Albanese and Wong may fantasise about a Gaza , Palestine without HAMAS , but HAMAS will be active in Asia, and Australia - In 2019 Hamas said considers Malaysia its gateway to Asia

by Ganesh Sahathevan



Labor ignored warning of UNRWA links to Hamas -The Australian 

As reported by the AFR:

Foreign Minister Penny Wong canvassed extensively with a series of international counterparts, including UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and ministers from key Muslim countries before announcing Australia could potentially recognise Palestinian statehood.

Over the past month or so, Senator Wong has spoken to foreign ministers from Egypt and Jordan – the first two Arab countries to recognise neighbouring Israel – as well as a slew of South-East Asian ministers at Melbourne’s ASEAN summit, including Malaysia and Indonesia, two big international champions of the Palestinian cause.

Meanwhile in Malaysia 

"I said that we, as a policy, have a relationship with Hamas from before and this will continue"-Anwar ibrahim

Hamas considers Malaysia its gateway to Asia

June 25, 2019 at 11:26 am

In recent months, Malaysia has witnessed a series of successive visits by high-ranking delegations from Hamas, indicating the growing ties between these two parties at a time when the movement is facing a tight political siege by many Arab countries.

Hamas’ most recent visit to Malaysia late last month came under the chairmanship of its former head of office, Khaled Meshaal. The program was crowded with meetings between Hamas’ leaders, the Malaysian government and opposition political leaders, in a rare scene among the movement’s visits to various countries.

Hamas started its visit to Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur by meeting with Prime Minister Mahathir Bin Mohamad, as well as then Interior Minister and Head of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Bersatu Party), Muhyiddin Yassin, and Defense Minister Mohamad Bin Sabu.

The group also met with Head of the People’s Justice Party, Anwar Ibrahim, Head of the opposition United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) Party, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Leader of the Malaysian Islamic Party Abdul HadiAwang, Minister of Federal Territories Khalid Abdul Samad, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Marzuki Yahya.

In his highly-publicised meetings, Meshaal discussed the challenges the Palestinian people are currently facing, among which are Israeli violations against Jerusalem, the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, and the Gaza Strip’s ongoing siege.

Hamas’ delegation also discussed with its Malaysian hosts the “deal of the century”, considering it a plan to undermine the Palestinian cause. The visit resulted in positive outcomes, the most important of which was Malaysia’s offering of 140 scholarships for Palestinian students to attend 13 Malaysian universities, at a cost of $3 million.

READ : Malaysia PM, ex-Hamas chief discuss ‘deal of the century’

A long history of relations

Prior to Meshaal’s visit, Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh contacted Prime Minister Bin Mohamad in January to emphasise the importance of the bilateral relationship between Malaysia and Palestine in general and Hamas in particular. He praised Malaysia’s support for the Gaza Strip and pointed to Mahathir’s speech at the United Nations – which held Israel responsible for the problems in the Middle East – as well as commended the prime minister’s commitment to the Palestinian cause and Malaysia’s rejection of normalisation with Israel.

Chairman of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh speaks during the funeral of Palestinian teenagers Louay Kahil and Amir Al-Namara, who were killed in an Israeli air strike at a mosque during their funeral in Gaza City on 15 July, 2018 [Ashraf Amra/Apaimages]

In July 2017, a delegation of Hamas leaders concluded a series of meetings with Malaysian government officials and party leaders. The delegation was headed by senior representative of Hamas in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, who met Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Both discussed the developments of the Palestinian cause and Malaysia’s support for the Palestinian people.

The delegation also held a meeting with the Secretary General of the ruling UMNO party, Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor, as well as a meeting with Head of the Malaysian Islamic Party and Vice President of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Abdul HadiAwang. In addition, another meeting was held with the leadership of the National Mandate Party and representatives of Malaysian civil society and NGOs.

Hamas’ delegation also participated in the closing ceremony of the Fourth World Assembly of the Unity of the Nation, organised by the Malaysian Islamic Party in the city of Kota Bharu in the north-eastern state of Kelantan. Hamdan delivered a public speech attended by tens of thousands of people.

READ: Malaysia government defends offer of grants to Palestine

In December 2016, Hamas leaders participated in UMNO’s annual general conference. There they met with government and local officials, as well as representatives of civil society organisations. The Malaysian officials were briefed on the latest developments in Palestine, discussing ways to support the Palestinian people and praising the bilateral relationship between the movement and the party.

