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By Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Jennifer Packer,   www.TheIsraelProject.org

Photos of Israeli naval force intercepting ship with 500 tons of arms (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

A cargo ship filled with tons of Iranian weaponry en route to Iran-backed terror groups that was intercepted Tuesday (Nov. 3) 100 miles (161 km) from Israel’s coast provides further evidence of the Islamic Republic’s status as the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. The ship, carrying hundreds of tons of advanced weaponry and missiles,[1] including Katyusha rockets, assault rifles, mortar shells, grenades, and anti-aircraft platforms, was to be delivered to the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.[2]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (Nov. 5) said Iran’s attempted shipment of arms to terrorists – and the Islamic Republic’s intent to kill Israeli civilians — was a war crime the UN Security Council should investigate. “Their goal was… to kill as many civilians as possible,” Netanyahu said. The weapons shipment also constitutes yet another breach of UN Security Council resolutions 1747 and 1701, which forbid the Islamic Republic from exporting or trading weapons.

Also on Nov. 3, Israeli military intelligence revealed that the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hamas successfully tested a rocket with a range of up to 37 miles (60 km), which places Israel’s second largest city Tel Aviv within firing range.[3] Hamas also possesses other Iranian-manufactured rockets like the Fajr-3, which has a range of up to 29 miles (47 km).[4]

Since 2001, Iran-backed terrorist groups have fired over 12,000 rockets and mortars from Gaza into Israel.[5] Hezbollah launched over 4,000 rockets into Israel in 2006 during Israel’s defensive war against Hezbollah, also known as the Second Lebanon War, and has stockpiled more than 20,000 rockets in southern Lebanon since the end of the war.[6]

Following is important background information about Iran’s financial support of terrorism worldwide.

Iran: Leading State Sponsor of Terror Across the Globe

Iran is widely recognized as the world’s leading state sponsor of international terrorism.[7] Both directly and indirectly, Iran funds, trains and arms groups that share the regime’s stated goal of destroying Israel and the West, as well as overthrowing regimes in Muslim countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia[8]. These groups include Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.[9] Iran also provides support to insurgent groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan which have inflicted casualties on American, British, Australian and other multinational forces.[10]

Iran is expanding its terror network beyond the Middle East, using Hezbollah and splinter groups of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to recruit and train sleeper cells in foreign countries.[11] The terror network that Iran has created and continues to sustain, combined with the regime’s determination to become a nuclear power, is a serious international security issue and a growing global concern.[12]

FBI officials have also noted that Hezbollah has a sizeable presence in the United States, and suspects that Hezbollah may be planning to activate sleeper cells in the New York City area.[13]

Iran poses different threats to nations and regions across the globe.

Middle East

The terrorist group Hezbollah, which operates primarily out of Lebanon, is one of Tehran’s primary weapons against Israel and Western interests in the region. Iran helped found, organize and train Hezbollah and gives the group over $200 million a year,[14] in addition to an estimated $300 million after the war with Israel in 2006.[15] It also continues to provide arms to the group,[16] despite the demands of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. [17]

Since Israel’s defensive war against Hezbollah in 2006, Iran has replenished Hezbollah’s arsenal of artillery rockets, and has supplied more advanced anti-tank weapons and surface-to-air missiles.[18] At least 4,500 Hezbollah operatives have received intensive training from Iran.[19] In August 2009, Egypt intercepted a group of Hezbollah militant cells planning the assassination of Israel’s ambassador to Egypt, as well as its link to another group planning on targeting Israeli tourists to Jordan.[20] That same month, Egypt was hit by a barrage of mortars launched by militant Islamic groups in Gaza.[21]

Iran also supports Palestinian terror groups opposed to a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.[22] From 1993-2006, Iran provided approximately $30 million in annual subsidies to Hamas.[23] Since Hamas’ electoral victory in 2006, Iran has transferred several hundred million dollars annually to Hamas.[24] The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has trained approximately 950 Hamas terrorists in rocket and bomb construction, tactical warfare, weapons operation and sniper tactics.[25]

