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CAIR Bulletin – August 17, 2006
U.S. Postal Service investigating possible
sabotage against Chicago Muslim charity
CHICAGO, IL - The Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced today that the U.S. Postal Service is currently conducting an investigation into concerns of possible foul play expressed by a Chicago-area Muslim Charity. The Zakat Foundation reported its concerns to CAIR-Chicago earlier today who requested the investigation.
The Zakat Foundation sent out approximately 70,000 mailings soliciting donations for the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. Shortly thereafter, approximately 10,500 of those mailings were returned, in the same sequence they were sent out, with a notice stating "undeliverable as addressed."
When the Zakat Foundation took the mailings back to the postal office to have an employee look up the addresses, the addresses were verifiable in the computer system. The employee expressed concerns that an act bigotry may be to blame for this unusual occurrence.
The Zakat Foundation reportedly lost about $4,000 in raw materials and postage from the returned mailings, and an estimated $105,000 in projected donations that would have resulted from the mailings.
A Postal Investigator is currently conducting an investigation into the matter because the Zakat Foundation is concerned about possible sabotage.
"Our community is watching with keen interest as this investigation unravels," said Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago. "It is important to withhold judgement until after all the facts have been uncovered."
Rehab added that the Muslim community is particularly concerned given the recent track record of lash outs against Muslim charities, coupled with the recent surge in hate crimes against Muslims, in North America.
U.S. Postal Service employees are prohibited from tampering with mail. Additionally, all federal employees are prohibited from discriminating against individuals and entities on the basis of religion.
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