Clarifying Facts About a Charity

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor:

In response to the article “Operating Under a Cloud: Scrutiny of Muslim Charities Raises Knotty Questions” (June 20), I would like to make some important clarifications:

• The success of organizations like KinderUSA relates directly to the community’s strong desire to provide assistance to those in greatest need. We began our organization while Palestinians were suffering from massive collective punishment and the disproportionate use of force that resulted in serious health crises among children, deprivation of nutrition, and disruption of education.
• A meaningful survey of our donors would be a useful and accurate way of determining what has motivated them to contribute. Perhaps they gave because of the credibility we have established as physicians with a long history of participation in humanitarian causes. Or perhaps they donated because they felt that our commitment to transparency and minimal overhead assured them that their donations would be used for legitimate charitable purposes only. Most likely, they gave simply to help children in need.
• Your reporter, Ian Wilhelm, accurately reflects the measures we take to ensure that our funds are not illegally diverted. During the interview for this article, I specifically mentioned that, in response to the current FBI investigation, we subjected all the needy children and orphans we sponsored to the terrorist list compiled by the Office of Foreign Assets Control just to be sure we weren’t inadvertently supporting someone tied to terrorism. There were no matches and we feel this point should have been included in the article.
• While mentioning that the Israelis declined to comment on the reason for the arrests of Dalell Mohmed and Riad Abdelkarim, Mr. Wilhelm states that they were “detainedfor allegedly helping terrorists.” To date, the Israeli authorities responsible have never acknowledged the reasons for their unwarranted detentions. If the Israeli Embassy did not respond to Mr. Wilhelm’s request for information, it is not possible to draw any conclusions except by speculation.
• As a reflection of its own commitment to transparency, The Chronicle should disclose the bias of any of its sources used for comment. Failure to mention the well-known pro-Israel position of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy is disingenuous because the reader is left to assume that the institute is a neutral observer on issues that affect Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.
• KinderUSA was founded by Riad and Basil Abdelkarim, Said Abu Hasna, me, and Dalell Mohmed.

Finally, to refer to my marriage and imply that KinderUSA somehow benefited from my husband’s role as the director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council is particularly inappropriate and unsubstantiated by any evidence. Does The Chronicle regularly inquire into the personal lives of those featured in articles? It only makes sense that my husband and I share mutual interests and concerns about our community but that doesn’t mean KinderUSA “benefited” in any tangible way as a result.

Inserting guesswork and opinion into what should be an objective piece calls into question the credibility of this publication.

Laila Al-Marayati
Chairperson
KinderUSA
Dallas

Editor’s note: The Chronicle should have noted clearly in the article that it was unable to confirm why the Israeli authorities detained Dalell Mohmed and Riad Abdelkarim.