RUTHFULLY YOURS

Gay, Christian-convert son of a Palestinian militant family tells Times of Israel he found compassion where he least expected it, and most needed it.

A Palestinian teenager was arrested in Tel Aviv in late 2006 for illegally entering Israel. It was the third time the 15-year-old from Nablus had crossed into Israel, fleeing his abusive father. Now 24 years old, openly gay, and a convert to Christianity, he is fighting for his life to remain a refugee in Canada.

The boy belonged to an aristocratic family, in Palestinian Islamist terms. His maternal grandfather, Said Bilal, was the head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Nablus, who oversaw the activities of its Palestinian branch, Hamas. His uncle, Muaz Bilal, was condemned in 2002 by an Israeli court to 26 life sentences for dispatching suicide bombers into downtown Jerusalem in the late 1990s, killing 21 Israelis and injuring 300 in two separate attacks. Two other uncles, Bakr and Obada Bilal, a military Hamas field commander and an explosives expert, respectively, were released from Israeli prison as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap in October 2011.

The ruling Hamas regime in Gaza has angrily denied Israeli claims that Khaled Mashaal, the head of the terror organization’s political bureau, has been expelled from his base in Qatar, at the same time leaving open the question of whether Mashaal will now move to NATO member Turkey, as some reports have suggested.

The Israeli government responded to reports that Mashaal had been thrown out of Qatar – where he has been living in a luxury hotel in the capital, Doha – by saying that it “welcomes Qatar’s decision.”

“We expect the Turkish government to act responsibly in a similar way,” the Israeli statement added.

However, Izzat Rishq, a top aide to Mashaal, flatly contradicted the Israeli claim, telling the Associated Press: “There is no basis of truth about brother Khaled Mashaal leaving Doha. We are in Doha now.”

AP also reported that the Turkish Foreign Ministry said it had no information on a Qatari decision or plans by Mashaal to relocate to Turkey.

One pro-Hamas commentator in Gaza did shed some light on the mystery. In a posting on Facebook in Arabic, columnist Ibrahim al Madhoun said that Mashaal might well leave Qatar, but not “for the reasons reported.”

Those reasons, explained Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation For Defense of Democracies in Washington, DC, are rooted in Qatar’s currently rocky relationship with Egypt. The two countries have been at loggerheads for the last eighteen months over Qatar’s continued financial backing of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose rule in Egypt was overthrown by the current President, Abdel Fattah el Sisi, in July 2013. Egyptian and Qatari intelligence officials met in Cairo last month in an attempt to resolve the dispute.

“There is this reset between Qatar and Egypt, and one condition is for Qatar to dial back on support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas (the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood,)” Schanzer told The Algemeiner. Other Arab Gulf countries have also been supportive of Cairo’s demands, Schanzer said.

Schanzer pointed out that “Hamas has been wandering since 2012,” when the organization departed from Syria, its main headquarters, because of the brutal civil war raging there. Many Hamas officials traveled onto Egypt and Qatar; with the removal from power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Qatar stood out as a country that would still, Schanzer said, provide “finance and a welcoming environment.”

If Hamas is compelled to shift its operations from Qatar, Schanzer said, Turkey would be the group’s obvious next destination. “Turkey is right now a stronger location than even Qatar for Hamas headquarters,” Schanzer said. “There are two senior leaders already there, as well as around a dozen mid-level operatives and at least two financiers.”

Schanzer named the two leaders as Imad Al Alami, a longstanding Hamas envoy to Iran, and Salah al Arouri, the head of the West Bank branch of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the so-called military wing of Hamas. Al Arouri is widely regarded as being responsible for the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers who were hiking in the West Bank in June 2014.

“Mashaal’s arrival would cement the notion that Turkey is the top headquarters for Hamas,” Schanzer observed. “Whether he goes their voluntarily or because Qatar deports him, it would be undeniable that a NATO member state has become the leading sponsor of Hamas.”

