Law enforcement or Islamaphobia?
By Brian E. Muhammad -Contributing Writer- | Last updated: Nov 23, 2009 - 2:48:19 PM
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Questions about federal seizure of mosques, building in New York
Federal prosecutors took steps Nov. 12 to seize four U.S. mosques, including the Islamic Education
Center, a grade school and mosque in Houston (pictured) owned by the Alavi Foundation, a non-profit
Muslim organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government. Photo: AP/Wide World Photos
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The legal action came amid a growing anti-Muslim climate and potential backlash over the Fort Hood tragedy in Texas and the transfer of accused 9/11 suspects from Guantanamo Bay to New York City for trial.
The Nov. 12 announcement from the Justice Department cited a complaint filed in federal courts against the Iranian-operated Alavi Foundation, which is under federal investigation.
According to a statement from U.S. District Attorney Preet Bharara, who is prosecuting the case, the forfeiture action is an “amended complaint” from a petition issued December 2008 that sought to confiscate any interest the foundation had in the Manhattan office building that generates over $4 million in rental income. Federal authorities claim the funds were secretly funneled to the Iranian government.
“For two decades, the Alavi Foundation's affairs have been directed by various Iranian officials, including Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations, in violation of a series of American laws,'' said Mr. Bharara in a statement published by the Associated Press.
According to the AP report, the office tower was valued at $570 million to $650 million in 2007 and served as an important source of income for the foundation over the past 36 years. Rents collected from the building financed the centers and other ventures, such as educational Islamic literature to imprisoned Muslims in America.
If federal prosecutors seize the skyscraper, the Alavi Foundation would have almost no way to continue supporting the Islamic centers, which house schools and mosques, which could leave a major void in Shiite American communities.
The U.S. Attorney General accused the foundation of being a front for the Iranian government and facilitating the illegal transfer of funds to Bank Mellat, an Iranian bank the U.S. government long suspected as a financier of Iran's nuclear weapons program. Since 2007, U.S. citizens have been barred from doing business with the bank under American sanctions against Iran.
As news broke about the seizure proceedings, President Barack Obama announced renewal of sanctions against Iran for another year. The economic sanctions have been reinstated by every U.S. president since Jimmy Carter and been in existence since the Islamic revolution of 1979.
In response to President Obama's announcement, Iran's Press-TV quoted an Iranian official who dismissed U.S. meddling in Tehran's affairs as ineffective attempt to force submission to Washington's will.
“What do you think it means when the U.S. Congress allocates more than $55 million to destabilize the Iranian government?” asked Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, Tehran's Interim Friday Prayer Leader and chairman of the Guardian Council. He was referring to the Victims of Iranian Censorship Act (VOICE) authorizing funds to expand U.S. propaganda into Iran using Persian-language broadcasting and the Voice of America's Persian News Network. Mr. Jannati said, “It shows that they have no good intentions towards Iran, and constantly want to engage in enmity.”
Some analysts say the legal action is a continuation of U.S. tactics against foreign governments that have shown independence and resistance to Western domination. One example pointed to is the 1953 CIA overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq—a symbol of nationalism and anti-imperialism—to prop up the pro-U.S. and brutal regime of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran.
Cuba after the revolution that deposed Fulgencio Batista, a minion of Washington and U.S. organized crime syndicates, was cited as another example. America froze Cuban bank accounts, enforced sanctions and attempted to overthrow revolutionary leader Fidel Castro in the Bay of Pigs campaign. In the 1980s, Libya was placed under U.S. sanctions, diplomats were expelled, accounts frozen and billions of dollars in real estate forfeited in an effort to break Muammar Gadhafi, the leader of the North African nation. Observers expressed deep distress over the inclusion of houses of worship in the confiscation order and the timing of the action after the Fort Hood tragedy in Texas where Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim and Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people and wounding several others at the Army base.
“The seizure of mosques where people pray” is a bad precedent because the worshipers “have nothing to do with the internal politics of vis-à-vis Iran,” said A. Akbar Muhammad, of the Nation of Islam, to The Final Call.
Hodari Abdul Ali, chair of the Social Justice Task Force of the Muslim Alliance in North America, agreed that threatening religious institutions for political reasons is alarming and ultimately hurts innocent people.
“It's a very dangerous and disturbing idea that the U.S. government would seek to close Islamic houses of worship or any houses of worship,” said Mr. Ali. “If the U.S. has a political dispute with Iran, our Muslim children shouldn't have to suffer; Muslim teachers shouldn't have to suffer because they have done nothing wrong.”
“Whatever the details of the government's case against the owners of the mosques, as a civil rights organization we are concerned that the seizure of American houses of worship could have a chilling effect on the religious freedom of citizens of all faiths and may send a negative message to Muslims worldwide,” said spokesman Ibrahim Hooper of the Council of American and Islamic Relations, in a statement.
Since the bombings on September 11, 2001, the U.S. government has targeted the income streams of Islamic charities to curb support for Muslim organizations abroad. As a result, some Muslim charities across America have been unfairly implicated and shut down.
“This is a direct infringement on the religious rights of Muslims in America, because giving charity is part in part of our faith. So they shouldn't be doing things to make it more difficult for Muslims to engage in charitable work,” argued Mr. Ali.
Though calls went unanswered at the Alavi Foundation office, according its website, “no funds go outside the U.S. except in Canada.” The foundation said it is registered with the Internal Revenue Service.
According to public financial records, the foundation gives substantial loans education and financially supports various religious and non-profit organizations including ine Islamic centers and schools in New York, Virginia, Texas and California.
However the Justice Department maintains that the properties are forfeitable under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act—a law allowing U.S. presidents to confiscate property and prohibit transactions in response to extraordinary threats originating outside the U.S. linking the use of the property to the money laundering offenses.
The forfeiture proceedings may take years and, according to the U.S. attorney, the tenants of all of the properties can continue to use the buildings while the case moves forward. The outstanding question is what happens if the U.S. government wins the case?
Critics say the Obama administration is sending mixed signals to the Muslim American community and Muslims globally by appearing to contribute to American Islamaphobia.
“With Bush, there was no pretense that there was a war against Islam going on. With President Obama there have been such high hopes with his speech in Cairo and his knowledge about Islam, and having a Muslim sounding name,” Mr. Ali said.