TEXAS ISP HOSTS PALI ISLAMIC JIHAD WEBSITE

Lonely Planet by Jonathan V. Last (Weekly Standard)

I wrote a piece last week for THE WEEKLY STANDARD about American internet service providers who host websites for jihadists. In the course of reporting the piece I came across an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Texas called The Planet. According to both MEMRI and a whois search, The Planet hosts the website of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

PIJ is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department for, among other things, killing 162 people by suicide attack over the last 12 years. There is more if you care to read it. The point is, PIJ is not a small, insignificant group. They're bad guys.

It should be noted that hosting the website of an FTO is illegal. As MEMRI points out:

section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act states that it is unlawful to provide a designated FTO with "material support or resources," including "any property, tangible or intangible, or services," including "communication equipment and facilities."

During the course of reporting the story, I interviewed Yvonne Donaldson, the PR director at The Planet. As I noted in my piece, when asked about her company's dealings with PIJ, Donaldson replied curtly, "We don't police the content of our websites."

I asked Donaldson if she was aware that her company hosted the website sarayaalquds.org. She said, "I've never heard of that website." I asked her if she knew of the site's connection to PIJ. She said, "I don't know anything about the site or this group." I asked her if she would like me to tell her about them. She responded, "No, I would not."

After a few moments of stunned silence--every other ISP I had spoken with was eager to keep jihadists off of their servers--I informed Donaldson that PIJ was designated as an FTO and that The Planet was likely in violation of federal law by doing business with them. She remained unmoved.

Later Donaldson emailed me a statement, reading:

As a service provider, we don't police or control the content of Web sites for any of our customers. By U.S. law – and the power of the Constitution – any person or organization is freely able to express their opinions, even if we don't agree with the content.

At The Planet, we absolutely comply with U.S. law and also clearly delineate our Acceptable Use Policy, known in the industry as an AUP. If we discover there is a credible threat or some type of pending harm, we notify and work closely with the appropriate authorities.

That was on July 26. Today, The Planet is still hosting the PIJ website, in apparent non-compliance with U.S. law.