Arab Bank Helping To Fund Terrorism?

Is the Muslim world’s largest financial institution helping to funnel money to the families of suicide bombers? Could be, according to this New York Post article (annoying registration required):

Secret documents known as “martyrs’ kits” obtained by The Post provide a startling glimpse into the world of suicide bombers, who are recruited with promises that their families will be well taken care of financially.

These kits ensure that the families of Hamas, PLO and Palestinian Islamic Jihad killers get generous “charitable donations” from Saudi Arabia-based organizations and, while he was in power, Saddam Hussein.

The documents reviewed by The Post include a martyr kit for Maher Kamel Hbeishe, a Hamas fanatic who blew himself up on a Haifa bus Dec. 2, 2001, killing 15 Israelis and wounding 40.

Much of the kit’s paperwork carries the corporate logo of the Arab Bank — the Middle East’s most important and influential financial institution — and the numbers of the accounts through which his family was paid.

The cover on Hbeishe’s file — in the records of Saudi relief committees — proclaims: “the martyrs receive reward from their Lord, they and their light.”

Replete with florid Arabic tributes to dead terrorists, the paperwork explains the manner of death, making it clear that the bank knew exactly whom it was giving money to and why.

If the terrorist were successful, the family would receive $5,316; being wounded or captured would earn them a lesser amount.

Though small by Western standards, the payments are more than six times the West Bank’s average annual income of $850.

The bank is denying any participation in acts of terrorism, but the documents obtained by the Post paint a fairly convincing picture. Its a matter certainly worthy of further investigation. In short, the Arab Bank needs to explain how the instructions meant for the families of suicide bombers looking to profit from the death of their loved ones ended up on the bank’s letterhead.

If it turns out that the Arab Bank has been involved in terrorism these revelations would strike a mighty blow against Hamas and the suicide bombers that have plagued Israel for years. But you have to wonder, would bank officials really be so stupid as to put instructions for suicide bombers on their bank’s letterhead? You wouldn’t think so, but that remains to be seen.

(via In The Bullpen)

Rob Port is the owner and operator of Say Anything.