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AMP Report – Oct. 17, 2004 Muslim charities in the US facing a climate of fear The fear of ending up on some government watch list for aiding terrorism threatens donations to American Muslim charities that usually benefit from zakat given during the month of Ramadan that began in US on Oct. 15, 2004. Muslim organizations say members are afraid to give money to Muslim charity organizations and many more of those who do donate are opting to give cash instead of checks. In the latest crackdown on Muslim charities, on Oct. 13, 2004 , US authorities froze the assets of the Sudan-based Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA) with an office in Columbia, Missouri, and accused five of its officials of helping finance Osama bin Laden and the Palestinian organization Hamas. The agents also searched home of its director. Earlier in the day, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the IARA and five of its international officers as financial sponsors of terrorists. The designation freezes IARA's assets and accounts and makes it a crime to contribute to the group. Over the past three years, federal authorities have raided and shut down three major Islamic charities, two in Chicago and one in Paterson, New Jersey. American Muslims said they were worried about this week’s crackdown that writing a donation check could bring FBI agents to their doors. Amaney Jamal, a Princeton University professor who recently completed a survey of the Dearborn, Michigan, Arab-American community, said the uncertainty is one of the most distressing problems Muslims feel these days. "If someone says to me, `Do you want to support an orphan for US$30 a month?' I say, `Sure, that's a noble cause.' And then later someone comes and knocks on my door and says, `Her father was a suicide bomber,"' Jamal said. "Charity giving to the Arab world has become a big no-no." One result has been an increase in non-traceable cash donations to local mosques or religious institutions. "They don't want to write checks or use credit cards," Jamal said. The "Cat Stevens affair" is seen another recent example. Yusuf Islam, a popular singer in the 1970s, when he was known as Cat Stevens, was barred last month from entering the United States because he allegedly supported terrorist groups through donations he made to Muslim charities. The case against Yusuf Islam, whom most Muslims regard as a moderate voice, has had a chilling effect on local Muslims. If it could happen to the man who wrote "Peace Train," it could happen to anyone, they say. "If they have a problem with this guy, there is not an imam in the whole of America that the U.S. administration would not have a problem with," said Asad Zaman, treasurer of the Muslim American Society's Minnesota chapter. "We do not perceive that the administration is trying to help. We think they're trying to put a cap on Muslim charity, and we don't like it." John Conway, an FBI agent in Newark, said law-abiding Muslims who donate to legitimate charities have nothing to fear. But he acknowledged that an organization in good standing today might not be several years from now. "It's perfectly understandable that people would have concerns about that," he said. "If it's a group that gives money to suicide bombers or to Hamas, then you run into a situation where there's a possibility their name may come up at some point in time." U.S. Rep Kenny Hulshof, R-Columbia, in a news release aimed to reassure anyone who might have donated to IARA, said: "Treasury officials point out that people who have given donations to IARA in good faith, prior to Wednesday, need not worry about the legality of their donation." FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza wouldn’t confirm whether Ramadan was a factor in the timing of the raids. "The execution of the search warrant came out of the needs of the ongoing investigation, ultimately," he said. "However, we are also sensitive to those considerations." Many American Muslim advocacy groups have argued that a line must be drawn between policing charities and interfering with an individual's right to practice his or her religion. The California-based organizations, American Muslim Voice and Muslim Public Affairs Council, have argued that the ability to contribute to charity is both an American right and, for Muslims, a religious commandment. Council on American-Islamic Affairs Communications Director, Ibrahim Hooper, asked the public to withhold judgment until evidence shows or disproves a link to terrorism. Treasury Department sanctions do not use the same standard of evidence that courts require, said Hooper. “Sometimes administrative actions that don't require evidence of criminal behavior are imposed, and, in effect, it has the same impact as if they had been convicted of a crime,” Hooper said. “In each case, we ask that the charity have their day in court, evidence be presented and that the charity have the constitutionally protected right to meet that evidence in accordance with longstanding American traditions of due process.” A spokesman for InterAction, the U.S. coordinating and policy body for more than 160 international charities, said IARA was a member in good standing and was in compliance with the organization's voluntary standards for administration and procedures.Sid Balman Jr., director of communications, said his agency neither polices its members nor acts as a regulator.“Certainly, we expect that our members are not involved in terrorism or the support of it,” Balman said. “But I would note that the Islamic American Relief Agency has not been convicted in a court in this country of anything.” Source: Media Reports |