US' FBI Funneled Money to Hamas for Terrorism in '90s
Associated Press and Varlet | 07.10.2003 15:00 | Terror War
During the last years of the Clinton Admin., the FBI funneled cash to the reactionary Muslim fundamentalist Hamas group for terrorist attacks.
In a stunning revelation during a Phoenix, Arizona immigration court proceeding, a life-long US intelligence operative testified that the FBI asked, in the late '90s, him to funnel money to the reactionary Islamic fundamentalist Hamas group for terrorist activities. This operation was going on while the Clinton Administration was ostensibly pursuing a "peace accord" between Israel and the Palestinians.
The FBI's agent in this operation was a convert to Islam, known to the Palestinians as Abu Yusef; he was also known as Harry Ellen. Check out his bio, reprinted here from the AP article:
"Ellen, stepson of an Air Force intelligence officer, had worked for U.S. intelligence since the 1970s as an "asset," a private citizen paid to provide information or conduct specific tasks. His work started in Latin America and also involved China and the Middle East.
"Ellen, whose step-grandfather was Jewish, converted to Islam in the 1980s and began helping poor Palestinians.
"In 1994, he began assisting the FBI Phoenix office, which had become a hotbed of cases involving terrorism and intelligence because of a large, active Muslim population, the proximity to the southern U.S. border and a large concentration of aerospace companies.
"Ellen testified that by 1996 his humanitarian work, monitored by the FBI, had won him unprecedented access to Muslim militants from groups fighting for Palestinian independence, including Hamas.
"In a rare meeting Ellen organized, he testified, the major groups created an informal alliance to ensure safe passage to any foreigner providing humanitarian assistance. Ellen was named a spokesman and met several times with Arafat.
"Ellen also created a foundation named al-Sadaqa to further his work by bringing sewing machines, eyeglasses and other assistance to Palestinians."
And, sisters and brothers, get ready for this:
"Ellen's FBI handler in the late 1990s was Kenneth Williams, an agent who later became famous for writing a pre-Sept. 11 memo to FBI headquarters warning there were Arab pilots training at U.S. flight schools. The warning went unheeded."
Amazing! So Kenneth Williams, the FBI agent being hailed by Congressmen, media pundits and right-wing "militia"-types as a "national hero" for his attempt to "protect" the US from terrorist attacks HERE was trying to *create* terrorist attacks in Israel/Palestine in order to derail the so-called "peace process" being brokered by the Clinton gang! Indeed, the FBI and Hamas have a lot more in common than they would like the US working class to believe!
Here's more, from AP again:
"Ellen, a Muslim convert, testified he was taking a trip to the Gaza Strip to bring doctors to the region in summer 1998 when Williams asked him to provide money to a Hamas figure.
"Williams wanted 'the transfer of American funds to some of the terrorist groups for violent purposes,' Ellen testified to the immigration court in a closed June 2001 session.
"Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, said in an interview that the White House wasn't informed of the FBI activities. 'We were not aware of any such operation,' Berger said.
Clinton's anti-terror czar, Richard Clarke, said he too was unaware of the operation. 'I never heard of it, but it's creative,' he said."
"It's creative"!!! The voice of the "lesser of two evils"!! Show this article to your pro-Democratic Party friends the next time they are trying to convince themselves that voting for the Democratic Party is somehow "better" than voting for the Republicans!
If you can stomach more of this, read on:
"In an interview, [Ellen] said he agreed to help the FBI 'not as a snitch but as a good American.'
" 'I agreed to cooperate with the FBI in the facilitation of the peace process that would lead to an independent Palestinian state, stopping the half-century of violent and oppressive occupation,' Ellen said.
" 'During that period of time I never did anything nor would I cooperate in any way to harm the Palestinian or Israeli people.'" [Yeah, right! ---- Varlet]
"He testified that Williams provided him between $3,000 and $5,000 in the summer of 1998 and instructed him to give it to a Hamas figure named Ismail Abu Shanab, who was killed earlier this year by Israeli forces in retaliation for a Hamas terrorist strike.
" 'He (Williams) said they (the dollars) would be for terrorist activities,' Ellen testified. Abu Shanab distributed the money to Palestinian orphanages and health care facilities, he said.
"Ellen testified that Williams told him he hoped the transfer would lead to more money exchanges through terror groups but Ellen refused to earmark money for terrorism. He testified he later learned another FBI operative had offered Hamas and Palestinian figures larger amounts for terrorist attacks."
