The U.K. Muslim Aid has sent a communication to the Money Jihad blog asserting that the organization has never been a member of the Union of Good. The communication states:
Name: Inlia Aziz Email: inlia@muslimaid.org Website: http://www.muslimaid.org Message: Dear Sir/ Madam
I would like to bring your kind attention to the blog “World Muslim League plays host” which was published on your website on 25th July 2011.
I would like to inform you that Muslim Aid has never been a member of the Union of Good. It is based on a misunderstanding. Our regulator, the UK Charity Commission is aware of this unfortunate association which we strongly reject.
I would also like to inform you that our CEO did not attend the conference of the Muslim World League in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He is currently at Muslim Aid headquarters in London.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further queries.
Thank you
Kind regards
Inlia Aziz Communications Department Muslim Aid | PO Box 3, London E1 1JX | Tel: 020 7377 4200 Fax: 020 7377 4201 | Web: www.muslimaid.org”
An earlier post discussed comments by a U.K. journalist on a recent decision by UK charity regulators that links between the charity known as Muslim Aid and terrorists are unsubstantiated calling the decision a “whitewash.”
Despite the denial by Muslim Aid, the charity was listed as a founding member of the Union of Good in 2001 and as a member circa 2009. The Union of Good itself is a charity coalition headed by global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi and described in a NEFA Foundation report as:
The Union of Good is a coalition of Islamic charities that provides financial support to both the Hamas “social” infrastructure, as well as its terrorist activities. It is headed by global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi, and most of the trustees and member organizations are associated with the global Muslim Brotherhood. The Union of Good was banned by Israel in 2002 and was recently designated a terrorist entity by the United States, although neither Youssef Qaradawi nor any of the Trustees were similarly designated. Despite the fact that action has been taken against some of its member organizations in Europe, many of its other European member organizations continue to operate. Further, the Union of Good itself does not appear to be under investigation in Europe.
Another NEFA report discusses the four U.K. Union of Good charities in detail, including Muslim Aid, stating:
As with the UG itself, the U.K. member organizations, their donors, and their leaders are often associated with the global Muslim Brotherhood and are themselves frequently inter-related, sometimes sharing Trustees, banks, and in some cases, using each other to deliver aid and/or donating to each other. The U.K. member organizations appear to also deliver aid in a similar manner, donating to “partner” organizations in the Palestinian Territories, many of which are associated with Hamas and who are responsible for use of the aid money. It is often difficult to understand how the UG member charity money is actually used, as funded projects are described in only general terms.
The NEFA report reviews the evidence at that time linking Muslim Aid to terrorism.