Iran also provides the vast majority of Hamas’ weaponry.[26] Since Israel’s defensive Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, Iran has supplied Hamas with advanced weaponry, including dozens of Iranian-produced 122mm Grad rockets which have significantly increased the range of Hamas’ rocket arsenal.[27] During the operation, the Iranians claimed that more than 70,000 Iranian college students from universities throughout Iran volunteered to serve as suicide bombers to carry out attacks against Israel. The rush of volunteerism came after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a religious decree stating that anyone who carried out an attack against Israel on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza would be considered a martyr.[28]

In 2002, the Israeli Navy intercepted “Karin A,” a ship carrying 50 tons of advanced weaponry and rockets supplied by Iran and Hezbollah that was bound for Palestinian terrorist groups through Gaza’s waterway.[29]

Iraq

In Iraq, Iran has fomented violence by giving insurgents about $3 million monthly and providing arms and training for them.[30] Iranian-supplied explosively formed penetrators (EFP’s) are a serious concern for U.S. soldiers; the weapons were responsible for 18 percent of U.S. combat deaths in the last quarter of 2006, and 30 percent in -dominated areas.[31] In July 2007, Iran planned an operation that killed five American servicemen, according to the U.S. Army.[32] Shia groups now use Fajr-3 rockets bearing the markings of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard dated 2007, and Hezbollah also uses the Fajr-3.[33] Attacks on U.S. bases have included the use of these rockets as well.[34] Iran has sought to provoke sectarian violence in Iraq, and to that end, arms Sunni groups as well.[35] Iran has sent revolutionary guard units to Iraq to train Shia militia fighters,[36] and sent explosive-laden motorcycles across the border.[37]

Afghanistan

Iran arms the Taliban’s campaign against NATO forces and civilians in Afghanistan even as it publicly supports Hamid Karzai’s government.[38] Iran provides the Taliban with 107mm mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, C-4 explosives and small arms.[39] Iran also gave the Taliban surface-to-air missiles, which they use against British troops.[40] Iran is the main supporter of Hekmatyar,[41] a major warlord and drug trafficker.

Europe and beyond

Europe serves as a popular location for Hezbollah operatives to conduct fundraising activities, accruing an estimated $198 million a year.[42] E.U. officials have identified 900 Hezbollah terrorists residing in Germany and sleeper cells in 20 E.U. nations.[43] Hezbollah cells are using key European capitals as intelligence-gathering centers. In 2008, evidence suggested Hezbollah had planned terrorist attacks in Rome and Paris, as well as the kidnapping of major figures.[44]

Iran has worked directly and through proxies, including small groups linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, to recruit potential suicide bombers to attack Israel, Europe and the United States. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has praised martyrdom as an “eternal art.”[45] The Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign, backed by the regime and linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, has reportedly enlisted 40,000 people to carry out suicide attacks.[46]

Iran maintains terrorist training camps within its borders and abroad. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, an extra-territorial arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, operates 20 known terrorist training camps and centers.[47] Hamas, Hezbollah and groups in Iraq send fighters to camps in Iran for months and even years of intensive training. Through Hezbollah, Iran trains insurgents in Iraq.[48]

During the 1990s, Iran sent arms to the Muslim-led Bosnian government, a move violating a United Nations embargo on all sides of the civil war.[49] Additionally, between 2004 and 2007 it was reported that over 300 Iranian operatives had entered Bosnia-Herzegovina.[50]

Latin and South America

Hezbollah also carried out terrorist attacks in Argentina,[51] and killed 241 Americans in the 1983 suicide bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut.[52] On Aug. 21, Iranian President Ahmadinejad nominated Ahmad Vahidi, wanted for his part in planning the 1994 Argentinean attack that killed 85 at a Jewish community center, as defense minister.[53]

