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Chicago Tribune – August 29, 2006
Muslim charity strives to keep `clean'
Muslim groups lack Treasury guidance
By Deborah Horan
Anwar Khan is short on details but strong in his belief that the aid his worldwide Muslim charity has donated to help rebuild Lebanon will not end up in the hands of Hezbollah.
The money--$2 million collected nationwide since the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict began, including about $200,000 from Chicago-area Muslims--is funneled through legitimate organizations, he said, including the Lebanese Red Cross. In some cases, a representative of Khan's Islamic Relief, based in Buena Park, Calif., is on location.
"That's our job, to monitor that," Khan said at a recent fundraiser in a Villa Park mosque. "We have to make sure relief supplies aren't given to any political organization."
But while Khan's intent appears sincere--and Islamic Relief has never run into problems with U.S. authorities, according to a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department--making sure donations don't come into contact with Hezbollah volunteers may be harder in practice, aid workers said.
The Shiite organization has ministers in government, members of parliament, mayors in small towns and a network of thousands of volunteers who have been ferrying aid supplies to devastated areas since a cease-fire took effect earlier this month. Yet contact with Hezbollah, which the U.S. government considers a terrorist organization, could put a charity at risk of being shut down.
"Every U.S. aid agency is facing the exact same problem," said a spokesman for a West Coast aid agency operating in Lebanon, who asked not to be named because the subject is "super, super, super sensitive." "We're waiting on word from the Treasury on that. We're waiting on some sort of guidance."
The Treasury spokeswoman, Molly Millerwise, said charities operating in the U.S. are barred from knowingly financing or "working with" Hezbollah. The question is what might constitute "working with," given that many Lebanese officials are affiliated with the group.
After Sept. 11, 2001, the government issued general guidelines meant to help charities maintain transparency and prevent money from being diverted to groups or individuals that the government has designated as terrorists. It also created a list of some 400 individuals and organizations, including 43 charities, that it accuses of funding terrorism, Treasury officials said.
Muslim charity workers have asked the department to create a second list of charities it considers "safe" to donate to, but so far it has refused on the grounds that terrorists might then try to infiltrate those agencies, officials said.
"Even if we designated a charity `clean,' there's no way we could ensure it would stay so," Millerwise said.
Guidance from the Treasury Department has been slow regarding Lebanon, aid workers complain. So far, the government has not issued specific guidelines for operating in the country and instead have encouraged charities to practice "due diligence" to ensure that their assets are used for charity and not diverted to finance terrorism, Millerwise said.
Government officials quietly acknowledge the difficulty in distributing aid in areas like Lebanon without coming into contact with Hezbollah. As long as a charity maintains transparency, it will likely remain safe from government seizure, they said. And the Treasury Department has never gone after an innocent donor duped into giving to a charity later accused of ties to terrorism, they said.
Still, Ahmed Younis of the Washington-based Muslim Public Affairs Council said Muslim charities will not feel completely comfortable until the U.S. sets clear guidelines. Otherwise, "there is always fear that Treasury will come back and reprimand us," Younis said.
Last year, the council teamed with the Islamic Society of North America and the Treasury Department to set up a self-policing organization called the National Council of American Muslim Non-Profits. But soon after its creation, the government froze the assets of a Toledo, Ohio-based charity on the steering committee called KindHearts.
"It undermined the argument that this was an oversight thing," Younis said. "Oversight became a great challenge after that."….
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0608290261aug29,1,2314499,print.story
Chicago Daily Herald – August 22, 2006
Charity are struggling for Mideast causes
By Ashok Selvam
While several groups have launched fundraising campaigns for Israel, an atmosphere fueled by fear has hindered their Islamic and Arabic counterparts.
"A lot of people are afraid of donating to Middle East causes because they're afraid they'll be accused of supporting something other than humanitarian causes," said Duston Barto, spokesman for the Zakat Foundation of America.
Zakat refers to the obligatory portion a Muslim head of household donates to the poor as mandated in their holy book, the Quran. The charitable group is an international organization with a Chicagoland office that helps those in need. It's so far raised about $140,000 of its $250,000 pledge to Lebanon, Barto said. An estimated $40,000 has come from Chicago donors, he added.
Barto said he doesn't blame those who are apprehensive about donating to his group or others, but it frustrates him that those in need can't get the proper aid including mattresses, medicines, fresh water, first aid kits and clothes. He said he knows of few Chicago-area groups that have mounted a charitable effort. . .
The Charity Without Fear law, enacted in spring by the Illinois Legislature, has calmed some donors' fears. The law prevents donors from prosecution if their contributions are used unlawfully without their knowledge.
"I think the focus of the community is helping Lebanon heal and rebuild," Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "Obviously, the devastation they have witnessed is incredible, all of us who are incensed by that want to transform the negative energy to positive."….
Those wanting to help can visit www.thezakat.org
http://www.dailyherald.com/search/searchstory.asp?id=219125
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