financing of terrorism

Wednesday, Nov 08, 2023

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler on NewsNation

On November 8, 2023, CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler appeared on NewsNation's Dan Abrams Live for segment, "Where’s The Outrage?? Hamas Leaders Live In Luxury As Civilians Suffer". 

"Hamas over the years has made sure that it has several overlapping income streams, so that if you pressure one of them, it can substitute it with others. So the biggest pots really are, until about the beginning of October, anything that went on in Gaza. So any economic activity, but also taxes and levies on any aid money that came into Gaza, this is unfortunately a sad truth. Secondly, strategically, Qatar. $30 million per month was the official sum they admitted, very likely much more than that. In part from the Qatari government, but also Qatari donors directly into the Hams coffers. Iran has already been mentioned, material support within weapons, arms, ammunitions, trainings, but also money. And then we have the investment portfolio. Unfortunately, Hamas is not yet classified by a terrorist organization in many countries of the world..."

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"Although the U.S. and the European Union have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, 'they’re not effectively cut off from the international financial system,' said Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project. 'They actually are able to invest funds in companies and in real estate.'
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Cryptocurrencies have helped the group invest its money while bypassing international financial sanctions according to a report by the Counter Extremism Project."

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October 25, 2023
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"'These bans are one of the most important instruments a democracy has to prevent money flowing to terrorist organizations,' Hans-Jakob Schindler from the transatlantic think tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP) told DW. However, he added: 'It is always difficult, because in Germany associations and non-profit organizations enjoy a certain degree of protection, and investigations by authorities such as the Office for the Protection of the Constitution are limited when it comes to finances.'

The line is crossed when violence is openly called for or endorsed. 'As long as individuals restrain themselves in this regard, it will be very difficult,' Schindler explained, adding that suspects usually pay close attention to what they say, so as not to attract attention from the authorities."

Date
October 13, 2023
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CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed about the financing of Hamas by supporters in Germany and action by the German government. 

Date
October 12, 2023
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[Translated from German] "'These bans are one of the most important instruments a democracy has to prevent money from flowing to terrorist organizations' Hans-Jakob Schindler from the transatlantic think tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP) told DW. But: 'It is always difficult because in Germany clubs and non-profit organizations enjoy a certain level of protection when it comes to their activities, and investigations by important authorities such as the Office for the Protection of the Constitution when it comes to finances are limited.'"

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October 12, 2023
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[Translated from German] “Experts are irritated by this approach. 'It is hardly possible that a family built up a criminal organization alone over the years and operated,' says Alexander Ritzmann, who is at the think tank Counter-Extremism Project right-wing extremist criminal structures deals. 'I think it has to give a network: Because money laundering plays a role in drug  trafficking always a role. One must restaurants, fitness centers or run other businesses to do that to launder drug money. One can don't just take that to the bank.'“

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August 16, 2023
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"Analysts with the Counter Extremism Project were used to seeing radical groups asking for donations in crypto currencies. Everyone from neo-Nazis to ISIS sympathizers liked Bitcoin, as it helps avoid oversight from banks and regulators. But in 2020 those with the unenviable job of monitoring hate groups online saw a pro-ISIS group switch its donation preference from Bitcoin to a much smaller and lesser know currency called Monero...'About a year and a half ago this Monero thing took off, and now it’s pretty widespread,' Hans-Jakob Schindler, the senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, says."

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June 21, 2023
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"Some analysts have suggested that jihadist financing flourished because South African authorities grew complacent at the lack of visible Islamist activity.

'I don't think South Africa realised it. It was the Americans who said, 'something not okay is going on in your country,"' Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter-Extremism Project think-tank, told AFP.

'The entire government is now put to task,' he said."

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June 13, 2023
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CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler writes: "While regulators and policymakers dither and try to decide if cryptocurrencies have a future in the economy, early adopters, including terrorists and violent extremists, are exploiting a law enforcement blind spot. The ease by which money laundering and terrorism financing take place with cryptocurrencies and the more dangerous privacy coins are becoming a security threat of our own making through bureaucratic inaction."

Date
April 11, 2023
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Daily Dose

Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.

Fact:

On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers. 

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