Flotilla financed by terror
Jonathan Schanzer
The Turkish organizers of the
Gaza Strip-bound flotilla that was boarded by Israeli commandos
knew well in advance that their vessels would never reach Israeli waters. That's because the organizers belong to a nonprofit that was banned by the Israeli government in July 2008 for its ties to terrorism finance.
The Turkish IHH was founded in 1992, and reportedly popped up on the CIA's radar in 1996 for its radical Islamist leanings. Like many other Islamist charities, the IHH has a record of providing relief to areas where disaster has struck in the Muslim world. However, the organization is not a force for good.
The Turkish nonprofit belongs to a Saudi-based umbrella organization known to finance terrorism called the Union of Good. Notably, the union is chaired by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who is known best for his religious ruling that encourages suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. According to one report, Qaradawi personally transferred millions of dollars to the union in an effort to provide financial support to Hamas.
In 2008, the Israelis banned IHH, along with 35 other Islamist charities worldwide, for its ties to the Union of Good. This was a follow-on designation; Israelis first blocked the Union of Good from operating in the West Bank and Gaza in 2002.
Interestingly, the Union of Good may not only be tied to Hamas. Included in the Israeli list of 36 designees was the International Islamic Relief Organization.
In 2006, both the U.S. government and the United Nations designated the IIRO branch offices in Indonesia and the Philippines for financing al-Qaida. French magistrate Jean-Louis Brougiere also testified that IHH had an "important role" in Ahmed Ressam's failed "millennium plot" to bomb the Los Angeles airport in late 1999.
The U.S. government, it should be noted, also views the Union of Good as a terrorist organization.
On Nov. 12, 2008, a press release from the
U.S. Treasury announced the umbrella group's leaders as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, stating that the group was "created by Hamas leadership to transfer funds to the terrorist organization."