Israel has relentlessly bombed all 38 branches of the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association in Lebanon. Why is it so important to the Zionist cause to specifically obliterate a savings and loan institution? I investigate in our fourth mini-documentary from Lebanon.
Click on the “Closed Captions” option at the bottom of the video and you will get the subtitles including translation from Arabic.
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What a Brilliant Piece of Jurnalism Craig..And Ibrahim Chamas, and Niels Ladefoged.. thank you.. That Al-Qard Al-Hasan community banking organisation, is just Vital and Honorable Indeed.. Heroes in fact..
Israeli Impunity mackes me sick.. Hundreads of Doctors Nurses, Paramedics Murdered..
And the Financial expert explaining what happened, where the Money went, the sums involved ..The Scale of Corruption, Hundreds of billions Gone.. A million people lost everything.. Just Staggering Numbers.
Stay safe out there Craig
I’ve informed my MP, though I got an auto-reply that there won’t be any response till after the Xmas break.
Anyway, this is another war crime that the world should know about. Indeed the apartheid state must give way to full democracy, and international sanctions should help bring this about.
English subtitles would be helpful please?
If you click the closed captions icon at the bottom of the video you get the English subtitles. I have added an explanatory note in the text.
Click through the youtube link in the video and watch it direct on youtube.
(I know….) but I couldn’t get the subtitles on the embedded version either, even after clicking the captions button.
Hi, Craig. I have been following your reports on Lebanon – wish our MSM did such good reporting! I tried to post this one on Facebook for friends and family to see – Facebook removed it on the basis of possible incorrect information. We are so censored in the UK, many are unable to make informed decisions as a result. The censorship seems to be worse under the current government than any other. Those in power are not representing the best interests of the British people.
I hope you are able to keep up the good work. Those of us who are informed can continue to speak out to all those we know.
The video could have been clearer on how Al-Qard Al-Hasan earns revenue. It has to have revenue to pay the salaries of its employees and to build or rent the premises from which it operates.
It seems to be, basically, a pawnshop, with the restriction that all you can pawn is gold. If you don’t repay the loan, Al-Qard Al-Hasan gets to keep the gold. That’s a perfectly legal, ethical, and reasonable business model, but it wasn’t spelled out. Is it correct?
Islamic banking has a complicated set of astuces and arrangements to cover for the ban on interest payments. Commonly it can involve fictional sales and repurchase at a lower price, and such techniques. You can’t tell here what is being done. I don’t doubt for a moment in this case it is genuinely a non-profit social service; that is what Hizbullah does – it serves its community. Other Islamic banks are profit-making organisations, notably those in the Gulf.
Thank you for these videos and for everything you do.
Back on normal island meanwhile, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle invites representatives of the terror state for a jolly Xmas shindig in Parliament.
https://x.com/TzipiHotovely/status/1871166392797442260
That’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper beaming like a Cheshire Cat while her government helps the terrorists starve, shoot and incinerate kids.
Another perfectly normal, respectable day in the long history of the British ruling class.
I suspect that this one was about a Jewish communal celebration (Hanukkah) rather than support for the Israeli government, given that Sir Lindsay Hoyle has also invited Muslims to Speaker’s house for Iftar celebrations and Hindus for Diwali celebrations in the past.
If, however, you have evidence for Hoyle giving explicit support to Zionism, by all means cite it. Especially any support given from 2024, now that Israel’s war crimes are well known, and Amnesty International has found Israel guilty of both apartheid and genocide.
You believe that, if you want to; others are less gullible.
It’s not gullibility, it’s something worse.
The Speaker was paraded around Israel in February by the same ghoul in that picture, 4 months into the worst genocide in modern history. He boasted to reporters that his father, MP Doug Hoyle, had founded Labour Friends of Israel.
If you have evidence that Hoyle in any way disapproves of Hotovely’s relentless genocidal rhetoric or of his government actively aiding a genocide then by all means cite it.
Here (look at the motion text):
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/37408/establishment-of-labour-friends-of-palestine-and-the-middle-east
That said, I would like to see Hoyle endorsing a One State solution, i.e. a full democracy between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.
Confirms my suspicion about your first comment. Disingenuous masquerading as dumb.
