The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Internet infrastructure and its Internet Webhosts

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1 December 28, 2005 Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S) The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Internet infrastructure and its Internet Webhosts (December ) Banner of QudsWay, the main Palestinian Islamic Jihad Internet site. Overview The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is a terrorist organization specializing in planning and carrying out suicide bombing attacks in Israeli cities. For the past year, sponsored and supported by Iran and Syria, it has operated non-stop to sabotage the lull in the fighting and to escalate the violence in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian confrontation. Since the beginning of 2005 it has carried out a series of deadly suicide bombing attacks in Tel Aviv, Hadera and Netanya (2 attacks) killing 21 civilians and wounding approximately 160. The PIJ, like Hamas and other Palestinian and international terrorist organizations, makes extensive use of the Internet, although the technical quality of its sites does not match those of Hamas nor are they as widely accessed. 2 As opposed to Hamas, which has broad, international target audiences, and whose sites appear in seven languages, the PIJ focuses exclusively on Palestinian and Arab audiences. The organization's leadership in Damascus uses the Internet to transmit its political and information messages to the Palestinian Authority (PA)-administered territories; in our assessment, they also use the medium to transmit instructions to the organization's terrorist-operatives. The PIJ uses its Internet sites to disseminate encouragement for terrorism and hatred, especially since the PA has restricted the organization's use of the official Palestinian media. There is no fixed number of sites serving the organization and they frequently disappear and reappear in response to pressures exerted on the companies providing Internet services. Sometimes a site reappears with the same name, although its Webhost has been changed, or sometimes it appears under a different name. The PIJ is aware of the pressures brought to bear on such companies, especially in the United States, and to evade them it customarily changes companies (although they still use Webhosts in the United States ). The following are two examples of cases in which the PIJ was forced to change its American Internet service providers: The first, the PIJ's information bureau recently announced it was shutting down the site of its secretarygeneral, Ramadan Shalah ( ) in the wake of what it referred to as the Zionist-American campaign (according to October 14, 2005). Our examination showed that it did shut down for a short time but using a new Romanian Webhost (See below). The second, in February 2003 its www. qudsway. com was forced to change its Webhost from the United States to Iran, thereby promising itself uninterrupted operation. 3 1 Update of our August 2004 Special Information Bulletin Using the Internet to market terrorism 2 For further information on Hamas's use of the Internet, see our Special Bulletin "Marketing terrorism by Internet" 3 From the Internet Haganah site ( February 14, 2003.

2 In December we found that the PIJ, which is on both the American and European Union (EU) lists of terrorist organizations, was operating five leading sites using five different Webhosts, 5 two in the United States, 6 one in Iran one in Romania and one in Malaysia. They are: Iran ; the United States ; Malaysia ; Romania ; the United States. We also found the names of three individuals listed as technical help personnel who operate from Beirut ( Abdallah Ramadan, Kemal Abu Ayyid and Muhammad Hider). It is also possible, but still unverified, that like Hamas 7, the PIJ operates an Internet infrastructure in Lebanon, directed by the organization's leadership in Damascus Following is a description of the PIJ's main Internet sites and the names of their Webhosts. We conducted our examination with the aid of the and of which specializes in monitoring Internet sites of terrorist groups around the world. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad's leading Internet sites (or Qudsway.net is considered one of the PIJ's official sites. It contains basic information about the organization and updated information about the terrorist attacks, information about its activities, advertisements, and information about and praise for the suicide bombers. It also publishes flyers which glorify terrorism and encourage anti-israeli terrorism. The site is regularly updated. 4 Checking the information revealed in an August 2004 examination of the PIJ's Internet site, which showed that the organization had six active Internet sites, three main and three subsidiary. As noted, at that time most of the organization's Websites used mainly the services of American Internet companies. 5 A Webhost, according to the manager of the Internet Haganah site, is a company that provides the direct customer service and manages the hosting of customers' websites. 6 In addition, these sites are supported by approximately ten companies, most of them American, which provide services (data centers, registrars) of a technical nature. 7 The Hamas's leading sites are overseen by Nizar Hassan Suliman Hussein, who operates in Beirut from the office of Osama Hamadan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon.

3 When the site is accessed martial music can be heard, as well as recorded hate propaganda from the organization's founder, Fathi Shqaqi, about the Islamic nation's covenant with blood. As of December 23, 2005, the home page featured a picture of the suicide bomber who carried out the attack at the Sharon shopping mall in Netanya on December 5, in which five Israeli citizens were killed. The heading over the picture reads: The suicide bomber [ istishhadi ] Abu Sa'ada waited for the Zionists to approach, smiled a broad smile and blew himself up. Or, for instance, a posting entitled The Jerusalem Battalions shake the earth deep inside the Zionist settlement deals with the suicide bombing attacks carried out during There are also pictures of shaheeds (martyrs for the sake of Allah) and praise for their actions. The site also contains organization's official publications, which incites to violence and glorifies suicide bombing attacks. Glorifying the suicide bombers The suicide bomber who carried out the attack at the Sharon shopping mall in Netanya on December 5 as seen on the Internet. Over the picture there is a heading reading the suicide bomber [ istishhadi ] Abu Sa'ada waited for the Zionists to approach, smiled a broad smile and blew himself up. The destruction of Israel : A burning Magen David (Star of David) A commemorative poster of Fathi Shqaqi, the organization's founder, on the background of a burning Magen David, as it appeared on December 15.

