US media is reporting on a new congressional measure aimed at cutting US government funding for Islamic Relief USA. According to the Washington Free Beacon report:
A new congressional measure seeks to cut all U.S. funding for an Islamic charity that has been banned in some countries for providing assistance to Hamas and other terror-tied organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
The new measure, which was proposed as an amendment to Congress’s yearly appropriations bill, which sets U.S. expenditures, would ban any taxpayer funds from being provided to Islamic Relief Worldwide, or IRW, a global charitable organization that has been linked to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
IRW is banned in some Middle Eastern countries for its alleged support of terror organizations, though the United States has continued to provide taxpayer funds to the organization under the Obama administration, sparking outrage among some lawmakers and regional experts.”
The move to ban U.S. funding to IRW was authored by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who told the Free Beacon that the U.S. taxpayers should not be giving to any organization tied to terror movements, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, which continues to support extremist activities.
“U.S. tax dollars cannot go to groups involved in funding terrorism,” DeSantis told the Free Beacon. “Any group tied to Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood should be ineligible for funding. It is a slap in the face of the American taxpayer to allow such groups to receive federal funding.”
Read the rest here.
GMBDW reporting on Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA) has included:
- In August 2011, the we reported that IRUSA had a “collaborative partnership” with the USDA’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and that IRUSA had pledged to host 50 sites as part of a Michelle Obama initiative.
- In November 2011 we reported that a northern Virginia man was suing a U.S. intelligence agency alleging that it revoked his security clearance because his wife attended the Islamic Saudi Academy and worked for IRUSA.
- In October 2012, we recommended an article titled “Islamist Adviser to the State Dept and USAID Exposed” which examined the CEO of IRUSA and his appointment to a State Department Working Group.
- In November 2014 we reported on a June 2014 leadership change at IRUSA related to financial misdoing at the charity.
Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) is headquartered in the UK where until recently, it’s chairman of the board of trustees was Ibrahim El-Zayat, a leader in both the European and the German Muslim Brotherhood. Sometime in 2016, El-Zayat was replaced as Chairman by South African national Tahir Salie, a former IRW Treasurer while El-Zayat remains as a trustee of the UK branch of Islamic Relief. The new IRW Chairman Tahir Salie has his own connections to the Global Muslim Brotherhood and to Hamas.
For more on IRW, go here.