Armies of Liberation

Jane Novak's blog about Yemen

3.3M$ for Palestinians

Filed under: Palestinians — by Jane Novak at 11:49 am on Saturday, September 13, 2008

How nice! However, Yemeni children are about three times more malnourished than the Palestinian kids.

Yemeni association grants Palestinian people $3.3 mln

SANA’A, Sep. 01 (Saba)- The al-Aqsa Association has offered to Palestinian people $3.3 million since the beginning of 2008.

In a press conference, head of the Yemeni association Mohammed al-Adel said that the association offers also annually $1.5 million for supporting 1214 orphans and 308 Palestinian families.

Al-Adel said that the association’s projects include education, health, development sectors as well as supporting Palestinian camps in Lebanon and Jordan.

Palestinian PM in Yemen

Filed under: Diplomacy, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 4:14 pm on Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Sana’a- Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh received here on Saturday the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayadh visiting Yemen currently.

Fayadh briefed President Saleh on the latest developments in the Palestinian arena and the exerted efforts for realizing dialogue and achieving reconciliation among the Palestinian factions.

He also affirmed the importance of the Yemeni initiative as a base to accomplish the Palestinian reconciliation, voicing the Palestinian leadership and people’s appreciation of the president Saleh’s attitude that upholds the Palestinian issue and its efforts to heal the Palestinian rift.

(Read on …)

Saleh’s Son Ahmed Spends YR 200 Million for a School for Palestinian Girls

Filed under: Biographies, Education, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 8:18 pm on Saturday, April 26, 2008

It would be nice if he cared as much for Yemeni girls.

al-Motamar

Chairman of Al-Saleh social Society for Development Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh said Thursday the Foundation would soon begin building a boarding house for Palestinian girl students in Sana’a. The statement came during his inspection visit, accompanied by the Minister of Local Administration Abdulqader Ali Hillal, to Al-Saleh Charitable boarding house of Palestinian girl students in Sana’a today. He said,” Al-Saleh project for Palestinian girl students will have the capacity of accommodating 129 students of scientific specializations with a cost amounting to YR 200 million in its first stage.”

Chairman of Al-Saleh Establishment said implementation of the project aims to support Palestinian girl students and urge them towards excellence and creativity in different scientific areas and part of Yemen keenness on offering ideal care to the Palestinians living in Yemen. He also praised the interest of the Palestinian women and men in science as a first key for victory. He said the Palestinian people are considered among the most educated in the world despite of their suffering from ordeals and disasters under the occupation. Mr Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh pointed out Yemen’s firm stand of supporting the Palestinian cause and people until they get all their legitimate rights and establishment of their state on their national soil with its capital Al-Quds.

Kan’an Association

Filed under: Biographies, Civil Society, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 9:25 pm on Thursday, April 10, 2008

Written By: (YEMEN POST STAFF)
Article Date: April 21, 2008

Kan’an Association for Palestine organized on April 17an oratory festival to mark the Palestrina prisoner’s day.

In her speech, Minister of Human Rights Huda Al-Ban stressed the importance of issue and hinted that the prisoner’s day is a historic day especially when it is a symbol for adherence to the home’s soil.

Al-Ban called on the United Nations and the international community to seek a suitable mechanism that ensures the protection of Palestinian people and puts a limit for the Israeli imperial and colonial practices.

For his part, the association’s chairman Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh indicated reviewed the wrongful practices and situation in which Palestinian prisoners live in Israeli prisons.

Saleh revealed that there are over 12,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons where they are subjected to suppressive acts, maintaining the day is timed with the sixth anniversary for the association’s establishment.

Deputy Head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Abdul Rahim Maluh delivered speech in which he praised the role Yemen, people and government, plays in support of Palestinian people and prisoners.

Further, the participants watched a documentary film in which the sufferings of prisoners were depicted.

Saleh Meets Head of PFLP

Filed under: Palestinians, USA, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 2:16 pm on Tuesday, April 1, 2008

which is of course designated a terrorist organization by the State Dept:

Saturday, 19-April-2008
Almotamar.net - President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday reiterated emphasis on Yemen’s supporting stand for the people of Palestine and their options for getting their rights and the establishment of their independent state on their national soil and its capital al-Quds.

