“European Union Passes New Rules to Counter Terrorism Financing and Money-Laundering as also Addressing Online Terrorism.”
Paris, 26 July 2021
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre was officially notified this week that a letter – dated 19 November 2020 from the Centre’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels – to European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, is to become EU public record.
This is a first in decades of the Centre’s correspondence with the European leadership on the subjects of antisemitism and terrorism.
The specific letter concerned the example of three EU member-States funding Palestinian NGOs, reportedly covers for terrorist organizations... The Centre’s exposure was supported by evidence that was a possible source of embarrassment for – France, Spain and Ireland – the countries listed, as for the EU in its entirety.
Since the first wave of terrorist attacks against Jewish targets in the 1980s, the Centre has called on the international community to “follow the money” in order to unveil the financial sources, routes and schemes supporting terrorism... On 20 July this year, the European Commission has drafted its new Rules to Counter Money-Laundering and Financing of Terrorism.
Since the worldwide advent of the Internet in the 1990s, the Wiesenthal Centre has exposed growing hate, antisemitism and terrorism online... On April 29 this year, the EU passed a new Regulation Addressing the Dissemination of Terrorist Content Online.
These are what could be called examples of “good work in progress.” But a lot remains to be addressed for truth, justice and peace to be achieved.
Since the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the mid-1990s, the Centre has insisted that international institutions and their member-States that provide financing to the PA require the recipients of their support to be held accountable... i.e. that the funding contribute to human development, instead of being spent to support suicide terrorist families, to import and produce rockets, or to inculcate hate in the minds of children... We strongly hope that the new EU Rules will be effective in this sense.
“We thank the EU for disclosing to the general public our letter on the financing of terrorism... Now, the Rules, Regulations and Definitions must be taken seriously. The Centre will continue to monitor and advise the European institutions to effectively contain and counter terrorism and hate,” concluded Samuels.
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“My cause was justice, not vengeance. My work is for a better tomorrow and a more secure future for our children and grandchildren.” (Simon Wiesenthal, 1908-2005)