I’m not sure that any evidence would satisfy you. But a fuller account of Hoyle’s position is found here, following a trip to Israel:
https://www.lep.co.uk/news/politics/chorley-mp-and-house-of-commons-speaker-lindsay-hoyle-defends-his-trip-to-israel-and-the-west-bank-4438911
In particular, he said, “It is extremely disturbing and upsetting to witness the scale of suffering that is taking place in Gaza with thousands of innocent civilians already killed or injured.”
@M.J. – “If, however, you have evidence for Hoyle giving explicit support to Zionism, by all means cite it.”
@Jules already did cite it:
https://x.com/TzipiHotovely/status/1871166392797442260
“It was such a pleasure to start our Hanukkah celebrations early in @UKParliament
with thanks to @CommonsSpeaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, and the @BoardofDeputies
for hosting us.”
Those are the words of Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to Britain.
Anyone who hosts the Israeli ambassador at a public event is explicitly supporting Zionism.
Despicable bunch of C**ts, the fifth columnists don’t even hide anymore.
Out of interest, given Lindsay Hoyle’s role as the public face of the Commons club, has anyone got a rough figure for the number of club members who belong to “Friends of Israel” groups? Or an upper or lower bound? OK an upper bound would be 645, which is 650 minus the pro-Gaza MPs.
I realise the terrorist entity has many friends who wouldn’t belong to any of these groups openly, but gotta wonder whether the figure for the “open” friends is a majority.
There were some articles on declassifieduk.org which covered this, notably this one:
Israel lobby funded a quarter of British MPs
Exclusive: Declassified is publishing the full list of British MPs who received funding from pro-Israel lobbyists.
Craig, thank you for this report. It is shameful that the BBC have not produced a report of a similar quality, but would rather focus on trivia and sensationalism.
Best to avoid the BBC – treat the same way as e.g. the Daily Express.
Truth is that Al Jazeera, Press TV, and TASS aren’t much good, but they don’t stink to high heaven the way the BBC does.
Is there a market for a global news outlet that’s halfway decent? And the answer is…..NO, there is not.
Here is the transcript for those who don’t enjoy watching TV even when it’s got subtitles, and who prefer reading stuff properly. Note: I copied this from a Zionist site called “Youtube”, owned by Google/Alpha, and then spent about 5 minutes processing it to take out time-stamps. All sentences appear as paragraphs. (My time is limited.)
[ Duly tidied up a bit by the mods ]
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CM: We’re standing here outside the branch of Al-Qard Al-Hasan, which is an Islamic community banking organisation which doesn’t pay interest or charge interest and services the communities here in Lebanon.
Israel attacked a lot of non-military targets during its campaign against Lebanon. It destroyed hospitals and health centres, it destroyed water treatment plants, it destroyed over 70 ambulances, it killed over 220 doctors and paramedics.
One particular target was the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association. All of its branches were destroyed.
And the only reason this one survived is the missile didn’t explode. So we’re going to go and have a look there and see what a branch of it looks like indoors.
As we come around the back of the building here, you get an idea of the quite extraordinary extent of devastation. In fact, as you walk in, I’m not quite sure whether it’s more disturbing to have three armed Israeli drones circling above our heads, or the chances that a large piece of building are going to fall down and hit us at any moment.
But this is the back entrance into the branch which survived, so we’re going to go in now here and see what happens up here….
So the missile punched its way into the wall there, hit the column, and smashed through the floor. These are parts of the missile that stripped off as it did that. Fortunately, it didn’t detonate because if it had detonated, this entire building would not be here just as all of the surrounding building. This survived and that’s why in this little island of remaining construction, this branch continues to operate.
===== Customer testimony =====
⟪ Regarding Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, it is a very trustworthy institution – despite the war waged against it. It still protects our gold, and continues to treat us well.
It has truly helped many people. And we are grateful to it, because it serves as a lifeline for people. A lifeline for people’s lives, livelihoods, and the economy of the suburb ‘Dahieh’.
This institution is not exclusive to a specific group or community. It is for everyone, serving all people. It serves Lebanese society as a whole; and it works for humanity. ⟫
==========
CM: Well, we’ve been to see a branch of the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association. And now we’re at the headquarters building, which as you can see, has also been bombed, but at which bits are still operating.
And we’re going to go in and see the management and discuss with them what the association is, what its philosophy is, how it works, and why it’s being so heavily bombed:
===== Interview with Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association manager =====
⟪ After the Israeli invasion in 1982, and the widespread destruction of the areas, it was essential to have someone support people by providing them with small loans.
