Help the Needy
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- For other organizations named Help the Needy, or some variation thereof, see Help the Needy (disambiguation).
Help the Needy was a charity front set up by Rome, New York oncologist, Rafil Dhafir. (Not to be confused with other organisations called Help the Needy such as Help the Needy UK or Help the Needy Foundation, see Help the Needy (disambiguation).
Help the Needy was unregistered and unaudited, but sent money to Iraq in violation of American and UN sanctions against the regime of Saddam Hussein.[1] Dhafir had been born in Iraq.
Although Dhafir was charged and convicted as a white collar criminal the government touts his case as a success in its "war on terror." A statement issued by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales alleged that Dhafir had ties to the blind Sheikh, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted for inspiring the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.[2]
The organization, and a sister organization, the help the needy endowment, were founded in 1994.
Dhafir, and three other men, Ayman Jarwan, Osameh Al Wahaidy and Maher Zagha, were arrested during 6am raids, on February 23, 2003. [3] [4][5] [6] And 150 predominantly Muslim families who had donated to 'Help the Needy' were interrogated by government agents between the hours of 6 and 10 a.m. This had a chilling effect on the Muslim community in Central New York. Ayman Jarwan was released from prison on December 22, 2006 and is being held awaiting deportation. The Jordanian government arrested Maher Zagha interrogated him for 2 weeks at the direction of the U.S. and then released him without charge. In sending aid to Iraq Zagha followed all required regulations for Jordan, in one case when he could not comply he handed the medical supplies over to the Iraqi embassy in Jordan. (see: http://www.axisoflogic.com/cgi-bin/exec/view.pl?archive=141&num=20800&printer=1) Being so close to the man-made humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq that was killing 5,000 Iraqi children under the age of 5 every month throughout the 1990s (a total of half a million) Jordanian authorities were able to confirm that "Help the Needy" was indeed doing what it said it was doing in getting aid to desperately needy civilians. It is highly unlikely that Jarwan will be tortured when he returns to Jordan.
Jarwan pled guilty on April 25, 2003.[5] His lawyer accused the prosecutors of bad faith.[3] He said that Jarwan had been told that, in return for his guilty plea, and his help in implicating Dhafur, he had been assured he would not receive a sentence serious enough to result in his deportation back to his native Jordan, where he would face torture.
In a December 6, 2006 video interview with Jim McGraw, Jarwan's lawyer, he stated that he advised Jarwan to take a plea bargain because he was facing substantial prison time for something he did not do and in the climate of the time McGraw did not believe that Jarwan could receive a fair trail. He also stated that he did not believe Dhafir received a fair trial because he was a Muslim and because of the climate of the country at that time.
References
- ↑ Dhafir gets 22 years in prison, Syracuse Post Standard, October 28, 2005
- ↑ "Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales Highlights Success in the War on Terror at the Council on Foreign Relations". Department of Justice. November 1, 2005. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Help Prevent the Torture of Ayman Jarwan
- ↑ INDICTMENTS ALLEGE ILLEGAL FINANCIAL TRANSFERS TO IRAQ; VISA FRAUD INVOLVING ASSISTANCE TO GROUPS THAT ADVOCATE VIOLENCE, US Department of Justice, February 26, 2004
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Syracuse man pleas guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by sending money to Iraq and conspiring to defraud the United States., US Department of Justice, April 25, 2003
- ↑ linked to bin Laden, Iraq: Arrests of Arabs in Idaho, New York target terror financing, World Net Daily, February 27, 2003
See also: "The Terrorism Case That Wasn't: One Year On, 'Help the Needy' Case Still Shrouded In Mystery, Innuendo:" http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=165
"United States of America v Rafil A. Dhafir: Individual Responsibility and Complicity:" http://www.nightslantern.ca/prison/dhafirkh.htm
"High-Profile N.Y. Suspect Goes on Trial: Arrest Was Called Part of War on Terrorism, but Doctor Faces Other Charges:" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43278-2004Oct18.html
