Dear Honorable Members of the Rutgers University Student Assembly,
Thank you for allowing the representatives of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund to speak before you on Nov. 19. I would like to further clarify the credentials of the PCRF and reinforce the legitimacy of its humanitarian work in providing medical care to children in need.
The PCRF is a non-profit, non-political, American-based (not international), organization that operates under the United States Treasury Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines and has been a registered 501(c)(3) since 1991. The PCRF has also been registered with the United States Agency for International Development since 2004 and is a member of the Combined Federal Campaign, which allows government employees to donate to the registered charity of their choice. The PCRF was one of the first non-profit organizations working in Palestine to get a license from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to continue to work in Palestine after the elections, which Hamas won. The PCRF has been cleared by the FBI and works with the U.S. Treasury and the Israeli and Egyptian embassies. The fact of the matter is that if there were any links to terrorist organizations, the PCRF would not be allowed to operate under these conditions. The PCRF provides expert medical care and humanitarian services, not monetary funds. Its staff on the ground in Palestine is in charge of making all necessary purchases for medicines and any other materials and they provide a receipt for each purchase. All funds are used in the PCRF’s humanitarian efforts to provide medical care to sick and injured innocent children. PCRF has received letters of endorsement from Rep. Rush Holt D-12, former President Jimmy Carter and others. Also, here is the link for details regarding the U.S. Treasury Antiterrorist Financing Guidelines: http://www.pcrf.net/?page_id=1804. The PCRF Annual Report, which provides details about the organization’s work and budget, can be viewed at http://www.pcrf.net/pdfs/PCRF2008.pdf.
The main accusation against the PCRF is that it is linked to the Holy Land Foundation, an organization that was charged with channeling money to Hamas. Every organization approved by the IRS for tax-exempt status under IRC section 501(c)(3) must provide in its charter that in the event the organization is dissolved or must cease its charitable activities, any funds in possession of the organization must be transferred to another 501(c)(3) organization with similar charitable goals. This is to ensure that funds collected for charitable purposes are in fact used for the charitable purposes for which the donors intended and do not benefit the directors or officers of the organization being shut down. By law, the HLF had to transfer their funds to another charity, and it was only logical to choose the PCRF since it works in the same part of the world. In the end, none of the money was transferred because the HLF’s accounts remained frozen. In addition, the PCRF worked with the HLF once in the past only to bring a group of children to the United States for care. Therefore, the PCRF is not guilty by association and is not linked to any terrorist group.
The second issue of concern was the allegation that the founder and current President and CEO of the PCRF, Stephen Sosebee, was anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic. Regardless of whether the things he was accused of saying were true, the fact of the matter is, none of his supposedly alleged remarks translate into the work of the PCRF, which has proven to be a purely humanitarian organization with no political agenda. Additionally, Sosebee, like any other American, does not have to support the policies of any foreign country. According to accusers, Sosebee states that he supports the Palestinian “struggle.” Believe it or not, this struggle is a humanitarian one. How is sympathizing with the Palestinian people or criticizing military actions grounds for being called a terrorist or an Islamist militant? If Sosebee were to be judged at all, he should be judged by his exceptional work with the PCRF and in providing medical relief to children.
I would also like to reveal the nature of the sources from which these rumors and accusations are rooted. Some of the allegations appear to have been retrieved from a subjective Web site, MilitantIslamMonitor.com. The mission of this site is “to provide an online resource documenting the activities and identities of Islamist individuals and groups in the United States and abroad” and aims “to provide the informational arsenal necessary to take part in the struggle against militant Islam and terrorism.” There is no contact information and no explanation of the credibility of any of the sources used on the site. This Web site posts slanderous and defamatory articles from blogs and similar unreliable sites. It is very clear that the agenda of this Web site is to spread hatred and prejudice against Muslims and Arabs.
The article specifically pertaining to the PCRF can be found here: http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/196. This article has little or no citations. There are random links throughout the article that lead to bogus sites. How does this “resource” live up to the standards for reporting and presenting data at Rutgers University? It is quite disturbing to know that this site formed the basis of a very serious accusation. How can an unsubstantiated, poorly researched Web site/blog compare to well-respected newspaper articles, television reports and the endorsements of prominent U.S. government officials and world-renowned members of the international community? Politicizing the efforts of a humanitarian organization in this case — and slandering its founder — with such poor documentation, emphasizes the political/racial agenda of our critics, and do not reflect the work, accomplishments and unifying results seen with the PCRF.
The PCRF has been promoting both physical and spiritual healing. It has been able to bring people of all faiths together and has provided them with a common ground — helping sick and injured children. It has been brought to the attention of the assembly that sponsoring such a charity will create a political division within the Rutgers community. Through its work, PCRF has been able to bring people of all faiths and backgrounds together. This is evidenced by the way Christians, Muslims and Jews, through the PCRF, have been working together to care for and treat the children that are brought to the community for help. The PCRF has worked with many Jewish doctors who were willing to donate their time and services to the cause. The PCRF will not divide the Rutgers community; it will unite them together in hope and for a better purpose. Denying the Meal Sign Away program from the PCRF will directly contradict the University’s principle of having “Jersey Roots” and a “Global Reach.” We are not — in any way — asking anyone to take a side in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and we are only asking for aid to help provide innocent children with the medical care they are entitled to. Rutgers will unite in the face of humanity for the sake of helping children. This notion should be celebrated and not destroyed based on false accusations driven by inherit racism and prejudice. I urge you not to make a decision that will impeccably taint the University’s treasured values that are rooted in diversity and harmony.
Ghadeer Hasan is the president of the University chapter of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and a School of Arts and Sciences junior.
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