Menassat
The Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep), a think tank focused on the intersection between US policy towards the Middle East and law enforcement, has documented the case that charities are engaged in violating both US policy and international law. IRmep filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) petitions to obtain information on the charities’ activities with the US Internal Revenue Services (IRS), and used the records, in addition to eyewitness accounts of what the funds were being used for, to brief both the US Departments of Justice and the Treasury. They also filed a formal complaint with a New York District Attorney in 2008, who has not yet responded to the legal move, claiming that the information provided is “under review.”
The IRS records and subsequent investigations obtained by IRmep also showed that money was being laundered to fund the occupation. For example, former high-profile lobbyist and conman Jack Abramoff, who was sentenced to four years in prison in 2008 on criminal felony charges, laundered money into Capital Athletic Foundation, which funds an illegal settlement called Beitar Illit, as well as weapons and sniper rifles for the settlers…
Later, IRmep filed Freedom of Information Act requests with both the Treasury Department and the IRS to find out if the agencies were cracking down on the charities. The Treasury Department rejected the request under the Bank Secrecy Act; the IRS cited privacy laws and refused to comment further.
“It is the elephant in the room in all discussions–the raw power of groups funding [the occupation] versus formal US policies,” Grant Smith, director of IRmep told MENASSAT.
So why isn’t the Obama administration doing more to reign in these donations? More