During the President’s meeting today of the visiting Deputy Secretary General of the People’s Front for Palestine Liberation Abdulrahim Malouh there was discussion of the situations in the Palestinian arena and the Yemeni initiative for healing the rift in the Palestinian rank and its unification.

Malouh expressed his and the Palestinian people appreciation of President Saleh’s stands in support of the Palestinian right and its just cause. He also praised Yemen’s initiative for healing the rift of the Palestinian rank, expressing the initiative as a reflection of yemen’s keenness on overcoming the current Palestinian-Palestinian differences and uniting the Palestinian rink to confront the challenges facing the people of Palestine as a result of the Israeli occupation, aggression and the unjust blockade on the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip.

Malouh also affirmed the necessity of maintaining those efforts indicating that the initiative is received with support of the people of Palestine and their various factions and at the present it is an Arab initiative after it was adopted by the Arab summit held in Damascus.

Saleh Doesn’t Attend Arab Summitt

Filed under: Diplomacy, Other Countries, Palestinians, Saudi Arabia, USA, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 12:24 am on Sunday, March 30, 2008

Yemen Post

Yemen surprised observers as it suddenly reduced its participation in 20th Arab Summit held in Damascus over March 29-30. Vice-president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi was delegated to attend the meetings on behalf of President Saleh who used to attend all former Arab summits.

Observers stressed the absence of Saleh could have a passive impact on the Palestinian reconciliation and the Yemeni initiative aiming to patch the differences between the different Palestinian factions.

Journalist Abdul Bari Atwan pointed out that Saleh’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia could be a reason for not attending the summit. He hinted that Yemeni authorities are pressured by the United States that tries to divide Yemen once again into South and North.

Saleh’s absence has been widely echoed in Arab public opinion and media and some observers consider his absence to be a signal that Sana’a Declaration between Fatah and Hamas has reached an impasse. They assure that it is not time to recognize Hamas as a partner and none wants to embarrass Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Sources revealed that Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi met the chairman of Damascus-based Hamas Political Bureau Khalid Mashaal who has been briefed by the former on reasons for Saleh’s absence.

The same sources insinuated that Saleh absented himself because Abbas declined to support Sana’a Declaration which could be embarrassing to him in person and other Arab countries including Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well as the U.S.

President Saleh should have been there to administer the Palestinian file and to come up with a resolution to support the Yemeni initiative which aims to end up the internal Palestinian differences.

Similarly, other Arab acting parties like Saudi Arabia and Egypt sent low-level diplomats to attend the summit and this prompted the Libyan President Mu’mer Al-Qadhafi to blame the U.S. and Western pressure for the low representation.

Yemeni Mediation Unhelpful: Cheney

Filed under: Diplomacy, Palestinians, Presidency, USA, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 8:21 am on Monday, March 24, 2008

Cheney was in Oman and didn’t go to Yemen to see his buddy Ali Saleh?

CNN

Cheney said in his meeting Sunday with Palestinian leaders that they talked about efforts under way in Yemen to encourage reconciliation between moderate and militant Palestinians.

“My conclusion after talking about this with the Palestinians is that they have established some preconditions before they would ever consider a reconciliation, including a complete reversal of the Hamas takeover of Gaza.”

Asked whether the U.S. supports the Yemeni mediation effort to bridge differences between Hamas and Fatah, a senior administration official said that the United States has made it clear that it will not support working with Hamas unless there is a fundamental change in the group’s current role, which the U.S. describes as terrorist.

Israel has been conducting peace talks with President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah-led government in the West Bank, while simultaneously battling Hamas in Gaza. An Israeli official said a reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas would mean the end of peace talks.

“The Fatah leadership has to make a choice,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. “They can have a peace process and dialogue with Israel or a coalition with Hamas. But it’s clear that you can’t have them both.”

The Arab League likes it though

Almotamar.net - The Arab League (AL) has welcomed Sunday the signing of Sana’a Declaration between the movements of Fatah and Hamas to begin the dialogue based on the Yemeni initiative.

(Read on …)

Yemen Leads Dialog Between Hamas and Fatah

Filed under: Palestinians, Presidency, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 8:51 am on Thursday, March 20, 2008

Saleh the Statesman. He should try to implement the plan in Yemen.

BBC

Yemen is holding separate talks with rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas in an effort to foster a national reconciliation process.
Hamas officials have welcomed dialogue on the Yemeni proposals, which include returning Gaza to the situation it was in before Hamas took control in 2007.

