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Muslim Charities Struggle to Stay Open

By Daisy Hernández, ColorLines. Posted September 12, 2006.


In the years since 9/11, the government has continued to shut down local Muslim aid organizations that have never been convicted of a crime. Is this Bush's idea of a 'faith-based initiative'?

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Last year, workers at a small Muslim social service agency in Virginia received a disturbing letter from their bank. After six years, Wachovia Corp. was closing the account of the five-person agency that specializes in domestic violence services and other types of immediate assistance to families of all religious backgrounds.

"We were totally shocked," said Margaret Farchtchi, board treasurer of the Foundation for Appropriate and Immediate Temporary Help, also known as FAITH. "We always kept our accounts in good shape."

But the agency also had other reasons to think that they would not be targeted. "We felt very secure because we are a local charity," explained Farchtchi. "We don't have donors from overseas. We thought we were out of what you might call the danger zone."

Many people thought the same. As such, the story of FAITH illustrates the challenge now facing the Muslim community. Since 9/11, the government has frozen the assets of six large Muslim organizations and shut them down -- although no one has been convicted of any crime. People, in turn, have begun donating in larger numbers to local charities, assuming these organizations to be free of international ties and safe from government interference. But the experience of FAITH suggests that there are no guarantees.

"It's still very much happening five years later as it did a year later," said Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations in Chicago. Rehab himself used to donate to humanitarian causes in Egypt and India but now gives to his local mosque.

Last year in Illinois, a coalition of Muslim and other religious organizations pushed the Illinois State Assembly to pass a resolution called "Charity Without Fear." The resolution called on the federal government to create a list of organizations that are safe for people to contribute to without fear of being questioned by the government. The Bush administration has made no move to respond.

With or without fear, many Muslims contribute 10 percent of their annual income to charity. Having turned to local organizations, they have begun to directly impact mosques.

"Donations are back to the levels of pre-September 11 and are better," said Mohammed Sahloul, president of the Mosque Foundation, which has about 4,000 attendees for prayer service on Fridays. The mosque's budget has doubled from $500,000 to $1 million, and they have used the new money to expand the mosque and remodel the youth center.

Sahloul says that most people used to give 70 percent of their donations for charities abroad and 30 percent to local causes. Now, it's the opposite, with 70 percent going to local organizations and mosques.

But with the closure of FAITH's account in Virginia, many leaders think a signal is being sent to the community that no organization is safe.

In Toledo, Ohio, the FBI planted an informant in the Muslim charity KindHearts three years ago. This spring, the government shut down the charity and froze its $1 million assets, accusing the organization of financially supporting Hamas, which the Bush administration considers to be a terrorist group. At the same time, the government arrested three men in Toledo on suspicion of terrorism. The connection to KindHearts? Some invoices and a change purse with the KindHearts logo were found at one of the men's homes, according to government officials.

In Virginia, FAITH isn't the only one under attack. Wachovia has apparently closed accounts held by five Muslim organizations in Virginia. Earlier this year, the Washington Post reported that FAITH may have come under scrutiny because it received a large donation from a Muslim businessman whose home and accounts were raided by the government in 2002.

In June, FAITH's board of directors was in talks with the Wachovia Corp., hoping that the organization's account might be reopened.

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Daisy Hernández is managing editor of ColorLines.

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proving
Posted by: rsaxto on Sep 12, 2006 1:40 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Thanks for proving that the "faith-based" psuedoreligious Bushies are not religious at all for they don't believe in freedom of religion. They only believe in killing Muslims all over the world so they can push psuedoreligious "Christianity".

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Are you kidding?
Posted by: ISlamIslam on Sep 12, 2006 2:31 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This article, with its petulant tone, doesn't prove anything. It is superficially written and barely researched, with no data on how many Muslim charities have been shut down because they were proven to have ties to terrorism. Oh, I forgot -- Bush is the Great Satan who wants to kill all Muslims. Sounds like Osama talking.

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» RE: Are you kidding? Posted by: Third_Eye_Open
» RE: Are you kidding? Posted by: cinattra
» RE: Are you kidding? Posted by: ISlamIslam
» RE: Are you kidding? Posted by: Third_Eye_Open
» RE: Are you kidding? Posted by: cinattra
Poor investigating - facts not surprising
Posted by: Conservasaurus on Sep 12, 2006 5:40 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As the Washington Post reported “that FAITH may have come under scrutiny because it received a large donation from a Muslim businessman whose home and accounts were raided by the government in 2002,” …. organizations do have to be careful where they get their donations from.

It’s good that the US is looking at Muslim organizations for any possible link or info re terrorists.. That makes sense and is unfortunate for many American Muslims in this country, most are outstanding people who’s image is darkened by terrorism.

The fact that Wachovia closed “FAITH ‘s” account - there is no information as to why so no judgment can be made.. Accounts are closed every day. If it were due to the fact that they were a Muslim organization and proved to have no ties , then that is a problem.

