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| Great White North |
| A student of terror: How a Windsor (Canada) man was recruited by Hamas |
| 2005-09-10 |
| Via JihadWatch To call life in Gaza difficult would be an understatement. For such a small stretch of land, Gaza is remarkably flush with poverty, militancy and general disrepair. Jobs are scarce. Hamas and Islamic Jihad gunmen freely roam the streets, and Israeli helicopter gunships hover overhead, hunting for bomb-makers and terrorist leaders. "OK, the situation here is tough, it's difficult to live, there is no stability here," says Iyad Aqel, who lives in the Nasariut, a Gaza refugee camp. With so many troubles, it is small wonder some want to leave, and among them were Mr. Aqel's cousins. Two moved to Ontario and another went to Germany. Upon finishing high school in Nasariut, another cousin, Jamal, announced he was leaving for Canada as well. When he left, he told his relatives he was never coming back. "He was eager to go there, to study, to have the language and to change his life. He didn't like the life or the style of life here," says Mr. Aqel, an English teacher. Jamal moved to Windsor and took a truck-driving course, trying to save enough money to finance his university studies. He hoped to get his degree at the University of Windsor. "He was so happy there," his cousin recalls. But after a few years, he called his cousins in Nasariut and said he wanted to marry. He was 23. They told him it would be better if he came home and found a Palestinian bride. And so, in the fall of 2003, Jamal made a fateful trip home. He flew to Cairo and crossed through the fences in the sand that mark the border between Egypt and Gaza. He visited his extended family and met his cousin Shaima. They hit it off and soon they were engaged. During his visit, however, Jamal met someone else, a wanted member of Hamas. His contact with the terrorist organization began with a man named Mohammed Bashir Abu Matar, also known as Abu Sahil. They spoke on the phone. The conversation concerned one of Jamal's cousins, who had been killed by Israeli troops. Jamal was upset, but Abu Sahil told him: Don't grieve, get revenge. (Abu Sahil has since been killed in a clash with the Israeli military.) Abu Sahil introduced Jamal to Ahmed Wahba, better known as Abu Osama. Contacted by the National Post in Gaza, he declined to be interviewed, but an Israeli official said he is a recruiter for Hamas. "He wasn't one of the leaders but he was a recruiter and he had authority to do whatever he did," says Ofir Gendelman, second secretary at the Israeli embassy in Ottawa. Abu Osama took Jamal to a farming area called the Mughraka and taught him how to shoot an M-16 rifle. They shot at targets 200 metres away. Eight bullets. The Israelis say Abu Osama was preparing Jamal for an assassination in North America. Rest of 4 page article at link. |
| Posted by:ed |