Hezbollah is very active in Venezuela, Bolivia and Uruguay, as well as other Latin American countries, seeking to plan new attacks against Israeli or Jewish targets in the continent.[54] In 2009, the anti-American Hugo Chavez of Venezuela continued to strengthen his ties with Iran.[55] Additionally, Hezbollah has been using Mexican smuggling routes, to smuggle drugs and people into the United States, in order to bring in money to finance terrorist operations.[56]

Attacks on U.S. and British citizens

In 1988, an Iran-backed terrorist organization was responsible for the kidnapping, torture and murder of Col. William Higgins, a U.S. Marine officer serving under a UN mandate in Lebanon.[57] Additionally, Iran has placed a death warrant on British author Salman Rushdie, attempted to assassinate him in 1989 and has kept a $2.5 million bounty on him.[58]

Asia

North Korea and Iran have maintained strong ties. In 2007, the two countries signed a cultural and scientific exchange plan.[59] Additionally, North Korea has shared its nuclear technology know-how with Iran[60] and North Korea has provided arms and training to Hezbollah through this relationship.[61] Such ties have also involved rocket experiments; in May 2009, a Scud missile reportedly tested by North Korea, Syria and Iran killed more than 20 people in a Syrian market.[62]

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Footnotes:

[1] Katz, Yaakov, “Over 60 tons of advanced arms and missiles found on vessel” The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 4, 2009,
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256799077483&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

[2] Katz, Yaakov, “Over 60 tons of advanced arms and missiles found on vessel” The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 4, 2009,
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256799077483&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

[3] Waghorn, Dominic, “Hamas Rocket ‘Could Hit Tel Aviv From Gaza’,” Sky News, Nov. 4, 2009,
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Israel-Claims-Hamas-Has-Test-Fired-Rocket-That-Could-Hit-Tel-
Aviv-From-Gaza-Hamas-Is-Denying-Claims/Article/200911115433590?lpos=World_News_First_World_News_Article_Teaser_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15433590_Israel_Claims_
Hamas_Has_Test_Fired_Rocket_That_Could_Hit_Tel_Aviv_From_Gaza%2C_Hamas_Is_Denying_Claims;
Teibel, Amy, “Israel, PM accuse Iran of war crime over arms ship,” Associated Press via The Baltimore Sun, Nov. 5, 2009,
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/sns-ap-ml-israel-arms-boat,0,251054.story

[4] “Gaza rockets can now hit Tel Aviv,” UPI, Nov. 3, 2009,
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2009/11/03/Gaza-rockets-can-now-hit-Tel-Aviv/UPI-73651257283344/

[5] “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gaza Facts,” Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nov. 4, 2009. http://www.mfa.gov.il/GazaFacts/

[6] “Explosions at Two Hezbollah Arms Caches in villages in South Lebanon” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. Oct. 14, 2009, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah_e0142.htm;
“Behind the Headlines: The Second Lebanon War – Three years later,”  Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, July 12, 2009, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/The-Second-Lebanon-War-Three-years-later-12-Jul-2009.htm

[7] “State Sponsors of Terrorism,” U.S. Department of State, Apr. 30, 2009,
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2008/122436.htm

[8] Mansharof, Y., “Calls in Iran to Topple Egyptian, Saudi Regimes,” Middle East Media Research Institute No. 479, Dec. 12, 2008, http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA47908

[9] O’Toole, Pam, “Rice: Iran is terrorism ‘banker’,” BBC News, Feb. 17, 2006,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4722498.stm, accessed July 7, 2006

[10] Harding, Thomas, “Taliban ‘using missiles from Iran to target British troops,” The Daily Telegraph, May 22, 2007; Gordon, Michael R.; Shane, Scott, “Behind U.S. Pressure On Iran, Long-Held Worry Over A Deadly Device In Iraq,” The New York Times, March 27, 2007

[11] Levitt, Mathew A., “Islamic extremism in Europe,” Testimony to the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats, United States House of Representatives, April 7, 2005,
http://wwwa.house.gov/international_relations/109/lev042705.pdf

