Britain's Largest Bank Cuts Off Islamic Relief UK Over Alleged Terror Connections

Britain's largest bank, HSBC, no longer will do business with the charity Islamic Relief UK due to worries over its alleged terror ties. The Sunday Times of London reported last weekend that the banking giant decided to cut off the Muslim charity a year ago, but the move went unreported until now.

Islamic Relief UK receives millions of pounds from the British Department of International Development, the Times reported. Israel banned the charity from the West Bank in 2014, accusing it of laundering money for Hamas. The Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs designated the group's parent organization, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), as a terrorist front in 2006.

"The IRW provides support and assistance to Hamas's infrastructure. The IRW's activities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip are carried out by social welfare organizations controlled and staffed by Hamas operatives. The intensive activities of these associations are designed to further Hamas's ideology among the Palestinian population," Israel's Ministry for Foreign Affairs wrote.

IRW also received a $50,000 check from Osama bin Laden in 1999 and received £60,000 – approximately $115,000 – from an Al-Qaida front group between 2003 and 2008.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) blacklisted Islamic Relief in November 2014.

This is not the first time the bank has targeted an Islamic institution accused of terror ties. HSBC ended its relationship with the Cordoba Foundation – another group listed by the UAE as a terrorist group – headed by British Muslim Brotherhood leader Anas Altakriti in July 2014.

The Guardian reported that UAE threatened to stop cooperating with the U.K. if it did not take action against the Muslim Brotherhood, which it labels a terrorist organization.

The Swiss bank UBS likewise closed Islamic Relief's accounts and barred donations in 2012 over similar concerns.

Islamic Relief UK denies the terror claims.

"We were and remain extremely surprised at HSBC's stance," it said in a statement. "... Not supporting a civilian population who happen to live in a warzone is inhumane and unjustifiable. We believe the breadth and vagueness of counter-terrorism regulation has created a fog of uncertainty for both banks and charities that governments need to help us navigate our way through."

HSBC itself has faced scrutiny for abetting money-laundering activities. U.S. Treasury officials ordered the bank to end its involvement with Iranian financial institutions in 2012. That same month, Treasury officials ordered the bank to pay $1.9 billion in fines because it allowed Mexican drug cartels to circulate hundreds of millions of dollars through accounts in the U.S.

Bahrain Claims It Foiled Iranian-backed Terrorist Plot

Bahrain authorities say they foiled an Iranian-linked plot to conduct terrorist attacks in the country, according Bahrain's state news agency BNA and reported by Yahoo! News.

"A secret terrorist plot aided by the so-called Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Hezbollah terrorist organization was foiled...It targeted the security of the kingdom of Bahrain by (plotting to) carry out a series of dangerous bombings," reported BNA.

These developments come just two days after Bahrain joined its close ally Saudi Arabia in severing ties with Iran following recent escalations between the regional powers.

According to the report, Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a main suspect, Ali Ahmed Fakhwari, $20,000 to assist the terrorist cell while Fakhwari visited Lebanon.

In November, Bahrain arrested 47 people accused of links to "terrorist elements in Iran," who allegedly were planning to conduct imminent attacks in the country. The following month, Bahrain recalled its ambassador to Iran following a security forces raid on a bomb-making factory and arrests of individuals with suspected ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Iran has been accused of plotting terrorist attacks around the world in recent years – mainly through proxies like Hizballah and the al-Quds Force of the IRGC – in countries such as Egypt, Cyprus, Georgia, Thailand, India and others. In July 2012, a bus bomb widely attributed to Hizballah killed five Israeli tourists and a bus driver in Bulgaria.

In October 2011, the United Stated foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Washington D.C. and bomb the Saudi and Israeli embassies in the U.S. capital.

The latest tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran may pose immense ramifications, as both countries are expected to intensify support for their respective armed proxies in various conflicts throughout the region – including Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Bahrain.

Iran's Guard Corps Receives Precision Ballistic Missile System

Iranian military officials say they are deploying a sophisticated new guidance system to ballistic missiles with a range of more than 1,000 miles.

The Emad missile system is in the hands of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, Brigadier General Hossein Salami said in a state-controlled Fars News report. It may be used in pending war games, Salami said.

Tests on the Emad missiles in October may have violated United Nations Security Council resolutions. The system is touted for its precision, described as "steerable" until just before impact. While it is primarily for conventional weapons, the missiles can carry nuclear warheads.

Despite that, Iranian officials say the system is defensive in nature.

"We don't ask for anyone's permission for boosting our defense and missile power," Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan said in October.

Iranian leaders have repeatedly vowed to destroy Israel, and the Emad's range places Jerusalem and Tel Aviv within range. Iran also has helped Hizballah amass an arsenal of as many as 150,000 missiles in preparation for a future war with Israel.