In December 2015, Meshaal arrived in Kuala Lumpur heading a delegation of the movement’s leadership, at the official invitation of the Malaysian ruling party to attend its annual conference. The delegation’s program included official and popular visits and a speech by Meshaal.

Hamas’ first visit to Malaysia was in December 2013, during which a senior Hamas delegation led by Meshaal held official meetings with the Malaysian Prime Minister and the foreign affairs and interior ministries. The delegation also participated in a key speech at the International Forum of the ruling party, as well as another speech at the International Islamic University in Malaysia, in the presence of a large number of academics and members of the Arab and Islamic communities.

READ: Malaysia condemns Israel aggression against Gaza protesters

Popular support for Palestine

Muslim Imran, a well-known Palestinian figure living in Malaysia for 15 years, runs a Palestinian organisation in the country and is one of the key figures behind Malaysia’s relationship with the Palestinians. Malaysia’s support for Palestine has been strong historically, with thousands of Malaysians demonstrating throughout the country condemning any Israeli aggression against Palestinians.

During the 2014 Israeli assault on Gaza, one Malaysian village named its bridge after Gaza; the Palestinian flag has been raised in the village since 2008. The Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, changed the program of his official visit to the UK during the 2014 war, instead taking part in a march through UK capital London to condemn the assault.

Rescue workers search for victims after air strikes hit Gaza during the 2014 Israeli offensive against Gaza [Ashraf Amra/Apaimages]

Then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mohammad Najib Razak, arrived in Gaza in January 2013, shortly after the 2012 war Israel waged on the already-besieged Strip. He expressed regret over the assassination of Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari during the war and laid the foundation stone for one of the buildings bombed by the Israeli army, which was at that time being reconstructed.

Malaysian Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, Ismail Sabri, announced the closure of his account at HSBC and shared footage of him cutting up his bank card, in a move to denounce the bank’s closure of accounts belonging to advocates of the Palestinian cause. Malaysian delegations also continued participating in the convoys aimed at breaking the siege on Gaza, as well as contributing to a number of reconstruction projects in Gaza such as the Indonesian hospital, mosques and others.

Former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, inaugurated the “Save Jerusalem” campaign at the largest mosque in Putrajaya – Malaysia’s federal administrative centre – with the participation of 27 representatives belonging to Islamic and human rights organisations.

The Malaysians’ support and advocacy campaigns ranged between demonstrations, lectures, conferences and fundraising for Palestinians. In 2014, Mahathir Mohamad – who was outside the government at that time – launched an international tribunal in Kuala Lumpur to try Israeli war criminals for their crimes in Palestine and Lebanon.

READ: Malaysia PM reiterates support for Palestine

Looking forward

Relations between Hamas and Malaysia have accelerated in recent years in an unmistakable way, given that the Malaysian government’s hosting of delegations of the Resistance Movement repeatedly reflects a clear recognition of its role and activities as a legitimate resistance group.

Hamas considers these official communications with Kuala Lumpur an opportunity to encourage Malaysia’s role at the regional, Islamic and international levels in supporting the Palestinian cause, lifting the siege on Gaza and ending Israeli violations in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

All this means that there are close, strong ties that link Malaysia to the Palestinian issue in general and Hamas in particular. This prompted Mahmoud Al-Habbash, the Palestinian justice judge who is close to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to invite Malaysia, during his visit in late May, to support reconciliation with Hamas and use its influence in the movement to put an end to division between the Palestinian factions.

READ: Palestinian sports ministry thanks Malaysia for Israel athlete ban

On the other hand, Israel is not satisfied with the thriving relations between Malaysia and Hamas. This sense of discontent was manifested in the assassination of Engineer Fadi Al-Batsh, a Hamas military leader in Kuala Lumpur in April 2018, on charges of manufacturing rockets.

Israel used the assassination of Al-Batsh to create an atmosphere of anxiety among Hamas cadres in Malaysia. It regularly refers to what it calls the Malaysia-Turkey-Hamas axis which, Israel claims, recruits Palestinian academics from the movement to study and receive training, before going back to the occupied Palestinian territories to build military infrastructure and sleeper cells which can be summoned when needed.