Asked whether Turkey is in violation of the NATO Charter by hosting Hamas, Schanzer said there was a clear breach of the “spirit” of the western alliance, if not its rules.

“Technically, Turkey is operating within the legal boundaries of NATO and the UN, because Hamas is not designated terrorist group at the UN,” Schanzer said. “But NATO was designed to uphold the western fight against various threats, and I would think that terror organizations like Hamas would squarely fall within those parameters.”

Schanzer emphasized that support for Hamas was not the only problematic issue with regard to Turkish foreign policy. “Turkey has a huge Islamic State problem, as it’s the main jurisdiction for IS funding, weapons transfers and personnel transfers,” he said. “Turkey also helps Iran evade sanctions. When you look at the totality of Turkey’s foreign policy over the last few years, many serious questions are raised, including whether it’s a state sponsor of terrorism.”

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
CASE NO. 08-80736-CIV-MARRA

JANE DOE #1 and JANE DOE #2,
Petitioners,

vs.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Respondent.

_______________________________________________/

DECLARATION OF ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ

1. My name is Alan M. Dershowitz. I make this declaration on personal knowledge and pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1746, and in response to a pleading in which the lawyers for Jane Doe #3, without benefit of an affidavit, leveled totally false and outrageous charges against me that have been reported around the world and threaten to damage my reputation irrevocably.

2. Never under any circumstance have I ever had any sexual contact of any kind, which includes massages or any physical contact whatsoever, with Jane Doe #3, whose identity has been referenced by the BBC. (Her identity was disclosed because she “waived her anonymity in an interview with The Mail on Sunday in 2011.”)

3. Specifically, Jane Doe #3 has alleged that she had sex with me on Mr. Epstein’s Carribean island. That is a deliberate lie. I was on that island only once in my life, for approximately one day. I was with my wife and daughter during the entire day. My wife, daughter and I slept overnight in the same room. We had dinner with Mr. Epstein and a distinguished professor from the Harvard Business School, his wife, her sister, brother-in-law, their kids, and an older woman. During our entire stay on the island, we never saw any young woman that fit the description of Jane Doe #3. Indeed we do not recall seeing any young women during our entire visit to the island. The older woman showed us around the island. There is no conceivable possibility that I could have had any sexual encounter with Jane Doe #3 during that period. Her lawyers could have easily learned this by simply calling and asking me for the specifics. I would have then provided them with the names of unimpeachable witnesses who would have contradicted Jane Doe #3’s false account.

4. Second, Jane Doe #3 has alleged that she had sex with me in Mr. Epstein’s house in New Mexico. That is a deliberate lie. I was in that house only once while it was under construction. My wife, daughter and I were driven there by a New Mexico businessman and his wife, whom we were visiting. Mr. Epstein was not there. Nor were there any young girls visible at any time. We were shown around the house for about an hour and then drove back with our friends. Jane Doe #3’s lawyers could have easily learned this by simply calling and asking me for the specifics. I would have then provided them with the names of unimpeachable witnesses who would have contradicted Jane Doe #3’s false account.

5. Third, Jane Doe #3 has accused me of having sex with her on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane. That is a deliberate lie. I was on that plane on several occasions as the manifests will show, but never under circumstances where it would have been possible to have sex with Jane Doe #3. On a couple of occasions I was on his plane with my wife and daughter. On another occasion, I was on the plane with my nephew and several older people going to see a launch at Cape Kennedy. On several other occasions, after the alleged events at issue, I was on the plane with members of Mr. Epstein’s legal team flying down to perform legal services. Had his lawyers called me, I would have provided them this information and told them to check the manifests. There were never any young girls on the plane during any of my trips.

6. As to Mr. Epstein’s homes in New York City and Palm Beach, I categorically state that I never had any sexual contact with Jane Doe #3.