[12] Thomas, George, “Iran trains ‘ultimate martyrs,’” Christian World News, May 12, 2006,
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/CWN/051206Iran.asp;
International Institute for Strategic Studies, “Iran’s nuclear programme,” Strategic Comments, Volume 12, Issue 1, Feb. 2006

[13] Thomas, Pierre, “Some Experts Fear Hezbollah Attack in the United States,” ABC News, July 28, 2006, http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Mideast/story?id=2246657;
“Hezbollah may activate sleeper cells,” United Press International, May 22, 2006, http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2006/05/22/Hezbollah-may-activate-sleeper-cells/UPI-82771148307908/

[14] “State Sponsors of Terrorism,” U.S. Department of State, Apr. 30, 2009,
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2008/122436.htm

[15] Partlow, Joshua, “U.S.: Iran, Hezbollah Training Iraqi Militants,” The Washington Post, July 2, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070200174.html?hpid=topnews

[16] Rotella, Sebastian, “In Lebanon, Hezbollah arms stockpile, bigger, deadlier,” The Los Angeles Times, May 4, 2008,http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/04/world/fg-hezbollah4

[17] U.N. Security Council Resolution No. 1701, Section 15,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785963.stm

[18] Hughes, Robin, “Iran Replenishes Hizbullah’s Arms Inventory,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, Jan. 3, 2007

[19] Fisk, Robert, “Hizbollah turns to Iran for new weapons to wage war on Israel,” The Independent, Apr. 8, 2008, http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/hizbollah-turns-to-iran-for-new-weapons-to-wage-war-on-israel-805763.html

[20] Shiffer, Shimon, “Hezbollah suspected of setting camp in Venezuela,” YnetNews, Aug. 13, 2009,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3761491,00.html

[21] “Rafah: Gazan escapes clashes to Egypt, child hit by bullet,” Ma’an News Agency, Aug. 16, 2009, http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=219187

[22] Country Reports on Terrorism, Chapter 6- State Sponsors of Terror Overview-Iran,” U.S. Department of State Web site, April 28, 2006,
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/64337.htm

[23] Wurmser, Meyrav, “Iran-Hamas Alliance,” Hudson Institute, Oct. 4, 2007,
https://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=5167

[24] “Iranian Support of Hamas,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Jan. 12, 2009, p. 20,
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/iran_e004.pdf

[25] “Senior Hamas operative figure tells London Sunday Times’ Gaza Strip correspondent about Iranian and Syria military aid, detailing the training received by hundreds of Hamas terrorist operatives and describing the transmission to Hamas of Iranian technical know-how for the manufacture of rockets and IED,” The Intelligence and Terrorist Information Center, Mar. 17, 2008,
http://www.terrorisminfo.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_160308e.htm;
Colvin, Marie, “Hamas wages Iran’s proxy war on Israel,” The Times, Mar. 9, 2008,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3512014.ece

[26] Cohen, Yoram and Matthew Levitt, “Hamas Arms Smuggling: Egypt’s Challenge,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Watch #34, Mar. 2, 2009,
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=3020

[27] Cohen, Yoram and Matthew Levitt, “Hamas Arms Smuggling: Egypt’s Challenge,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Watch #34, Mar. 2, 2009,
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=3020

[28] “Iran says 70,000 volunteer for Israel fight,” The Associated Press, Jan. 5, 2009,
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3Y3DBA09cm20SrlOg47GI4Ixp4gD95H5LI00

[29] “Seizing of the Palestinian weapons ship Karine A,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jan. 2, 2002, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2002/Seizing%20of%20the%20Palestinian%20weapons%20ship%20Karine%20A%20-

[30] Partlow, Joshua, “U.S.: Iran, Hezbollah Training Iraqi Militants,” The Washington Post, July 2, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070200174.html?hpid=topnews;
“U.S. commander: Iran still supports Iraq attacks,” USA Today, June 30, 2009,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2009-06-30-odierno-iraq-iran_N.htm

