European Jews demand EU ban on IHH

Claim that charity fits European definition of a terror organization.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
eu flag 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
eu flag 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The European Jewish Congress, the umbrella body for Jewish communities in Europe has formally requested that the "Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief" (Insani Yardim Vakfi), otherwise known as the IHH be placed on the EU list of proscribed terrorist organizations and its assets seized and frozen.
The request, which is signed by Dr. Moshe Kantor, states that the IHH is
"an organization with known and recognized ties to terrorist groups and activities" operating "under the guise of a humanitarian organization."
According
to the EJC, the IHH’s ties to terrorist activities clearly fit the European Union’s own criteria for immediate proscription.
In particular they point to the IHH's affiliation with Hamas, "which is on the EU list of terror organizations, and its membership in The Union of the Good, an Islamic umbrella affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood."
The
Union of Good was designated as a terrorist entity by the United States in 2008.
The organization's letter points out that "according to EU guidelines the definition of terrorism means individuals, groups and entities on which there is accurate information proving that they have committed, are attempting to commit or are facilitating the commission of terrorist acts. Terrorist activities include 'directing or participating in the activities of a terrorist group, including by funding its activities or supplying material resources.'"
The letter cites a 2006, a report by the Danish Institute for International Studies.  This it says, stated that during the 1990s the IHH maintained links with al-Qaida and a number of global jihad networks and that the Turkish government launched an investigation into the IHH in 1997 after receiving intelligence that the IHH had bought automatic weapons from Islamist terrorists.
According to the EJC, the Turkish government raided the organization’s Istanbul offices, where they found weapons, explosives, and instructions for bomb-making and documents linking the IHH to terrorist activities in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Bosnia. It add that in 1996, the CIA identified the IHH as an extreme radical organization with ties to terror.
According to the report, French intelligence found that in the mid-1990s IHH leader B’ulent Yildirim recruited soldiers for jihad activities in a number of Muslim countries and that the IHH transferred money, firearms, and explosives to jihadists in said countries.