Evidently the folks at the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) are not paying attention to those whom they are
allowing to affiliate with their organization.
According to the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), an umbrella
group for South Asian-oriented mosques and Islamic centers throughout the
United States and Canada, its subsidiary “ICNA Relief USA” has been recognized
by FEMA for its Hurricane Katrina relief.
Considering ICNA Relief’s recent association with the financing of Hamas
abroad, FEMA, a division of Homeland Security, may want to review its policy
concerning certain organizations it lets participate in its programs.
Through FEMA’s Public Assistance
Grant Program, aid is provided to “certain Non-Profit organizations to
alleviate suffering and hardship resulting from major disasters or emergencies
declared by the President.” However, if
an organization that is being provided this assistance is also helping to
finance an overseas terrorist organization, then any “suffering and hardship”
that is “alleviated” – if any – would undoubtedly be canceled out by the agony
created by the terrorist acts.
While ICNA Relief has the benefit of being
a “tax exempt” organization within the U.S., the
group, at the same time, engages with a foreign entity that finances Hamas.
In August of 2006, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI),
the Muslim Brotherhood of Pakistan, announced on its website that its charity,
the Al-Khidmat Foundation (AKF), had given six
million rupees – the equivalent of $99,000 – to the head of Hamas, Khaled
Mashaal. In turn, Mashaal, who resides
in Damascus, Syria, thanked the group for the money and said that it would be used by
Hamas to further terrorist attacks against Israelis.
At the time of the transaction, ICNA Relief
USA was the top
donor to AKF, and according to AKF’s website, that is still the case. This certainly creates a conflict of interest
with regard to ICNA’s association with FEMA.
On the one hand, the group claims to be aiding those in need. On the other, the group is helping to destroy
people’s lives.
On October 25th, ICNA announced
its involvement in relief efforts concerning the wildfires of Southern California. Stated on the group’s site was/is the
following: “ICNA’s Southern California chapter has partnered with several local
organizations to provide shelter, evacuation help and immediate relief and long
term help for those in need.” According
to the site, an entity titled “ICNA Relief USA’s Wildfires Disaster Response”
was created for this purpose, and ICNA is currently asking for donations for
it.
The site further states that ICNA Southern
California is appealing to the Muslim Community “to join the special
congregational prayer for relief from the fire and for rain to end the
drought.” The prayers will be held at
the Islamic Society of Orange County (ISOC), the place where Al-Qaeda spokesman
Adam Gadahn became a Muslim and where the spiritual leader of the 1993 World Trade Center
bombing, Omar Abdel Rahman, had been an invited guest lecturer.
The press contact for ICNA’s wildfire work
is the group’s Secretary General Naeem Baig, who claimed in July of this year
that ICNA has “no
relations – no links – to any organization or any country outside the United States.” This, of course, is a
denial of reality, as Baig’s statement completely disregards ICNA’s
relationship with JI, AKF, Hamas, and even ICNA’s own charity, Helping Hand,
which has an office in Islamabad, Pakistan.
It is the contradictions of ICNA that do
harm to the group’s claims, which at face value seem commendable. As stated on its website, “ICNA Relief USA is
committed to offering services and assistance to those struck by disaster
within the United States. Partnering with Red Cross,
FEMA, and other leading disaster relief agencies, ICNA Relief USA is
becoming one of the forefront Islamic relief agencies within the United States.”
For ICNA, having a relationship with groups
like FEMA and the Red Cross is a win-win situation on many fronts. The group gains legitimacy; the group gets to
ask for more donations and possibly receives government grants; the group gains
praise for helping the community; and lastly, the group gets to perform ‘dawah’
or outreach (for the express purpose of conversion), whilst exposing the most
vulnerable in society to Islam. But
what’s good for ICNA may very well be the exact opposite for America
and her allies abroad. As long as ICNA remains
associated with Jamaat-e-Islami, and as long as it continues to play a role in
the financing of Hamas, the group’s “good deeds” cannot be seen as anything but
pointless and dishonest.
Hurricane Katrina left death and
destruction in its wake. FEMA was
charged with the task of divvying up federal funds in order to rebuild towns
and survivors’ lives. The money numbered
in the tens of billions. In the
aftermath, a massive investigation
was launched checking for possible waste and/or corruption concerning the funds. Questions arose, with regard to the money
trail.
Given ICNA’s ties to overseas extremist
groups, and given that the money transfer to Hamas from AKF took place while
the Katrina relief effort was in high gear, a new question needs to be asked
and investigated: Being a “partner” to FEMA, as ICNA Relief USA has declared
itself to be, did part of that money trail lead to ICNA? And if the answer is indeed “yes,” then did a
portion of that part, against the government’s wishes, ‘terrifyingly’ make its
way elsewhere?