Steve Emerson Report on George Galloway and Viva Palestina

British Member of Parliament (and general all-around flake) George Galloway




New York City Council member (and race monger) Charles Barron


What follows below is an article by terrorism expert Steve Emerson on the Viva Palestina organization under George Galloway. Emerson exposes this for what it is: nothing more than a scam to provide material and financial support to the terror group Hamas. It is my pleasure to cross-post this important article. (I apologize for the disjointed lines.)
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August 3, 2009
American Aid Convoy to Gaza Serves Hamas' Objectives Steve Emerson

Viva Palestina USA, an offshoot of British MP George Galloway's
anti-Zionist, pro-Hamas, Viva Palestina convoy initiative, crossed
into the Gaza Strip on July 15, 2009, with 200 Americans as well as
more than $1 million worth of aid for Palestinians in Gaza. Viva
Palestina USA claims to be a humanitarian initiative desiring to help
needy Palestinians. But behind the headline-grabbing trip, events
prior to, during and after the trip reveal the anti-American, anti-
Israel, revolutionary and pro-Hamas sentiments of its organizers.

When Galloway led a Viva Palestina UK convoy to Gaza in March, he
started out with 110 trucks filled with supplies. That doubled
during a stop in Libya when the Gaddafi International Charity and
Development Foundation donated a matching volume of supplies.
The Foundation's chairman is Safi Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of
Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi.

Once in Gaza, the convoy was greeted by Hamas representatives.
Viva Palestina UK gave thousands of pounds of aid and tens of
vehicles to the Hamas government. The convoy also included 12
ambulances, a fire engine and £1 million (approximately $1.4
million U.S.), which was given to Ziad al-Zaza, the Economy
Minister of the Hamas government.

In July, Viva Palestina USA led a similar convoy to Gaza, with
more than $1 million in what organizers said were medical supplies.
There, Galloway and a crew of approximately 200 Americans met
with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who praised the U.S. convoy as
"proof that the American people is not entirely a people of
occupation and is not entirely on the side of the criminal Zionist regime."

U.S. law prohibits providing material support to Hamas, even when
that takes the form of humanitarian aid. Five officials at the Holy
Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), a now-defunct
Texas charity, are serving prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years
for violating that law. In that case, jurors found that HLF routed
more than $12 million to Hamas through a network of charities
controlled by the terrorist group.

It is unknown whether Viva Palestina's delivery of goods to Hamas
officials is under any kind of investigation. However, attorneys with
National Lawyers Guild attended Viva Palestina events and provided
training on how to respond to government questions.

Galloway seemed to joke about it during a July 2nd fundraiser
outside Kansas City:

"I just want this to be clear to the FBI man [in the audience], I
am not, myself, a supporter of Hamas, I have never been a supporter of Hamas."
He invoked the memory of the late PLO leader Yassir Arafat, whom
Galloway said was a close, longtime friend. But Galloway has now twice
led convoys which delivered tons of supplies and millions of dollars
to Hamas instead of to non-governmental organizations. And this picture
seems to challenge his claim about Hamas.

The Kansas City fundraiser, one of many throughout the country, raised
$103,000 in a single evening.

The next night, at an event in New York, City Council member Charles
Barron started his remarks by leading the crowd in a chant of "Long
live Palestine." Then he introduced himself by saying "I am not a
politician. I am an elected revolutionary." Barron, a former Black
Panther Party member, was part of the convoy heading to Gaza along
with his chief of staff, Nayo Joy Simmons, and a second staffer.
Barron spoke of former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who was
supposed to appear at this convoy send-off, but she was in Israeli custody,
after a boat she was traveling on toward Gaza was seized by the
Israeli navy.

A message from McKinney was played for the Brooklyn gathering, in
which she claimed to be bringing nothing more than crayons to children in
Gaza. Barron called Israeli interdiction of the boat "piracy," and
offered a bizarre comparison of her plight to the three Somali pirates
killed by U.S. Navy sharpshooters in April after kidnapping an American
ship captain:

"And how dare you, Barack Obama, how dare you go to Africa, kill three
Somalians for trying to protect their water when an American boat went
into Somalian waters. They tried to protect their waters from dark,
toxic waste being dumped and for you ruining their maritime, their
fish, stealing over $300 million worth of shrimp, and other kinds of
fish, starving the people of Somalia, you go and kill three Africans
to save an American ship and you're silent on the Israeli government
taking a ship" carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

A short time later, Father Luis Barrios told the convoy travelers to,
"Break the law. Just break it. OK?"

John Parker of the International Action Center in California was one
of only two speakers to mention Hamas by name. In doing so, he indicated
Hamas is not part of the problem:

"Is it Hamas that's denying children IVs and medical supplies while
they lie in hospitals dying? Is it Hamas that put these children in the
hospitals in the first place? No. Is it Hamas that destroyed half of
the hospitals in Gaza…and is it Hamas that put Cynthia McKinney in
jail?"

At a Viva Palestina fundraiser held June 28 at American University in
Washington, D.C., a "spoken word artist" by the name of Ibrahim
vehemently rapped about "the problem" of "Zionism." During his rap,
the young man stated:

"I promise there will be another intifada. You think our children are
scared to be martyred?"