The Malaysian government denies these Israeli accusations and confirms that its assistance to the Palestinians is limited to political and humanitarian needs, through the Zakat committees and financial aid provided to the Palestinians.

Finally, it can be concluded that this series of visits by Hamas leaders to Malaysia, and the presence of clear Malaysian imprints in the field of humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip, clearly indicate the desire of the two sides to strengthen their bilateral relations.

The thriving relations between Hamas and Malaysia raise Israeli objections and uneasiness towards some countries in the region, which want to continue to besiege Hamas politically. This is especially relevant in view of the fact that Malaysia’s positions are consistent with influential countries in the region, leading to the establishment of a growing axis that consists of Qatar, Turkey and Iran. All these countries share strong and close relations with Hamas.

Malaysia: Israel a ‘state of robbers’

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor

Malaysia's Allah socks controversy a demonstration of China's hold over PM Anwar Ibrahim-Anwar has no problem, will not act against Chinese manufactuer of possibly millions of pairs of socks imprinted with the word Allah

by Ganesh Sahathevan 

         Muslims protested Danish Muhammad cartoons,very silent over Chinese compnay printing "Allah"        on siocks

Mu Mian Qing Hosiery Co Ltd of China  included in a shipment to Malaysia 5 to 14 pairs of socks which featured the Arabic word for God, Allah. That shipment has had the country engulfed in a controversy that has angered even Sultan Ibrahim Of Johor, the current Agong(King).

Meanwhile little if anything is being said about any action against Mu Mian Qing Hosiery Co Ltd, its regulators in China, or the Chinese Government. Unlike the Prophet  Mohamad  cartoon controversies there have not been mass demonstrations against those who have insulted Islam, Allah and the Prophet in Malaysi (or anywhere else in the world). The silence suggests that Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim has gone out of his way to esnure that there are no protests against Mu Mian Qing Hosiery Co Ltd or the Chinese Government.

END 

TO BE READ WITH 

Stop taking advantage of ‘Allah’ socks issue, says king

FMT Reporters

-27 Mar 2024, 05:39 PM

Sultan Ibrahim says there is no need for any party to continue fuelling outrage as ‘persistent anger brings no benefit’.\

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim said the ‘Allah’ socks issue should be left to the authorities. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim has urged all parties to stop taking advantage of the controversy involving the sale of socks bearing the word “Allah”.

The king said the matter should be left to the authorities, adding that “persistent anger brings no benefit”.

“I have instructed that action be taken in accordance with the law, so there is no need for any party to continue fuelling anger,” he said in a Facebook post.

Sultan Ibrahim said action taken by the authorities was not just to punish guilty parties behind the issue, but to remind everyone of the need to protect the sensitivities of all Malaysians.

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He called for every Malaysian to learn from the issue and work towards bolstering national unity.

“All parties, especially community leaders, must act with maturity.

“Let us guide the people towards unity, not division. This is an opportunity to gain a better understanding of each other in our diverse society, so that such incidents do not recur.”

Yesterday, KK Mart’s founder and director, Chai Kee Kan and Loh Siew Mui, were charged in court for intentionally wounding the religious feelings of Muslims by selling the socks, while three officers from Xin Jiang Chang Sdn Bhd, the company which supplied the socks, were charged with abetting.

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All five claimed trial.

The controversy began when photographs were circulated on social media showing socks bearing the word “Allah” sold at a KK Mart shop in Bandar Sunway on March 13. KK Mart immediately issued an apology.

The issue has sparked public outrage, while Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh has been calling for a public boycott of KK Mart outlets.

Former Wanita Umno chief Rafidah Aziz had described Akmal as a rabble-rouser the nation could do without, while former MCA vice-president Ti Lian Ker, who is now a senator, said the Umno Youth chief’s behaviour would lead to Barisan Nasional being viewed by the public with contempt.

Akmal had dismissed these criticisms, saying his actions were not for political mileage but simply to defend Islam.

Aid workers death tragic, but these things happen when PM Albanese does nothing to prevent Australian funding for jihadis in order to preserve his Muslim vote -SBS warned Albanese in October 2023 that his Muslim vote is at stake

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

SBS warned that Labor would lose the Arab and Muslim vote in October last year if it was seen to be supporting Isreal

From The Guardian

Albanese has said he spoke with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning, expressing his concern over Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom’s death following an Israeli air strike.

