The line between mosque and state continues to blur under the Obama administration.
What happened to the foundational principle of separation of religion and state? Do we not even so much as pretend anymore? The White House's official website Aug. 10 posted a story entitled "Islamic Relief USA Starts Its First Summer Food Service Program," boasting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is now helping this Islamic group get its program started. What kind of help is the USDA giving to Jewish and Christian charitable groups? Islamic Relief USA has ties to Hamas. How many other groups with ties to terror organizations are working with the USDA? And why is the United States government subjugating itself in this way?
The story featured a photo with the caption: "Max Finberg, Director of the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at USDA, and IRUSA's Abed Ayoub cut the ribbon launching summer feeding program at An Nur (Photo courtesy of IRUSA)." Reporter Marissa Duswalt quoted Kareema Dickens, the principal of An Nur School in Lanham, Md., as giving "heartfelt remarks." Dickens said: "We are very grateful to USDA for helping us feed our students this summer and letting us know about this wonderful program. We hope to continue this partnership and serve meals to our students throughout the year."
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I equate "Islamic Relief" with dhimmi pain. This is jizya, the poll tax imposed upon non-Muslims by their "Islamic betters," who are commanded by the Quran to make sure that the dhimmis pay it with "willing submission" and "feel themselves subdued" (9:29).
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Islamic Relief USA is a spinoff of Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), which is headed up by Dr. Hani Al-Banna. Al-Banna was formerly with the Muslim Aid (MA), a London-based Islamic "charity" based in London that was a "partner organization" with the Al-Salah Islamic Association, a Hamas fundraising machine headed up by Ahmed Al-Kurd, whom the U.S. government officially designated as a terrorist. Muslim Aid also worked with groups linked to Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim Brotherhood of Pakistan.
IRW received $50,000 from a front for Osama bin Laden in 1999, and has given millions to the jihadists in Chechnya. And IRW official Iyaz Ali has admitted to aiding Hamas while serving as project coordinator at IRW's Gaza branch in late 2005 and early 2006. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that "incriminating files were found on Ali's computer, including documents that attested to the organization's ties with illegal Hamas funds abroad (in the U.K. and in Saudi Arabia) and in Nablus. Also found were photographs of swastikas superimposed on IDF [Israeli Defense Force] symbols, [as well as photos] of senior Nazi German officials, of Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as well as many photographs of Hamas military activities."
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Wait, it gets better. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs also noted:
The IRW provides support and assistance to Hamas' infrastructure. The IRW's activities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip are carried out by social welfare organizations controlled and staffed by Hamas operatives. The intensive activities of these associations are designed to further Hamas' ideology among the Palestinian population. These associations' educational and religious institutions incite against the State of Israel and advocate terrorist actions against it and its citizens. The associations provide support to the families of terrorists who were wounded in actions against Israel, and to Hamas prisoners and detainees. These associations thus promote Hamas' goals including the destruction of the State of Israel.
IRUSA is no better. Jehangir Malik, its former program coordinator, was in 1999 a featured speaker at a Muslim Youth of North America (MYNA) event. MYNA is affiliated with the Hamas-linked Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). When it incorporated in the United States, its registered agent was Kazbek Soobzokov, who once served as attorney for Wajdi Ghunaim, an Islamic jihadist in the U.S. who in 2006 advocated killing Jews and was deported. He was barred from entering Canada at that time because he was a member of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
So why are U.S. taxpayer dollars going to fund this jihadist group? Why is the United States Department of Agriculture partnering with a group with links to Hamas, which the United States Department of State designates a terrorist group? Madness.