Fatah officials say Hamas acceptance of the principles of the Yemen initiative is a precondition for direct dialogue.

However, Hamas has not said it is ready to relinquish control of Gaza.

(Read on …)

Zindani, GPC Head and Saddiq al-Ahmar call for resistance

Filed under: GPC, Islah, Media, Palestinians, Tribes, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 12:37 pm on Monday, March 3, 2008

News Yemen

Head of Al-Eman religious university, member of Yemeni Clerics Association, sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani has called for changing the Organization of Islamic Conference into an Arab-Islamic federation and to set up a Yemen-based satellite channel for the federation.

(Read on …)

7 Point Plan…For Palestinians

Filed under: Diplomacy, Palestinians, Presidency, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 11:21 pm on Sunday, February 24, 2008

Would be nice if Saleh applied these principles to Yemen

Almotamar.net - Official sources said Saturday that President Ali Abdullah Saleh has in the past few days made movements for healing the rift of the Palestinian national rank through communication with leaderships of the two movements of Fatah and Hamas for the elimination of the present differences between them in the wake of the situation that emerged in Gaza after the events of 13 June 2007.

The sources added that the Yemeni movements come after the visit to Yemen made by president of the Palestinian Authority and his talks with President Saleh Mahmoud Abbas and his talks with President Saleh who handed him a Yemeni initiative which was also delivered to chairman of the political office of Hamas movement Khalid Mishaal.

The Yemen initiative, aimed at coming out of the present Palestinian situation and opening dialogue between Fatah and Hamas, contains seven points including the restoration of the situation in Gaza to its position before 13 June 2007, holding early elections, resuming dialogue on basis of Cairo agreement in 2005 and Mecca agreement of 2007 on the basis that the Palestinian people are inseparable and the Palestinian authority is composed of the elected presidency authority, the elected parliament and the executive authority represented by a national unity government and commitment to the Palestinian legitimacy with all of its components.

The initiative also stipulates the respect of the Palestinian constitution and the law and abiding by it by all, restructuring of the security apparatuses on national bases and affiliated to the higher authority and the national unity government and not to have any relation with any faction and all the Palestinian institutions, in all of their components without any factional distinction and to be under the power of the higher authority and the national unity government.

Source: 26september.net

Saleh While Enforcing a Blockade on Sa’ada, Denounces Blockade on Gaza

Filed under: Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 9:02 am on Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Stop starving your own people first, Ali.

MC

Sana’a, Yemen - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Monday he would ask the European Union to put pressure on Israel to end the lockdown of the Gaza Strip.

‘We look forward to seeing an effective European role to put pressure on Israel to halt its aggression and end the unfair blockade on the Palestinian people,’ Saleh told the official Saba news agency as he left on a trip to Madrid and Brussels.

The Yemeni leader said Israel must ‘abide by the resolutions of the international legitimacy (United Nations) to achieve a just peace in the region.’

He is scheduled to spend three days in Spain, and then leave for Brussels on a two-day official visit to the institutions of the European Union.

This is Saleh’s first official visit to Spain since he took over his country’s presidency in 1978.

The visit, at the invitation of Spain’s King Juan Carlos, comes nearly six months after eight Spanish tourists were killed in a car bomb attack on their convoy in central Yemen.

Yemeni officials have blamed the July 2 attack on the terrorist al-Qaeda group.

Yemen and Spain established full diplomatic relations in April 2006.

In Brussels, Saleh plans to hold talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Parliamentary Speaker Hans- Gert Poettering and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, according to Yemeni officials.

Zindani and Two Al-Ahmar’s Call for Jihad Against Israel

Filed under: Al-Qaeda, Islah, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 2:15 pm on Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Just dandy.

It would be nice if anyone in Yemen was even half as worked up about the seige on Yemeni people in Sa’ada.

And it completely escapes everyone’s attention that the blockade (which by definition is collective punishment) is in response to a barrage of 150 rocket attacks per day from Gaza on Israel. Maybe if Hamas stopped launching rockets, things might be better. They continually sabotage the peace process. At some point, the cycle of violence has to end.

Yemen Observer
Thousands of Yemeni citizens demonstrated and rallied in al-Sabeen square today in Sana’a.

