Charity Leaders See Broad Impact From Ruling on Muslim Charity

The conviction last month of a Muslim charity on federal charges of money laundering, tax fraud, and supporting terrorism has left some nonprofit officials and lawyers worried that many international groups, not just Islamic organizations, will have a harder time raising money and doing their work.

Many charity officials say Muslim organizations have operated under a cloud of suspicion since September 11, 2001, and that the guilty verdict against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development only deepens that skepticism among donors and the public.

“Islamophobes use these cases as another point to disengage the Muslim-American community from policy making, from the grant-making community, from basically being part of civil society,” said Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, which works to ensure the civil rights of Muslim Americans.

Hina Shamsi, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union national-security project, who is representing two Muslim organizations that have been named “unindicted co-conspirators” in the Holy Land case, said the recent decision “adds to the stigma” attached to the charities.

The two groups are among 300 organizations and individuals that have been named as unindicted co-conspirators, which means the government can mention them in testimony without their knowledge. The groups have not been accused of any wrongdoing, but Ms. Shamsi said publicity from the case has harmed their reputations.

‘Confirming the Reality’

Meanwhile, other Muslim officials said they do not believe the trial’s outcome will have much of an impact. Farhana Khera, president of Muslim Advocates, which works to accredit and educate Muslim groups in legal and financial management, says charities have already been working under suspicion and are taking steps to prove their trustworthiness.

“I don’t see this as an extra hurdle,” she said. “I just see it confirming the reality that charities, Muslim or non-Muslim, need to be complying with the law.” She said the decision “underscores the importance of the work we’re doing.”

The Holy Land Foundation, meanwhile, is expected to appeal. An earlier trial last year ended in a hung jury.

Another point of concern for some charity officials is the group’s assets. They were seized by the government, and Mr. Al-Marayati and other officials said they should be used for their original humanitarian purposes.

Others said they were concerned about legal and other precedents set by the trial.

Kay Guinane, program manager at OMB Watch’s charity and security network, said the retrial relied on government testimony that said charities could be convicted of supporting terrorism even if they were working with organizations abroad that weren’t explicitly listed on the government’s antiterror watchlist.

If charity officials cannot rely on government lists and could go to jail for picking the wrong organization to collaborate with, she said, that “could really create some significant barriers to humanitarian aid.”

She added: “This is about all charities working in parts of the world where there are designated terrorist organizations. That could include everyone, from the Red Cross, to Doctors Without Borders, to your local microfinance organization.”