UK media is reporting that Islamic Relief, described as Britain’s biggest Muslim charity, has agreed not to use funds raised jointly with other charities for emergency relief in Gaza pending its own investigation into Israeli allegations of Hamas ties. According to the The Telegraph report:
September 3, 2014 Britain’s biggest Muslim charity has agreed not to use funds raised jointly with other charities for emergency relief in Gaza after Israeli claims that it was acting as a front for Hamas.
Islamic Relief said it had decided not to use cash raised by the Gaza Crisis Appeal, run by the Disasters Emergency Committee, until it had completed an investigation into the allegations from the Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon.
He placed the charity on a banned list in June, preventing it operating in Israel or the West Bank, claiming that he had evidence that it had been funnelling funds to Hamas.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza began less than three weeks later. The Birmingham-based charity, which is widely respected, strenuously denied that it had any links with Hamas and said it was ‘extremely surprised and concerned’ by the minister’s claims. But it said was investigating the allegations and had chosen to effectively suspend its involvement in DEC until the process was completed.”
Read the rest here.
The GMBDW reported in June that the Israeli Defense Minister had banned Islamic Relief Worldwide from operating in Israel saying that it is involved in sending cash to Hamas. In May 2006, the Israeli government announced the arrest of an IRW worker for activities related to supporting Hamas and said that IRW activities in the Palestinian territories “are carried out by social welfare organizations controlled and staffed by Hamas operatives.’
Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) is headquartered in the UK. where one it’s trustees listed in U.K. charity records is Ibrahim El-Zayat, a leader in both the European and the German Muslim Brotherhood. Mr. El-Zayat is also a trustee of the UK. branch of Islamic Relief. Islamic Relief Worldwide is also listed as a company in the UK where records indicate that Dr. Ahmed Al-Rawi, the former head of the Federation of islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) and former of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) has been a director at one time. Both FIOE and the MAB are part of the U.K. and European Muslim Brotherhood. Another member of the board of Islamic Relief Worldwide is Essam El-Haddad, a longtime Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood member a former adviser to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. A third former member of the Islamic Relief company was Issam El-Bashir, a Sudanese national with multiple ties to the Global Muslim Brotherhood.
Islamic Relief was one of the founding members of the Union of Good, a coalition of Islamic charities that provides financial support to both the Hamas social infrastructure, as well as its terrorist activities. The Union of Good is headed by global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi and most of the trustees and member organizations are associated with the Global Muslim Brotherhood.