"Raw meat" sheik admits giving $50,000 to Hezbollah

Translation from MEMRI:

In response to criticism about funds he contributed to Hizbullah, Sheikh Taj al-Hilali, the controversial mufti of Australia and New Zealand, said that the amount he had carried with him to Lebanon did not exceed $50,000. This sum, he said, would not buy "a quarter of a missile owned by Hizbullah."

Hizbullah is listed as a terrorist organization by Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Israel, and the United States.

Here's some of what the U.S. State Department says about Hizbullah (or "Hezbollah"):

Hezbollah is a terrorist organization formed by radical Lebanese Shi’a groups in 1982 with the goals of (1) the expulsion of Israeli and Western presence in Lebanon; (2) the establishment of an Islamic state modeled on Iran; (3) the destruction of Israel; and (4) the capture of Jerusalem and its placement under Muslim rule.

For more than 20 years, Hezbollah has been an international terrorist threat - facilitating or sponsoring bombings, hijackings, kidnappings, and assassinations globally. Hezbollah was among the first groups to make use of suicide attacks in the Middle East.

[A list of the group's activities include]:

April 1983 suicide bombing of the U.S. Embassy, Beirut.

October 1983 suicide bombings of U.S. Marine and French Army barracks, Beirut.

September 1984 suicide bombing of the U.S. Embassy annex, East Beirut.

December 1984 hijacking of KU Flight 221 en route from Kuwait to Pakistan.

June 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome.

Kidnapping of Westerners in Lebanon throughout the 1980s.

March 1992 bombing of Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires.

July 1994 bombing of Jewish community center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires.

June 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

July 2006 kidnapping of two Israel Defense Force soldiers at the Israel-Lebanon border.

Hezbollah is also a political faction in Lebanon, holding seats in both Lebanon’s parliament and government. Hezbollah provides social services to the Lebanese Shi’a community including education and health care.

Hezbollah, however, does not have independent political, social, military, and terrorist “wings.”

Hezbollah is led by Hassan Nasrallah, its political leader and Secretary General.

Hezbollah’s global support structure encompasses a network of criminal elements, front companies, fund-raising organizations, and prominent diaspora figures spreading out from Beirut and throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the United States.

Iran and Syria provide significant state support to Hezbollah, giving money, weapons and training to the terrorist organization. In turn, Hezbollah is closely allied with and has an allegiance to these states.

Iran is Hezbollah’s main source of weapons and funding and uses its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to train Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon and Iran.