Hamas Plans New Satellite Channel

Hamas is launching its own satellite television station in order to spew its extremist propaganda on the international stage.

The channel, which will be carried on al Ra'i satellite, will reflect Hamas policies, especially when it comes to the Palestinian issue, spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein said. "The satellite channel will convey a media message best serving the Palestinian cause and national agenda," Ghussein told the Hamas-affiliated Felesteen newspaper.

It's a sign that Hamas is trying to catch up with the West in using regular and social media to promote its agenda globally.

The head of the government media office, Ihab al-Ghussein, announced its intention of establishing a television channel that will reflect Hamas government policies on various Palestinian issues.

"The satellite channel will convey a media message best serving the Palestinian cause and national agenda," Ghussein said in an interview with the Hamas affiliated Felesteen newspaper.

An unnamed Hamas official told Al-Monitor that the organization's media department tries to manage its media messaging. "We are incapable of controlling every single word spoken on media outlets, even if the latter is affiliated with the movement. But efforts to control and monitor media content are relentless to comprehensively and succinctly convey the movement's point of view to all domestic and foreign parties," the source said.

Existing Hamas-affiliated news outlets already espouse party line positions, but the terrorist organization apparently feels the need to establish an explicit government mouthpiece under its direct control. A spokeswoman said that Hamas hopes that the new channel can offer a "point of view of the government" different from the existing Al-Aqsa satellite channel.

Meanwhile, the arrest of six Arabs from a Jerusalem law firm Wednesday shows that Hamas already uses Palestinian television outlets to "encode" messages to its members in Israeli jails. According to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), Israeli police arrested the six for allegedly ferrying messages out of jail after meeting with their clients. The responses would come via coded messages aired on the Palestinian Authority's television station.

PMW cited a November program in which a terrorist notified his brother in prison that he was planning to kidnap an Israeli as a hostage in order to negotiate his brother's release. That terrorist did eventually kidnap and murder an Israeli, intending to use the body as a bargaining chip; however, he was caught before implementing his plan and confessed to having sent the message to his brother via PA TV.

MEMRI Report Illustrates Abbas' Duplicity

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' stated positions on the core issues framing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are completely contradictory when addressing an Israeli or Western audience versus the Palestinian people and the Arab world. A Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) report outlines the contrasting positions concerning refugees, Jerusalem, and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

For example, Abbas offers two completely different positions over the rights of Palestinian refugees. He told Israelis visiting Ramallah that he did not wish to flood Israel with Palestinian refugees and their decedents.

"We only put the issue of the refugees on the negotiating table because it is a sensitive matter that must be resolved in order to end the conflict, and so that the refugees are pleased with the peace agreement. In any case, we do not wish to flood Israel with millions and change its demographic makeup. That is nonsense and what was written in the Israeli press is untrue," Abbas said.

Yet, when Abbas spoke to a Palestinian audience, he said "the right of return is a personal right. No country, authority, organization or even Abu Mazen or [other] leaders can deny anyone of his right."

In separate remarks to students in Ramallah, Abbas said, "If you want to return to Israel and receive an Israeli citizenship or not – you are free [to decide]." In this context, Abbas is clearly advocating for a Palestinian right of return to pre-1967 Israel, should the individual refugee and his/her descendants decide to do so.

Addressing an Israeli audience, Abbas stressed that Jerusalem would not be divided in any future peace agreement, but would have two municipalities with an appropriate coordinating body.

To Palestinians, he promised that, "Occupied Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine, since without it there will be no solution. No one is authorized to sign [such an agreement]. He added: "Without East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital there will be no peace between us and Israel. I heard that they object to mentioning Jerusalem in any negotiations or talks."

Abbas told his Israeli audience that the PA would accept a United Nations decision that Israel is a Jewish state. To Palestinians, he vowed that the PA "not recognize [Israel as a Jewish state], we will reject this and it is our right to not recognize the Judaism of the state."

MEMRI's analysis comes on the heels of Abbas' decision to seek statehood benefits from 15 international bodies despite promising not to make such a move during ongoing peace talks. Those talks now face collapse.

MEMRI's report shows the folly of accepting Abbas' talk of peace and reconciliation when it is directed at Israeli and Western audiences. Read the whole report here.

Woman's Murder Was Family Tragedy, Not Hate Crime

A California murder that Islamist groups pushed as a Muslim Trayvon Martin was nothing more than the desperate act of a man angered by his wife's plans to divorce him, a prosecutor argued in opening statements Tuesday.

Kassim Alhimidi, 49, is charged with killing his wife Shaima al-Awadi in March 2012.

