Appendix - E

Arafat: Where Did the Saudi Aid Monev Go? (Transferred to the Hamas. General Description of the Captured Documents

1. Among the captured documents there was correspondence between the PA and the Saudis, dated back to the first months of the Intifada (December 2000 -January 2001). In these documents, Arafat bitterly objects to the fact that Saudi aid money is not transferred directly to the PA and does not reach the Fatah but transferred to the Hamas and extremist Islamic elements in the PA connected to it, thereby weakening the Palestinian Authority. The documents also deal with discussions held in Riyadh between the Palestinians and the Saudis, pertaining to this subject. In retrospect, it can be determined that this attempt of Arafat's to motivate the Saudis to direct aid money through him came to naught, while the phenomenon of money transfer to Hamas elements continues to this day.
2. The main points of five documents are included below (the originals and translations of some are enclosed):
   1. Document El, 1 December 2000: PA representative in Saudi Arabia requests to transfer the Saudis a list of Palestinian fatalities during the Intifada. The PA also requests to send to Saudi Arabia a committee that would reach an understanding with the Saudis as for the transfer of the donations, in order to ensure that the Saudi money does reach its beneficiaries.
   2. Document E2, 30 December 2000: Arafat complains to the governor of Riyadh that the money of the Saudi Committee for Support of the Intifada reaches the Hamas and radical associations connected to it. Arafat again requests to send a committee on his behalf to discuss with theSaudis how to ensure that the Saudi money reaches its "real beneficiaries " .
   3. Document E3, 7 January 2001: excerpt from a news compilation transferred to Arafat, containing a report from MBC television, according to which the Saudi Minister of Interior has infonned that "to this day, a sum of 123,750,000 Riyal was paid in support of the families of Intifadat al Quds fatalities, prisoners, wounded and disabled, as well as needy Palestinian families". In response, Arafat wrote on the news compilation, in his ow.n handwriting, an instruction addressed to the PA representative in Saudi Arabia: " Please find for me the destination and addressees of these funds, since the fatalities and wounded receh'ed nothing".
   4. Document E4, 8 January 2001: a letter from the Saudi Foreign Ministry to the Palestinian "embassy" in Riyadh. The letter infonns the Saudi's consent for the visit of the Palestinian committee in Saudi ".:\rabia for coordinating the transfer of Saudi funds to those eligible for them.
   5. Documents E5, 9 January 2001: a letter from the PA representative in Saudi Arabia to Arafat, informing him about deliberations with the Saudi elements (including the Saudi Committee for Support of Intifada A) Quds) regarding the arrival of the Palestinian committee and regarding what the Palestinians perceive as interference in their sovereignty. The Saudi committee provided the Palestinians a list of fatalities that it got "from Palestinian elements" [note: elements not connected to the PA, likely to be Hamas elements]. The document is attached to two Saudi documents transferred to the PA representative in Saudi Arabia. The two original documents are enclosed. However, a full translation is not available and a general characterization will suffice.The Saudi documents attached to the letter E5:
3. A list of Palestinian fatalities, bearing the logo of the Saudi Committee for Support of lntifadat Al Quds. We only have two pages from this list,
   described below:
   
   1. A page listing fatalities. (numbered 166 to 190). Inspection of the names reveals that these are junior activists, killed in the beginning of the Intifada. According to the organizations that claimed responsibility for them, most are Hamas activists and occasional double responsibility of
      Hamas and F atah.
      
   2. A page listing "heavy" terrorists (numbered 191 to 214) who carried out murder attacks that caused the death of dozens of Israelis (mostly civilians ) and wounding of hundreds. These are operational activists, almost all of whom belong to the Hamas, killed throughout the 1990s, before the breaking of the current confrontation. Some notable names:
      • 1) .Ayad Isa al-Batat (no.201 on the list). Senior Hamas operational activist. Perpetrated a shooting at an IDF patrol in Hebron (18 May 1998), stabbing of a soldier (11 March 1997), shooting at an mF car (10 November 1998 and 13 January 1999).
      • 2) lbrahim al Sarahne (no.191 on the list). Operational Hamas activist. Carried out a suicide attack in Ashkelon (25 February 1996), killing 1 Israeli and wounding 29.
      • 3) Musa Abd al Qadr Ghanimat (no.197 on the list). Operational Hamas activist. Carried out a lethal attack in a coffee shop at the center of Tel Aviv (21 March 1997). 3 Israelis were killed and 47 wounded.
      • 4) Sufian a} Jabarin (no.206 on the list). Operational Hamas activist. Carried out a suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem (21 August 1995), killing 4 people and wounding 107 others. One of those killed was a US citizen.
      • Majdi Abu Warda (no.195 on the list). Hamas operational activist. Perpetrator of a bomb attack on a bus in Jerusalem (25 February 1996), in which 26 Israelis were killed and 47 wounded (mostly civilians).
4. A report about allocation of money to charity associations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, carrying the following logo: International Islamic Relief Organization, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (I.I.R.O.)
   [note: the I.I.R.O. is familiar as one of the largest charities in Saudi Arabia. Its purpose is to aid Muslims in need, all over the world. It aids Palestinian charities, most of ,vhich are identified with the Hamas.]
5. The I.I.R.O. report submitted to the Palestinians lists 14 Islamic committees and bodies that were given I.I.R.O. money, a sum of $280,000. All 14 bodies are kno,vn to be identified ",ith the Hamas. It is noted in the report that the money is provided for supporting the fatalities, the wounded, as well as the Hamas-identified committees/bodies themselves.
6. A short description of the elements listed in the I.I.R.O. report is included:
   1. West Bank:
      (1) The Islamic Legacy Committee -Jerusalem.
      (2) The Zakat committee -Ramallah.
      (3) The Orphan Care Committee -Bethlehem [note: its director is among the Hamas activists deported to Lebanon; it was shut down by the PA on account of its identification with Hamas; recently resumed activity].
      (4) The Islamic Charity -Hebron [note: a large committee, identified with the Hamas; receives money also from the Saudi Committee for the Support of Intifada Al Quds].
      (5) Islamic Youths Association - Hebron.
      (6) The Nablus Zakat Committee [handwriting: the Jordanian Islamic Bank, Al Wahadat branch, account no.81336].
      (7) The Zakat Committee Assira Shamaliah [near Nablus].
      (8) The Tulkarm Zakat Committee [identified with Hamas; its office was found in possession of the Saudi Committee for the Support of Intifada Al Quds documents].
      (9) The Jenin Zakat Committee.
      
   2. Gaza Strip:
      (1) The Islamic Integrity Association -in Gaza [note: a large association, identified with the Ramas, that receives many funds including from the Saudi Committee for Support of Intifada Al Quds] .
      (2) The "Al Rahame" Zakat Committee -Khan Yunes. [note: previously shut down by the PA because of its identification with Ramas; recently resumed activity].
      (3) The Islamic Society -Nussirat [note: previously shut down by the PA because of its identification with Ramas; recently resumed activity ] .
      (4) The Islamic Center -Gaza [note: previously shut down by the PA because of its identification with Ramas; recently resumed activity].
      (5) The Zakat and Welfare Charity Committee -Rafiah.