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Jewish World Review
Sept. 21, 2005
/ 16 Elul 5765
Saudi government supports jihad and gets World Trade Organization accession
By
Steven Stalinsky
Can the West be this stupid!?
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced on September 9 that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have concluded a bilateral agreement for the kingdom to join the World Trade Organization. Once the technicalities are resolved the kingdom will become an official member — something they have been working for since 1993.
During this time, there has been opposition by members of Congress. For example, a May 25, 2005 letter signed by 47 House members to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Portman outlined areas of concern regarding Saudi policies, including the lack of full cooperation in combating terrorism.
The letter quoted officials from the Treasury Department criticizing the Kingdom for "not establishing an oversight commission to regulate its charitable sector" as well as "for its failure to set up a Financial Intelligence Unit." The letter ended by urging the "Administration to oppose Saudi accession to the WTO" until it takes more "meaningful measures to cut off both the finances and ideologies that feed terrorist movements across the globe…"
Clearly this has not occurred. For example, a program on Saudi Iqra TV on August 29, 2005 was devoted to supporting Jihad in Palestine [To view visit www.memritv.org ]. Explicit instructions were given on how Saudis can donate money. The program began with the host telling all Saudis including "women, children, elderly and youth" that they should donate.
A caption then appeared on the screen: "Saudi Committee for Support of the Al-Quds Intifada, Account #98, a joint account in all Saudi Banks." This was followed by a moderator that explained "Jihad is the pinnacle of Islam" and that sending money will go directly to supporting those waging Jihad and "helps them carry out this mission."
In 2001, Account #98 was cited in an official Saudi government report which extensively detailed Saudi financial support to Palestinians, including families of suicide bombers. According to the report, the Saudi government pays between 10,000-20,000 Saudi Riyals to the families of martyrs, noting at the time of the report that 986 families had received funds from the account which were passed from Saudi Arabia's Islamic Development Bank directly to the Unified Treasury of the National Palestinian Authority account.
For decades the Saudi royal family has been the main financial supporter of Palestinian terrorist organizations, through the creation of two major committees. According to records on a Saudi royal family website, Ain-Al-Yaqeen, The Popular Committee for Assisting Palestinian Mujahideen and The Support Committee for the Al-Quds Intifada and The Al-Aqsa Fund have given over 15 billion Saudi Riyals (4 billion $U.S.) and reportedly pledged Palestinians up to 1 billion dollars to finance the continuation of the Intifada, which they commonly referred to as "Jihad" and "resistance." The Committees are headed by powerful Prince Salman Ibn Abd Al-Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh, and Prince Nayef bin Abd Al-Aziz, the Interior Minister.
The August 29 Iqra program included the Secretary General of the Saudi Government's Muslim World League Qur'an Memorization Commission (www.hqmi.org) Sheikh Abdallah Basfar explaining why it was an "obligation" for all Muslims to support Jihad.
Shiekh Basfar promised "all of the funds sent via the known charities and organizations" reach those who the funds are meant for. The Saudi government official then citied a few Hadiths, or sayings of Muhammad, including: "He who equips a fighter — it is as if he fought himself." Another Hadith explained: "Someone who does not fight or equip a fighter — Allah will afflict a disaster upon him." He clarified his statement claming "if you don't give money… you should expect punishment from Allah because Jihad is… the most important thing."
Shiekh Basfar's statement explaining "money is so important… Jihad can not be waged without it," was followed by the question, "Who will care for the families of these martyrs who sacrifice their souls? Can we be stingy with our money?"
The Saudi committees are cited in the congressional Saudi Accountability Act. This legislation among other things calls on the Saudis to: "permanently close all charities… in the Kingdom that fund, train, incite, encourage, or in any other way aid and abet terrorism anywhere in the world." It also calls for an "end of providing support for the families of individuals who have committed acts of terrorism."
Should the Saudis not comply with the requirements named in the Saudi Accountability Act, the proposed legislation stipulates that sanctions are to be placed against them.
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Steven Stalinsky is Executive Director of The Middle East Media Research Institute (www.memri.org). Click here to comment on this column.
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© 2005, MEMRI
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