His violent rhetoric continued throughout his presentation:

"Let the message of Shahid Ahmed Yassin revive," and "I'm your
everyday martyr, your everyday fedayeen smashing away the Zionist dream. Their
claims are all fraud. They were the chosen until they started
worshiping Satan instead of God."

Yassin was a Hamas founder and its spiritual leader until he was
killed by Israel in 2004.

Mahdi Bray, the leader of the Muslim American Society (MAS)'s Freedom
Foundation, was a featured speaker for the majority of Galloway's and
Viva Palestina's fundraising events. Following the radical rap at the
American University fundraiser, Bray applauded Ibrahim, encouraged
audience members to purchase his CD, and stated, "I like the courage."
Bray further noted that the audience comprised a small group
(approximately 60 people) because Muslims are afraid of what the
"White House" will think if they supported "the struggle of our brothers and
sisters in Palestine."

To this, Bray said, "The hell with going to the White House. I don't
want to go the White House if my Palestinian brothers and sisters
can't live in their house."

In addition to co-sponsoring fundraising events, MAS Freedom has
openly supported the efforts of Galloway and Viva Palestina on its website,
provided a container of medical supplies and equipment for the convoy
and launched the "Let Gaza Live" and "End the Gaza Embargo" campaigns
to complement the efforts of Viva Palestina.

CAIR, as previously noted, sent representatives on the U.S. convoy,
and has additionally promoted the efforts of Viva Palestina USA on the
web.

On July 14, 2009, CAIR-LA forwarded an action alert from American
Muslims for Palestine to its list serve demanding that Egyptian
authorities allow the Viva Palestina U.S. convoy passage into Gaza. On
July 1, 2009, CAIR National distributed a press release calling on the
Obama Administration to release Cynthia McKinney and 20 other members
of the convoy after they were stopped by the Israeli navy.

Among those joining McKinney in the Viva Palestina US convoy were New
York City Council Member Charles Barron, Vietnam War veteran Ron
Kovic, representatives of the extremist anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta, the
Middle East Children's Alliance, Cuba Coalition, Malcolm X Grassroots
Movement, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), International Action
Center, International Socialist Organization, Workers World Party and the Answer
Coalition.

After returning to the U.S., Viva Palestina supporters met in Brooklyn
on July 27th to discuss their trip. They met at the Salam Arabic
Lutheran Church, where Archbishop Hanna said he supports a one-state
solution, that the idea of a two-state solution is unjust and is an
illusion. An interpreter summarized his statements. "We have to be
patient. We are in no rush in any way to get to any solutions. We're
here to wait. We can wait another 50 years. We can wait another 100
years, as long as we find a just solution, which is a one-state
solution, the right state for all its citizen, every person living
there – Jews, Christians, Muslims, and see the end of the Zionist
regime that racially discriminates and occupies Palestine now."

Prior to introducing the archbishop, Lamis Deek, of a group called
Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, said that, while the
group's work is charitable, its "essence" is political:

"The first and foremost among them with this convoy, without question
supports is the rights of Palestinians to self-determination, the
right the government to choose, not only the government under which they
want to live, but in choosing Hamas, what they chose was one united
Palestinian state on all of the 1948 territories from the north to the
very south. That is what Palestinians chose. And in supporting
Palestinian choice we are saying we support their right to liberation
from violent colonialism." [Emphasis added]

Deek asserted that, "Jerusalem must be the capital of Palestine,"
adding, "We reject Zionism as a racist and criminal ideology."

Many of the convoy participants gathered at the Salam Arabic Lutheran
Church in Brooklyn on July 27th to discuss their experiences.
Archbishop Atallah Hanna of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of
Jerusalem echoed the sentiment from previous events that the Viva
Palestina supporters oppose a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and demand one Palestinian state, with
Jerusalem as its capital.

That is preferable to a negotiated settlement, even if it means
subjecting Palestinians in Gaza to the status quo for another 50 or
100 years, said Hanna, who made his remarks in Arabic:

"Historic Palestine from the river to the sea; that is Palestine.
Therefore, friends, we must not talk about the people of '67 or the
people of '48. The Palestinian people are one people, no matter where
they are or where they are found. The Palestinian people are one
people indivisible."

Calls for a Palestinian state on 1948 borders (before there was a
state of Israel). Direct contributions to Hamas officials. On Friday, Viva
Palestina issued a statement announcing plans for a "mega convoy" in
December with "more high profile individuals" and much more money and
supplies. Viva Palestina's actions in support of Hamas seem to echo
those of HLF, if not more boldly at that.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Steven Emerson is an
internationally recognized expert on terrorism and national security
and heads the Investigative Project on Terrorism. This article
originally appeared on the Hudson Institute website.

You can find this online at:
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.3898/pub_detail.asp
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Fousesquawk comment: On May 21, I attended a speech by Galloway at UC-Irvine in which boxes were passed around for the audience members to make donations. Galloway repeated his assertion (a lie) that he does not support Hamas. Onw wonders, aside from the material goods, who recieves the cash?

As for Charles Barron, you may have seen his occasional appearances on Fox News or other cable outlets. He is a former Black Panther and current race monger, who has a ton of hate in his heart if you listen to his words.

Thanks to Emerson for exposing these individuals and anti-American organizations-operating right on our very shores.