The Obama administration's response to the Iranian missile tests thus far has been muted.

U.N. Ambassador said the United States is "deeply concerned" after the October missile test.

The State Department was "considering the appropriate consequences to that launch," Stephen Mull, the official in charge of implementing the nuclear agreement with Iran told a Senate hearing Dec. 17.

Picture Tells Arab Journalist the Story on Israeli Prisoner Treatment

This week's air strike in Syria which killed a notorious Hizballah terrorist generated the usual cries of "death to Israel" and promises of retribution.

Samir Kuntar was one of the most hated terrorists in Israeli history, a man who killed a 4-year-old girl by smashing her head with a rifle butt. He served nearly 30 years in an Israeli prison before being released in a 2008 exchange in which Israel received the remains of two slain soldiers. Kuntar received a hero's welcome in Lebanon.

A Syrian journalist took a different tact this week in remembering Kuntar's release. Faisal al-Qassem was struck by Kuntar's robust condition in pictures from the release, and placed one next to a picture of a Syrian prisoner.

"Samir Kuntar left an Israeli prison with a beer belly and a doctorate," al-Qassem wrote in a Facebook post flagged Wednesday by the Times of Israel. "At the other extreme, this is how Syrians leave [dictator Bashar] Assad's prisons."

He has a point. Kuntar doesn't look like a man who missed many meals in Israeli custody, while the emaciated Syrian invokes memories of those who survived Nazi concentration camps.

Many of Qassem's 8.7 million followers seemed to agree, with more than 100,000 hitting "like."

"We are taught that Israeli prisons are the worst in the world but in fact we know that the Israelis are more merciful than all of the Arabs," wrote one Facebook user in Arabic. "Some say that the Zionists are our biggest enemy, dogs and murderers. But Muslims kill more Muslims that the Zionists," read another.

A lot of Arabic-language media dispense rabidly anti-Israel views and promote anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. It is refreshing to see Qassem's recognition of reality and the strong support it generated.

Slain Hizballah Terrorist Reportedly Planning Major Iran-Ordered Attack on Israel

Notorious Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar reportedly was killed Saturday night in Syria as he prepared a major attack against Israel, according to Western sources and reported by YNet News.

Israeli officials are not commenting, but are suspected of being behind the long-range precision-guided missiles to neutralize Kuntar's terrorist plans – which were directly financed and supported by Iran. Kuntar was reportedly killed in the Damascus operations center that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) helped set up for the terrorist to coordinate plots against the Jewish state, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Kuntar was 16 years old in 1979 when he and three other members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) sneaked into Israel, killing a policeman and kidnapping a man and his 4-year-old daughter, Einat Haran. Kuntar killed the little girl by smashing her head with his rifle butt. Compounding the tragedy, Haran's other daughter, a 2-year-old, was accidentally suffocated by her mother as she tried to keep the girl from crying out as they hide from the terrorists in their apartment.

Upon his release, Kuntar said he regretted nothing and received a hero's welcome in Lebanon.

Kuntar reportedly became an influential figure in Hizballah after this release, but may have gone his own way after disagreements concerning attacking Israel. Acting on Iranian orders and working with pro-Assad militias in Syria, Kuntar helped create cells to plant bombs at Israel's border, fire missiles, and conduct cross-border infiltrations.

The Hizballah rift allegedly began after Jihad Mughniyeh – son of assassinated terrorist leader Imad Mughniyeh – replaced Kuntar as commander of Iranian-Hizballah operations in the Golan Heights.

In January, another airstrike attributed to Israel targeted a Hizballah convoy seeking to attack Israel from the Golan. It included a senior Iranian general and Jihad Mugniyeh.

Even though Hizballah stopped working with Kuntar, he continued to plan attacks against Israel through his ethnic-kin Druze connections who supported the Assad regime.

The Lebanese Shi'ite terrorist organization feared that a Kuntar-led attack against Israel would invite Israeli intervention that would hinder current Iranian-Hizballah objectives in Syria. These reports indicate that several actors may have had a reason to kill Kuntar.

Three rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon following Kuntar's death, falling into open northern territory. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded by striking terrorist targets in southern Lebanon with artillery fire on Sunday.

Swedish Citizens Receive Threatening ISIS Style Messages to Convert or Die

Dozens of Swedish citizens received threatening letters with "ISIS" signatures, calling for them to either convert to Islam, pay tax to the terrorist organization, or be killed – according to a Russia Today (RT) Arabic report Sunday translated by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT).

Official Swedish television reports that police are taking the threats seriously, considering the messages were disseminated in Swedish to people throughout the country. The messages included the national identity number of the targeted individuals in an effort to enhance the terrorists' credibility.

"The messages gave a choice between Islam, tribute, and murder by beheading or perhaps blowing up houses of the owners, after the deadline set by the sender three days from the date of dispatch," reads the report.