[31] Gordon, Michael R.; Shane, Scott, “Behind U.S. Pressure on Iran, Long-Held Worry Over a Deadly Device in Iraq,” The New York Times, March 27, 2007

[32] Burns, John F., Gordon, Michael R., “U.S. Says Iran Helped Iraqis Kill Five G.I.’s,” The New York Times, July 3, 2007

[33] Wright, Robin, “Iranian Flow Of Weapons Increasing, Officials Say; Arms Shipments Tracked To Iraqi, Afghan Groups,” The Washington Post, June 3, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/02/AR2007060201020.html

[34] “Iraqis find Iranian-made rockets after US attacked,” AP, Aug. 19, 2009, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD9A584680

[35] Rubin, Alissa J., “U.S. Suspects That Iran Aids Both Sunni and Shiite Militias,” The New York Times, A12, April 12, 2007

[36] “Iranian fighters tracked in Iraq, general says,” USA Today, Aug. 19, 2007,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-08-19-fighters_N.htm

[37] “Police: Iranian fighters in southern Iraq,” UPI, Sept. 23, 2008,
http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2008/09/23/Police-Iranian-fighters-in-southern-Iraq/UPI-24701222206742/

[38] Straziuso, Jason; Daniszewski, John, “General: Iran aid to Taliban is strategic,” Newsday (Associated Press), June 12, 2006.

[39] Farmer, Ben, “Iranian Weapons Getting through to Taliban,” Telegraph, June 8, 2009, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/5477283/Iranian-weapons-getting-through-to-Taliban.html;
Wright, Robin, “Iranian Flow Of Weapons Increasing, Officials Say; Arms Shipments Tracked To Iraqi, Afghan Groups,” The Washington Post, June 3, 2007;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/02/AR2007060201020.html;
Blair, Tony, “What I’ve learned,” The Economist, May 31, 2007,
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9257593

[40] Harding, Thomas, “Taliban ‘using missiles from Iran to target British troops,” The Daily Telegraph, May 22, 2007

[41] Joscelyn, Thomas, “Iran and the Taliban, allies against America,” The Long War Journal, July 28, 2009, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/07/iran_and_the_taliban.php

[42] Levitt, Mathew A., “Islamic extremism in Europe,” Testimony to the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats, United States House of Representatives, April 7, 2005,
http://wwwa.house.gov/international_relations/109/lev042705.pdf

[43] McElroy, Damien, “Iran election: Tehran backs Hizbollah operations around world,” Telegraph, June 26, 2009, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/5651837/Iran-election-Tehran-backs-Hizbollah-operations-around-world.html;
Levitt, Mathew A., “Islamic extremism in Europe,” Testimony to the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats, United States House of Representatives, April 7, 2005,
http://wwwa.house.gov/international_relations/109/lev042705.pdf

[44] Sasinini, Guglielmo, “Hizballah Planned Attacks in Rome and Paris,” Libero, Jan. 31, 2008.

[45] “Iran’s new president glorifies martyrdom,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch No. 945, July 29, 2005, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP94505

[46] Colvin, Marie, Michael Smith and Sarah Baxter, “Iran suicide bombers ‘ready to hit Britain’,” The Sunday Times, April 16, 2006, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article706132.ece

[47] Razi, Farhad, “20 Terrorist training camps in Iran uncovered,” Global Politician, March 1, 2006,
http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=1639&cid=2&sid=4

[48] Partlow, Joshua, “U.S.: Iran, Hezbollah Training Iraqi Militants,” The Washington Post, July 2, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070200174.html?hpid=topnews

[49] Jehl, Douglas, “U.S. Looks Away as Iran Arms Bosnia,” The New York Times, April 15, 1995,
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/15/world/us-looks-away-as-iran-arms-bosnia.html

