IHH should be put in the EU terror list
IHH should be put in the EU terror list
Read also the article on the Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=182846
Parliamentary question to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Whereas:
The NGO called IHH ("Insani Yardim Vafki": Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief), according to findings from several sources especially following the tragic events that occurred off the coast of Gaza on 31 May, maintains close ties with Hamas, which is included in the EU’s list of terrorist organizations since 2003;
IHH is one of the prominent members of the "Union of the Good," an Islamic umbrella organization based in Saudi Arabia and affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, that on 2008 has been placed on the United State’s black list (under Executive Order 13224);
During the 1990s, the Turkish government then in office investigated IHH for its links with Al Qaeda, as well as for its support to the armed struggle in Afghanistan, Chechnya and the Balkans. In 1997, a search in the presumed NGO’s headquarters led to the discovery of weapons, explosives and documents that demonstrated its links with terrorist groups. The IHH has also been under investigation for its involvement in the failed terrorist attack at the Los Angeles Airport on 31 December 1999. The organization's leader, Bülent Yildirim, also came under investigation by French intelligence in the 1990s for his support and funding of Islamic fundamentalist groups in Muslim countries;
Germany, as announced by its Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere on Monday, 12 July, decided to ban the organization IHH, present within its country with an office in Frankfurt, because it “fights against Israel’s right to exist”, as well as “knowingly and deliberately supports organizations that either are under Hamas control or support Hamas themselves”. The German Minister added that “the cynical behavior of the IHH is even expressed in its name, International Humanitarian Aid Organization. It exploits the helpfulness of well-meaning donors in order ultimately to support a terrorist organization with money donated for supposedly good causes”;
For these reasons, a bipartisan group composed of 87 US Senators recently appealed to President Barack Obama with a request to enter the IHH in the US’s list of terrorist organizations;
The Islamic fundamentalist nature of IHH has been documented by numerous declarations praising martyrdom and Israel’s destruction. For example: already in February 2009 during a demonstration in Gaza, IHH’s leader Bülent Yildirim called for "martyrdom in the name of Allah” against the embargo of the Gaza Strip, and several militants who embarked upon the Mavi Marmara told reporters before departing that their purpose was “religious martyrdom.” The latter, in fact, has emerged from interviews, numerous video clips, and even confessions by relatives or in the diaries of some of the nine victims themselves. The extremist and violent intentions of the IHH’s operation on the flotilla were also revealed by following inquiries, from which emerged that some of the bullets fired against Israeli soldiers came from weapons brought on the ship at the time of its departure and not by Israeli weapons as first appeared;
According to the European Council Common Position of 27 December 2001, the European Union’s definition of "terrorism" refers to all individuals, groups or entities who commit, attempt to commit, or facilitate the implementation of terrorist acts, meaning with "terrorist acts" also the "participation in the activities of a terrorist group, including by funding its activities or supplying material resources”;
We would like to know the following:
What is the position of the Italian Government regarding the possibility of including the NGO known as the IHH (Insane Yardim Vakfi) in the EU list of terrorist organizations and whether or not it intends to push an action to discuss it.
FIAMMA NIRENSTEIN, ENRICO PIANETTA, GUGLIELMO PICCHI, ANTONIO MARTINO, GENNARO MALGIERI, MASSIMO POLLEDRI
July 21, 2010
Translated by Amy K. Rosenthal