Al-Awadi was struck six times in the head with a blunt object – likely a tire iron – in her El Cajon home. Al-Awadi, a hijab-clad Iraqi immigrant, died three days later. A note found near her said "Go back to your country, you terrorist," prompting speculation that she was targeted for a hate crime.

This was about a month after Martin, an unarmed Florida 17-year-old, was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer who cited Martin's hooded sweatshirt, or "hoodie," among the things that caused him suspicion. Outraged supporters organized "million hoodie" marches in protest.

Al-Awadi's death sparked calls for similar, "million hijab" marches to protest "a world so full of hatred that a woman wearing a head scarf is afraid for her life." Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) Detroit office, for example, said "Shaima Al-Awadi's murder, like Trayvon Martin's, was a senseless murder based upon racial animus."

But, prosecutor Kurt Mechals said Tuesday, Alhimidi visited his unconscious wife in the hospital, touching her and asking for forgiveness. He also told a relative "she might claim I did this to her" if she recovers. A tire iron was missing from one of the family cars, and security video shows someone parking a vehicle that looked like Alhimidi's minivan near the house around the time of the attack. Alhimidi claimed he went out for a ride when it took place.

He was arrested only after his daughter, Fatima, called police and said "My Dad did it." Alhimidi reportedly sobbed loudly throughout the opening statements.

Defense attorney Douglas Gilliland emphasized a lack of physical evidence in the case – no murder weapon has been found and Alhimidi had no blood or broken glass on him when police found him. The witness accounts come from relatives who don't like Alhimidi, Gilliland said. He mentioned tension between Fatima and her parents over the teen's Christian boyfriend.

Her dramatic interview with local television reporters helped fuel the hate crime angle. "Why? Why did you do that?" she asked. "She's a housewife. She's innocent. She hasn't hurt anybody."

Fatima Alhimidi is expected to be a state witness.

UK Prime Minister Orders MB Investigation

Prime Minister David Cameron has ordered British intelligence agencies to investigate Muslim Brotherhood activities in his country.

The move follows orders by Egypt and Saudi Arabia to outlaw the group, and allegations that its members plotted terrorist attacks from offices in Britain. British newspapers confirmed an original report in the Times of London about Cameron's order.

A number of Brotherhood officials moved to Britain following last July's ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Brotherhood leaders may have met in London shortly afterward to discuss their response to Morsi, and by extension the Brotherhood, being forced from power, the Times report said.

British intelligence will investigate whether any plotted violent attacks from that new base, the reports say, including a recent attack on an Egyptian bus that killed three people.

Britain's ambassador to Saudi Arabia will put the report together, focusing on the Brotherhood's "philosophy and values and alleged connections with extremism and violence." His findings are due this summer and, the BBC reports, will be made public.

Previous investigations by U.S. law enforcement uncovered a sophisticated network of Muslim Brotherhood front groups operating in America. Many of them continue to enjoy significant public profiles, although they work hard to bury their histories and deny their Brotherhood links.

Armenians Flee Syrian Town Seized by Radical Islamists

Residents in a coastal town along the Syria-Turkey border with a significant Armenian population face new threats after rebels seized control of their town from forces loyal to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad a week ago.

Some of the rebels are from the al-Qaida-tied Jabhat al-Nusra, or al-Nusra Front, which the United States designated as a terrorist group.

Reports say that the rebels entered houses owned by Christians immediately after taking control of the city of Kassab, seizing all the alcohol and destroying all the publicly-displayed Christian imagery, including crosses.

Thousands fled the city.

"We had to flee only with our clothes," a woman from Kassab told the Associated Press. "We couldn't take anything, not even the most precious thing — a handful of soil from Kassab. We couldn't take our memories."

The rebels were companied by a radical Saudi preacher known as Abdullah Mhesne. Social media networks such as Twitter published a photo of Mhsne near a street sign saying "Welcome to Kassab."

Mhesne listed some of the rebel groups which helped conquer the Christian town of Kassab on his Twitter account. They include Ahrar Al Sham – which works with Jabhat Al Nusra – and other Islamic battalions that include foreign fighters.

Ahrar Al Sham is the largest group in the Islamic Front, a coalition of jihadi groups fighting Assad. It also is among the groups attacking Christians in Kassab. The group still enjoys support from American-based groups lobbying for support in ousting Assad. For example, Syrian Emergency Task Force Executive Director Mouaz Mustafa advocated for Western support for the Islamic Front in December.

