Lubavs Hawking Diamonds For al Qaeda?
You know, after I saw this thread on Plastic, I was gonna write a post, “Hey Jewish diamond merchants, careful where your product is coming from!” But this… This is just shocking. (c/o Moishe)
Your engagement ring is financing terror.
bullshit, i can also show you articles that say jews are behind almost anything, 9/11, the Madrid bombings, the bombs in Riad, exc. You see the point. Just because of a few assholes (ask yourself what is their motivation) say this shit, does not make it true.
i didn’t say they’re “behind” it… just that they’re involved with it. to say they’re making money from trading diamonds with scumbags doesn’t implicity suggest that they are orchestrating terrorism.
Mo: You may be right that it does not suggest that they are orchestrating terrorism. However, this one sketchy source of whom the article says, “In conversations with CBS News, Ahmed provided details of travel and meetings, but no names that might help verify his account,” doesn’t seem even remotely legitimate. It’s basically what one former terrorist-fund-raiser said. Big f-ing deal. When I hear reports of Jews doing horrible things around the world, I want a little more than hearsay–of one guy–to back it up, especially these days.
I recall the good old days of the International embargo on the South African apartheid regime and how the very countries that constantly promoted the embargo and condemned South Africa in the UN were the very same countries (Soviet client states, Arab countries etc.) instrumental in busting the embargo. This of course has been very well documented since then, certainly in a more authoritative manner than what you just linked to.
Sure the diamond industry has its seedy elements, so what? I asked a client of mine in the diamond industry, who happens to be a Lubavitcher about the CBS report and his response was “bullshit.” He never uses that sort of language. The notion of a Lubavitch AlQuaeda scheme to finance terror through trade in diamonds is ridiculous. Might it happen in isolated instances, perhaps. But then again, that slice of halal pizza you just ate, or that falafel you got in Brooklyn may have done the same thing. So whatcha gonna do?
Go back to marijuana? Oops. That too.
On the contrary, I see this a the “mainstreaming” of Lubavitch, in that “regular Jews” are being referred to as Lubavitch. Ubiquitous? Yes. Terror financing? Puhlease.
Ps – Don’t forget that in spring of 1990, the Lubavitcher Rebbe was put on a PLO target list…
Incidentally, the Kimberley Process exists to track the links between diamonds and armed conflict, and bring it back to the actual diamonds being sold.
I wonder if the process tracks this stuff, too. Particularly since the infrastructure is already in place, it sounds like incorporating it might go a long way to helping address this problem.
The other piece is for diamond-buyers — like Dave’s diamond industry client, like Jewschool readers with friends and family buying engagement rings — to ensure that what they’re buying is Kimberley Process certified. Even where “bargain” alternatives are available.
Don’t forget that in spring of 1990, the Lubavitcher Rebbe was put on a PLO target list. Hmmm: wonder what Arafat’s Jewish Affairs advisor had to say about that…
Sorry guys, I’m going to vote for the possibility that it could really be happening. Look at some of the Haredi in Israel. They don’t f*ck around on issues that are important to them, and I can see some Jews, Lubavitch or otherwise, buying diamonds on the cheap, even if they were from a shaddy guy with dark skin and an accent.
As a single person, finally, something I don’t have to worry about, since I know it’s not MY engagement ring that’s financing terror. 🙂