7. In a statement issued to the press, Jane Doe #3’s lawyers, Brad Edwards and Paul Cassell, have falsely stated that “they tried to depose Mr. Dershowitz on these subjects, although he has avoided those deposition requests.” By using the term “these subjects” in a statement about the sexual abuse charges recently made against me, these lawyers have falsely implied that they sought to depose me on allegations regarding my own conduct. That is a total and categorical lie. Several years ago they wrote, asking to depose me on Jeffrey Epstein’s activities and whether I ever witnessed any of his alleged crimes. I recall responding that I could not testify as to any privileged information and that I was not a witness to any alleged crimes. They did not follow up with a subpoena. Any suggestion that I refused to respond to questions about any allegations regarding my own alleged sexual conduct is totally and categorically false. The lawyers know this and yet continue to perpetuate the false impression that I was somehow given an opportunity to respond to these false and salacious charges against me and refused to do so. The written record will bear out the truth of what I am declaring and demonstrate the deliberate falsity of what they have suggested.

8. Jane Doe #3 knows that the charges she has leveled against me are totally false and she has alleged them with complete knowledge of their falsity. I believe and allege that her lawyers, Brad Edwards and Paul Cassell, also knew or could have easily learned, that I could not have done and did not do any of the heinous things they allege I did in the pleading. If they had done any reasonable investigation of their client’s false allegations, they would have found absolute proof that I did not. They claim in a written statement that they “investigate” before filing. But they did not specifically state that they investigated this claim against me before filing this false and scurrilous charge. They could not have, because even the most minimal of investigation would have proven conclusively that I could not have had sex with their client on Mr. Epstein’s island, in New Mexico or on the airplanes; and that I did not have sex with her in his New York or Palm Beach homes. They would also have learned, if they did not already know, that Jane Doe #3 is a serial liar, whose uncorroborated word should never be credited. She has claimed to have been with former President Clinton on Mr. Epstein’s island. She has provided specific and detailed information about Mr. Clinton’s activities on the island. Yet, on information and belief, I have been advised that Secret Service records would confirm that President Clinton has never set foot on that island. It has also been reported that she told her father that she met Queen Elizabeth. On information and belief, a check of the records of Buckingham Palace would disclose that Jane Doe #3 lied to her father about such a visit. On information and belief, she has also told lies about many world leaders. Finally, on information and belief, the State Attorney in Palm Beach County dropped a case that she sought to bring based on an assessment by the investigating detective regarding the “victim’s lack of credibility.” A copy of the letter reflecting this decision was forwarded to central records. Her lawyers knew or should have known about her history of lying and her utter lack of credibility before filing an allegedly privileged legal statement that asserts false and defamatory information about a fellow lawyer based on her word alone.

9. I believe and allege that Jane Doe #3’s lawyers deliberately inserted this false and defamatory charge, which they knew or should have known to be false and defamatory, in a legal pleading that does not seek an evidentiary hearing or provide for any other opportunity for me to respond to, rebut or disprove their knowingly false charge. They placed it in a legal proceeding, in a public filing, in bad faith in an effort to have the media report it, while they attempt to hide behind claims of litigation and journalistic privilege. I believe and allege that their bad faith purpose was to have this false charge made public, while attempting to deny me any legal recourse. There is no realistic possibility that this pre-New Year’s filing would have been picked up by the media had they or someone on their behalf not deliberately alerted the media to its existence.

10. These lawyers have now repeatedly spoken to the media about their false allegations against me, asserting that what they alleged against me had a “factual” basis and providing the BBC with a list of questions they should ask me. I answered all of their questions. These lawyers have studiously tried to avoid repeating the specific false charges publically, in an attempt to shield themselves from a defamation claim.

11. Again, let me assert categorically, without reservation and with full awareness of the risks of perjury, that I did not ever, under any circumstances, have any sexual contact of any kind with Jane Doe #3.

12. I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed this 5th day of January, 2015, in Miami Beach, Florida.

_______________________