READ THAT AGAIN! Ellen "testified he later learned another FBI operative had offered Hamas and Palestinian figures larger amounts for terrorist attacks"!! The anti-Semitic FBI and Hamas, working hand in glove, together blowing up cafes, buses, killing civilians, in an orgy of bloodlust and a desire to completely destroy any hope of a reconciliation between Palestinian and Israeli workers! Ellen CLAIMS that he never sent money for terrorist activity (of course, if he said so in open court, he'd be arrested on the spot!) but he "knows of" other FBI operations in which this was done!
Now back to the AP article:
"The court testimony shows Ellen allowed his home, office and car in Arizona to be bugged so the FBI could listen, without a warrant, to visiting Palestinians or Americans if they discussed illegal activity."
Of course, none of THIS activity was intended in any way to "harm the Palestinian or Israeli people" either, I'm sure!
Here's another nice bit about how the FBI gets around those pathetic laws that are supposed to "protect" American workers from illegal wiretapping:
"The FBI said it commonly uses such recordings [as were used in the Ellen operation --- V.]. 'Consensual monitoring does not require a warrant. In cases where the FBI conducts consensual monitoring, the one party is aware he is being recorded,' it said."
Marvelous!
So, if this story turns out to be all it appears to be, we now can see that the "heroic" FBI is not only involved in setting up domestic terrorist attacks (WTC bombing #1 (infiltrated group that built bomb, informant supplied materials, know-how, planned to switch live explosive with fake but then "screwed up" the "sting"); Waco, TX (FBI-led mass murder of Branch Davidians); WTC bombing #2 (FBI allowed WTC attackers to enter US, board planes using their own names, even though they were on terrorist "watch list", prevented investigation into fundamentalists training to fly planes, etc.) but they are also now known to be players in the *international* terrorism "game", helpfully providing money for terrorist bombings to derail the US Government's phony "peace plan" for the mideast!
Brother and sister workers: the longer we allow this bloodthirsty capitalist ruling class and its savage attack dogs (like the FBI) to roam free around the world, the more war and misery will be visited on all the working people of the world! We *need* revolutionary change in this country! We need to organize ourselves to fight to overthrow this degenerate capitalist system and replace it with an egalitarian, socialist workers republic! This can and must be done before these greedheads destroy this planet or plunge us into a nuclear World War III!
Workers of the World, Unite!
Varlet
Full Associated Press article "AP: FBI Sent Money to Hamas in 1990s" by John Solomon (it has links to actual court transcripts and a copy of a letter from a top Palestinian leader praising the work of Yusef/Ellen):
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FBI_HAMAS_MONEY?SITE=ILKAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
The FBI's agent in this operation was a convert to Islam, known to the Palestinians as Abu Yusef; he was also known as Harry Ellen. Check out his bio, reprinted here from the AP article:
"Ellen, stepson of an Air Force intelligence officer, had worked for U.S. intelligence since the 1970s as an "asset," a private citizen paid to provide information or conduct specific tasks. His work started in Latin America and also involved China and the Middle East.
"Ellen, whose step-grandfather was Jewish, converted to Islam in the 1980s and began helping poor Palestinians.
"In 1994, he began assisting the FBI Phoenix office, which had become a hotbed of cases involving terrorism and intelligence because of a large, active Muslim population, the proximity to the southern U.S. border and a large concentration of aerospace companies.
"Ellen testified that by 1996 his humanitarian work, monitored by the FBI, had won him unprecedented access to Muslim militants from groups fighting for Palestinian independence, including Hamas.
"In a rare meeting Ellen organized, he testified, the major groups created an informal alliance to ensure safe passage to any foreigner providing humanitarian assistance. Ellen was named a spokesman and met several times with Arafat.
"Ellen also created a foundation named al-Sadaqa to further his work by bringing sewing machines, eyeglasses and other assistance to Palestinians."
And, sisters and brothers, get ready for this:
"Ellen's FBI handler in the late 1990s was Kenneth Williams, an agent who later became famous for writing a pre-Sept. 11 memo to FBI headquarters warning there were Arab pilots training at U.S. flight schools. The warning went unheeded."
Amazing! So Kenneth Williams, the FBI agent being hailed by Congressmen, media pundits and right-wing "militia"-types as a "national hero" for his attempt to "protect" the US from terrorist attacks HERE was trying to *create* terrorist attacks in Israel/Palestine in order to derail the so-called "peace process" being brokered by the Clinton gang! Indeed, the FBI and Hamas have a lot more in common than they would like the US working class to believe!
