While almost all media attention on the Hamas takeover in Gaza has focused almost exclusively on internal Palestinian politics, blame is being laid at the doorsteps of Egypt because of its cooperation with Hamas in allowing shipments of weapons, munitions and explosives that facilitated its takeover of the Gaza Strip last week

Hamas leaders have found a new haven in Cairo, and have been welcome guests in the highest level of the Egyptian government over the past few months.

By this past Friday, Hamas gained control of the entire Gaza Strip, including the borders with Egypt and Israel. This week, following their takeover of Gaza, Hamas has received an unprecedented amount of weapons smuggled from Sinai, including enhanced Katyusha rockets, anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles.

“Hamas got rid of Fatah, and Egypt is now allowing the transfer of all the weapons Hamas wants,” an Israeli military source told the Middle East Newsline.

Hamas has also acquired thousands of semi-automatic rifles and hundreds of rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortars and other weapons from arsenals of the Presidential Guard and Preventive Security Apparatus.

Meanwhile, Egypt has now removed its military presence in Gaza. The Israel Defense establishment had hoped that Egypt would play a mediator role in preventing terror activity from Gaza. That hope has been dashed. Egypt’s role in helping forces hostile to Israel has instead placed Egypt on a war footing with Israel.

Hamas Leaders Indicted For

Receiving Terror Funds

The Israeli State Prosecutor’s Office has announced that leaders of Hamas who maintain two Jerusalem charities which act as funnels for Hamas terror activity have been indicted for laundering funds for terror activity.

The source of the funds is Saudi Arabia, often described in the media as a “moderate” state.

What has almost escaped public scrutiny is the fact that Saudi Arabia has acted as a sponsor of Hamas since its inception 20 years ago. Israel is alleging that the Saudis funnel shekels from “Charity Coalition” – an umbrella organization that encompasses Hamas charitable societies in Saudi Arabia – to nonprofit organizations in the A-Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem to conceal its final destination: the Hamas movement.  

The first indictment accuses four officials in the A-Ram Charity Committee of receiving the monies from the Charity Coalition despite the fact that the organization had been outlawed. They will stand trial for channeling money to the Hamas. Three of the defendants are Arab Jerusalem residents of Israel while the fourth is a Jenin resident of the Palestinian Authority.

According to the second indictment, three other Arab Jerusalem members of Hamas were involved in terrorist activities, while conducting civilian activities through the educational foundations funded through Saudi Arabia.

Since both trials are expected to take place in Jerusalem, press attention will focus on Saudi assistance rendered to terrorist groups, at a time when the U.S. government continues to nurture its relationship with the Saudi kingdom, without the Bush administration ever associating the Saudis within the axis of evil … those nations that help terrorist organizations.

David Bedein can be reached at Media@actcom.co.il. His Web site is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

©The Bulletin 2007

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Previous articleU.S. Supplies More Weapons To Abbas
Next articleOlmert To Meet With Arab Leaders
David Bedein
David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR