Governor Haslams appointee to Tennessee Economic and Development Council appointee Samar Ali interned for the International Arab Bank and during her time there the bank was investigated and found guilty of laundering money in the 10s of millions to support suicide bombers of Hamas, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. This recent appointment by Governor Haslam can’t make the Jewish community sleep well at night!
The New York based Holy Land Foundation was the US link to spread their money to terrorist based organizations like Hamas in the US and abroad, a close associate of the Arab Bank. Governor Haslam has now hired Mrs Ali, a Sharia Compliance expert to work within our own government.
http://www.israellawcenter.org/page.asp?id=335&show=reports2
Mrs. Ali’s resume reflects her career path, the Internet can provide the rest by googling International Arab Bank and Holy Land Foundation.
Many Arab banks get away with “zakat” or “charity” as money to fund terrorists because for one it is “not politically correct” to say anything about it and two it is so layered with very little accountability as to where the money goes. Noone could possibly keep up with all the transactions or where it ends up. This I am sure is by design.
http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/category/zakat/
Click to access levitt_5-26-10.pdf
These charges saying the Arab Bank funneled and laundered money to terrorist organizations is part of an international and US investigation that has resulted in stiff fines and further investigation and monitoring of activity. In fact some charges are still ongoing and are expected to return further charges.
Click to access Linde_v_Arab_Bank_PLC%5B1%5D.pdf
Read the srticle below by the New York Times and other articles:
International Arab Bank get sued for financing terrorist groups like Hamas, TN Governor Bill Haslams appointee Samar Ali interned at this bank.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0704/terrorist_insurance.php3
Arab Bank and New Yorks Holy land Foundation guilty of Terrorist funding.
Click to access SAY_15%20PressRelease_080504.pdf
Samar Ali’s resume posted on Linkedin shows she was associated with Arab bank and other suspicious organizations, “rotating through various banking agencies” with links to middle east oil, terrorist organizations and perhaps big oil companies in Tennessee. What were those various banking agencies? No one has asked that question nor has an answer been provided.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/samar-ali/5/715/994?_mSplash=1
Disclaimer: No substantial links have been found to TN linked oil companies but I’m pretty sure a link will be established in time.
http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=11524
Resume provided by Linkedin:
Samar Ali’s Overview
Past
Advisor at U.S. Department of Homeland Security
2010-2011 Fellow at White House Fellows Program
Associate at Hogan Lovells US LLP
Education
Vanderbilt University Law School
Vanderbilt University
Waverly Central High School
Samar Ali’s Experience
Advisor
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Government Agency; 10,001+ employees; Government Administration industry
November 2011 – March 2012 (5 months) Doha, Qatar
2010-2011 Fellow
White House Fellows Program
August 2010 – September 2011 (1 year 2 months)
Associate
Hogan Lovells US LLP
Partnership; 1001-5000 employees; Law Practice industry
September 2007 – July 2010 (2 years 11 months)
Legal Intern
The ISLAMIC INTERNATIONAL ARAB BANK
June 2007 – August 2007 (3 months)
Rotated through various banking units and gained exposrue to Shari’ah compliant financial products and related contracts.
Law Clerk
South Africa Supreme Court of Appeal
February 2007 – April 2007 (3 months)
Law Clerk
U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
September 2006 – December 2006 (4 months)
Law Clerk
Harbison
Partnership; 201-500 employees; Law Practice industry
January 2005 – May 2006 (1 year 5 months)
Samar Ali’s Education
Vanderbilt University Law School
2003 – 2006
Vanderbilt University
Waverly Central High School
Samar Ali’s Additional Information
Interests:
International Project Finance and Islamic Finance
In High School interestingly enough she was inducted into the United Nations Model UN school hall of fame at Waverly High School:
http://www.eteamz.com/wchsmodelun/locations/
More on her association with the International Arab Bank and the Holy Land Foundation from a very interesting blog (which is listed at the bottom of this article and I encourage you to visit this site every chance you get for it is truly the leading authority on this subject)
While offering the same sanitized information as that coming from the Governor’s office, Rep. Debra Maggert (who has recently been relieved of her duties by her constituency) has suggested to her constituents who have questioned Ms. Ali’s appointment that they are simply overreacting. Both she and Governor Haslam (who supported her in the primary and clearly needs to go because of his lapse in judgement) are appropriately focused on job creation. As Rep. Maggert recently stated, “I’m squarely focused on the priorities of my voters: job creation and economic development” and help[ing] the private sector develop more job opportunities for Tennesseans.”
One question that neither Rep. Maggert nor the Governor are asking though, is, at what cost, in particular, the long-term cost to the foundation of our liberties? Some have even questioned whether the Governor’s family Pilot gas business may be clouding his judgment.
If you go back to Newsletter #20 (from the link below) a reference is made to Samar Ali’s bio in the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) booklet. This bio as well as a June 2010 Hogan Lovells press release, note that before joining the firm in 2007, Ms. Ali worked as a legal intern for the Islamic International Arab Bank in Amman, Jordan.
