Hamas, Hezbollah websites hosted by Canadian servers

Last Updated: Friday, July 11, 2008 | 7:38 PM ET Comments23Recommend6

CBC News

Two websites operated by Hezbollah and Hamas were being hosted by a Canadian internet service provider even though the militant groups are banned from operating in the country, CBC News has learned.

Toronto resident Jonathan Halevi, who monitors websites on behalf of Israel's foreign ministry, discovered that the sites were being hosted in Canada.

Hamas and Hezbollah are designated as terrorist organizations by the Canadian government and are banned from raising money in Canada.

The groups have been responsible for deadly attacks and suicide bombings against Israel in recent years. The organizations also have political wings. Hamas won a majority in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections and Hezbollah has seats in the Lebanese parliament.

"Hamas was designated as a terrorist organization in Canada. Even though it is a terrorist organization, it finds its way to use Canadian infrastructure to publish its website and forum," Halevi said.

Halevi wrote a letter of complaint to iWeb, the Montreal internet company that owns computer servers that play host to the websites.

The company replied the websites were inoffensive and just "an informational portal such as CBC.ca."

Halevi said he was shocked by the response.

"That was amazing because there is a big difference between CBC and the Hamas, al-Aqsa TV website. The messages are totally different."

CBC News translated some of the Arabic section of the Hamas website, a discussion forum.

One post included a list of instructions on how to conceal a bomb in a crowded market. Another posting explained how to make a roadside bomb look like a rock.

The site is also full of anti-Israeli rhetoric, and pages that glorify those who died in suicide attacks as martyrs.

"This is clear target, clear goal of these organizations. And by giving them support — any support — we are helping them to attack us," Halevi said.

But Bernard Dahl, a spokesman for iWeb, said the initial investigation only looked at the English part of the Hamas site, not the Arabic.

"The English version of the site, although it posted some things which some people might be opposed to, is in no way illegal or threatening or even against our terms of service," Dahl said. "What we later found out was that the version in another language was itself a little more edgy or controversial."

By late Friday afternoon, iWeb determined both sites contained questionable material and disconnected them from their servers.

Dahl said it's impossible for iWeb to know exactly what's on all 30,000 websites hosted on these computer servers.

He said their customers from 140 countries sign up and pay online, often reselling server space to third parties.

RCMP assistant commissioner Bob Paulso said that makes it difficult to file charges.

"To suggest that there is a direct link to the service provider because somebody may be using a website under control for illicit purposes is not an immediate link that can be made."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/11/website-militant.html