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It turns out that financing for al-Qaeda and like groups does not come primarily from oil-rich sheikhs but from closer to home. According to a blockbuster piece of investigative journalism by the New York Times, while once “Al Qaeda received most of its money from deep-pocketed donors . . . counterterrorism officials now believe the group finances the bulk of its recruitment, training, and arms purchases from ransoms paid to free Europeans.” The sums would be beyond the means of most private individuals, so the money comes from European governments, although they shamefacedly and mendaciously deny it. The paper found that “Al Qaeda and its direct affiliates have taken in at least $125 million in revenue from kidnappings since 2008.”
A similar impulse to appease Palestinian terror in the 1970s was the fulcrum on which European support for Israel began to be turned around. Then, a Timessurvey concluded: “Although most Arab terrorists responsible for hijackings, kidnappings, and the seizure and execution of hostages over the last few years have been captured or have given themselves up, few have suffered meaningful punishment.” The paper listed 30 separate incidents, all but five in Europe, and in almost all cases reported that the guilty parties had been released. Rather than fight the terrorists (and then the oil blackmailers), Europe abandoned Israel.
After Neville Chamberlain helped to bring about World War II, the lesson that appeasement is folly should have been well learned, but many Europeans and even some Americans cannot seem to grasp it. Its application to the current war in Gaza is obvious. Any endgame that gives Hamas a reward for having started this war will just plant the seeds of more and bigger wars to come.
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