Albanese said:


I spoke with prime minister Netanyahu this morning with a phone call that was organised overnight. I expressed Australia’s anger and concern at the death of Zomi Frankcom.

This is someone who was volunteering overseas to provide aid through this charity. This is completely unacceptable. The Israeli government has accepted responsibility for this and prime minister Netanyahu conveyed his condolences to the family of Zomi Frankcom and to Australia as a result of this tragedy.

Albanese said Netanyahu has “committed to full transparency about how this tragedy could possibly have occurred”:


When I spoke with the prime minister, I emphasised the importance of full accountability and transparency, and prime minister Netanyahu has committed to full transparency about how this tragedy could possibly have occurred. There is a need for a thorough investigation into what happened here and prime minister Netanyahu committed to that.

I made clear, again, that it is Australia’s view that humanitarian assistance must reach people in Gaza unimpeded and in large quantities.

I conveyed to prime minister Netanyahu in very clear terms that Australians were outraged by this death, by this tragedy, of this fine Australian, and I indicated to prime minister Netanyahu as well just some of the characteristics that I spoke with Zomi’s brother about yesterday. This is an Australian who we can all be proud of, someone who not only was in Gaza assisting people in need, but had in the past provided support for people in Bangladesh, in Pakistan, here in Australia after the bushfires. This was someone who was clearly committed to benefit her fellow humanity, and someone whose loss is very deeply felt by her family, but I think felt by Australians as well.

Albanese is being somewhat disingenuous. His refusal to do anything about funding from Human Appeal International to jihadis, under the guise of aid, has blurred the lines between aid and terrorist financing. His pursuit of the Muslim vote has led to these deaths, which happen during war ,the confusion of war worsened by governments and politicians refusing to prevent  the financing of terrorism. 

TO BE READ WITH 

Sunday, October 8, 2023

Human Appeal International in Lakemba raising funds for Gaza-Successive Australian governments have refused to address the problem of HAI's fundraising, and a recent NSW Supreme Court decision makes that failure even more apparent

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

 Human Appeal International    (now known as Human Appeal Australia) continues to raise funds for Gaza via its office in Lakemba. 

The problem of Human Appeal International office in Lakmeba  and its links to HAMAS have been a matter of public record  in Australia since at least 2003 when the ABC reported:

The highest representative of the Palestinian Authority in Australia, Ali Kazak, says he would not be surprised if money raised by one of Australia's largest Islamic charities is being filtered through to the hardline Palestinian group Hamas.

The Dubai-based Human Appeal International has an office at Lakemba in Sydney' south-west.

Its website says the Australian office is one of five international fundraising offices, and money raised goes to help 10 million refugees and orphans in 50 countries.

The European Union and the United States have proscribed Hamas as a terrorist organisation and frozen its assets.

Australia has not taken this action, although a recent FBI report has linked the charity directly to Hamas.

In July 2008 The Australian's  Richard Kerbaj  reported: ( July 31, 2008): 

AN Australian charity that distributes humanitarian aid in the Middle East has been banned by the Israeli Government for allegedly bankrolling Palestinian terrorists.

Human Appeal International has been accused by the Israeli Defence Force of supporting the Palestinian organisation Hamas.

However, HAI's Sydney-based director, Bashar al-Jamal, refused to concede that Hamas was a terrorist organisation.

Mr al-Jamal denied that his organisation was associated with Hamas.

When asked if he believed Hamas, which was proscribed by Australia as a terrorist network on November 9, 2003, was such a group, he said: "It is a political question which goes beyond charity work. This is hard to answer you that it is a terrorist organisation ... a terrorist or non-terrorist group. How do you define terrorism, the concept of terrorism?

By 2017 Human Appeal   was operating multiple accounts at the Commonwealth Bank (see list below from the Human  These are no longer advertised on the Human Appea website. 

By 2023 Human Appeal appears to have switched its accounts to Beyond Bank, a community customer owned bank.    However, as the note below from the law from Kings Wood Mallseons describes, there are still issues as to whom Human Appeal is sending funds to: 

“DE-BANKING” IN GOOD FAITH: WHEN CAN A BANK DE-BANK A CUSTOMER?

Human Appeal International Australia v Beyond Bank Australia Ltd (No 2) [2023] NSWSC 1161 (“Beyond Bank”).



