Funding to terrorism constitutes a threat

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 Edward Chiao
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 Edward Chiao

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In attempting to eradicate terrorist organizations, the United
States has targeted a different kind of organization ““ the
humanitarian.

Last month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury flexed its power
by freezing assets to several Islamic charity foundations,
including the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, the
Benevolence International Foundation and the Global Relief
Foundation, claiming it had evidence that they fund illegal
terrorist groups.

All three of these far-reaching charity organizations ran
full-page ads in the November edition of Al-Talib, the Muslim
newsmagazine at UCLA. The organizations, which are largely
humanitarian, purchased ad space in the newsmagazine to urge
readers to donate money for emergency relief to Afghan Refugees and
to provide aid and development to people in Palestine.

Last year alone, the Holy Land Foundation raised $13 million
from U.S. residents. But according to the Bush administration, the
Holy Land Foundation may be funding Hamas, a militant group known
to use terrorism against Israel, in addition to providing social
services and poverty relief in the West Bank and Gaza. If the
allegations are correct, they present a clear conflict in terms of
national security.

Regardless of the humanitarian good that organizations carry
out, if there is sufficient and reasonable cause to believe
portions of their financial resources fund terrorist groups or
terrorist activity, their assets must be frozen.

Understandably, some feel the United States is only directing
its War on Terrorism toward Middle Easterners and Islamic
organizations. The Council on American-Islamic Relations called
Bush’s accusations “an unjust and counterproductive
move that … could create the impression that there has been a
shift from a war on terrorism to an attack on Islam.”

The Council believes that Bush will continue the kind of blind
anti-terrorist enforcement practiced directly after the Sept. 11
attacks, when Middle Eastern men were arrested arbitrarily and had
their identities and the charges against them held from public
knowledge, a practice that sadly continues.

But in this case, the issue is more complicated.

While the unlawful and reckless detaining of Muslim or Arab
Americans is clearly wrong, there’s a difference between an
individual and a multi-million dollar organization. The latter has
the greater and more realistic ability to fund the development and
maintenance of a terrorist organization’s infrastructure.
It’s more difficult for terrorists to emerge and carry out
large scale attacks if they don’t have an organization to
fund them. Whether the Holy Land, Global Relief and Benevolence
foundations are directly or indirectly involved with terrorist
groups should not matter. Given the stature and the resources these
groups have, any support of terrorist groups is a threat to our
security.

Al-Talib, along with any other publication, must realize they
cannot financially support these organizations until it is clear
they have no involvement with terrorist organizations. But this
does not mean they shouldn’t support them at all.

Al-Talib and any other news source are entitled to freedom of
speech and to editorialize in favor of the humanitarian foundations
if they feel Bush’s actions are inappropriate.

Threats against national security must be investigated to the
fullest capacity ““ but this does not mean everyone should
agree with the measures used.