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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Schools Reconsidering Sheik's Donations |
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| Caraj |
| 08/04/03 at 17:14:28 |
| Schools Reconsidering Sheik's Donations Mon Aug 4, 1:56 PM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo! By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. - Parents were excited when a $15,000 pledge that would enable them to keep class sizes down at the elementary school came in from halfway around the world. But now they are wondering whether to return the money. AP Photo They began having second thoughts after learning that the donor — Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates — has ties to a think tank that critics say promotes anti-American and anti-Semitic views. "We want to answer the question: Who is the sheik?" said Kathy Druian, a parent fund-raiser at Los Flores Elementary School in Orange County. Harvard Divinity School in Boston is asking the same thing. The school is having second thoughts about the $2.5 million Zayed gave a few years ago to endow a professorship in Islamic religious studies. The answer is that Zayed has many roles. He is regarded by some as the George Washington of the UAE, leading a Persian Gulf state founded in 1971 that is awash in oil money and has backed the U.S. war on terror, hosting at least 1,200 American troops. He is also an outspoken critic of Israeli policies and donates millions to Palestinian causes. And he is a generous contributor to other causes as well, using his $23 billion in personal wealth and a $1 billion foundation to aid refugees in Africa, farmers in Britain and scores of other groups. In 2000, he donated $30,000 to an Ohio elementary school after two boys there sent him get-well cards while he recovered from a broken hip. The school accepted the money. He made his pledge to Los Flores in June after hearing about the school's fund-raising campaign through a student's grandmother who was visiting the UAE. The woman and her family, who are not believed to be related to the sheik, asked not to be identified. Parents planned to use most of the money to retain two third-grade teachers who were laid off because of budget cuts. Then came word of the sheik's ties to the Zayed International Centre for Coordination and Follow-Up, an Abu Dhabi-based think tank named in his honor that promotes Arab unity and has hosted such speakers as Al Gore (news - web sites) and former Secretary of State James Baker. Critics accuse the center of also sponsoring speakers and issuing reports that disparage Jews and support anti-American conspiracy theories. "I don't know if the sheik is anti-Semitic," said Gary Levin, an associate director at the Anti-Defamation League. "But an organization that carries his name and that he funded on some level seems to be promoting anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, and that concerns us." One speaker, Moh'd Ahmad Hussain of Cairo University, told the center that Jews, "with their media machinery," used the Holocaust to breed hatred toward non-Jews and cover up massacres committed by Israelis, according to the center's Web site. The center also hosted Thierry Meyssan, author of "9-11, The Big Lie," which implicates U.S. military officials in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Mostafa Muhamed, the center's acting deputy director, said the group is neither anti-Semitic nor anti-American. "This is a forum that is ready to receive any kind of views," he said. The sheik's representatives in the Emirates did not respond to requests for comment. But an official at the UAE embassy in Washington said the think tank's literature and speakers do not represent the views of Zayed. "He's very open-minded and very respectful of other religions," said diplomat Abdulla Alsaboosi. Harvard began reviewing its gift last year amid growing protests by students and faculty members. A school spokeswoman said no deadline was set for a decision. At Los Flores, the parent fund-raising committee will make the final decision when school starts later this month, Druian said. Nicole Fletcher, mother of a fifth-grader, said the committee should take the money: "Returning it would come at the expense of innocent children who would only benefit." Druian said students would not immediately feel the effects if the money were refused, because all but $2,500 of it was earmarked for the 2004-05 school year, and it could probably be raised elsewhere. In a similar furor in 2001, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (news - web sites) rejected a $10 million donation to a Sept. 11 charity by a Saudi prince who linked the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington to U.S. policy in the Middle East. Abbas Kadhim, a lecturer in Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of California at Berkeley, said the vast majority of research groups in the Middle East are "somewhat anti-Zionist" or oppose Israel's policies. "If you decide not to have relations with anyone who does have anti-Israeli politics or anti-Zionist sentiments, you will never have relations anywhere in the Arab world," he said. ___ On the Net: Zayed Center: http://www.zccf.org.ae |
| Re: Schools Reconsidering Sheik's Donations |
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| bhaloo |
| 08/04/03 at 22:27:06 |
| [slm] This place is in my area. This same city rejected the idea of having a masjid built in the city and/or an Islamic school. But they went ahead and built some Jewish school. All Muslim organizations are outspoken about Israel (and they have every right to be, with all the terrorism and illegal occupation the Israelis are doing). This is an outrage that they are even recosidering the Sheikh's donation. With this sort of attitude why should Muslims donate to non-Muslim organizations? They are subjected to discrimination and slander. |
| 08/04/03 at 22:39:37 |
| bhaloo |
| Re: Schools Reconsidering Sheik's Donations |
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| Caraj |
| 08/05/03 at 11:29:43 |
| [quote author=bhaloo link=board=ummah;num=1060028068;start=0#1 date=08/04/03 at 22:27:06][slm] This place is in my area. This same city rejected the idea of having a masjid built in the city and/or an Islamic school. But they went ahead and built some Jewish school. All Muslim organizations are outspoken about Israel (and they have every right to be, with all the terrorism and illegal occupation the Israelis are doing). This is an outrage that they are even recosidering the Sheikh's donation. With this sort of attitude why should Muslims donate to non-Muslim organizations? They are subjected to discrimination and slander. [/quote] Scutinized for donating to Muslim organizations and scrutinized for donating to Non Muslim orgs. Can't win for losing. What bothers me is, I respect a person right to refuse a gift if they feel uncomfortable about it's origins HOWEVER, why do it publicly, why put it in the paper, my guess, they need the money and are hoping by being public someone else will donate the money. Just a therory. Anyway, they could of researched the person quietly. What a slap in the face. And notice how the reporter had to add 911 stuff and refusal of another donation to sensationalize his story. |
| 08/05/03 at 11:34:50 |
| Caraj |
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