Beyond Bank justified its decision to close Human Appeal’s bank accounts based “on a recent review” that concluded that Human Appeal’s banking business was “not suited” to Beyond Bank. However, at the hearing before Parker J, Beyond Bank conceded that it was obliged to provide a valid commercial reason for the decision, even though, under its banking contract, it had a broad discretion to close an account without providing any justification. As Parker J noted, the concession was likely based on the bank’s obligations under the CoP, which were expressly incorporated into its banking contract, that it “act honestly” and “fairly and reasonably” in all dealings with its customers.

At the hearing, the bank argued that it had a valid reason to close Human Appeal’s accounts. The bank relied on evidence from its Chief Risk Officer that the bank’s Financial Crimes Team spent, on average, one hour per day reviewing the transactions to and from Human Appeal’s account due to the complexity and volume of those transactions. The bank’s evidence was that these transactions were significantly higher than for other customers of the bank. However, Parker J observed that there was no reason why the bank could not have stated to Human Appeal that it had been disproportionately engaged in working on their accounts and that the bank had not wished to continue to bear that administrative burden. In any event, Parker J rejected the bank’s evidence for several reasons, including that it did not state that Human Appeal’s activities required the bank to put on further staff, incur extra staffing expenses, or distracted the staff from performing other necessary functions.

The Court having rejected its evidence, the bank then invited the Court to draw an inference that the bank’s obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) (“the AML/CTF Act”) prevented it from disclosing the reasons to the Court because of the tipping off offences in s 123 of that Act. Justice Parker refused to draw that inference, holding that the offence in s 123 did not prevent disclosure to the Court, in general terms, of the administrative burden that the AML/CTF Act, together with other reporting obligations, imposed on the bank. His Honour stated that even if he was wrong on this conclusion, there was no evidence that the bank made any request to the CEO of AUSTRAC (the entity responsible for administering the AML/CTF Act) to modify the application of s 123 to allow the bank to conduct its defence to Human Appeal’s claim. As a result, his Honour held that the bank’s closing of Human Appeal’s account was invalid.

HAMAS invasion of Israel and its taking of hostages ought to be motivation enough for the Australian Government, led by Prime Minister ANthony Albanese,to finally address the problem of Human Appeal.

Reference:

Human Appeal International Australia bank details:
• Bank: Commonwealth Bank of Australia
• BSB: 062-191
• Account Number for General Donations: 0090-3948

https://www.humanappeal.org.au/donate/ways-to-donate-dp2

BANKS ACCOUNTS

No.	List	Account Number
1.	Orphans	001/520/4542355/01
2.	Charitable Projects	001/520/4542347/01
3.	Ongoing Charity	001/520/4542363/01
4.	Almsgiving (Zakat)	001/520/4543386/01
5.	Al-Aqsa Charitable Fund	001/520/4542339/01
6.	Motherhood and Childhood	001/520/4558782/01
7.	Sacrificial (Adahi)	001/520/4716442/01
8.	Al-Fitr Almsgiving(Zakat)	001/520/4809866/01
9.	Break Fasting	001/520/4809874/01
10.	Urgent Relief	001/520/4836561/01
11.	Internal Aids	001/520/5279607/01
12.	Administrative Fund	001/520/4542371/01
13.	Eid Dressing	001/520/4716434/01
14.	Student’s Help	001/520/5670640/01
15.	Orphan’s Consecration	001/520/5751888/01
16.	Charitable Bread	001/520/5317452/01

 

Account numbers of orphans at different banks

 

No.	List	Account Number
1.	Dubai Islamic Bank	01520454235501
2.	Emirates NBD	1012009988602
3.	Commercial Bank of Dubai	1000186419
4.	Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank	Orphans / 10105542 / 1072410 charity projects /
5.	National Bank of Abu Dhabi	0155738120
6.	Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank	179636020001
7.	ُEmirates Bank international	1011048830801
8.	Emirates Islamic Bank	0021656999001
9.	Commercial International Bank	100060305933
10.	Sharjah Islamic Bank	0030341882001
11.	Union National Bank	8701009069
12.	Bank of England ( HSBC )	04500100001
13.	Bank of Umm Al-Qaiwain	0050040771
14.	Mashreq Bank	0691125611
15.	Ajman Bank	017777757012

 http://www.hai.ae/en/donation/banks-accounts.aspx