OK, I might be reading this story wrong, but it sounds like the Yanks have just sentenced some dodgy, Islamist chap to 75 years in jail for supporting Al Qaeda, when what he actually did was to give money to Hamas (update: and make unverified boasts about how he was mates with Osama and how he’d given the latter loads of money – just like the way in which I’m mates with Johnny Depp and totally landed him his big break in movies).
This seems a trifle unreasonable (hard to it is to summon up any pity for the defendant in question) in that the latter have never attacked or threatened, and don’t pose any threat towards, the US. The defendant really ought to be jailed in Israel, or jailed on the basis of actual evidence that he gave money to America’s enemies…
Do you really think there is significant ideological difference between Hamas and al Quaeda?
Yes. The first wishes to push Israel into the sea and establish a Palestinian state that it controls; the second wishes to place the entire world under an extreme interpretation of Sharia law. Fortunately, only the first exists as a coherent organisation with a unified command structure and supply chain, otherwise we’d all be fucked.
I’ll grant you that the Palestinian concession has a different 5 year plan than say the Kasmir concession or the Lebanese concession. But to suggest that Hamas doesn’t want the Caliphate/Sharia bundle is odd.
Perhaps you are right that Osama doesn’t want to push Israel into the sea and establish a Palestinian state
John B.
Before you post such tosh, do you think it might be worthwhile checking a number of news sources to find out what he was actually charged and convicted of?
As for the title of the post, it is very offensive to the majority of Muslims who oppose terrorism and Al Qaeda.
Good for the Americans. One must hope this will have a chilling effect on Islamists here, too.
Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah or Hamas, Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement.
The Hamas charter calls for the creation of an Islamist theocracy, with Christians and Jews under Muslim domination. The Hamas charter states that the Freemasons, the Lions Club, and the Rotarians all secretly “work in the interest of Zionism,” and that any Muslim who leaves “the circle of struggle with Zionism” is commiting “high treason” and should be “cursed.” The Hamas charter states any land conquered by Muslims at any time (such as Spain or the Balkans) is “consecrated to the Muslims till the Day of Judgment.” The Hamas charter also states: “Jihad is not confined to the carrying of arms…The effective word, the good article, the useful book, support and solidarity…all these are elements of Jihad for Allah’s sake.”
Hamas is responsible for the murder of Americans among hundreds of innocent civilians – Israeli, Palestinians and otherwise.
when all he actually did was to give money to Hamas means that all he actually did was to aid the murderers of American citizens among others as well as to actively support a designated terrorist organization in the United States.
That in itself makes him worthy of jail time. May he rot in peace. Poor man.
Eric, but it’s not as offensive as your confidence that Muslims don’t understand irony.
Yes John, you did indeed get it wrong:
"<EM> Al-Moayad has also said that he personally delivered $20 million to bin Laden to support jihad in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Kashmir.</EM>"
As Eric points out, you can save yourself some embarrassment by carrying out 5 seconds of research before future posts.
I know he *said* he’d delivered US$20m to Al Qaeda, but as far as I could make out from the articles I read (including the CNN one you’ve linked), there was no supporting evidence apart from his overheard boasting. The only thing he was *actually caught doing* was plotting to fund Hamas.
As I’ve said, I might be wrong and I might have missed evidence that he actually gave AQ the money, but I haven’t spotted any so far.
From Reuters:
"On March 10, after a five-week trial, a federal jury found al-Moayad and his aide, Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed, guilty of conspiring to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda between October 1999 and January 2003, and to Hamas between October 1997 and January 2003.
<B>Al-Moayad was acquitted on a separate count of actually providing such support to al Qaeda</B>, but was found guilty of providing material support and resources to Hamas."
If only Scott Burgess had taken the time to do seven seconds of research like me, the confusion would have been avoided.
I don’t think john’s original post is misleading, anyway.
You know Johnny Depp?
Yeah, and I totally landed him his big break in the movies.