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Hamas Preparing for Terror Attacks in Europe & a Poll [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-12-18
Four members of Hamas and seven others were arrested in Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands preparing terror attacks against Jewish institutions in Europe. Hamas denies having any association with the people arrested. This diary compiles the known information from six different sources into a single, coherent story and analyzes what this story means. A poll is at the end.
The sources for this diary are at the end.
The TERRORISTS
Four long-standing members of Hamas were arrested by Germany, and seven more were arrested by Denmark on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2024. The four men arrested by Germany were trying to locate a cache of weapons Hamas had earlier stored underground in preparation for attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe, according to Germany. The seven people arrested by Denmark were preparing a terrorist attack according to Denmark (most likely in Copenhagen — see next section). The Danish authorities said that the people they arrested may not be “directly connected” to those arrested by Germany. Also, the Danish authorities neither confirmed nor denied if these terrorists were affiliated with Hamas.
The four men arrested by Germany consisted of 2 Lebanese nationals, 1 Egyptian national and one Dutch national. Germany said they were linked to the Hamas military, with at least one linked to the no. 2 man in the Hamas military.
Germany said that one of the men has been looking for the weapon cache starting last spring or possibly earlier.
These four men have been taken into custody while judges and others investigate the charges against them before legal proceedings begin.
The situation in Denmark is more complicated. On Thursday, the Danish police arrested 3 people. On Friday, they released one of the them, a 29 year old man. The other two remain in custody — a man in his 50’s and a 19 year old woman.
On Friday, they announced the “arrest” of four other people that are being held in “pretrial custody in absentia.” This unusual phrase appears to mean that there are arrest warrants for these people, but they remain at large.
The custody hearing for these four people was held behind “double closed doors,” which means that we aren’t supposed to know anything more about these people, and their identities are locked under a court order.
The DANGER
The Danish Prime Minister said the threat was “as serious as it gets.” In addition, Copenhagen cancelled a planned Hanukkah celebration at the town hall square.
It sounds like the Danes stopped a terrorist attack that was close to being finalized. The Danes may be trying to find four other suspects. But, they may have them under surveillance and are gathering more information about them, or hoping they reveal other conspirators.
The European Commissioner for Home Affairs said there is a “huge risk of terrorist attacks in the European Union” over the holiday season.
There may be other Hamas cells that have yet to be found in Europe, although some of these may be under surveillance.
ANALYSIS
Germany
The weapons cache is key to understanding what Hamas is up to in Europe.
This cache must be significant if four men are looking for it, and at least one person with connections to the no. 2 man in the Hamas military is involved.
This cache was created for a purpose, which most likely was to supply weapons for multiple terrorist attacks in Europe.
Since the search for this cache began by Spring of 2023, or earlier, and more men started looking for it later, this timing means that Hamas most likely needed these weapons for terrorist attacks to start sometime later in 2023. The most likely reason is to support Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The fact that these four men were unable to find this cache means that someone else likely found it. It is hard to imagine that Hamas would simply have lost such a significant cache of weapons. This someone may be Germany. Germany would then by on the lookout for someone trying to find and recover these weapons. But it could be someone else.
The purpose of this cache of weapons is for terror attacks. The timing near Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel means that Hamas had plans for terror attacks in Europe as part of their October 7th attack on Israel.
And, the danger is that they may still carry out such attacks.
(This analysis may sound like a conspiracy theory. But one needs to remember that storing a significant cache of weapons in Europe, and then having four men affiliated with Hamas searching for them, is a conspiracy. There has to be a reason for this conspiracy, and a purpose for the weapons. Since Hamas is a terrorist organization, the most likely reason and purpose is for committing terror. The timing given above is the most likely one based upon what we now. As such, the above explanation is not a conspiracy theory in the negative sense this term, i.e. a fringe explanation of events not grounded in fact, and distinct from a conspiracy, which is a covert plan involving more than one person — see sources below.)
Denmark
The Danish police just averted a major terrorist attack, based on the statement from their prime minister. They deserve a hearty round of applause.
The timing of their arrests to coincide with those of Germany suggests that the two sets of arrests are related, and the suspects arrested in Denmark are affiliated with Hamas in some manner. However, it could be coincidental, or made out of fear that the German arrests would cause the Danish suspects to go into hiding.
The refusal of the Danish police to identify the suspects, and state whether or not they are affiliated with Hamas, makes a positive identification of a Hamas connection premature. Until the Danish police release more information, all we can do is to be patient and wait.
Europe
Storing a significant cache of weapons in Europe with plans to use them in future terror attacks means that Hamas has exported their conflict to Europe. Hamas’ plans will cause death and injury to Europeans — both Jewish and non-Jewish — as part of their war on Israel. (While Hamas may not intend to harm non-Jewish Europeans, they know that such deaths and injuries are highly likely.)
Hamas’ Charter and General Principles and Policies
In 1988 Hamas published their Charter. It is a strongly religious document that describes the reasons for Hamas, their objectives, and how they intend to achieve those objectives.
In 2017, Hamas published their General Principles and Policies. This document is less religious and bombastic, and doesn’t always adhere to the Charter.
There has long been an unresolved question over whether the Principles supersedes the Charter. Hamas has never said that their Charter is no longer in effect and has been replaced with the Principles.
Hamas’ current actions and plans in Europe violate their General Principles and Policies, but adhere to their Charter. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that the Charter remains in effect and supercedes the General Principles and Policies.
This Charter says “Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious. It needs all sincere efforts”, and “Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people” (5th paragraph in Introduction, and at end of Article 28).
More ominously the Charter says "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him” (end of Article 7). This statement is not from the Koran, but from the Hadith, which is composed of reports about what Muhammad said and did, and has various levels of acceptance in Islam. Hamas believes that Muhammad made this statement.
The General Principles and Policies says that “Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine.” (Item no. 16)
The actions of storing a cache of weapons in Europe that are to be used for terror attacks agains Jewish institutions in Europe violates the General Principles and Policies, but agrees with the Charter. The Principles limit the struggle to Israel, as “Zionists who occupy Palestine” refers only to Zionists in Israel. If Hamas was following the Principles, then they wouldn’t be carrying out attacks in Europe. The Charter has no geographical limits.
Also, these attacks against Jewish institutions are an attack on Judaism, and not on Zionism. They will likely kill Jews whether or not they are Zionists, especially as these attacks are timed to kill as many people as possible in order to maximize the terror. The Principles say that Hamas is not fighting Judaism. The Charter says that they are fighing against both Jews and Judaism.
The POLL
Can the world co-exist with Hamas ? Are Israel & the US right that Hamas needs to be destroyed ?
The poll below asks you for your opinion.
Please note that the poll does NOT ask you whether or not Hamas can be destroyed, but rather if it should be destroyed. (While Hamas might be destroyed by Israel in Gaza, Hamas is also located in the West Bank, Lebanon, Qatar, Doha and Egypt.)
SOURCES
Six sources are used for this story plus the Hamas documents and the US Director of National Intelligence. The six sources are from the BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Reuters, the AP and the Times of Israel. The author found The Guardian to have the single most complete coverage, the Times of Israel & the AP the latest information, and the other three providing more details.
The Hamas documents are their 1988 Charter, their 2017 General Principles and Policies, and the Hadith. A description of the Hadith is in Wikipedia.
The article from the Director of National Intelligence is a short blurb about Hamas which gives the locations of Hamas.
A discussion of conspiracy theories can be found in Wikipedia and in a Chapter of a Book from the Oxford University Press on this subject. The later refers to the Daily Kos, and discusses the difficulty of establishing a firm definition of the term.
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