|
New York Times - March 1, 2004
Court won't hear Muslim charity appeal
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court refused on Monday to reinstate a lawsuit challenging the Bush administration's decision to freeze assets of a Muslim charity accused of financing the militant Islamic group Hamas.
The high court did not comment in rejecting an appeal from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a Texas-based group shut down in December 2001. A federal appeals court had ruled last year that the Treasury Department had ample evidence linking Hold Land to terrorism.
The Supreme Court's action was a victory for the Bush administration, which has kept secret some of the documentation it says shows the group's terrorist links.
Lawyers for Holy Land denied any support for Hamas, and likened the charity closure to the internment of Japanese citizens during World War II.
``To this day, no court has required the government to present a single live witness or sworn statement supporting its contention that HLF, once this nation's largest Muslim charity, funds the terrorist group Hamas,'' the lawyers wrote in their Supreme Court appeal.
``The government's claim of national security must be considered in light of a history of similar claims that have proven exaggerated.''
Holy Land says it provides relief to refugees, orphans and victims of human and natural disasters, and that it has never donated money or provided services to Hamas, a group blamed for orchestrating suicide bombings in Israel. The State Department lists Hamas in its roster of foreign terrorist organizations.
The Bush administration also froze assets of two other Islamic charities suspected of funding terrorists, the Global Relief Foundation and the Benevolence International Foundation, for a total of between $5 million and $7 million.
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Global Relief last year.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scotus-Muslim-Charity.html
Manila Times - March 02, 2004
US Muslim charities complain of ‘witch hunt’
By Caroline Drees
WASHINGTON—Muslim charities and organizations in the United States say they are the target of a government “witch hunt” since September 11 which is intimidating donors and hampering their work.
Required by their faith to pay “zakat,” or alms for the needy, Muslims say the ripple effects of the government’s hunt for terrorist funds are hurting their community at its core and making them feel like suspects.
They say the official designation of three US Muslim charities as suspected sponsors of terrorism, coupled with what they consider rising anti-Muslim discrimination since the 2001 attacks by Islamic militants, has put them in the firing line simply because of their religious affiliation.
Charities also complain about high levels of secrecy surrounding the designations, and say excessive scrutiny and hefty costs to meet strict new US regulations mean a smaller percentage of donations is now really reaching those in need.
“I feel like we are suspect, having done nothing wrong,” said Laila al-Marayati, board member of charity KinderUSA. “People just assume that by definition if you’re Muslim, you’re going to have something to do with terrorism . . . We’re under the assumption that we’re under surveillance all the time.”
Dalia Hashad, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union advocacy group, said: “To say that the Muslim community, and certainly Muslim charities, are receiving extra scrutiny is not an exaggeration, and I don’t think the word witch hunt is inappropriate to describe what the government is doing.”
An inquiry by the Senate Finance Committee into the activities of 25 Muslim groups—including the three already frozen by officials—was the latest example of “guilt by association,” Islamic groups say.
The committee asked the Internal Revenue Service in December for records including donor lists for the 25 groups “to conduct oversight on the issue of organizations, particularly tax exempt organizations such as charities and foundations, which finance terrorism and perpetuate violence.”
The IRS has not yet supplied the information, a committee spokeswoman said.
Some nongovernmental groups tracking Muslim charities said they were surprised by many of the names on the list, which they said had not been linked to terrorism before, such as the Islamic Society of North America, one of the largest Muslim organizations in the country.
“What’s really going on here is a very inappropriate fishing expedition,” said Hussein Ibish, spokesman for the American-Arab Antidiscrimination Committee.
“This political witch hunt is very disheartening and disappointing for us,” said Jihad Smaili, a board member of KindHearts, one of the groups listed by the Senate committee. “It appears you are convicted and then you have to show your innocence.”
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2004/mar/02/yehey/opinion/20040302opi5.html
|