Here's more, from AP again:
"Ellen, a Muslim convert, testified he was taking a trip to the Gaza Strip to bring doctors to the region in summer 1998 when Williams asked him to provide money to a Hamas figure.
"Williams wanted 'the transfer of American funds to some of the terrorist groups for violent purposes,' Ellen testified to the immigration court in a closed June 2001 session.
"Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, said in an interview that the White House wasn't informed of the FBI activities. 'We were not aware of any such operation,' Berger said.
Clinton's anti-terror czar, Richard Clarke, said he too was unaware of the operation. 'I never heard of it, but it's creative,' he said."
"It's creative"!!! The voice of the "lesser of two evils"!! Show this article to your pro-Democratic Party friends the next time they are trying to convince themselves that voting for the Democratic Party is somehow "better" than voting for the Republicans!
If you can stomach more of this, read on:
"In an interview, [Ellen] said he agreed to help the FBI 'not as a snitch but as a good American.'
" 'I agreed to cooperate with the FBI in the facilitation of the peace process that would lead to an independent Palestinian state, stopping the half-century of violent and oppressive occupation,' Ellen said.
" 'During that period of time I never did anything nor would I cooperate in any way to harm the Palestinian or Israeli people.'" [Yeah, right! ---- Varlet]
"He testified that Williams provided him between $3,000 and $5,000 in the summer of 1998 and instructed him to give it to a Hamas figure named Ismail Abu Shanab, who was killed earlier this year by Israeli forces in retaliation for a Hamas terrorist strike.
" 'He (Williams) said they (the dollars) would be for terrorist activities,' Ellen testified. Abu Shanab distributed the money to Palestinian orphanages and health care facilities, he said.
"Ellen testified that Williams told him he hoped the transfer would lead to more money exchanges through terror groups but Ellen refused to earmark money for terrorism. He testified he later learned another FBI operative had offered Hamas and Palestinian figures larger amounts for terrorist attacks."
READ THAT AGAIN! Ellen "testified he later learned another FBI operative had offered Hamas and Palestinian figures larger amounts for terrorist attacks"!! The anti-Semitic FBI and Hamas, working hand in glove, together blowing up cafes, buses, killing civilians, in an orgy of bloodlust and a desire to completely destroy any hope of a reconciliation between Palestinian and Israeli workers! Ellen CLAIMS that he never sent money for terrorist activity (of course, if he said so in open court, he'd be arrested on the spot!) but he "knows of" other FBI operations in which this was done!
Now back to the AP article:
"The court testimony shows Ellen allowed his home, office and car in Arizona to be bugged so the FBI could listen, without a warrant, to visiting Palestinians or Americans if they discussed illegal activity."
Of course, none of THIS activity was intended in any way to "harm the Palestinian or Israeli people" either, I'm sure!
Here's another nice bit about how the FBI gets around those pathetic laws that are supposed to "protect" American workers from illegal wiretapping:
"The FBI said it commonly uses such recordings [as were used in the Ellen operation --- V.]. 'Consensual monitoring does not require a warrant. In cases where the FBI conducts consensual monitoring, the one party is aware he is being recorded,' it said."
Marvelous!
So, if this story turns out to be all it appears to be, we now can see that the "heroic" FBI is not only involved in setting up domestic terrorist attacks (WTC bombing #1 (infiltrated group that built bomb, informant supplied materials, know-how, planned to switch live explosive with fake but then "screwed up" the "sting"); Waco, TX (FBI-led mass murder of Branch Davidians); WTC bombing #2 (FBI allowed WTC attackers to enter US, board planes using their own names, even though they were on terrorist "watch list", prevented investigation into fundamentalists training to fly planes, etc.) but they are also now known to be players in the *international* terrorism "game", helpfully providing money for terrorist bombings to derail the US Government's phony "peace plan" for the mideast!
Brother and sister workers: the longer we allow this bloodthirsty capitalist ruling class and its savage attack dogs (like the FBI) to roam free around the world, the more war and misery will be visited on all the working people of the world! We *need* revolutionary change in this country! We need to organize ourselves to fight to overthrow this degenerate capitalist system and replace it with an egalitarian, socialist workers republic! This can and must be done before these greedheads destroy this planet or plunge us into a nuclear World War III!
Workers of the World, Unite!
Varlet
Full Associated Press article "AP: FBI Sent Money to Hamas in 1990s" by John Solomon (it has links to actual court transcripts and a copy of a letter from a top Palestinian leader praising the work of Yusef/Ellen):
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FBI_HAMAS_MONEY?SITE=ILKAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Associated Press and Varlet
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