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The Guardian - April 10, 2004
Muslim Charity Asks U.S. for Frozen Funds
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Muslim charity is seeking permission to have some of its money, which was frozen by the government, released for legitimate aid purposes. The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development filed a request Friday (4/9/2004) to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to unfreeze $50,000 to be sent to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, which seeks to provide free medical care for Palestinian children in the Middle East.
The Bush administration in 2001 accused Holy Land, a Texas-based group, of financing the militant Islamic group Hamas and ordered U.S. banks to freeze its assets. Holy Land says it has never donated money or provided services to Hamas, a group the government says is a foreign terrorist organization.
The Treasury Department had no immediate comment on Holy Land's request. Last year, a Treasury official said the general notion of taking frozen charitable assets and releasing them for legitimate aid purposes was a complex matter worth exploring.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3960292,00.html
MPAC Press Release – April 9, 2004
American Muslims Demand Release
of Frozen Zakat Funds
As a result of a meeting coordinated by Muslim Public Affairs Council with senior Department of Treasury officials in October of 2003, the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), whose assets have been frozen by the US government, will file for a license to direct frozen funds to a third party charity. MPAC considers this step critical to a final resolution of this matter, which is the release of the Zakat funds and their ultimate dispersal to the intended recipients, impoverished Muslims around the world. Treasury Department Deputy Assistant Juan Zarate stated that ensuring that Muslim charity money reaches its intended recipients "comports with the administration's very clear message that we are in favor of charitable giving." (Associated Press 10/23/03.)
Later today, HLF will file for a license to transfer a portion of previously frozen funds to the Palestine Children Relief Fund, in accordance with the will of the donors who contributed thousands of dollars to fulfill their religious obligation of Zakat (almsgiving).
Time and again, President Bush and his officials at the Treasury Department and in other branches of the US Government have claimed that the "War on Terror" is not a war on Islam. They have stated that they have no intention of interfering with the rights of American Muslims to engage in charitable giving for legitimate humanitarian causes around the world. In fact, the government argues that it wants to help the donors be sure that their money does not get into the wrong hands and reaches those truly in need. In a Washington, DC forum sponsored by MPAC, Zarate stated that the Bush administration felt strongly about the sanctity of charitable giving and encouraged American Muslim and Arab organizations to take much-needed leadership on this issue. Zarate added that the administration saw American Muslim charities as a possible vanguard to help strengthen transparency in charities abroad and that the government's attempts to stop terrorist funds are not directed at donors themselves.
In an MPAC forum on October 20, 2003 Treasury Department officials said that the frozen money legally still belongs to the charities and that they would have to sign off on transferring their assets to a third party (Associated Press, 10/23/03).
Now that a Muslim charity has agreed to file for this license, it is time for the Treasury Department to follow through on its promise. The Palestine Children Relief Fund is an open organization that has been praised by dignitaries such as U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland for its continuing efforts to provide free medical care to hundreds of Palestinian children who have suffered from illness or injury.
The release of the funds of the Holy Land Foundation in accordance with the wishes of American Muslim donors should mark the beginning of a process that results in the legitimate distribution to those in need. Unfortunately, the assets of the other American Muslim charitable organizations have been depleted by administrative and legal costs. The remaining funds should not be diverted to groups or individuals who are currently using the legal system to achieve dubious political gains on behalf of special interest groups. MPAC will follow up with the Treasury Department and inform the community as the situation develops.
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