It would be interesting to see who’s invested in Wachovia and who their senior management are to see what’s driving this decision. The author should have tried that route to at least draw some logical conclusions…

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Likely, the right thing
Posted by: YogiBear on Sep 12, 2006 9:19 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'm rather surpirsed to see this here. Aggressively targeting suspicious overseas charities that may be helping to fund terrorists is about the only thing this administration has done right. Even Sinn Fein's US fundraising efforts have been targeted by our government. Any organization that has the appearance of donating funds to a terrorist, or otherwise criminal group will attract attention of law enforcment.

But I prefer to think of this another way. There are worldwide aid organizations that accomplish much of what these smaller groups are aiming at. The Red Cross and Red Crescent exist all over the world. I don't believe they are on the list of banned or frozen asset organizations. As for local charities, people appear to be giving to their mosques the way many christians give to their churches. A lot of that money goes to overhead, to keep the business of the church running. If they want to help people in their communities, the United Way would probably be better.

Some government intervention will be overhanded, I'm sure. The answer to that is to run a charity like you'd run a business, keeping track of every dollar from start to finish. That is better for the people donating and recieving the money as well, as there are stories aplenty of people embezzling money from local (and sometimes national) charities.

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The Bushies fear mongering seems to be working. How tragic for America.
Posted by: Christie on Sep 12, 2006 11:06 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Many of the people commenting so far seem to be making the assumption that if it is a Muslim charity it must be dangerous. Do people reading the article even “see” the following information in the article? “The Wachova Corp (a bank?) was “closing the account of the five-person agency that specializes in domestic violence services and other types of immediate assistance to families of all religious backgrounds.” I see no evidence that the people commenting negatively even let their brains register “domestic violences services” and “families of all religious backgrounds” and “local families”. I am appalled by the pre- judgments (on which prejudice is based) made here apparently based on the information to their brains that it is American Muslims making the donations and giving the aid -- and then the mind numbing fear sets in.

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Desperate to create an enemy worth believing in.
Posted by: thoughtcriminal on Sep 12, 2006 12:58 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I am reminded o Colin Powells tragic cry during the Clinton Years, "I'm running out of enemies here!". If anything evidences the massive media involvement in government war planning, it is the deliberate demonization of "The Arab terrorists' and the manner in which they have replaced "The Godless communists" as the greatest possible threat to the US populace in television programming and film plots.

The military-industrial corporate complex is in constant need of new enemies - otherwise, who would buy the weapons? Rumsfeld and Cheney are working to privatize the military for the benefit of their too-wealthy cronies in the private sector, and so this trend can be expected to continue.

This is nothing new in the US media; recall the black Katrina looters and the white Katrina victims? That's the result of the "War on Drugs" which was the most popular Republican topic before the "War on Terror". Repress and imprison and torture the domestic population while manipulating them through fear and disinformation - like Iraq, like the USA.

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Muslim businesses and charities: USA's Kristallnacht under Bush
Posted by: sofla100 on Sep 12, 2006 3:22 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Bush is no doubt determined to drive Muslim businesses and charities out of the USA. Muslims must realize they have become "the Jews" under America as the Jews once were under Hitler. The game: scapegoat to score as many political points as possible by marginalizing and demonizing an entire people and culture. The goal: Elimination and extermination of "the Muslims" from America.

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IRA
Posted by: Aussie Kim on Sep 12, 2006 7:25 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The IRA had to shut up shop after 9/11 because the US cut off all American funds to terrorist groups.

If it was ok for the US to fund some terrorist freedom fighters in Ireland, why is it NOT ok for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah to exist and why should Bush decide that Islamic groups doing nothing by GOOD should fall by the wayside? Is this the local backlash against US Muslims finally arriving and even being legitimised? (I say "finally arriving" because it seems to me that Bush asked people to be nice to US Muslims because he could just send his troops overseas to pick on other Muslims instead.)

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» RE: IRA Posted by: amatullah
» RE: IRA Posted by: cinattra
» RE: IRA Posted by: tashi
» RE: IRA Posted by: YogiBear
USA funds terrorists
Posted by: sofla100 on Sep 13, 2006 3:29 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Let's look now at the USA funding of terrorism. In this case, state sanctioned terrorism. Many organizations and the US government send billions to Israel every year to illegally annex and occupy Arab and Palestinian lands. Mosaad is a known terrorist organization that routinely kidnaps, tortures, and "disappears" Arabs. US bombs are used routinely by Israel to kill civilians in countries like Lebanon, where Israel dumps cluster bombs and white phosphorous on civilian hospitals and schools. All in violation of international law. So, who is supporting the terrorists? Should not all of these "Israeli support" organizations be shut down for supporting terrorism?

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» Besides that... Posted by: YogiBear