The demonstration was headed by Sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani, the Head of the Shura Council of the Islah Fundamentalist Islamic party, Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, the newly elected president of the Public Committee for Supporting Palestine and his brother Sheikh Hamid al-Ahmar, a member of the Supreme Council of Islah party.

The demonstrators vowed to break the siege being imposed against the Palestinian people in the Gaza strip and called for Jihad to liberate Palestine. “Rulers of states open their gates for jihad,” warned the masses.
They also called on the Egyptian people to use all possible means and pressures to break the siege against the Palestinian people and to open the Rafah crossing.

(Read on …)

No Yemenis to Turkey’s Al-Qud’s Conference

Filed under: Other Countries, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 8:26 pm on Monday, November 12, 2007

Odd.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Invited Yemeni participants in the International al-Quds Forum to be held in Turkey by mid November said the Turkish embassy has refused to give them entry visa without any reasons.

The Turkish Embassy has refused to comment. A source in the embassy told NewsYemen “it is not easy to talk with ambassador on this issue.”

Some participants in the forum, organized by many Arab and Islamic organizations under the patronage of Turkish president Abdullah Gul, told NewsYemen the Turkish Embassy has notified them it has cancelled all entry visas until November 20, the date after the forum.
Until Saturday, November 10, tens have repeatedly asked the embassy for visas, but the embassy continued to turn down their requests, said Adul-Rahman Mohammed, one of the invited.

The participants have urged the Turkish government to take immediate decision against “this unjustified and unaccepted” stand of its embassy to avoid preventing Yemeni delegates from participating in such an important event.

Saleh forgets his war

Filed under: Media, Palestinians, Saada War, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 8:02 am on Friday, June 15, 2007

snarky, the Arab Monitor:

Yemeni President forgets his war and calls Ismail Haniye

Sanaa, 13 June - In an urgent telephone call to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniye, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh expressed his deep concern about the ongoing armed confrontation and called for an immediate halt of all violence and a resumption of dialogue between the conflicting parties. Saleh was not referring to his government’s armed confrontation with the al-Houthi followers in the Saada province, in northwestern Yemen.

After having sparked upheaval among Yemeni journalists over rumors that Yemeni officials had bribed foreign media outlets into a prolongued silence over the civil war situation created in Saada province, and in the face of parliamentary requests for a formal investigation, the Yemeni government finally saw itself forced to recognize a state of humanitarian disaster in Saada governorate. However, in his telephone call to Haniye the Yemeni President was not referring to his war against the al-Houthi movement, but instead, to the Fatah-Hamas confrontation in the Gaza Strip, widely described by Western media as a proxy war between the United States and Iran.

Yemenis Killed in Lebanon Battles

Filed under: Al-Qaeda, Other Countries, Palestinians, TI: External, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 2:34 pm on Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Confirming earlier reports of Yemeni militants in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon,

MDN: Lebanese army tanks on Sunday pounded the hideouts of a suspected al-Qaida-linked militant group inside a Palestinian refugee camp in a determined attempt to rout them out after hours of clashes killed at least 22 soldiers and 17 militants.

The violence between the country’s army and the shadowy Fatah Islam group in this northern city and adjacent Nahr el-Bared refugee camp added another destabilizing factor to already shaky Lebanon…..

They said 10 militants were killed when authorities stormed several buildings they were holed up in Tripoli, and seven more were killed in the refugee camp. Security officials said the militants had worn explosive belts but did not have time to detonate them.

The Lebanese Broadcasting Corp.TV station reported that among the dead militants were men from Bangladesh, Yemen and other Arab countries, underlining the group’s reach outside of Lebanon.

Smoke billowed from the camp as a steady barrage of artillery and heavy machine gunfire from army positions pounded militant hideouts inside. Hundreds of Lebanese applauded the army’s tough response of tanks, artillery and machine guns.

Haaretz:

Over the past week there have been gunfights in the refugee camps of northern Lebanon between soldiers of the Lebanese army and militants belonging to a group called Fatah al-Islam, whose combatants hail from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. They aim to fight Israel and liberate Jerusalem, while using the camps as a platform for destabilizing Lebanon’s current political structure.

