Britain's top Jewish body has apologised for branding a Muslim charity a "terrorist organisation".

In an out-of-court settlement, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said it should not have described Interpal in these terms.

The board has now published a retraction and apology on its website.

In the statement, the Board said it had reached a settlement with Interpal in relation to a September 2003 article on its website which referred to "terrorist organisations such as Hamas and Interpal".

"We would like to make it clear that we should not have described Interpal in this way and we regret the upset and distress our item caused," said the statement.

Interpal is one of the largest Muslim-led charities in Europe and says its funds humanitarian, educational and medical projects in the Palestinian territories.

The row with the Board of Deputies began after the US Treasury Department accused Interpal of being part of the European "funding network" for Hamas, the largest militant Islamist organisation in the Palestinian territories involved in suicide bombings.
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Hmmm..alright, so the Treasury Department at least thinks Interpal is a money front for Hamas (see their press release). And just last month, the UK Independent reported that Israeli prosecutors had provided documents showing that millions of Euros had been funnelled through Interpal to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, including the family of the bomber who killed 15 Israelis inside a Sbarro pizza shop in 2001.

There's more. In 2000, American and German investigators arrested Sheikh Mohammad Ali Hassan al Moayad, a Hamas fundraiser who spent his spare time sending cash and arms to Al-Qaeda. During the investigation, Sheikh Moayad showed receipts for tens of thousands of dollars made out to Interpal to a FBI informer, so as to prove that he could "get money to the jihad." Additionally, Saudi organizations such as the International Islamic Relief Organziation and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth also funnelled millions of dollars through Interpal, destined for unknown Palestinian coffers. Whats more, Interpal founder Ibrahim Hewitt, once admitted that Interpal money could have "possibly" made its way to Hamas, but not to its "military wing."

It seems, considering all the available evidence indicating Interpal's perfidy, that the BDBJ's apology is more of an attempt to avoid Interpal's charges of libel than a realistic assessment of the group's obvious terroristic intentions. Chalk up another victory for lawsuit-happy terrorist organizations.
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Permanent Link posted by J @ 7:35 pm