On Saturday, Swedish police confirmed receipt of multiple threats from similar letters distributed in several Swedish regions, including the capital Stockholm.

The city of Sigtuna's policy chief, Emil Anderson, "called on the population to deal with all developments seriously and to report any suspicious behavior in the vicinity of their residences." Police were increasing their presence where the threats were received, according to an IPT translation of the Arabic service associated with Sweden's Sverige Rost newspaper.

It is unclear who sent the emails and an investigation is underway, Anderson said.

Sigtuna's head of security, Thomas Mile Born, is skeptical that the threats came from ISIS, believing that they may be a hoax, reports Sweden's Sigtunabygden newspaper.

However, Swedish citizens previously have been targets of radical Islamist messages.

In October, members of the Assyrian Christian community in Sweden were told to "convert or die" in messages linked to the Islamic State, reported the Daily Mail. Threatening graffiti was found on restaurants and businesses in Gothenburg – a major hub for radical jihadist recruitment. Terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp has referred to the city as "the Swedish Centre for Jihadists."

One Assyrian Christian living in the city said he discovered threatening messages written on his restaurant walls, including "convert or die" and "the caliphate is here." Similar messages and the ISIS logo were painted on a neighboring pizzeria, while other non-Assyrian-owned establishments were not vandalized, reported Breitbart.

According to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, at least 150 jihadists from Gothenburg are believed to have fled to join ISIS.

White House Opens Door to CAIR Rep, Ignores Muslim Reformers

He accused the FBI of killing two men in cold blood in separate incidents. But Obama administration officials saw Hassan Shibly as a suitable representative of the American Muslim community to include at Monday's White House meeting on combating religious discrimination, the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) has learned.

Shibly is the chief executive director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Florida. Since 2008, FBI policy has barred outreach communication with CAIR officials due to documents seized by law enforcement which place CAIR and its founders at the heart of a Hamas-support network at the time of CAIR's creation. Eyewitness interviews recently obtained by the IPT further detail CAIR's ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Until it determines "whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner," a senior official wrote in 2009.

Why would the White House include CAIR when FBI policy is to avoid the group? A White House spokesperson wouldn't say, telling the IPT in an email Tuesday afternoon that "CAIR state chapter representatives have been included in broad meetings" with the White House and other cabinet-level agencies.

The meeting's focus is understandable, but the inclusion of a prominent CAIR official serves only to enhance the status of a group with documented ties to a terrorist-financing network. And the exclusion of voices representing non-Islamist Muslim reformers just makes their challenge of getting a fair hearing for their ideas more difficult.

Shibly's record should have been especially troublesome for staffers compiling a list of White House guests to meet with Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett. He is helping a family sue the FBI, alleging an agent unjustly shot and killed a friend of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev after hours of questioning in his Orlando home in 2013.

Independent investigations, requested by CAIR, by the Justice Department and a Florida state attorney found that Ibragim Todashev, a "skilled mixed-martial arts fighter," attacked the agent shortly after acknowledging involvement in a separate triple-murder case in Massachusetts. Todashev continued charging after being shot, prompting the agent to fire more.

Shibly rejected the findings, saying only Todashev could "contradict the government's narrative" but he was dead. Similarly, Shibly joined other CAIR officials in blaming the FBI for the 2010 death of a Detroit imam who refused to surrender to arresting FBI agents and shot an FBI canine trying to subdue him. Again, independent investigations CAIR requested supported the agents' actions, and even included video showing the imam trying to conceal his Glock 9mm handgun.

During a 2012 radio interview, Shibly claimed "the imam was tied and bound and was shot. And that is very troubling. Why was a man in chains shot?"
Shibly made this statement two years after video of the shooting was released. There is no evidence supporting Shibly's description.

While there was room for Shibly at the White House, the guest list included no representatives from a new coalition of non-Islamist Muslims which issued a declaration and statement of principles for the Muslim Reform Movement. The values described include "peace, human rights and secular governance," a call to defeat "Islamism, or politicized Islam," and a simple declaration: "We reject interpretations of Islam that call for any violence, social injustice and politicized Islam."

These are the values that merit the endorsement of a meeting with top White House staffers.

But for the past seven years, the Obama White House has opened its doors to the entire spectrum of radical Islamist groups, just like CAIR. These groups have rationalized the actions of Islamic terrorist groups that have killed Americans, warned American Muslims against cooperating with law enforcement, smeared genuine Muslim moderates like Zuhdi Jasser and Asra Nomani as traitors and accused anyone who dared to utter the term "radical Islam" as "Islamophobic." These are the groups that the White House should have marginalized. The fact that Obama legitimized radical Islamist groups will be his real legacy.

