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Last update - 15:30 19/07/2009
Shin Bet: Qatar sheikh funding Hamas activities in Jerusalem
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service, and The Associated Press
Tags: Israel news 

Qatar-based Sheikh Yousuf Qaradawi has allocated $21 million to a charity funded by Hamas to allow the Palestinian group to buy land and set up infrastructure in Jerusalem, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin said on Sunday.

Qaradawi, an 82-year-old Egyptian-born Muslim scholar with strong links to the Muslim Brotherhood, is a keen supporter of suicide bombings in Israel, which he describes as "martyrdom operations.

Abbas aide Rafiq Husseini dismissed the report. "We wish there was Arab money to buy threatened houses," he told The Associated Press, "but that's not the case." Qaradawi could not be reached for comment.
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Diskin made the comments during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. He also told the ministers that the Palestinian Authority and its security forces have been working actively to thwart the sale of Palestinian land to Jews, particularly in East Jerusalem.


He added that Hamas was placing political and diplomatic moves higher on its agenda. Diskin said public statements by senior Hamas officials show the militant group's efforts to portray itself as interested in an end to the conflict with Israel.

The officials say they seek a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders in exchange for a long-term hudna, or ceasefire, Diskin said.

"This is not because of an abandonment of fundamental ideological values," he noted. "Hamas' move toward to the political theater is designed to challenge the sole leadership of Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas]."

The security service chief also told ministers that there had been a steady trickle into Gaza of foreigners linked to global jihad.

Diskin did not elaborate or cite evidence.

Gaza's Hamas interior minister Fathi Hamad dismissed Diskin's charge as
baseless propaganda. The militant group Hamas controls the Gaza Strip.

He added that there is no Al-Qaida or any other organization in Gaza.

The Shin Bet chief's briefing came after it emerged that the United States has demanded Israel halt a construction project in East Jerusalem, which would see a hotel converted into housing units.

The Jerusalem municipality said it signed a deal for the project under completely legal terms, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Sunday that Jerusalem would not be included in any discussion on settlement construction.

But the PA responded harshly to Netanyahu's declaration, saying peace was impossible without Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital.


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      1.   buying land 15:38  |  michael cohen 19/07/09
      2.   Israel thwarting building of Arab homes. 15:55  |  Michael 19/07/09
      3.   no solution 15:57  |  amihai 19/07/09
      4.   In which history book.. 15:59  |  Canadian 19/07/09
      5.   Buy the land, steal the land, annex the land 16:07  |  Natallie Durson 19/07/09
      6.   Strange 16:28  |  Chris Linthwaite 19/07/09
      7.   just give it all to them and be done with it! 17:33  |  Moshe 19/07/09
      8.   "Shin Bet chief: PA working to stop Jews from buying Jerusalem 17:43  |  Esther 19/07/09
      9.   Building in Jerusalem 17:45  |  JH 19/07/09
      10.   No more Linthwhine 18:06  |  Fish 19/07/09
      11.   Now you know why the Shekel is so stable... 19:04  |  J. realestate shark 19/07/09
      12.   In wwhich history book? 19:08  |  kel 19/07/09
      13.   #1 - not any longer 19:32  |  Tarzan 19/07/09
      14.   Stopping Sales of Land to Jews in East Jerusalem is GOOD 19:43  |  John Q. Public 19/07/09
      15.   Why indrajaya isn`t posting? Where is dutch? 19:46  |  Vittorio 19/07/09
      16.   To kel # 12, some historical evidence of Jewish ownership 19:50  |  Jer 19/07/09
      17.   #10 Fish 19:59  |  Chris Linthwaite 19/07/09
      18.   #11 20:04  |  Chris Linthwaite 19/07/09
      19.   It`s time 20:44  |  utagawa 19/07/09
      20.   Does this mean Israel is going to bomb Qatar? 21:19  |  peacelover 19/07/09
      21.   All of Jersalem is Israel 23:18  |  Jason 19/07/09
      22.   Occupation 00:31  |  allan 20/07/09
      23.   Hamas members should be locked up and their assets confiscated 01:55  |  bernard ross 20/07/09
      24.   When You Say... 05:50  |  Brendan 20/07/09
      25.   MICHAEL UK" getting own back.Trying to throw Jews into sea 12:10  |  PETER SM 20/07/09
      26.   PEACELOVER Do they pay for suicide bombers and Qassams? 12:15  |  PETER SM 20/07/09
      27.   To PETERSM.... 16:42  |  Silvienne 20/07/09
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