List of charities accused of ties to terrorism

This is a list of charities accused of ties to terrorism . A number of charities have been accused or convicted in court of using their revenues to fund terrorism or revolutionary movements, rather than for the humanitarian purposes for which contributions were ostensibly collected. During the "war on terror," the names of several such organisations have been published, although the phenomenon predates 9/11. ^[1] Some detainees have been captured largely because they volunteered or worked for these charities.

On August 23, 2007, the Bush administration announced plans to implement enhanced security checking of the employees of American charities, which receive funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development, looking for those who might have ties to terrorism. ^[2] Charities which are turned down will not be offered an explanation, or an avenue to appeal the decisions.

Charities accused of ties to terrorism

Name of Charity	Location of Charity	Accusers	Allegedly supported	Description
Afghan Support Committee [3] [4]	Pakistan	U.S. State Department		Alleged to have funneled support to fighters in Afghanistan.
Al-Haramain Foundation [5]	Saudi Arabia	U.S. State Department	al-Qaeda	Suspicion fell on Guantanamo detainee Jamal Muhammad Alawi Mar'i, in part, because he was a volunteer for Al Haramain
Al Kifah Refugee Center [4]	United States	Spanish police	al-Qaeda and their pro-USA predecessors	Alleged to have served as a covert funnel for US support of those resisting the Soviet–Afghan War. [6] Alleged to have trained fighters destined to serve in Afghanistan under Osama bin Laden. [6] Alleged to have provided military and demolition training to those who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. [6]
Al Wafa al Igatha al Islamia [5]	Afghanistan	U.S. State Department	al-Qaeda and the Taliban	Suspicion fell on Guantanamo detainee Jamal Muhammad Alawi Mar'i, in part, because he was a volunteer for Al Wafa
Benevolence International Foundation	United States	Federal Bureau of Investigation	al-Qaeda	Alleged to have helped fund the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Placed on the Terrorist exclusion list. [3]
Bosanska Idealna Futura [ citation needed ]	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Federal Bureau of Investigation		Branch of the Chicago United States-based Benevolence International Foundation.[ citation needed ] Shut down on US request in 2002
Global Relief Foundation	United States	Federal Bureau of Investigation	al-Qaeda and others	Bosnian offices shut down on US request in 2002 Commission of the European Union froze assets in 2006 [7]
Health and Education Project International [8]	Canada	Canadian Security Intelligence Service	al-Qaeda	Founded by Ahmed Khadr after Human Concern International cut its ties to him
Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development [9] [10]	United States	Federal Bureau of Investigation	Hamas	On November 10, 2004, convicted by US federal court of funding Hamas. In 2001 it was the largest Muslim charity in the United States.
İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı	Turkey	Russia [11]	Syrian opposition (2011–2024)	Alleged to have sent weapons and supplies to extremists in Syria during the Syrian Civil War.
International Islamic Relief Organization [4]	Saudi Arabia	U.S. State Department	al-Qaeda	Sued by families of the victims of the September 11 attacks
International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (IRFAN-Canada)	Canada	Canada Revenue Agency	Hamas	Alleged to have transferred $14.6 million worth of resources to Hamas through various associated organizations. [12] [13]
Interpal [14]	United Kingdom	United States Treasury Department	Hamas	Accusation by US Treasury Department (2003) British government's Charity Commission for England and Wales (2003) found no evidence to support allegations of connection to terrorism. [15] (Note: in 1997 Sunday Telegraph retracted accusations Interpal was run by Hamas activists[ citation needed ]; in 2003 the Board of Deputies of British Jews repeated such allegations, retracting them after it was sued by Interpal; [16] in 2010 Sunday Express issued an apology and made an out-of-court settlement for libel for making similar allegations. [17] )
Internationale Humanitäre Hilfsorganisation e.V. [18] [19]	Germany	German Interior Ministry	Hamas	Outlawed in Germany since it has financially supported Hamas, while presenting activities to donors as humanitarian help. [19]
Islamic Relief	United Kingdom	Israel, [20] United Arab Emirates [21] [22] Germany [23]	Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood	Alleged to have funded Hamas [20] and alleged connections to Muslim Brotherhood. [23] Islamic Relief is contesting the Israeli allegations [24] and publicly refutes any alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood. [25]
Jamaat al Dawa al Quran [26]	Afghanistan	JTF-GTMO		American counter-terrorism analysts at Guantanamo assert this group is an extremist militant group.
Jamat al Tabligh [27]	Pakistan	U.S. State Department	al-Qaeda	"The Jamat al Tabligh, a Pakistani-based Islamic Missionary organization, is being used as a cover to mask travel and activities of terrorists including members of al-Qaeda"
Qawafel al‑Khair	Jordan	UK [28] Israel [29]	Hamas's military wing	Diverting charity funds to Hamas's military wing - Al-Qassam Brigades, used to support acts of terror.
Maktab al-Khidamat [30]	Afghanistan	9/11 Commission	al-Qaeda	Alleged to have been transformed by Osama bin Laden into al Qaeda. [6]
Muslim Aid [4]	United Kingdom	Spanish police, [31] Israel, [32] Bangladesh [33] [34] [35]	Hamas (Union of Good) and others	Alleged to have funded mujahideen fighters to Bosnia, Union of Good, Islamist militants of Bangladesh.
Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage [36]	Kuwait	U.S. State Department	al-Qaeda	Appears on the United States State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
Popular Front of India	India	Various Indian authorities	Islamic terrorism	Accused of Radical Islamism, Islamic terrorism [37] [38]
Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation(TRO) [39]	Canada	Federal Bureau of Investigation	LTTE	Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
Tamil (Sri Lanka) Refugee-Aid Society of Ottawa [40] [41]	Canada	Canada Revenue Agency	LTTE	Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