Hamas, al-Qaeda and Yemen

Filed under: Al-Qaeda, Palestinians, TI: External, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 10:04 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2007

JCPA

The Growing Hamas-Al Qaeda Connection

Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi

Al-Qaeda generally thrives wherever central authority of governments is collapsing and therefore its current success in the war-torn Gaza Strip should not come as a surprise.
Just after Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, there were reports that al-Qaeda had exploited the new security vacuum that had been created and begun to dispatch its operatives to this territory. By March 2006, no less than the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) told the London Arabic daily, al-Hayat, “We have signs of the presence of al-Qaeda in Gaza and the West Bank.”
In the meantime across the Middle East the external Hamas leadership maintained close ties with well-known figures associated with the al-Qaeda network, like the leader of the Kashmiri organization, Hezb ul-Mujahidin, Sayyid Salahal-Din, in Pakistan and Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, a bin Laden loyalist, in Yemen. The latter met with Khaled Mashaal on March 20, 2006.
Significantly al-Hayat reported on April 4, 2006: “a definite presence” of al-Qaeda operatives in Gaza, who had infiltrated from Egypt, Sudan, and Yemen. Moreover, a little over a month later Egypt’s Ministry of the Interior disclosed that two terrorist operatives involved in the April 2006 attack on the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Dahab, underwent military training in the use of weapons and explosives in the Gaza Strip.
On May 9, 2007 the “Army of Islam” organization (Jaish al-Islam) published, on a website identified with al-Qaeda (www.alhesbah.org), an official announcement in which it took responsibility for the kidnapping of the BBC journalist Alan Johnston and called for the release of the Palestinian sheikh, Abu Qatada, who is considered one of the main ideologues of al-Qaeda in Europe and is known to be the one with whom the heads of the group that carried out 9/11 consulted. Hamas spokesperson, Ayman Taha, acknowledged the fact that Hamas and “Army of Islam” had cooperated on the military operational level.

Increasingly, there are signs that al-Qaeda is gaining strength in the Gaza Strip. In the midst of the decaying internal situation in Gaza, with its regular gun battles between the well-established Hamas and Fatah militias, there are more incidents reported of attacks against symbols of any Western presence from a UNRWA school to a Christian bookstore. Al-Qaeda generally thrives wherever central authority of governments is collapsing and therefore its current success in the war-torn Gaza Strip should not come as a surprise.1 Seeming to copy the operations of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the militants in Gaza belonging to these new terrorist organizations are targeting Western reporters, like the famous cases in which journalists from FOX News and the BBC were taken hostage. Even external appearances show al-Qaeda’s growing influence as members of its affiliate movements in the Gaza Strip will often wear the same black head covering that was a trademark of the late al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. All the evidence indicates that rather than challenge al-Qaeda’s bid to expand its presence in the Gaza Strip, Hamas prefers to collaborate with these new militant groups.

Hamas Festival in Yemen

Filed under: Diplomacy, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 7:39 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2007

YO

The office of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas in Yemen, organized a public festival last Thursday, May 10 at the al-Ahli Club hall in Sana’a that drew hundreds of people. “We are gathered today to support the Palestinian people, and announce our loyalty to martyrs and all those prisoners in the Israeli prisons,” said Jamal Issa, the representative of Hamas in Yemen. “There are more than 11,000 prisoners, including leaders like Ahmed Sa’adat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Marwan al-Barghouti, the leader of the Fatah movement, Hasan Yusuf, and many of the Hamas movement leaders.

“During a year and months, Hamas has been able to achieve a lot with the resistance, in which nobody noticed its danger except the enemy. We opened the future with the new leadership, which the Palestinian people chose. This new leadership changed the rules of conflict with the enemy and adopted new laws and deleted those of the enemy. This means that the people do not permit the Israeli to exist in their country.” “Many thought that Hamas would weaken and give up power in Palestine,” he said, “but events proved the opposite. Hamas proved that it could face the enemy and capture an Israeli soldier though weapons he carries.

This soldier enabled us to secure the release of Palestinian people from the enemy’s prisons. Hamas could combine between authority and weakness. The weakness in dealing with Palestinian people and authority with the enemy. It is the 59th anniversary of announcing the Zionist occupation on Palestine and we are remaining against those who may want to forget that Palestine is our country. They think that they are punishing us with blockade. They do not respect peace deals. There should be an exposure, as Khalid Meshal said. An exposure that releases the land and all nation.”

