian peoples access to a functioning banking system. as long as the us congress and whitehouse gives sharon a blank check and looks the other way ,he will keep up his ethinic cleanseing of the palestianin peoples....but of course i could be wrong

[JohnLocke]

10. ??

[tinnypriv]

11. The IDF has been in control of virtually the entire WB/Gaza economy

Since 1967. It prevents economic development as a matter of course.

[MikeGalos]

12. Nonsense

Do you think Arafat's Billions in Switzerland and France came from his concrete company? Huge sums of money go into the PA (and big chunks of it go to Arafat and his thugs private accounts)

[tinnypriv]

13. I understand that you think Arafat = Palestinians

Or perhaps that the "Palestinians" don't exist, so unless we define terms, I can't respond.

In any case, a response would doubtless fall on deaf ears, given recent and past practice.