{"id":5979,"date":"2009-04-09T06:41:51","date_gmt":"2009-04-09T10:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charityandsecurity.org\/?p=5979"},"modified":"2019-10-17T13:14:37","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T17:14:37","slug":"uk_charity_commission_interpal_not%20supporting_terror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charityandsecurity.org\/news\/uk_charity_commission_interpal_not%20supporting_terror\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Charity Commission: Interpal Not Supporting Terror Groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Feb. 27, 2009 report by the United Kingdom’s Charity Commission into the activities of Palestinians Relief and Development Fund (Interpal) concluded the charity is not funding or supporting groups sponsoring terrorism. The Commission ordered improvements in procedures for choosing and overseeing local charity partners in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Lebanon. It also recognized the importance of charities that conduct aid related activities in “high-risk” areas of the world and acknowledged the dangers they face. The UK process is starkly different from the United States approach of shutting down suspected charities and freezing all assets indefinitely.<\/p>\n

Interpal, a British based charity that raises funds relief and development aid for Palestinians across the Middle East, is no stranger to investigations. Itl has been examined twice before (1996 and 2003) by the UK Charity Commission, the body charged with regulating and maintaining the public trust of UK charities. In both instances, the Commission determined there was insufficient evidence to connect the charity with sponsorship of terrorist groups.<\/p>\n

The earlier inquiries were triggered by allegations stemming from the U.S. government’s designation of Interpal as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization in August of 2003. In all three investigations, the Commission had asked for a legal or evidential basis for the designation but the U.S. government has declined to do so each time.<\/p>\n

The latest inquiry was triggered by allegations made by a British program, BBC Panorama on Faith, Hate and Charity, in July 2006. The\u00a0program<\/a>\u00a0claimed funds from Interpal “had helped build up Hamas into what it is today” by financing partner groups it claimed supported and promoted a violent ideology. It also claimed an Interpal trustee had connections with Hamas leaders.<\/p>\n

After months of reviewing documents and conducting interviews, the\u00a0Commission’s Inquiry findings\u00a0<\/a>determined that there was insufficient evidence to suggest that “partner organizations funded by the charity may be promoting terrorist ideology or activities” and the charity had “maintained clear financial audit trails in their delivery of aid for humanitarian purposes.” However, the Inquiry ordered some changes in operations in order to avoid inadvertent indirect support for terrorist organizations in the future. The Commission’s investigation focused on four areas:<\/p>\n<\/div>