By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 10:43 06/10/2008
www.haaretz.com:80/hasen/spages/1026860.html
Arab Israeli non-profit groups have approached Islamic charity organizations
in the West Bank over the past year with requests to receive money for
various projects, according to documents seized over the past year in Israel
Defense Forces raids on West Bank associations identified with Hamas, and
now being analyzed.
Israeli security officials had previously noted the transfer of money from
Israel to the West Bank. The change in direction appears to be connected to
harsher rules governing the transfer of monetary assistance into Israel, as
compared with the transfer of funds to the West Bank.
Since the beginning of the calendar year, the IDF has increased its
surveillance of Hamas-affiliated civil groups in the West Bank, particularly
in Hebron, Qalqilyah, Ramallah and Nablus. A number of organizations were
closed down and documents and computers confiscated.
Following an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the PA
too is now raiding and closing Hamas-affiliated offices.
The IDF is now analyzing documents seized in its raids, with the principal
goal of preventing money from coming into the territories from abroad, on
the assumption that it will be used for terror. Among these documents are
some from Israeli Islamic groups, which have requested, in some cases,
millions of dollars in aid from groups in the territories. The requests
include funding for the construction of mosques and clubhouses. In at least
one case, the request was made in the name of the municipal workers of an
Arab city in Israel.
Senior IDF officers told Haaretz that contributions are flowing to the West
Bank in the amount of tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars, from
Islamic communities around the world. Among them are donations from Persian
Gulf states, as well as from Muslim communities in Belgium and Britain.
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