Over time, we started to expand gradually within Beirut, then we moved to the Bekaa region. Later, we expanded to the south, and by 2024, we have grown to 36 branches.
As an association, we are not a financial institution or a bank. The difference between us and a bank is that we do not take money from people and pay interest on it. Instead, people deposit money with us, and we distribute it as loans.
These loans help people manage their affairs and access services. When the person repays the loan, we return their deposited collateral, specifically gold.
The bomb that destroyed this house, the arms manufacturer, would be financed by Western banks. Western banks don’t have ethical standards. ⟫
CM: Do you have ethical standards for the kind of transactions which your bank carries out?
⟪ Since the association’s establishment until today, we have received money from contributors. This money was distributed through these small loans.
The money was not invested in other projects. We did not allocate funds to real estate or large properties; nor did we establish companies or engage in investments with factories or businesses.
The Al-Qard Al-Hasan association never entered such ventures.
We rely solely on a system where funds are deposited. These funds are distributed through a carefully studied financial policy. This ensures that funds are available to cover the loans provided. It also ensures that accounts and balances are secure. Those who wish to withdraw funds can do so freely.
There are many things associated with Hezbollah. There are hospitals and health centers and civil defense organizations. There are social security organizations. ⟫
CM: What do you say to the… The Israelis say “These are all legitimate military targets.” What do you say to that?
⟪ During the 66-day war, the Israeli enemy attempted to classify Al Qard Al Hassan as a terrorist organisation. They tried to destroy it by targeting all its branches across Lebanese territory.
They are aware that this institution is part of the service organisations through which Hezbollah benefits people and the community as a whole across Lebanon. Thus, they consider any targeting of these associations, or of Al Qard Al Hassan specifically, to be an attack on the community as a whole.
They aimed to cause as much harm as possible to the environment and to Hezbollah’s organisation and the entire Lebanese society. Since it is an institution that provides services, it was naturally targeted to harm the community and its And this community. ⟫
CM: How do you cope with this situation where you can be bombed any moment? How do you and the staff manage to continue to do your work and how do you live your life under this constant threat?
⟪ We consider it our duty. Just as there are soldiers and resistance on the frontlines, whose job is to defend Lebanon, we consider ourselves internal resistance and civilian soldiers. Our job is to serve these people, to serve this community, and to provide them with the best service. We pray to God for ease and security. ⟫
==========
CM: Now, there’s a very good reason why customers want to come to a banking association like Al-Qard Al-Hasan as opposed to going to the commercial banks.
And that is because Lebanon experienced a banking crash in 2019. On a scale it is hard to believe, in per capita terms, Lebanon lost 20 times the amount of money that was wiped out in the United States or the United Kingdom by the banking crash of 2008.
This country of five million people saw over $100 billion evaporate. And all the commercial banks were involved.
And the reason was that… behind me we have the [Central] Bank of Lebanon, and for years Lebanese banking regulations stated that all commercial banks had to put all their dollar deposits in the Bank of Lebanon. They weren’t allowed to hold them themselves in the commercial bank. And the Bank of Lebanon was secretly squandering all those dollar reserves. And it was doing so in order to maintain an artificially high exchange rate for the Lebanese currency.
And this always happens in such cases. Access to the currency and access to the squandered dollars depended on large government contracts, import contracts, construction contracts, often for non-existent projects. And everybody’s money was effectively offshored by a class of crooks running the Lebanese financial system.
And in the end, in 2019, it all came to a head. It collapsed. And people discovered that the money they had in Lebanese banks had gone. It had simply disappeared.
And unlike the banking crisis in 2008 in the West, the individuals all lost all their money. There was no guarantee, no safeguard, no replacement by government. You just lost all your money.
So we went to talk to an experienced financial editor to explain to us exactly how this happened:
===== Interview with financial editor =====
CM: Can you place an estimate on how much money was stolen through corruption using the artificial exchange rate?
⟪ Studies have confirmed that all deals with the state, whether in supplies or tenders, involved a level of corruption ranging between 30% and 50%. There are reports that support this. Let me give an example.
The cost of rebuilding Lebanon since the 1990s, from the time of Rafik Hariri until today, you’re talking about reconstruction, did not exceed $24 billion. Meanwhile, public loans, the national debt, reached $100 billion. And the stolen deposits amount to hundreds of billions. ⟫
CM: So who has the money?