Those gathered supported his statements. “We are with you, Palestinian people,” said Sheikh Abdulmajeed al-Zindani, al-Eman University President. “Who is with the Palestinian people?” he asked the crowd. Everyone raised their hands. “We all greet Hamas and the Palestinian people who gave us a lesson in unity and defending the nation’s dignity,” said Hamood al-Hitar, Minister of Endowment and Guidance.

“We all support them in Yemen.” The Palestinian people should know that we all stand with them, said Sultan al-Atwani, general secretary of the Nasserite Party. “What is happening in Palestine deserves respect for all the martyrs of this nation.” Sameer Ahmed, a taxi driver and one of the participants, said that he usually likes to follow what Hamas doing. “I wanted to support our brothers and sisters in Palestine,” he said. “I expected them to tell us and lead us to things to do in favor for those people, but they did not.”

Hamas, al-Qaeda and Yemen

Filed under: Al-Qaeda, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 8:55 am on Friday, April 20, 2007

86 google alerts later, theres this article at Front Page Mag which quotes from “Lt. Col. Jonathan Helevi. In a detailed report published in the wake of last year’s Palestinian Authority elections, “Understanding the Direction of the New Hamas Government: Between Tactical Pragmatism and Al-Qaeda Jihadism,” Halevi has a section entitled, Hamas and Al-Qaeda: Partners in Global Jihad, that is so important to the issue at hand that the section bears worth reprinting in its entirety:” (this is an excerpt of the excerpt at Front Page)

More recently on March 26, 2006, a senior Hamas figure, Muhammad Sayyam, met in Peshawar, Pakistan, with Sayyid Salah al-Din, leader of the Kashmiri terror organization Hezb ul-Mujahidin,28 which had training camps in Afghanistan until the Taliban’s fall from power and functioned as an al-Qaeda affiliate.29 Sayyam heads the Yemeni branch of the Palestine Scholars Association, which advocates uncompromising jihad against the infidels and legally sanctioned suicide bombings against civilians in Israel. He sees the role of Muslim religious sages as spiritual guides whose task is to motivate the masses to struggle against Islam’s enemies and attack them with suicide bombings.30

Saudi Islamist cleric Sheikh Dr. Nasser Al-’Omar hosted a reception for a Hamas delegation led by Khaled Mashaal in Riyadh on March 12, 2006, also attended by prominent clerics and Islamists, some of whom had served prison terms for their suspected support of al-Qaeda or for criticizing the Saudi government.31

In honor of a visit to Yemen by Khaled Mashaal on March 20, 2006, the Hamas office in Yemen organized a conference to recruit financial aid for the Hamas movement and the new Hamas government. Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani also took part in the conference, meeting with Mashaal, calling on participants to assist the Hamas regime, and setting a personal example by contributing 200,000 rials.32 Zindani stressed that “the support we can provide at present is money (emphasis added),” hinting at other forms of support for Hamas in the future.

On February 24, 2004, U.S. authorities had designated al-Zindani as a terror supporter, “loyal to Osama bin Laden and a supporter of the al-Qaeda organization.” The U.S. Treasury Department stated: “The U.S. has credible evidence that al-Zindani, a Yemeni national, supports designated terrorists and terrorist organizations” and “has a long history of working with bin Laden, notably serving as one of his spiritual leaders.” The statement said al-Zindani “support[ed] many terrorist causes, including actively recruiting for al-Qaeda training camps,” and in 2004 “played a key role in the purchase of weapons on behalf of al-Qaeda and other terrorists.”33

Relations between al-Qaeda and Hamas go back to the early 1990s. In April 1991, Sudanese leader Hasan Turabi hosted a “Popular Arab and Islamic Conference” in Khartoum that brought together for the first time Islamists from the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In addition to Hamas, Osama bin Laden also attended and in subsequent years turned Sudan into his main base of operations. Turabi continued to host this jihadist gathering in 1993 and 1995; Hamas training camps in Sudan existed alongside those of al-Qaeda. Their solidarity could be inferred from bin Laden’s explicit reference to Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin as one of the five ulema on which bin Laden based his August 1996 Declaration of Jihad Against the U.S.34

