Friday, October 19, 2007
We'll hear on Monday what the verdict in the Holy Land Foundation case is, but it sure looks like someone in the position to do so knows what "Zakah" committees are really good for:
In a move aimed at undermining Hamas, the Palestinian Authority government in Ramallah decided Thursday to dismantle all Islamic charitable organizations in the West Bank.
Hamas condemned the decision as a "declaration of war" on the needy and warned that thousands of families would be affected...
...The charities that are being targeted are known as zakah committees. In Islam, zakah (purify) is a portion of one's wealth that must be given to the poor or to other specified purposes.
The payment of zakah is a way of purifying one's wealth and saving oneself from greed and selfishness.
PA officials said Hamas has been using the zakah committees as a means of transferring funds to its supporters in the West Bank...
So how do Muslims channel charity in to Palestinian Arabs? Until Arab charities agree to accountability, sign agreements not to allow the money to be used for terrorism (something they've all refused to do) and start putting some pressure on these groups to spend more time helping the needy than going to war against the Jews...they don't.
