March 23, 2004

Rantisi calls Bush No. 1 enemy of Islam

Hamas on Saturday scoffed at US President George W. Bush's decision to freeze assets of six of its leaders and five nongovernmental organizations, saying the movement does not have money in the US or Europe.
[Uh-huh. Riiiiiiiiiiiggggghhhhhtttt.--Jen]

Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi denounced Bush as "the number one enemy of Islam" and accused him of seeking to steal money belonging to Islamic charities. He said the order to freeze the assets would have no impact on Hamas.
[ Between the actions of the U.S. and those of Sharon's like targeting Hamas and bagging Yassin, they are squealing! Great job, President Bush and PM Sharon!]
[...]
Bush on Friday directed the Treasury Department to block and freeze any assets in the US of six top Hamas officials, including spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and five Hamas-linked NGOs abroad. He also appealed to the international community to freeze the assets, in an effort to thwart Hamas's fundraising capabilities.

The move was prompted by Tuesday's bus bombing in Jerusalem, which both Hamas and Islamic Jihad took credit for.

"By claiming responsibility for this despicable act of terror on March 19, Hamas has reaffirmed that it is a terrorist organization committed to violence against Israelis and to undermining progress toward peace between Israel and the Palestinian people," Bush said in a statement. "I call upon all nations supportive of peace in the Middle East to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization and to take all appropriate actions to deny it support."

Bush told reporters Friday that the US would not abandon its efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

"We'll just keep working the issue. If the Palestinians want to see their own state, they've got to dismantle terrorist networks," he said.

And yet, in defiance of Bush's message, Hamas and their "brother" jihadi groups are threatening, even promising, more violence and more death both to Israelis and to Americans:

Report: al-Qaida letter vows revenge on US
Hizbullah says will retaliate for Palestinians
Thousands protest Yassin's killing in Nazareth
Al-Jazeera web poll: 61% for attacking Israelis abroad
You can guess what that Al-Jizz poll implies--open season on Jews (and Gentiles) in the USA and Europe.
To go back to the original article about Bush freezing terrorist funds:

The Treasury Department believes that most of the assets Bush directed frozen are abroad, meaning that the directive will prove largely meaningless unless the international community agrees to take action. So far the EU has resisted pleas from the US to designate Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organization, arguing that its charitable wing provides crucial social services.
[Hah! That's rich! I've seen so many Hamas soup kitchens and hospitals in the Paleostinian areas, haven't you?--J.T.]

The individuals named were: Yassin, Imad Khalil al-Alami, Usama Hamdan, Khaled Meshal, Musa Abu Marzook, and Rantisi.

The groups named by the Treasury include the < b>France-based Committee de Bienfaissance et de Secours aux Palestiniens; the Switzerland-based Association de Secours Palestinien; the UK-based Palestinian Relief and Development Fund; the Palestinian Association in Austria; and the Lebanon-based Sanabil Association for Relief and Development.

In December 2001, the US froze the assets of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development*
[*Right in my back yard in Richardson, TX--Yikes!]
, which was collecting millions in donations from the US and funneling them to Hamas.
Since Hamas is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department, US financial institutions already must block assets of the group or its agents.

Bush's announcement came shortly after tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into the streets of Gaza City on Friday to march in a fiery funeral procession for Ismail Abu Shanab, a leader of Hamas assassinated Thursday by Israel.

"Abu Shanab, rest in peace. Our armies will go forward. We are the men of the dark night," the mourners shouted through loudspeakers.
Palestinian journalists estimated the crowd at about 100,000, one of the largest to turn out for a funeral of a Palestinian since the beginning of the violence.[I guess the JPost means the Intifada here.]

Hundreds of black-hooded armed men from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah attended the funeral carrying rifles, grenades, pistols, shoulder-held grenade launchers, and a few mortar shells.
"The road map is being buried. Only martyrdom operations will remain," a Hamas activist told the crowd.

"With your body, you opened the door for suicide bombers to target Israel," shouted another activist.

Rantisi, who marched in the funeral flanked by armed bodyguards, said, "We love martyrdom and we seek martyrdom.. Our leaders and followers will continue to fight until we achieve martyrdom." Rantisi said that even if Israel kills all of the Hamas leaders, "another leadership will arise and continue the fight until victory."

While it's easy to want to jump on the Israelis for "making the terrorists mad," we should not and should still be OK with the fact that Israel is successfully targeting these Hamas killers for assassination and has taken the gloves off to fight their part of the Global War on [Islamist] Terror.
There are 3 salient factors about our present situation, as it unfolds primarily in the Holy Land, that are extremely interesting to me:
One, who knew that Yassin was such a revered, indeed beloved, "spiritual" leader until he was taken out?
Even one of our America-friendly Iraqi bloggers, Zeyad was upset at his death as were some of his friends, one of whom dubbed Yassin the Muslim "Pope".
You can only imagine their reaction if the Good Guys get Arafat or Bin Laden (which we will someday soon).
Irate Muslims in Iraq over the killing of Hamas's chief preacher of jihad and death in "Palestine?" How interesting.
The Wahhab Sunnis, with all those Saudi millions, have been been busy the last decade or so, spreading the word, it seems.
Which brings me to the second thing of crucial importance and that is, as a reaction to the IDF's hit on Yassin, Al Queda has threatened to punish America. [See above for related article.]
No, the headline didn't read "Hamas threatens Israel" (although that one exists by the bushelful).
If you needed it--which by this late date you certainly should not--this is conclusive proof that Islamist terrorists are linked, working together to effect their jihad, and that the USA is no less a target of theirs today than is Israel.
The latest Al Queda fatwa against America as payback for the Yassassination bypasses Israel and directly puts the USA in the crosshairs for "encouraging" Israel to defend herself.
I know we're supposed to be scared, but we've been under AQ's fatwa since 1998, at least.
Israel's been beseiged since 1948.
SSDD.
Lastly, while he never actually says it (because he doesn't have to?), President Bush talks about Hamas and the terrorist groups in "Palestine" as being our Enemies and defends Israel's actions as our ally in the WOT, the "silent" member of our Coalition.
I've wanted him to formally declare this for a long time and the events of the last few days lead me to believe that that day is fast approaching.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, but for there to be a peace, there must first be a complete and total victory.
Go IDF!