Articles detailing a lawsuit filed in 2004 which is still on-going in 2012 involving this bank, refer to it by the shorthand “the Arab Bank”. Information in Ms. Ali’s bio suggest that she was working at the bank during the pendency of the lawsuit.
In short, the lawsuit alleges that Arab Bank maintained financial links and funding for organizations and individuals involved in terrorism. Specifically, it is alleged that Arab Bank enabled funding by wealthy Saudis to reach U.S.- named terrorist groups such as Hamas. Additionally, it is alleged that the money was used to induce volunteers for suicide bombing missions by making payoffs to their survivors.
The lawsuit states that Arab Bank financed Palestinian terrorism by “paying a ‘comprehensive insurance benefit’ of around $5,300 to families of suicide bombers on behalf of the Saudi Committee, a government-run charity”, and that financial records reflect that the committee wired this amount of money into accounts that families were told to set up at the Arab Bank. It was reported that approximately 200,000 wire transfers were made totaling more than $90 million dollars.
Not only had the Justice Department started a criminal investigation in 2004, but in 2007, the bank was sued in a New York federal court by Americans and Israelis who had been injured by suicide bombers whose families had accounts at the Arab Bank. The bank refused to disclose certain client records claiming protection under Jordan’s bank secrecy laws. In July 2010, a federal District court judge ruled against the bank holding that Lebanon and Jordan’s privacy rules are void in matters involving terror financing.
A lengthy piece published in 2010 examined the bank’s annual reports and other related documents and reported the following:
A 2005 release fromm the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network accused the bank of “failing to adequately control suspicious activity and for not maintaining proper anti-money laundering programs.” (the bank paid a $24 million fine for these violations)
A review of the bank’s annual reports over time reflected a strong connection between the political positions of the bank’s founders and the “provision of banking services to Hamas years after they were named terrorists.”
The 1964 annual report “celebrated” the founding of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and its mission as noted by the bank’s chairman to “return [the] occupied part of Palestine to the Arabs”
In 1968 the chairman’s message in the annual report cautioned that the Zionists posed a threat to the entire Arab world and that Arabs needed to “…sacrifice the lives and offer the money needed for the self-defense and for the liberation of their sacred places and all their occupied territories.”
More specifically, the suit alleged that at least 7 separate accounts “for Hamas-linked so-called charitable foundations facilitated the rapid transfer of donations (given by Arabs as zakat, a mandatory charitable tithe), between valid and efficient social-service groups and their sister organizations, the armed units that carry out the bombing attacks.” The suit claimed that Arab Bank used Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad “martyr kits” to make the payments to survivors of the suicide bombers.
With regard to zakat, one document titled “Calculating Zakah” found on the Amana Mutual Funds website (Amana is considered the leading shariah compliant mutual fund group in the U.S., see also Newsletter #16), has a section titled “Who Receives Zakah?”. This section has a list including the category “in the cause of God (fi sabilillah)” which in the index in Reliance of the Traveller, cross-references to the section on “Jihad”. This is further explained by, section h8.0 in the Reliance entitled “Giving Zakat to Deserving Recipients”; section h8.17 is specifically designated for “those fighting for allah” (jihadist combatants) ”), and their families (e.g., support for families of suicide bombers).
Looking at Ms. Ali’s past political and professional accomplishments, such as co-founding the Vanderbilt Middle Eastern Student Association with a Saudi undergraduate and then later on working on behalf of the Palestine Diabetes Institute, one has to wonder where this “lifelong Tennessean born and raised in Waverly” (as described by Governor Haslam), developed her passion for all things Palestinian and Arab?
In a strange twist of irony, it seems that Samar’s father, Subhi Ali shares the same pro-Palestinian anti-Israel sentiment as those associated with the Arab Bank’s lawsuit.
Regardless of your opinion on this subject one very strong opinion resonates from this blog and my mother still says it to this day and I even tell my kids on occasion “you are known by the company you keep!” For example, If I hang around and frequently visit a church, I am going to be associated with that church. If I hang around and intern at an international Arab bank that has been convicted of laundering money to and in support of Hamas suicide bombers then I am know by that association.
At the very least this should be investigated and Governor Haslam forced to answer questions instead of sweeping it under the rug just because a few people says it doesnt exist or isn’t politically correct.
That simple denial used to work before the Internet and it’s descriptive revelations that are easily revealed within a google search, not anymore. The truth can be easily seen and a simple naysayer no longer has influence.
We live in very dangerous times and breaches of our government security by anyone especially a Governor of our state should not go unanswered. We are hearing report that the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated DC and the White House and has many tentacles all the way into local government. Could this possibly be one of those tentacles? Why are we ignoring it and not connecting the dots? I would rather err on the side of national security than choose to watch as our country becomes unsafe at a time when it calls for us to be cautious.
Remember these opinions are mine and mine only! I like them that way! Read and re read the data above and see if you form an opinion just like mine. It might make some sense to ya!
Visit the site below frequently and tell your friends about it. This person has more insight than I could imagine.
Bradley County News Network 