As noted in the case of al-Zindani, al-Qaeda and Hamas have long shared global funding mechanisms. On October 22, 2003, Richard A. Clarke, the former National Counterterrorism Coordinator on the U.S. National Security Council, acknowledged that Hamas and al-Qaeda had a common financial infrastructure: “the funding mechanisms for PIJ [Palestinian Islamic Jihad] and Hamas appear also to have been funding al-Qaeda.”35

Even though Hamas and al-Qaeda share a similar worldview that seeks to impose worldwide Islamic rule, recently disagreements have erupted between the two organizations over how to implement the Islamic revolution. In a taped missive on March 5, 2006, Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden’s deputy, called on Hamas to continue its armed struggle and reject agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Al-Zawahiri emphasized that “no Palestinian has the right to give up even a grain of Palestinian land,” and warned Hamas against “the new American game that is called a political process,” alluding to democratization. Khaled Mashaal responded by saying that Hamas did not need advice from al-Qaeda, and will continue to act in keeping with its worldview and the Palestinian interest.36

Then there was the al-Quds conference in Yemen in December 2005.

This is the video of Zindani speaking at the March 2006 fundraiser and praising suicide bombers. He’s really quite a talented orator.

President Saleh Donates 1 Billion Riyals to Orphans

Filed under: Palestinians, Presidency, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 11:10 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2007

How generous. Where did he get the money?

He will support 500 children of Palestinian “myrters”. (Didn’t Saddam also support the families of suicide bombers?)

SANA’A. April,05(26sep.net) His Excellency President Saleh attended today in the hall of Cultural Center in Sana’a in third Festival of orphans created by Al-Saleh social society for the development with the participation of a number of orphanages in Sana’a under the slogan (Take my hand) on the occasion of Arab Orphan’s world Day, At the ceremony, HE President Saleh delivered following speech:-

In the beginning, I thank Al-Saleh corporation on its good performance and for the excellent arrangements for this festival for orphans and for this required charitable and humanitarian work, and I call upon the good makers to further the adoption of such a humanitarian and charitable work and will enjoy the support of the government for such charitable institutions, which should be expanded and deployed all over the country.

“This charitable and humanitarian work is a well and wonderful task but the worker in this work should not seek for gain in favor of their personal interests, but the charitable work and ensure the orphans and solving of the disabled and visually impaired patient treatment are purely humanitarian action should not be limited to charity work to ensure the orphan, but there are many activities and areas should be done by charitable and humanitarian institutions and by the support of the state institutions”, he added.
He said: Social Fund for Development will adopt the infrastructure of cities and villages, which will be established for orphans. And I has donated a few days before the amount of half a billion riyals for Al-Rahmah Corporation and the same amount to Al-Saleh Corporation and I hope that people to be very open-handed voluntarily to donor and there is no loss at all donated riyal and the dinar or donation per mille.
All are in the value of a basket of donations for the Orphan, we must ensure that orphans throughout the country and I announced to ensure the 500th orphan of Palestinian martyrs from Al-Saleh corporation and I announced to grant 100 job employment for philanthropic organizations in all parts of the homeland and we will ensure in the coming years a number of Palestinian orphans and I thank everyone who prepared for this festival, and I thank each one will donate generously to this charitable work.

Israel: Iran, Syria and Yemen Training Terrorists to Attack US

Filed under: Al-Qaeda, Other Countries, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 10:23 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2007

This whole game is so tiresome and all the pretense so nauseating.

Israel claims thousands of Palestinian fighters are training in Iran, Syria and Yemen
Wednesday April 04, 2007 01:58 by Saed Bannour

The Israeli Military Intelligence claimed on Tuesday that thousands of fighter of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are receiving military training in Iran, Syria and Yemen in preparation to what was described as “a possible American Attack”, and added that the Syrian International Airport became “a logistic point for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards”.

Israeli Arab MP Visits Yemen

Filed under: Other Countries, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 6:48 am on Thursday, March 29, 2007

An unauthorized trip

JP MK Muhammad Barakei tested Israel’s policy against visiting enemy countries once again this week, taking an unapproved trip to Yemen.

Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz announced Monday that he would open an investigation into the Hadash MK’s trip, amid calls by right-wing MKs for Mazuz to “once and for all punish” Barakei.

Barakei’s trip was the latest in unauthorized forays by Arab MKs into enemy territory. In September, Balad MKs Azmi Bishara, Jamal Zahalka and Wasal Taha were questioned by the police’s International and Serious Crimes Unit for their diplomatic visit to Syria and Lebanon.

