Calblog

Newsflash: Hamas Indictments Indicative of US Support For Israel

Today's news contains an interesting article on the indictment of Mohammed Abu Marzook and two other members of Hamas, the humanitarian, oops, I mean, terrorist organization. Interestingly enough, Marzook's defense lawyers claim that US support of Israel is the political motivation behind the indictment:

"But defense lawyers and relatives of the defendants decried the indictments as politically motivated, arguing that they stem from U.S. support of Israel and are based on dated allegations that have dogged the men for years.

Indeed, many of the activities complained of in the indictment occurred before President Bill Clinton designated Hamas as a foreign terrorist group. The government's use of the racketeering law essentially allows it to reach back in time to capture those acts as part of an alleged criminal conspiracy.

Stanley Cohen, Marzook's attorney, called the charges "categorical rubbish" and said the indictment amounted to "a Republican National Committee press release"

Four details in particular should be noted from this story:

1. Hamas was designated a terrorist organization by the Clinton Administration.
(Go Bill!)
2. The article complains that many of the charges in the indictment occurred
before said designation.
3. Marzook's attorney, incredibly, is one Stanley Cohen.
4. Cohen claims that the indictment is a "Republican National Committee press
release".

As far as I can tell, item number one seems to negate item number four, item number two is a no-brainer (there would have to be activity involved that pre-dated the terrorist designation in order for there to be grounds to make such a designation!), and item number three is just amazing to me on so many levels I can't begin to comment on it. Suffice it to say that Mr. Cohen is either one of the American Jews I referred to in this post, or he is just in it for the money. Either way, kudos to the Clinton administration for seeing through Hamas' "humanitarian" cover, and shame on the San Francisco Chronicle and Mr. Cohen for attempting to make the rest of us believe that this indictment has no merit.

Update: According to the Washington Post, Stanley Cohen has been representing Hamas since 1995. Mr. Cohen explains his position rather succinctly:

"I don't support attacks on civilians by anyone, but you know what?" Cohen says, working himself into a rant. "I think what Israel does is far more morally repugnant than what Hamas does."

Apparently, in Stanley Cohen's mind, Israel's SELF-defense isn't as important as the defense-for-profit of a murderous terrorist group.

Posted by Mark D. Firestone at August 21, 2004 09:22 AM | TrackBack