[50] “More than 300 Iranian Intelligence operatives entered BiH from 2004 to 2007,” March 6, 2009,
http://www.necenzurirano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1275&Itemid=1

[51] “Breakthrough made in ’94 Argentina bombing,” MSNBC, Nov. 9, 2005,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9983810/

[52] Murphy, Jarrett, “Beirut Barracks Attacks Remembered,” CBS News, Oct. 23, 2003, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/23/world/main579638.shtml

[53] “Iranian Cabinet Nominee Wanted in Argentine Attack,” The New York Times, Aug. 21, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/21/world/AP-ML-Iran.html?_r=1

[54] “Hezbollah operation in S. America,” UPI, Aug. 13, 2009,
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/08/13/Hezbollah-operating-in-S-America/UPI-43671250166246/

[55] Shiffer, Shimon, “Hezbollah suspected of setting up camp in Venezuela,” YnetNews, Aug. 13, 2009,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3761491,00.html

[56] Carter, Sara, “Exclusive: Hezbollah uses Mexican drug routes into U.S.,” The Washington Times, March 27, 2009, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/27/hezbollah-uses-mexican-drug-routes-into-us/

[57] Weinraub, Bernard, “U.S. Says C.I.A. Believes It Is Probable Higgins Was Killed Before Monday,” The New York Times, Aug. 3, 1989, http://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/03/world/us-says-cia-believes-it-is-probable-higgins-was-killed-before-monday.html

[58] Loyd, Anthony, “Tomb of the unknown assassin reveals mission to kill Rushdie,” Times Online, June 8, 2005, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article531110.ece

[59] “DPRK-Iranian Cultural and Scientific Exchange Plan Signed,” Korean Central News Agency, Jan. 19, 2007, http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2007/200701/news01/20.htm

[60] Coughlin, Con, “N Korea helping Iran with nuclear testing,” Telegraph, Jan. 24, 2007,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1540429/N-Korea-helping-Iran-with-nuclear-testing.html

[61] Mohammed, Arshad, “North Korea may have aided Hezbollah, LTTE – U.S. report,” Reuters, Dec. 13, 2007, http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-30964520071213

[62] “Report: Missile landed in Syrian market,” UPI, Aug. 15, 2009,
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/08/15/Report-Missile-landed-in-Syrian-market/UPI-49681250310757/

The Israel Project is an international non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace. The Israel Project provides journalists, leaders and opinion-makers accurate information about Israel. The Israel Project is not related to any government or government agency.

By Michelle A. Vu www.christianpost.com

Millions of Christians around the world are praying for their persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ today in observance of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

In its 14th year, IDOP is one of the largest prayer events in the world. Last year, an estimated half a million churches in 150 countries participated in the event, according to Open Doors, an international Christian ministry that supports persecuted believers.

“The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church presents a tremendous opportunity for millions of people to make a difference in the lives of those being persecuted for their faith in countries like North Korea, Iran, Iraq, China, India and many more,” said Open Doors USA President and CEO Dr. Carl Moeller.

He noted that the number one request by persecuted believers is always for those living in freedom to pray for them.

“And on Nov. 8 we have the opportunity to collectively lift our petitions to the Lord on their behalf,” Moeller said.

According to Open Doors, an estimated 100 million Christians worldwide suffer from some form of persecution for their faith in Christ – ranging from interrogation to death. Millions more face discrimination and alienation.

The World Evangelical Alliance, the largest network of evangelicals in the world, cited Hebrews 13:3 as a reminder why Christians should pray on IDOP. The verse states: “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”

Godfrey Yogarajah, executive director of The Religious Liberty Commission of WEA, recalled recently visiting several widows of Christian leaders who were killed in the violence last year in India’s Orissa state. He said they had lost everything: their homes, their possessions and their husbands.

“’We have lost everything except our faith,’” Yogarajah recalled one widow telling him as she held her baby tightly. “’Pray that we stay strong and bring up our children in the faith for which their fathers gave their lives.’”

