In this mailing: Samuel Westrop: UK: HSBC Shuts Down Islamist Bank Accounts Alan M. Dershowitz: What should Israel do? What would the United States do? Alan M. Dershowitz: Why did Hamas accept the cease fire? UK: HSBC Shuts Down Islamist Bank Accounts by Samuel Westrop  •  August 2, 2014 at 5:00 am By closing the bank accounts of these groups, HSBC appears to be acting where governments and parliamentarians have failed. The authorities have not, in fact, just failed; they have colluded. The bank simply stated that to continue providing services would be outside the bank's "risk appetite." Anas Al Tikriti (far left), a vocal supporter of Hamas, meets with President Obama. In late July, HSBC, a British multinational bank, closed the bank accounts of Anas Al-Tikriti, a prominent British Islamist activist, and his family. HSBC also closed down the bank accounts of the Cordoba Foundation, of which Tikriti is the Director, and the Finsbury Park Mosque. In response to enquiries, the bank simply stated that to continue providing services would be outside the bank's "risk appetite." This latest round of bank account closures has come as a surprise to counter-terrorism experts and much of the media, who note that the Cordoba Foundation and the Finsbury Park Mosque have enjoyed strong political support in the past. Continue Reading Article What should Israel do? What would the United States do? by Alan M. Dershowitz  •  August 1, 2014 at 5:20 pm Imagine you are the Prime Minister of Israel or the President of the United States, or the Chief-of-Staff of either Army.  Your soldiers are fighting a just war to try to prevent rockets from hitting your civilians or tunnels from being used to murder and kidnap your people.  Your enemy, knowing that you wish to prevent casualties among their civilians, purposely shoots at your soldiers from civilian areas.  Your soldiers, caught in the midst of an ongoing fire fight, basically have two choices:  one, fire back and try to stop the enemy from killing you, while trying to avoid or minimize civilian casualties; or two, lay down your arms, because you don't want to endanger civilians, and accept the risk that your soldiers may be killed. Continue Reading Article Why did Hamas accept the cease fire? by Alan M. Dershowitz  •  August 1, 2014 at 3:38 pm Why suddenly would Hamas accept this cease fire, when it had turned down so many previous proposals?  Some speculated that perhaps Qatar, the financial godfather of the terrorist organization, had pressured Hamas into accepting it.  Others speculated that Hamas was getting pressure from its own citizens to end the bloodshed. Continue Reading Article

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