World
Funding Terrorists
Author explains legal and
illegal fundraising methods.
Stephanie Steinberg
Special to the Jewish News
Ann Arbor
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ow do terrorist organiza-
tions get their funding?
Avi Jorisch, former
policy advisor at the U.S. Treasury
Department's Office of Terrorism and
Financial Intelligence, answered that
question in a talk with more than
50 University of
Michigan students
and Jewish adults on
campus Nov. 11.
Jorisch is the
author of Tainted
Money: Are we losing
the war on money
laundering
and ter-
Avi Jorisch
rorism financing? He
has traveled throughout the Middle
East and has interviewed individuals
from terrorist organizations, including
Hezbollah.
Participants sat around Jorisch in
a close-knit circle as he explained the
ideology behind radical Islam and
mechanisms of terrorism financing.
He said radical Shi'ite terrorist
organizations like Hezbollah hate the
United States mainly because they
believe U.S. citizens have no right to
occupy American soil.
"We are considered European colo-
nists that came to America, took land
that did not belong to us, and basically
raped the Earth and took it away from
the legitimate owners — the Native
Americans:' Jorisch said.
That the U.S. supports other "colo-
nial powers" like Israel deepens their
dislike of Americans.
On the other hand, radical Sunni
terrorist organizations, such as Al
Qaeda and Hamas, want to create a
"one world of Islam" led by a single
religious figurehead who directs the
nation in times of war.
To operate, all terrorist organiza-
tions need money. According to
Jorisch, there are only three ways to
raise money in the world — through
criminal activity, legal activity and
government sponsorship — and ter-
rorists use all three.
Most terrorists participate in
money laundering," he said, which
((
mean giving proceeds from illegal
criminal activity the appearance of
being raised legally.
Terrorists especially like moving
money through gold because it can't
be traced, there's no inflation and it
has universal value.
"Almost anyone will accept it:' he
said. "You can sell gold in Michigan for
essentially the same price in Tel Aviv,
San Francisco and New York."
Terrorists also transfer money
through diamonds for the same rea-
sons — and also because they are
small and portable.
But terrorists also move cash legally
through banks. The fours state spon-
sors of terrorism — Iran, Syria, Sudan
and Cuba — fund terrorist organiza-
tions in this fashion.
According to Jorisch, Hezbollah
receives money from Iran through
bank transfers. That's why Israel first
targeted Hezbollah bank branches in
the 2006 Lebanon War, Jorisch said.
His goal was to encourage audi-
ence members to learn about different
ideological perspectives and the prin-
ciples behind terrorist organizations.
"I encourage you all to open your
minds and see things in different
ways," Jorisch said. "Otherwise, I
happen to think we are going to be
engaged in a war with radical Islam
for a very, very long time. Just like we
had to fight fascism and communism,
we're now engaged in the next big war
— ideologically speaking:'
Avery Robinson of Franklin is a U-M
sophomore and vice president of IDEA
— Initiating Dialogue, Education and
Advocacy — the student organization
that sponsored the event.
"I thought that [Jorisch] had a lot
of interesting things to say:' Robinson
said, "specifically regarding interna-
tional financing that people were not
aware of."
IDEA President Ben Kaminsky, a
U-M junior from Hong Kong, said, "I
think through his extensive time trav-
eling and interviewing Hezbollah and
different terrorist organizations, he
really can provide an in depth knowl-
edge and firsthand understanding of
how [the financing] happens." II
Stephanie Steinberg, 19, of Commerce
Township is a sophomore at U-M.