Last year, Hindu extremists carried out the worst religious persecution in India’s 60 years of democracy. At least 120 people were murdered, 250 churches destroyed and over 50,000 individuals displaced in Orissa, India.

Jubilee Campaign USA, an advocacy group for persecuted Christians, says while IDOP is a time to pray for persecuted, it also serves another purpose.

“It is also a time to pray for the souls of the oppressors, the nations that promote persecution, and those who ignore it,” wrote Ann Buwalda, director of Jubilee Campaign USA, in an e-mail newsletter.

Jubilee Campaign along with WEA and Open Doors all call for prayers especially for North Korea, where Christians are persecuted the most.

Open Doors, which has ranked North Korea as the worst religious freedom violator for seven years in a row, estimates that the totalitarian regime detains at least 200,000 political and religious prisoners – more than any other country in the world. An estimated 40,000 to 60,000 of the prisoners are thought to be Christians.

Christians living in free countries are also asked to pray specifically for Iranian converts Maryam Rostampour, 27, and MarziehAmirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30, who have been held in an Iranian prison for eight months for their faith.

Despite deteriorating physical health and psychological pressure, both women have refused to recant their faith in Jesus Christ.

Open Doors USA launched a campaign this past week to urge Iran to immediately release the two women.

“Each year, The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church gives us the privilege of joining together with over half a million churches in 150 countries to pray for the suffering church,” WEA’s Yogarajah said.

“It plays a vital role in encouraging and strengthening the persecuted church and also awakening churches in places where there is no persecution,” he added.

To get more churches involved, Open Doors is providing free resources including church bulletin inserts, a Power Point slide, facts for pastors, and list of suggested activities.

Other groups currently active in serving the persecuted Church include Christian Freedom International, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Gospel for Asia, International Christian Concern, and The Voice of the Martyrs, among others.

By Rabbi Tzvi Nightingale,  www.aish.com

Was that my father standing behind the barbed wire?

Looking through some photographs I found inside a drawer
I was taken by a photograph of you
There were one or two I know that you would have liked a little more
But they didn’t show your spirit quite as true
-Jackson Browne

My father has three birthdays. Yes, three. His biological birthday is May 10, 1924. When he came to Canada after the war, he was too old to qualify as an orphan, so he had to rearrange his age a bit and make himself younger. 5/10/24 became 10/5/27 and he was now born on October 5, 1927. (Please don’t tell the Canadian government about this. I would hate to see him deported at this stage of his life.) Oddly, our family has been celebrating this completely fictitious birthday ever since.

My father was finally liberated from Dachau on April 29, 1945.

But it is his third birthday that he speaks about with the most emotion; the one that carries the most meaning for him. He spent years in various forced labor and death camps after his town of Staszow, Poland was liquidated by the Nazis in 1942. He was finally liberated on April 29, 1945 from Dachau concentration camp in Germany. My father has never been one to speak at length about his experiences as a survivor of the Holocaust, but he does talk about this one particular day. Among other things, I have heard him praise the American army for quickly delousing the inmates soon after they freed the camp. Being free from the Nazi hell and from the lice that infested his body for so long gave him a new lease on life.

The day after Yom Kippur I went to my office and did what I do after every Yom Kippur — not much. Not only am I tired from the fasting and teaching, but truth be told, I find the next day to be a bit of a downer. After intensely thinking about life, God, goals and being a better person, and trying to inspire 150 people who come to our Aish center for services, I am just not up to the everyday mundane grind that comes rushing back. So trying to recapture some of the seriousness and meaning of Yom Kippur, I found myself on YouTube and typed in “Dachau” in the search box. The top of the list was a film called Dachau Concentration Camp Liberation.

It was not a sophisticated piece, by any means. It consisted of photos slowly being panned to the background music from Schindler’s List. There were photos of soldiers approaching the camp and arresting surrendering Nazis, a bird’s eye view of the camp and photos of the main entrance and a gate with the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei.