Barakei has already been investigated for a 2001 trip to Syria.

Knesset protocols require MKs to receive authorization from the Knesset Ethics Committee for all trips abroad. A number of bills were introduced in the past Knesset to ban MKs from taking trips to enemy countries, but none of the bills passed a second reading.

“We have not asked for permission for this trip because it is clear to us that his travel there was in keeping with his position as an MK,” said a spokesman for Barakei. According to the spokesman, Barakei will be the keynote speaker in a conference on the rights of Palestinian refugees in Iraq. He will return to Israel on Thursday in time for Land Day.

The Jewish community in Yemen has been steadily declining as reports of anti-Semitic activity increase. In February, the Yemenite government had to relocate 45 Jews to the capital from their native town of Saada after they were harassed by locals there.

Saleh Mediates with Palestinian Leaders

Filed under: Diplomacy, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 8:50 am on Monday, December 18, 2006
SANA’A- Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political leader Khalid Mashaal agreed to continue talks on forming a national government that would serve the interest of the Palestinian people.
This came after President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on the two leaders to avoid escalating the situation in Palestine and protect the Palestinians from bloodshed and conflicts that serve only the Israeli’s interests.
President Saleh today urged- in two phone calls- Abbas and Mashaal to negotiate inside the Palestinian territories and form a national government that can put an end to the siege imposed on their country.

Factional fighting continues.

Caravan to Palestine

Filed under: Diplomacy, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 8:15 am on Friday, December 1, 2006

SANA’A, Nov. 26(Saba)- The Yemeni aids caravan organized by Kana’an Association in Yemen paved Sunday its way to reach Palestine via land.
Head of the association, Yehya Saleh, stated to Sabanews that the caravan contains 85 tons of aids, such as electricity generators and
some amounts of milk, sugar, oils and basic foodstuff as well as some domestic requirements and medical equipments.

(Read on …)

Meshaal in Yemen?

Filed under: Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 9:02 am on Sunday, November 26, 2006

Debka: Meshaal’s consent to finally travel to Cairo last week raised some hopes that he had come around to accepting a Palestinian unity government and discussing the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit. He soon dashed those hopes. Our sources learn he has left Cairo leaving behind a list of tough demands and headed for Yemen to lead a secret Hamas conference called to plot the next Palestinian-Israeli war.

(Read on …)

Terror vs. Resistance

Filed under: Al-Qaeda, Iraq, Palestinians, Presidency, Proliferation, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 10:52 am on Monday, November 13, 2006

Press Zoom

SHAWQI NOMAM ( Yemen ) said international cooperation was required to combat terrorism. Yemen had adopted many deterrent measures to deal with the scourge. It called for an international conference to define terrorism and to distinguish it from the legitimate struggle for independence of peoples under foreign occupation. He said counter-terrorism should also deal with factors such as poverty, unemployment, lack of education and international injustice. He said dialogue was important to counter extremism, and stressed the need for the strengthening of understanding between civilizations and cultures. Yemen had convened two conferences between civilizations in 2003 and 2004.

He said his Government cooperated with the Security Council anti-terrorism committees and had submitted country reports, as required under the relevant resolutions. Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs had established a special unit to coordinate with international bodies specializing in counter terrorism. Yemen welcomed the adoption of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and was putting in place the constitutional means to implement it.

more (Read on …)

Charity to the Palestinians

Filed under: Civil Society, Palestinians, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 9:36 am on Thursday, November 9, 2006

NY:

The Sana’a-based Charity Society for Supporting Al-Aqsa, has transferred 100,000 USD for the Palestinian people under an “urgent campaign” to held people in Beit Hanoun which Israeli still attack.
Al-Aqsa confirmed it will transfer the second amount in coming days, calling upon the Yemeni people to “continue supporting Palestinians in Beit Hanoun and Jineen as Islamic duty”.
Al-Aqsa said it receives daily donations in favor the Palestinian people in Beit Hanoun and Jeneen in its headquarters in Sana’a and its offices in other governorates.
Although Israeli forces ended a bloody week-long operation in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, leaving behind a trail of destroyed homes, uprooted trees and streets muddied with sewage water from pipes destroyed by tanks and bulldozers, it continues its attacks.