The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), a U.K. umbrella group dominated by groups linked to the global Muslim Brotherhood, has announced that it has written a letter to the U.K. clearing bank said to be behind the recent troubles of INTERPAL, a U.K charity that is part of a Hamas fundraising network. According to the announcement:
MCB has written to Lloyds TSB deploring its action that places the community’s most respected charity in limbo Lloyds-TSB is the clearing bank for the Islamic Bank of Britain, where Interpal holds its account.
The full text of MCB’s letter to the CEO of Lloyds TSB:
Your decision to serve notice on the Islamic Bank of Britain to cease all dealings with the International Relief and Development Fund (Interpal) is causing the MCB and the Muslim community tremendous concern and anxiety. Interpal is a well-respected charity and an affiliate of the MCB providing shelter, food, medicine and education for tens of thousands of deprived Palestinians. It is a British charity and operates in accordance with English Law under the supervision of the Charity Commission. Aid is given to beneficiaries purely on the basis of need, not political or religious affiliation. We are all aware of past and present campaigns to vilify and undermine Interpal. Two investigations by the Charities Commission, in 1996 and 2003, have rejected the very serious allegations brought against it. We had hoped that all such accusations would be buried and laid to rest once and for all. We deplore the pressure that has been placed on IBB to close down the Interpal account. We note that Lloyds TSB with its high street presence has a significant number of Muslim account holders, and that it has also been reaching out for business for its shariah compliant current account. If banking services to Interpal are not reinstated, then this will inevitably influence the actions of its existing and future customer base.”
An earlier post discussed an INTERPAL statement indicating that the organization faces imminent closure because their bank has received notice to stop dealing with them.
INTERPAL is perhaps the key organization in the Union of Good, a worldwide coalition of Islamic charities headed by global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi that has recently been designated by the U.S. Treasury as a terrorist entity in connection with its fundraising for Hamas. INTERPAL has many connection with the European Muslim Brotherhood not the least of which is that according to a NEFA Foundation report, as of May 2007 the General Manager of INTERPAL was Abdelkarim Bensiali who in December 2005 was also the Executive Director of the Europe Trust, the charitable funding arm of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe, the European umbrella Muslim Brotherhood. INTERPAL has been the subject of numerous investigations by the U.K. Charity commission, U.K. media, and others but it appears that the U.S. designation of the Union of Good may have tipped the balance.
INTERPAL is strongly supported by many organizations in the U.K. which are part of the Muslim Brotherhood network including the Muslim Association of Britain, the British Muslim Initiative, and the Palestinian Return Centre as well as the MCB as their letter demonstrates.