“Three Muslim charities have been effectively shut down since December 2001 and are now
engaged in a legal battle against the federal government. On December 4, 2001, the government
designated the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) a terrorist organization
and seized its assets. The government accused HLF of supporting Hamas, a group listed as a
terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State. HLF has insisted that its social and health
services have been extended to assist Palestinian orphans, widows and poor persons irrespective
of political views. The group stated it did not condone terrorism and that it has never offered any
financial support to any party outside its humanitarian mission.”

      The government has laid out an excellent case linking the Holy Land Foundation to Hamas. Instead of asking the HLF to explain itself, CAIR immediately rises to the defense of the HLF and never once raises the question, “What if President Bush is right?”  Think about it, the President of the United States issues an executive order directing law enforcement to close down terrorist groups and their supporters and immediately CAIR starts screaming, “civil rights” when a Hamas linked group is shut down!  Why this behavior on the part of “Americas premier Islamic civil rights group?”  

 CAIR continues:

     “In addition, Global Relief Foundation (GRF) and Benevolence International Foundation (BIF)
were hit with financial sanctions by the Treasury Department without the government having
specified any suspicions about the conduct and financial ties of the two groups. No criminal
charges have been filed against any of the three charities. These closures have had a wide impact;
roughly 50,000 donors were affected by the closures. These foundations had established a track
record of effective relief work. They carried out several development projects in high-need areas
and served refugees and victims of natural disasters. Donors view such organizations as essential
to the ability of Muslims to practice the religious duty of zakat (alms giving), a pillar of their faith.
Many Muslims believe shutting religious charities because of suspicion that some of its associates
or recipients have extreme political views is a form of profiling that is discriminatory by nature.”

      “Qualitatively, it has been much more violent-perhaps reflecting the fact that the suspected
terrorists of September 11, unlike those of April 19, were Muslim.”

     “12/16/2001    Rabih Haddad, board member of Global Relief Foundation, a Muslim charity
being investigated by the government, is held and threatened with deportation for overstaying his visa. In the early days of his detention he was treated like a criminal and held in solitary confinement. The man has no criminal record and no charges were ever filed against him.”

     “1/8/2001     A family who is moving to New York from Florida is facing problems with finding a place to stay because most of the of the places declined their rental application. The complainant believes the reason may be related to their religion.”

      “10/28/2001    A man of Middle Eastern descent reported his car's rear glass window broken by an unknown person.”

     “12/28/2001    The rear glass of a Muslim man's car was shattered while parked in his driveway.  He believes the incident is bias-motivated, although he said he does not know of any neighbor with anti-Muslim sentiment.”

     “3/22/2001    An administrator reportedly discriminated against Muslim inmates. Many  times they would order materials and the prison would receive it but the administrator would not let them get it."

     “4/28/2001    A Muslim couple were not allowed to visit a relative because one of them refused to remove her hijab.”

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