Mhesne runs a campaign called "Jahed Be Malak," which translates to "perform Jihad with your money," to raise money for Jihadists to buy weapons and for the rebels in Syria. Mhesne uses Turkish and Saudi cell phone number to contact the donors: For example, on Thursday he tweeted:

For those whose souls yearn for Jihad, but cannot wage Jihad themselves. Here is our campaign "Perform Jihad with your Money." We want to buy one hundred Grad rockets, so we can demolish the city of Qardaha [Assad's hometown].

Later, he claimed to have received a $13,000 donation, which can be used to buy three rockets.

In other posts, Mhesne rationalized the bad treatment Christians face in Kassab. But anyone targeted was not singled out for their faith, he wrote, but because they supported Assad's regime. But he also said Christians would be forced into dhimmi status, or submission to Islam, in order to survive. In that scenario, "they agree to not display their crosses except in the houses and churches."

The houses invaded during the past week were "for the need of Jihad," he wrote, downplaying the harm. "We entered the houses of the Christians with the brothers, but no one touched anything," Mhesne wrote. "We only broke the crosses, and the wine bottles, and the pork."

Hamas Imposes Radical New Law: Lashings, Amputations, and Massive Executions

Hamas is now trying to outdo the Taliban in imposing new Shar'ia inspired draconian punishments, including amputations of limbs and massive increases in lashings and executions. A senior Hamas official told Gulf News that a new punitive law, "inspired by" Shar'ia Law, is required to replace the former and "impractical" one. The article states that there will be a minimum of 20 lashes for minor offenses and a minimum of 80 lashes for criminal cases: the death penalty will also be expanded in accordance with the Shar'ia. In addition, the new law includes cutting off the hands of a thief.

By replacing an almost 80-year old punitive law with a new radical one, Hamas has earned widespread condemnation by other Palestinian factions. Even other terrorist groups condemn Hamas' new law.

"The new law will harm the interests of the Palestinians and perpetuate the Palestinian internal split. Hamas must retreat and show priority and preference to the higher Palestinian interests," according to The Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) statement.

According to the article, Hamas asserts that the law aims at deterring criminals in Gaza.

Instead of planning to alleviate Gaza's deteriorating economic situation or reining in terrorist groups operating in the Strip, the Hamas regime is reinforcing its radical rule. Clearly, Hamas prioritizes imposing its radical Islamist agenda on Palestinian society over enhancing Gaza's standard of living.

It remains to be seen whether Hamas' front groups and supporters in the United States, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, American Muslims for Palestine and the Muslim American Society, who claim to be civil rights organizations, will condemn Hamas for implementing this new law.

Bin Laden's Son-in-Law Convicted of Conspiring to Kill Americans

A federal jury in New York found senior al-Qaida member Sulaiman Abu Ghayth guilty on terrorism-related charges Wednesday, including conspiracy to kill Americans. In video statements and speeches released after the Sept. 11 attacks, Abu Ghayth promised similar attacks against U.S. and Western targets.

Evidence presented during the three-week trial included a screen shot of a video from September 12, 2001 showing Abu Ghayth sitting beside Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida members, including Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current leader of the terrorist group. A videotaped statement broadcast a month later on al-Jazeera showed Abu Ghayth saying "there are thousands of Muslim youths who are eager to die and that the aircraft storm will not stop." He warned "Muslims in the United States and Britain, the children, and those who reject unjust U.S. policy not to travel by plane."

Abu Ghayth testified about being summoned by bin Laden to an Afghanistan mountain cave just hours after the 9/11 attacks. Bin Laden acknowledged al-Qaida's responsibility and sought Abu Ghayth's help "to deliver a message to the world."

Abu Ghayth also tried to recruit terrorists from training camps and safe houses. The video messages sought not only to instill fear in Americans but also "drive more suicide terrorists to Al Qaeda," prosecutor John P. Cronan said during the trial.

Abu Ghayth, who was married to bin Laden's daughter, was captured and brought to the United States last year, where he was indicted on terrorism-related charges. He was convicted on three counts related to a conspiracy to kill Americans, to provide material support to terrorist and providing actual support. He faces a maximum of life in prison for the first count and a maximum of 15 years for the latter two counts.

"He was more than just Usama bin Laden's propaganda minister," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a Justice Department press release. "Within hours after the devastating 9/11 attacks, Abu Ghayth was using his position in al Qaeda's homicidal hierarchy to persuade others to pledge themselves to al Qaeda in the cause of murdering more Americans."

