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"Contributions across
the board have been drastically reduced because of
the fear," said Chebbani. |
CAIRO Many US Muslims are donating
less and less to Islamic charities, fearing that they
might be placed on FBI watch lists and accused of
channeling money to organizations designated as
terrorist by the State Department, a US newspaper
reported on Monday, October 30.
"Contributions across the board have
been drastically reduced because of the fear; people
associate contributions with risk and they dont want
that," accountant Ahmad Chebbani told The Washington
Post.
Chebbani, the owner of Omnex Accounting
and Tax Service Corporation and the president of the
American Arab Chamber of Commerce for eight years until
this June, used to donate $50,000 annually to charity,
basically to Muslim organizations.
Now he changed the target to avoid
unwanted attention from federal powers, giving money to
secular institutions like the Arab American National
Museum.
"Theres a lack of trust in the US
judicial system, with just an accusation you could end
up in jail with secret evidence used as a means of
prosecution."
Chebanni said US Muslim charity in
Dearborn, Michigan, home to the largest Muslim and Arab
concentrations in the US, is down by almost half.
Since the 9-11 attacks, US federal
authorities have placed Muslim charities under the
microscope on claims of channeling funds to
terrorists.
Years after raiding 15 Muslim charities
in Falls Church, Leesburg and Fairfax County and carting
away piles of documents, US investigators are not yet
able to produce evidence to substantiate claims of
funding terrorists.
The Office of Terrorism and Financial
Intelligence at the Treasury Department has also shut
down five major Muslim charities since then, seizing
millions of dollars in assets.
The Bush administration further froze
the assets of at least five pro-Palestinians charities
in Europe and Lebanon in 2003.
It reportedly pressured the Palestinian
Authority to freeze the bank accounts of 18 charities on
claims of donating money to the resistance group Hamas,
which is designated terrorist by Washington.
Dilemma
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|
"Its a real moral
dilemma. Do you forget about the rest of the world
out of fear?" wondered Bazzy.
|
Najah Bazzy, who established the Zaman
International charity in Dearborn, says US Muslims are
in an unenviable situation.
"Its a real moral dilemma. Do you
forget about the rest of the world out of fear? My
family has been here for 101 years, and as an American
Im offended."
"We cant stop giving because its a
pillar of Islam its a must," she noted.
In the past, Bazzy, a nurse, used to
raise up to $10,000 in cash donations for the poor and
needy.
By the end of `Eid Al-Fitr last week,
which marks the end of the holy fasting month of
Ramadan, donations amounted to less than $4,000.
When she called people to donate, they
hung up, fearing that their phones might have been
tapped by authorities.
Nobody wants to write a check for any
amount, and they look at her in horror when she offers a
receipt.
The New York Times recently disclosed
that the National Security Agency (NSA) has "directly"
tapped the countrys main communications systems without
court-approved warrants.
Federal Judge Anna Diggs Taylor has
accused US President George W. Bush of overstepping his
authority by authorizing the controversial domestic
spying program, which violates the Constitution.
Hounded
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"Many people who came
from the Middle East still live with the psyche of
being chased by the intelligence forces," said
Qazwini. |
Sayyid Hassan Qazwini, the Imam of the
Islamic Center of America, regretted that the US has
denied many Muslims, who fled their repressive regimes
in the Middle East, their long-cherished dream of
freedom.
"Many people who came from the Middle
East still live with the psyche of being chased by the
intelligence forces," he told the Post.
"Having these same forces acting here
intensifies the sense of fear in these communities."
Imam Qazwini, because of the clampdown
on charity, has not managed to raise funds to cover the
$15 million spent on building the center, the largest in
the US.
The center is indebted by $6
million.
Muslims and Arabs have taken the brunt
of the Patriot Act and other federal powers applied in
the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, according to a May
2004 report released by the US Senate Office Of
Research.
Responding to the shutdown drive and
restrictions on the charity work, US Muslims formed last
year the National Council of American Muslims
Non-Profits in an effort to develop a comprehensive
oversight mechanism ensuring transparency and protection
for their charities.