4 Denying the Holocaust: Identification with the statements of the president of Iran A cartoon that appeared on December 19, showing Iranian president Ahmadinejar shooting an arrow at a balloon marked The Holocaust The following are the site's main details: 8 A. IP address B. Webhost Telecommunications of Iran C. Webhost address PO. Box , Tehran, Iran 9 Tel: Fax: D. Contacts Hiyyat Radwan Mukuwait B 7 Al-Shahahbaa Str. Faiha, KW The Iranian Webhost The Home page of Datacommunications Company of Iran (this company might be a subsidiary of Telecommunication Company of Iran) 8 According to the Whois and Haganah Internet sites December 18, The PIJ also uses five other Iranian Webhosts.

5 www. Qudsnews.net is one of the PIJ's main Internet sites. It is relatively new and contains news which is updated regularly, postings by the organization's leaders, pictures of suicide bombers and incitement to acts of terrorism. There are links to other PIJ sites and to its official publications; there is a clickable title called Al-shuhada al-ahya' ( the living shaheeds ) with pictures of and praise for the shaheeds. As of December 19, 2005, the site featured an interview with Ziyad al-nakhleh, the PIJ's second in command, in which he called for the establishment of a resistance front (i.e., a united front of all the Palestinian terrorist organizations) which would lead another round of resistance [i.e., terrorist attacks] to defeat the enemy (a follow-up of the call by Khaled Mashal, head of the Hamas, not to renew the lull). Jerusalem rockets, a picture appearing on the site on December 19, 2005 The following are the site's main technical details: 10 A. IP address B. Webhost DiscountASP.NET Los Angeles, CA, USA C. Contacts Abdallah Ramadan, registered in Beirut According to the Whois and Haganah Internet sites. December 18, Possibly Abdallah Ramadan [Shalah] f the organization's leader. Not verified.

6 This is the official site of the Jerusalem Battalions, the PIJ's terrorist-operative wing. It is one of the organization's leading sites. It contains information about the Jerusalem Battalion's terrorist attacks and incitement to acts of terrorism (taking responsibility for terrorist attacks, for example). It is updated regularly. The site preaches terrorism and has a clickable title called jihad in Islamic law, where various articles provide religious sanction for terrorist attacks, including suicide bombing attacks. For example, there was a posting claiming that the association of clerics of Palestine issued a fatwa (Islamic religious edict), according to which the liberation of Palestinian and Jerusalem and the return would only be achieved through resistance (i.e., terrorist attacks) and jihad (holy war). Another title contains description of suicide bombing attacks carried out by members of the Jerusalem Battalions to glorify their names and turn them into role models. A sample page: The Jerusalem Battalions take responsibility for firing two Qassam rockets at Israeli population centers (December 15, 2005)

7 The following are the site's main technical details: 12 A. IP address B. Webhost e-ruang.com, Selangor, Malaysia C. Contacts Kemal Abu Ayyid, Beirut, Lebanon Tel: This is the official site of PIJ head Ramadan Shalah, who operates from Damascus. It documents his statements and activities, including speeches, lectures, pictures, etc. It is regularly updated and contains mainly the texts of his lectures, sermons and articles. It has links to the organization's other sites. In August 2004 it closed down when Level 3, its American Webhost, stopped providing it with Internet services. It has recently begun operating again with a Romanian Webhost. The following are the site's main technical details: 13 A. IP address B. Webhost BYO Hosting.com Romania C. Contacts Jimail Smith jdomains 2004@yahoo.com Beirut 12 According to the Whois and Haganah Internet sites. December 18, According to the Whois and Haganah Internet sites. December 18, 2005

8 The home page of BYO Hosting BYO Hosting, the Romanian Webhost which provides permits, names, domains, etc. The official PIJ Internet site dedicated to the memory of the organization's founded, Fathi Shqaqi, who died in Malta. It documents his activities and statements, and, similar to the site devoted to Ramadan Shalah, is mostly textual. It closed down in August 2994 but recently resumed operations with an American Webhost.

9 The following are the site's main technical details: 14 A. IP address B. Webhost Yahoo! Inc. C. Webhost address Sunnyvale, California 94089, USA Tel: Fax: D. Contacts Jimail Smith jdomains Beirut 14 According to the Whois and Haganah Internet sites. December 18, 2005