In this mailing:
- Shoshana Bryen: They Voted for a Moderate; Now What?
- Samuel Westrop: Prominent British Charity "Linked to Hamas"
They Voted for a Moderate; Now What?
by Shoshana Bryen
June 17, 2013 at 5:00 am
June 17, 2013 at 5:00 am
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The bad
news is that Rouhani has little influence on the three major power centers in
Iran. Rouhani, who knows for whom he works (and it is not the Iranian people),
will try to use his negotiating skills to effect changes in American behavior
toward Iran.
The 686 men who expressed their desire to run in Iran's presidential
election were whittled down to 8 -- not by primaries, debates and polls, but by
the six theologians and six jurists on the Guardian Council. The candidates had
to be Iranian-born, over 21, and believe in "God, Islam and the Iranian
Constitution." Education, military service and "public service"
were also taken into account by the Council. So while in the West much has been
made of the differences among them, similarities rule.Nevertheless, the Iranian people used their franchise to vote for the man on the ballot most opposed by the Mullahs. They made their statement in overwhelming numbers, proving the existence of the much-sought-after "Iranian moderates." That is the good news. The other good news is that they learned from Egyptian moderates, who lost by splitting votes among a selection of secular candidates. Anti-clerical Iranians coalesced around a single candidate, Hassan Rouhani, and Mohammad Reza Aref bowed out to enhance Rouhani's chances. The bad news is that the Iranian people have little influence, and neither will Rouhani, on the three major power centers in Iran:
- The Supreme Leader's religious leadership base
- The Basiji paramilitary militia established by the Ayatollah Khomeini
- Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (the IRGC or Pasdaran)
- Iran's aspiration to nuclear weapons capability
- Support for international terrorism against Israel and the West
- The quest for Shi'ite supremacy in the Middle East and beyond.
This leaves the United States in an uncomfortable position.
Wanting to show support for the Iranian people, and support for "reform" and "moderation," insofar as any permitted by the real Iranian power centers, the U.S. declared its acceptance of the result, congratulating the people for their "courage in voting" and being "determined to make their voices heard, despite the limitations the ruling government imposed on the political process." There have already been calls to "strengthen" Rouhani, "strengthen" the moderates -- much like the calls to "strengthen" Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority -- on the assumption that American support will enable him to pursue an agenda more closely aligned with Western interests.
It won't. He can't.
On the other hand, as a former nuclear negotiator, Rouhani knows how to speak the language of the international community. He is said to favor a negotiated settlement with the West on nuclear issues, which means he will likely push for a return to the P5+1 talks or some other form of engagement. This will please those for whom talk equals progress. But since the outcome on the Iranian side is pre-determined by people who are not Rouhani -- Iran expects that it will have whatever nuclear capability it deems essential -- more talks are both a delaying tactic while the centrifuges spin, and a means to press the U.S. to lift the economic sanctions.
The Obama administration will be torn between easing sanctions to "help" the Iranian people in whom he has invested rhetorical support, and continuing to hold fast to his determination that Iran will not achieve its nuclear goals. It does not help that the sanctions are having a punishing effect on the civilian economy, but were "too little, too late" to prevent the acquisition of nuclear-related technology by the regime.
The nuclear issue is the most potentially devastating threat to the West and to American allies, but Iran's support for Hezb'allah and the Assad government in Syria is clearly the most actually devastating. Iran's evident intention is hegemony across Syria and through Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, with consequences not only for Syria and Lebanon, but for Turkey, Jordan, Israel and the Kurdish minorities across the region. This is part of the larger Sunni-Shi'ite war to spread Islam and re-establish the Caliphate under the control or one side or the other. The U.S. cannot -- and apparently does not -- look lightly on an Iranian victory in Syria, having just agreed to arm the "Syrian rebels." To have swallowed its discomfort with the Sunni jihadists -- despite the sure knowledge that al Qaeda is part of the rebel front -- is an indication of just how worried the administration is about Iran.
Iranian activity in the Western hemisphere – in Venezuela, in Cuba, in Nicaragua, in Ecuador – including arms sales, and overtures to China based on China's need for Iranian oil, is a third area the United States cannot ignore.
None of the American priorities for changes in Iranian behavior can be affected by Hassan Rouhani, but Rouhani, who knows for whom he works (and it is not the Iranian people), will try to use his negotiating skills to effect changes in American behavior toward Iran. Whoever wins in the bazaar will determine the future threat posed by Iran to the West.
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of The Jewish Policy Center.
Related Topics: Iran
| Shoshana
Bryen
Prominent British Charity "Linked to Hamas"
by Samuel Westrop
June 17, 2013 at 4:00 am
June 17, 2013 at 4:00 am
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The British
charity, Human Appeal International, seems more than happy to use democratic
means, such as the courts, to silence its critics.