On Anniversary, Hamas Calls for More Stabbings and Destroying Israel

Hamas reaffirmed its commitment to destroying the Jewish state, while tens of thousands of Palestinians celebrated the terrorist group's 28^th anniversary, the Jerusalem Post reports.

"Hamas vows to remain faithful to the liberation of Palestine and to keep its weapon directed at the Israeli occupation only," read a Hamas statement released on its English language website.

Hamas praised the recent wave of Palestinian terrorism plaguing Israel, calling it the "Jerusalem intifada," and encouraging others to engage in "heroic resistance against Israeli soldiers and settlers" in order to achieve "the right of return – a sacred, nonnegotiable individual and collective right." According to the statement, Hamas will "never compromise even one inch or grain of its soil or holy sites."

Hamas continues to be dedicated to the erosion of Jewish sovereignty in any form and does not distinguish between Israel proper and the Palestinian territories – viewing the entire land of Israel as an "occupation."

"Hamas will never recognize the Israeli occupation, and confirms that Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean is an Arab, Islamic country," the statement read. This rejectionist sentiment is at the core of Hamas' ideology, obstructing any potential for a meaningful peace settlement with the Palestinians.

Reinforcing that message, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal glorified Palestinian terrorists involved in recent attacks against Israelis, calling for the path of "Jihad, sacrifice, and blood" as the only way Palestinians can achieve their objectives.

"The Palestinians have reached the realization that negotiations with the (Israelis) are useless...the so-called peace process is futile. There is no peace. Only the path of Jihad, sacrifice, and blood (will bear fruit)," said Meshaal in a December 10 speech in Malaysia, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and reported by the Times of Israel.

Click here to view the MEMRI video clip.

"Weapons like Kalashnikovs or missiles are not at hand, but there are knives and cars with which to run over the enemies...By God, after the knives used by the people of the West Bank and Jerusalem, can anyone possibly have an excuse to abandon the path of jihad? Nobody can have such an excuse," stated the Hamas leader.

Palestinian terrorists have killed 20 Israelis in the past three months, following near-daily attacks targeting Jews.

Meshaal met with government officials and politicians in Malaysia last week with a delegation of senior Hamas officials. Malaysia is a major component of Hamas' international terrorist infrastructure, as the group actively recruits Palestinians studying at Malaysian universities to join Hamas for eventual terrorist attacks against Jews in Israel.

Two-thirds of the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza support the current wave of terrorism targeting Israelis, a survey published Monday by the Palestinian Center or Policy and Survey Research (PSR) found. An equal number of Palestinians advocate for an even more violent uprising.

Palestinian Intelligence Officer Responsible for Terrorist Attack Targeting Israelis

A Palestinian Authority (PA) intelligence officer shot and injured an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier and Israeli civilian outside Jerusalem on Thursday, according to Ma'an News and reported by the Jerusalem Post.

The terrorist – Mazen Hassan from Abu Dis in eastern Jerusalem – got out of his vehicle at the Hizma checkpoint and began firing at Israeli soldiers. IDF forces returned fire and killed the terrorist.

Past participation among Palestinian Authority security forces in terrorist activities is well documented.

Nevertheless, both Israeli and Palestinian sources revealed that the PA foiled more than 100 stabbing plots targeting Israelis by young Palestinian men and women in recent months, the Times of Israel reports. Security cooperation with the Palestinian security forces and simultaneous promotion of terrorist attacks against Israelis from across the Palestinian political spectrum contributes to a major dilemma facing the Jewish state.

Official Palestinian Authority policy provides monthly payments for convicted terrorists held in Israeli prisons, with longer sentences resulting in increased financing for the terrorist's family.

In January, a jury in New York saw the document outlining the PA's policy during a civil trial introduced by American victims of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel between 2002 and 2004. Jurors awarded the victims $218.5 million in damages in February. Under U.S. counter-terror laws, that award is tripled to $655 million. The PA is appealing the judgment.

The attacks under scrutiny were conducted by branches of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Palestinian Authority (PA), their employees or others who received assistance from these organizations.

According to court documents, PA employees convicted of terrorism continued to receive salaries and benefits despite being jailed. According to the 2004 regulation, prisoners serving up to five years in Israeli jails earned 1,300 shekels per month, while inmates in prison for over 25 years earned 4,000 shekels.

Despite Israeli efforts to bolster the PA to enhance the West Bank's security situation, the PA under President Mahmoud Abbas' leadership continues to engage in violent and systematic incitement, fueling the ongoing wave of terrorist attacks targeting Israelis.

IPT Statement on San Bernardino Mass Murders

We send our heartfelt condolences to the victims of the heinous mass murder in San Bernardino. Before rushing to conclusions about the killers, however, we need to provide law enforcement and intelligence with the space and time to gather all of the evidence. We cannot attribute or discount motives – including possible religious aspects – until we learn all that there is to know.

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