See also

• Alms for Jihad  – 2006 book by J. Millard Burr and Robert O. Collins
• Economic impact of the Gaza war
• Economic warfare  – Strategy to weaken an opponent's economy
• Funding Evil  – 2003 book by Rachel Ehrenfeld
• Jihad  – Term for religious struggle in Islam
• Terrorist financing

References

1. Richey, Warren (January 14, 1985). "On the trail of US funds for IRA". Christian Science Monitor.
2. Walter Pincus (August 23, 2007). "Foreign Aid Groups Face Terror Screens". Washington Post . Retrieved 2007-08-23.
3. Terrorist Exclusion List, US State Department , November 15, 2002
4. Spain charity terror link alleged Archived 2006-12-31 at the Wayback Machine , CNN , December 8, 2002
5. Dossier (.pdf) ^{[ permanent dead link ]} of Jamal Muhammad Alawi Mar'i, Combatant Status Review Tribunal
6. Complete 911 Timeline Archived 2006-04-27 at the Wayback Machine , Cooperative Research
7. Commission Regulation 76/2006
8. National Post Apologizes to Human Concern International Archived 2013-01-15 at archive.today , South Asia Partnership Canada
9. Charities Held Liable in Teen Death Archived 2006-11-14 at archive.today , Wildman Harrold Attorneys and Counselors
10. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, NY Times
11. Winter, Chase. "Russia claims Turkish NGOs are 'main supplier' of extremists in Syria". DW. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
12. Canada, Service (2014-04-29). "Government of Canada Lists IRFAN-Canada as terrorist entity". gcnws. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
13. "Terrorism Profile – International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy-Canada". The Mackenzie Institute. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
14. "U.S. Designates Five Charities Funding Hamas and Six Senior Hamas Leaders as Terrorist Entities" Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine , United States Department of the Treasury, August 22, 2003.
15. Matthew Levitt, Dennis Ross, Hamas: Politics, Charity, And Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, Yale University Press, 2007, p. 158, ISBN   0300122586, 9780300122589
16. Dominic Casciani, Islamic charity cleared of Hamas link, BBC, 24 September 2003.
17. Niki May Young (27 July 2010). "Interpal wins High Court case against Sunday Express claims of terror links". Civil Society Media. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
18. "Germany outlaws IHH over claimed Hamas links, Haaretz 12.07.10". Haaretz.com. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
19. "Germany bans group accused of Hamas links, Ynet 07.12.10". ynet. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
20. "Israel bans UK-based Muslim charity accused of funding Hamas". Reuters. 19 June 2014.
21. Simeon Kerr (2014-11-16). "UAE blacklists 83 groups as terrorists". FT.com. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
22. "Charity banned over 'links to terrorism'". The Times . 2014-11-18. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
23. "Islamic Relief hat Kontakte zur Muslimbruderschaft". Frankfurter Rundschau. 16 April 2019.
24. "Islamic Relief to contest Israeli 'terrorism' allegations in court". the Guardian. 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
25. "UAE's tolerance embraces faiths, runs up against politics". AP NEWS. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
26. Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Sahib Rohullah Wakil's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 16-25
27. Combatant Status Review Board Letters, final release (.pdf), Department of Defense Freedom of Information Office -- see page 4 of the .pdf
28. "Gaza Charity founded by two terrorists supported by UK Charity". UK LAWYERS FOR ISRAEL. 2025-01-25. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
29. "Israeli military accuses Hamas of diverting charity funds | The Jerusalem Post". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2025-11-20. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
30. National Commission on Terrorist Attack Upon the United States: appendix a common abbreviations, 9/11 Commission
31. "CNN.com - Spain charity terror link alleged - Dec. 8, 2002" . Retrieved 23 October 2014.
32. "Defense Minister signs order banning Hamas-affiliated charitable organizations". GxMSDev. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
33. "NGOs under scanner for 'funding militancy'" . Retrieved 23 October 2014.
34. "Hasina: No vote rigging by AL-backed candidates - Dhaka Tribune" . Retrieved 23 October 2014.
35. "Ten Islamist outfits to face ban - Dhaka Tribune" . Retrieved 23 October 2014.
36. Summary of Evidence (.pdf) Archived 2013-05-04 at the Wayback Machine from pages 25-26 of Mohammed Fenaitel Mohamed Al Daihani's Combatant Status Review Tribunal
37. "PFI India's Number One Terrorist Organisation, Says Former Mumbai Police Officer". HuffPost India. 2015-11-28. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
38. "Ban PFI, India's no 1 terror organisation: Former Maharashtra cop". Hindustan Times. 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
39. "'Charities' back terror, Ottawa Sun".
40. "Summary of Reasons for Revocation - Tamil (Sri Lanka) Refugee-Aid Society of Ottawa". www.cra-arc.gc.ca. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
41. "Ottawa Tamil group loses charitable status". CBC News. Retrieved 31 December 2016.