⟪ In Lebanon, there are a hundred well-known names, whether in public services, in political positions, or administrative roles. These individuals, along with their associates or close allies in the private sector, are implicated in all of this.
In addition to that, and most importantly, the banks mismanaged the deposits. In fact, they gambled and acted recklessly, as stated by the UN Secretary-General and French President Emmanuel Macron, who said they contributed to a “Ponzi scheme.” This Ponzi scheme between the banks and the Central Bank of Lebanon involved around $100 billion.
It was the depositors who paid the price for this Ponzi scheme. It is the depositors who have gone bankrupt, with over a million depositors left destitute. However, the bank owners remain wealthy, maintaining their banking institutions and keeping their wealth abroad. ⟫
CM: So, more than one million people went bankrupt because of this? I worked as a diplomat in Africa much of my life and we talk about corruption in Africa but for every single corrupt deal in Africa there’s always a Western bank involved, there’s often a Western accountancy firm signing off the books and there’s often a Western middleman somewhere in there. What was the role of Western institutions in this money and has the money gone to the West? Is it now in Paris and London? Where is the money now?
⟪ Based on the Panama Papers and the HSBC Geneva leaks, most of the funds of Lebanese politicians and their affiliates are in Western banks and tax havens.
What I want to say is that Western banks are complicit. But the harmed parties must file lawsuits. And those responsible must be held accountable. So that trust in the banking sector can be restored. Only then can we return to depositing in banks. ⟫
===========
CM: So I think now perhaps you understand why people don’t trust the commercial banks.
So let’s now see what a couple of customers say as to why they bank with Al-Qard Al-Hasan, why it’s important to the community and why Israel may want to destroy it, as it seems to want to destroy every other kind of organisation that sustains a community:
===== Customer testimony =====
⟪ We no longer trust any banks, but we fully trust Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association. Because we stayed with them and had a positive experience. We’ve had good past experiences dealing with them, so we have continued.
It is a credible institution, and we have never felt anything was wrong with it. It does not seek profit or personal gain. It does not pursue any political agendas. It is an institution providing humanitarian, social, and service-oriented aid. That is why we work with it, as it has helped us in many of our life and social matters. ⟫
⟪ When I needed money urgently, I didn’t have the amount I needed, and I was desperate. I pawned my gold. In return for the value of the gold, they gave me cash. And they approved the loan for the amount I asked for. In the amount that suited me.
We always trust it, even during difficult times, wars, or any crisis. We trust it and continue to deal with it. Because it is an institution dedicated to goodwill and serving humanity. It has no ulterior motives. It has no political agenda. ⟫
==========
CM: So there we are.
The Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association is not a complicated organisation. It doesn’t do international transfers, for example. It does small scale loans to local people and it holds their money and it holds gold as as collateral for loans.
It’s an old-fashioned community savings and loan institution. It’s a very old-fashioned form of banking. With the added twist it doesn’t even do interest and it has very high ethical standards.
It has nothing to do with arms manufacture or arms purchase. That’s not what it’s about at all and it’s used and trusted by people from all communities in Lebanon, in a country where for very good reason people don’t trust the ordinary banks.
In fact, because it’s Christmas there’s one inevitable comparison that demonstrates very plainly what Al-Qard Al-Hasan actually is:
===== Clip from “It’s A Wonderful Life” (1946), starring Jimmy Stewart =====
‟George, it’s a miracle. It’s a miracle.”
‟Who’s that coming, Daddy? Come in, Uncle Billy.”
‟Everybody in here.”
‟George! Isn’t it wonderful? So many people.”
‟Mary did it, George. She told some people you were in trouble. They scattered all over town collecting money. Didn’t ask any questions.”
“George in trouble?”
‟ … and count me in!”
‟… and count me in!”
‟Another run on the bank … ”
‟Here, George! Merry Christmas!”
‟I wouldn’t have a roof over my head if it weren’t for you, George.”
==========
CM: So there you are. It’s not terrorism. It’s Jimmy Stewart.
*********************************************
Brian, and [ MODS ] Thank you for this…. I had the Subtitles on, No problem at all … But I will read the Manuscript again…
A great and Passionate short speech by Polish MEP Grzegorz Braun –
Polish MEP Accuses EU of Giving Israel License to Bomb Anyone – Dawn News English – 1min 22secs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS-qe2nsXJw