Britain's leading Jewish newspaper, The Jewish Chronicle, issued
an apology recently to Human Appeal International, a British charity with a
number of worldwide affiliated branches, all particularly active in the
Palestinian territories.The apology was issued after Human Appeal objected to an article published in The Jewish Chronicle in February 2012. The newspaper claimed Human Appeal was "linked to Hamas" and was on the "US State Department's list of charities connected to terrorism."
The mistake was mentioning the US State department. Human Appeal has never been officially designated as a supporter of terrorism, although a number of US government institutions have referred to Human Appeal as a supporter of terror.
A lengthy dispute led the Jewish Chronicle to "apologise unreservedly to Human Appeal International and to those individuals who are involved in its operation." Further, the Jewish newspaper "paid sums in damages … as an indication of our regret."
So what sort of organization has this Jewish newspaper just given money to?
A leaked 1996 CIA report claimed Human Appeal International's branches were among a number of Islamic charities used as conduits for funds to terrorist organizations. The FBI, in 2003, claimed there was a "close relationship between Human Appeal International and Hamas".
In August 2002, an Islamic youth group featured an advertisement for a Hamas fundraising scheme, called the "101 Days Campaign". The youth group claimed profits from the sale of intifada videotapes would go to the campaign through Human Appeal International.
In 2005, a website belonging to the Palestinian terror group Hamas reported that funds were transferred from Human Appeal's affiliated organization in the UAE to IQRA and Rifdah, two Hamas front organizations based in the West Bank.
In 2004, documents obtained from the Internal Revenue Service by Senator Charles Grassley revealed that the IRS considered Human Appeal to be one of a number of charities "which finance terrorism and perpetuate violence."
Further, leaked State Department cables also reveal that staff from the Human Appeal UAE branch were funding terror groups, and that, "In 2003, there were indications that HAI was sending financial support to organizations associated with Hamas and that members of its field offices in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Chechnya had connections to al-Qaeda associates."
In 2008, the Israeli Government proscribed a number of Human Appeal's affiliated international branches as "bodies that are active abroad and which are responsible for raising very large sums for Hamas activities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip."
Despite the considerable number of accusations, however, there is not enough evidence to prove Human Appeal International is actually financing Hamas. It is clear, however, from the Human Appeal's own published activities, that the charity is supportive of Hamas in other ways.
In July 2011, Human Appeal International was one of a number of charities honoured at a Hamas ceremony in Gaza.
Human Appeal's logo is
sixth from right.
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The Palestinian Forum of Britain is one of the UK's leading pro-Hamas organization, whose spokesman is Zaher Al-Birawi, a man closely connected to the Hamas leadership.
In Gaza: Zaher
Al-Birawi (fourth from the left) with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to his
right.
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One of Saleh's poems includes the lines:
You Jews are criminal bombers of mosques, Slaughterers of pregnant women and babies. Robbers and germs in all times, The Creator sentenced you to be loser monkeys, Victory belongs to Muslims, from the Nile to the Euphrates.
Saleh is best known for his frequent invocation of the 'blood libel' -- an ancient anti-Semitic claim that Jews kill children to use their blood to make matzah at Passover. Even a British court concluded that Saleh's comments were hateful of Jews.
Saleh was joined at the Human Appeal event by Ahmad Noufal (also spelled 'Nawfal'), a prominent figure in the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood who was "directly involved in sponsoring and organizing Hamas terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians." In 2005, Noufal endorsed the French Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy on Saudi television:
Roger Garaudy said: "If we take the number of gas chambers and the maximal daily capacity of an oven, and multiply them by the period you Zionists, claim the Holocaust lasted – even if we multiply the number of ovens by the maximal [capacity], the figure is grossly exaggerated. The number of those burned [sic] was 600,000. You added another zero, and turned it into six million."
In December 2011, Human Appeal hosted an event which featured the hate preacher Haitham al-Haddad as a guest speaker. Al-Haddad regards Jews as "enemies of god, and the descendants of apes and pigs", and disregards any form of peace until "Allah's law [will] govern the whole earth, and for no other law to remain." Haddad deems homosexuality a crime and supports the subjugation of women, telling them: "you must obey [your husband]."
Haddad claims that the West only opposes Hamas because "there is a high level of enmity and hatred against Hamas as a Muslim group".
The hate preacher Zahir Mahmood also spoke alongside Haddad. Mahmood has stated that, "Hamas are not terrorists, they're freedom fighters".
Human Appeal International is an extreme Islamist organization that promotes pro-terror and anti-Semitic ideas. Although it may ultimately support the destruction of democracy, Human Appeal seems more than happy to use democratic means, such as the courts, to silence its critics.
Related Topics: United
Kingdom | Samuel Westrop
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