A picture appeared of an American soldier walking on a wall perpendicular to a building, and I wondered, If my father were to see this short film, would he remember some of the structures and buildings? I briefly thought of showing him the film but knew I would not follow through due to his extreme sensitivity whenever the subject of the Holocaust comes up. In all the years I have known my dad, I have only heard snippets here and there.

At 1:50 into the film a photo appeared that made me hit the pause button. It was a relatively clear photo, a close up of sorts, of three inmates behind barbed wire, all smiling and waving — presumably at their saviors. The short man on the left has an overcoat, obviously given to him by one of the soldiers. The man on the right with the moustache is taller and appears to be saluting. They are wearing the familiar striped concentration camp garb.

And the man in the middle looks like my father.

Could this really be my father?

I began to stare intensely and analyze every detail of the physical features to see if they match my dad’s. The widow’s peak hairline, the shape of the face, the somewhat larger ear, the gap between his front teeth — all were consistent with his look. Could it be? Could this really be him? I kept asking myself. But the trait that made me think it was him the most was the shape of his waving hand. I have always noticed this about my father, how his index finger curls and seems slightly raised higher than his middle fingers and how his thumb comes to almost meet them. Today, thanks to his arthritis, his hand is almost frozen in that position, and this was the shape of the hand of the man in this photo.

I immediately emailed the link to my three brothers in Toronto with the subject line, “Something very weird” and told them to pause the film and tell me what they think. By next morning, they agreed that this could indeed be our father in the photo.

Then things got a little complicated. We were faced with the dilemma of showing this photo to my father. Will it bring back too many painful memories? Should we subject him to an image of himself from so long ago of the most horrible time in his life? What effect would possibly seeing himself in Nazi prisoner garb have on his psyche?

My oldest brother, Reuben, has always been closest to my father ever since he went to work for him in his meat packing plant at the age of 15. My dad gave him the most noxious job there to discourage him from working at Grace Meats, but packing tripe did not turn Reuben away. They have been very tight ever since. Reuben felt that we should think this through and “sit on it” for a while. “He has not seen the photo for all these years, another day or so will not change things.”

Sid, the next oldest brother and the peacemaker in our family, agreed. Murray and I wanted to show it to him but for the time being we deferred to the elder siblings. But the following day Murray came up with a Solomonic solution: Let’s show the picture to my dad’s one surviving sibling, Henya, who was with him in the camps earlier in the war and would be able to recognize if this indeed was him.

Murray called me that morning on his way to Auntie Henya. I told him to call me on my cell as soon as he spoke with her. Murray called me at 12:30 pm. “She was unequivocal – it’s him. And not only that, but the man standing next to him with the overcoat was his childhood friend, Herschel D.”

With that Murray then called my dad and asked if he wished to see a photo of himself on the day of his liberation from Dachau. He did. Murray went up to his condo and showed him the picture. With tears in his eyes my father declared, “Yeah, that’s me.”

On April 29, 1945 a handful of photos of the liberation of Dachau were taken by Robert Spring, an X-Ray technician serving with the 59th Evacuation Hospital of the U.S. Army Medical Corps. There were 32,000 inmates on that day and most of the photos taken by soldiers were of men too skeletal to discern their identities, too grainy to see any specific faces, or group shots taken from far away. But Mr. Spring decided to take one photo of a random group of nameless survivors whom he would never see again.To the Nazis, the man in the photo was prisoner number 147 963 and for 64 years and five months it was a photo of a nameless prisoner experiencing freedom for the first time in many years.

On the day after Yom Kippur in the year 5770, Tuesday September 29, 2009, it was discovered that the smiling inmate in Nazi prisoner garb was not just prisoner 147 963 , and he was not a random nameless survivor that a heroic soldier happened to capture on camera. He was born Icek Nachtigal, Yitzchak Dovid ben Reuvain, and he goes by the name of Irving Nightingale. He was born on May 10, 1924 but he will tell you that his real birthday is April 29, 1945.

And he is my father.