Iran Resumes Financial Assistance to Hamas

Facing increasing pressure from Egypt and deteriorating economic conditions in Gaza, Hamas has been flirting with the notion of re-entering the Iranian camp. Now, Al-Monitor is reporting that Iranian monetary aid has officially resumed to Hamas, but at a lower level than that it provided before ties between the two broke. The report also cited a source close to Hamas' political leadership who says Iran is planning to receive Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal. Qatar was mediating discussions between Iran and Hamas in an effort to restore ties, after a two-year hiatus.

Syria's civil war led to the split. Iran, trying to protect its Shiite axis, backed dictator Bashar al-Assad and ordered its Lebanese terror proxy Hizballah to help shore up the regime. Hamas, a Sunni movement, allied with anti-Assad rebels.

Iranian Shura Council head Ali Larijani announced the resumption of relations between the two sides on March 10. Larijani stated that "Iran is supporting Hamas on the grounds that it is a resistance movement. … Our relationship with [Hamas] is good and has returned to what it was. We have no problems with [Hamas]." It is clear that their differences in Syria do not trump Hamas and Iran's shared desire to facilitate Israel's destruction.

The Israeli Navy recently intercepted an Iranian ship earlier this month that carrying advanced weaponry for the Gaza strip. Even though Palestinian Islamic Jihad was the likely recipient of most of the payload, Israel officials believe some of the arms were meant for Hamas as well. Military-ruled Egypt is increasingly isolating Hamas and engaging in a concerted campaign to destroy the terrorist organization's smuggling tunnels. This new report showing renewed financial assistance demonstrates that Hamas is on its way to fully restoring ties with its Iranian patron.

Hamas Sends Threatening Text Messages to Israelis

Hamas sent text messages to various Israeli cellphones threatening rocket attacks and kidnaping. Commemorating the 10^th anniversary of Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, Hamas sent four different messages Saturday evening. According to Ynet, the messages were also sent to government ministers, their spokespeople, and some journalists.

Some messages included: "A warning to Zionists. Kassam rockets are waiting with you. If you want the life then leave our country."

"Al-qassam has chosen you to be the next Shalite … Be Ready" referring to former kidnapped solider Gilad Schalit.

"Israel established the injustice and the occupation and the fate of every entity of injustice and occupation is destruction… the Shaheed ["martyr"] Ahmed Yassin."

Some of the messages were written in grammatically incorrect Hebrew.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands rallied in Gaza to commemorate the anniversary of Yassin's death. Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh used the opportunity to call on Abbas to end peace negotiations with Israel. "No to negotiations, no to compromise and yes to resistance," Haniyeh proclaimed to the cheering crowd.

Facing a hostile, military-ruled Egypt and a growing economic crisis in the Gaza Strip, Hamas may be looking to repair relations with Iran in hopes of gaining more assistance. Iran withdrew much of its financial aid after Hamas sided with rebels in Syria's civil war. Iran's Lebanese terror proxy Hizballah has provided vital support for dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Even though Egypt has destroyed many of the smuggling tunnels into Gaza, Hamas continues to re-arm and develop their missile capabilities. Recently, Israel intercepted a shipment of advanced weaponry intended for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization; however, Israeli officials believe some of the weapons were destined for Hamas as well, in effort to bait the terrorist group back into the Iranian camp.

Israel Uncovers "Advanced" Hamas Tunnel

Israeli military officials say they uncovered a Hamas tunnel that might be the largest yet discovered. It runs hundreds of meters into Israel from Gaza and posed "a direct link and threat to Israeli territory, and enable Hamas terrorists to reach and harm Israeli civilians."

Similar tunnels have been built with the intent of launching terrorist attacks and trying to kidnap Israeli soldiers.

Hamas claimed this tunnel was old, but Israeli Defense Force officials say they found a generator and other building materials inside which indicated it was still under construction. They estimated that more than 500 tons of cement was used in building support arches for the tunnel, which ran 20 to 60 feet underground.

"We have no doubt we disturbed them in the middle of work," an Army source told the Jerusalem Post. "We've recently increased efforts against tunnels, and have uncovered three over the past months."

"Tunnels are an ethos for Hamas and the source of many of its operational successes," the source said. "As soon as it loses three tunnels in a number of months, that represents a major blow to it."

The IDF discovered a similar tunnel last fall that had electricity and telephone lines. Hamas diverted 24,000 concrete slabs meant for civilian construction to build that tunnel.

Tunnels played a critical part of Hamas operations until the past year. Israel has uncovered several meant for terror operations, while Egypt has destroyed hundreds of tunnels that had been used to smuggle goods and material into Gaza. The tunnels were considered a significant cog in Gaza's economy, which now is in crisis.

The IDF discovery shows Hamas makes that crisis worse by continuing to emphasize terror more than the needs of the Palestinians it is supposed to represent.

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