Brussels terror expert has applauded Israels

atrocities

A tribute to those killed by Islamic State during its attack on the Bataclan concert venue in Paris. (Roberto
Maldeno/Flickr)

David Cronin-26 November 2015

These are busy days for the Brussels-based terrorism expert Claude Moniquet. Ever since it
emerged that a few men from Belgium took part in the recent attacks on Paris, his analysis
has been much in demand by the media.

Any time I have seen Moniquet on TV lately, he has always been given softball treatment by
his interviewers. As a result, he is presented as an earnest figure, who has amassed
considerable knowledge on extremism both through his past career with the French external
intelligence agency and his subsequent research. Viewers are never told that this terrorism
expert has applauded atrocities perpetrated by Israel.
In 2004, Moniquet described Israels assassination of Ahmed Yassin, a founding member
of Hamas, as good news. Yassin was 66-years-old and paralyzed from the waist down.
Seven other Palestinians were killed in the Hellfire missile attack on Yassin. According
to Amnesty International, Israels actions violated international law.

Claude Moniquet

Moniquet has worked closely with some of Israels most dedicated apologists in Brussels.
He has long been a member of a think tank called the Atlantis Institute, founded by Jol
Rubinfeld.
A veteran lobbyist, Rubinfeld has strived to bolster Belgiums relationship with Israel.
That relationship was strained in the early years of this century asAriel Sharon, then Israels
prime minister, was sued in Belgium over massacres in Palestinian refugee camps during
Israels 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
Under pressure from Israel and its supporters, Belgium soon diluted its universal
jurisdiction law to shield Sharon and other war criminals from prosecution.

Parroting propaganda

Moniquet heads the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center. One of his former
employees at this terrorism watchdog is Dimitri Dombret, with whom Moniquet has written
a paper on the threat posed byIran.
A former secretary-general with the lobby group European Friends of Israel, Dombret now
runs his own consultancy firm. Its main client in recent years was Teva, an Israeli drugsmaker.
The website for Moniquets center lists lobbying as one of its activities. While I was
undertaking a research project about Israels supporters in Brussels last year, Moniquet told
me that neither the Israeli government nor any Israeli company was paying his center for
advice.
Nonetheless, Moniquet has been known to parrot Israeli propaganda.
During Operation Cast Lead Israels invasion and bombardment of Gaza in late 2008 and
2009 he called Palestine solidarity activists pathetic. In an opinion piece, he accused
those who protested against Israel of selective indignation, asking why they were not so
exercised about human rights abuses in Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Congo and Zimbabwe.
Conveniently, he overlooked two salient facts: Israel has much stronger political and
commercial ties to the West than the countries he listed and many of the protesters he dubbed
pathetic were calling out their own governments as accomplices to Israels crimes.
Defying logic

Moniquet cannot be regarded as an expert on terrorism in any real sense.

A genuine expert would help us understand how Islamic State emerged. They would take us
through the history of Western meddling in the Middle East that spawned this monstrous
organization.
They would join the dots between the 1916 Sykes-Picot accord (a secret deal to carve up the
Middle East between Britain and France), the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the ongoing civil
war in Syria and the deadly machinations of the Saudi elite.
Rather than offering the kind of incisive commentary that is so sorely needed, Moniquet
reinforces stereotypes. He has, for example, helped to stigmatize the entire community living
in the Brussels district of Molenbeekbased on how a small number of extremists have lived
there.

In a weekend appearance on France TV, Moniquet distorted the truth. In his warped mind,
efforts by the local authority in Molenbeek to make its Muslim inhabitants feel welcome was
transformed into a tacit pact with Islamists.
Such rhetoric closely resembles that of Belgiums right-wing politicians trying to capitalize on
the Paris attacks.
Moniquet has also been known to defy logic. Not long before the Paris attacks, he wrote about
how those involved in recent acts of extremist violence in Europe were already known to the
police. Yet rather than making the case for greater scrutiny of known extremists, he praised
Frances introduction of massive digital surveillance.
Although Moniquet indicated that the new surveillance rules would be used to keep an eye on
suspects, theirbreadth represents a clear erosion of civil liberties.
Despite the patently dubious quality of his analysis, Moniquet is able to charge money for his
services. Last year, he told me that his centers annual budget is between 1 million and 1.5
million and its clients include police agencies and foreign ministries.
Will his recent media appearances help him drum up more business? I fear that they might.
Posted by Thavam