A federal program to help nonprofit groups protect against terrorist attacks has given millions of dollars to mosques and Islamic groups that have praised terrorists and called for the destruction of Israel, according to a Washington Free Beacon review.
The Department of Homeland Security awarded the California-based Masjid al-Ansar mosque $100,000 on March 9 under the Nonprofit Security Grants Program. Moustafa Kamel, the imam at Masjid al-Ansar, earlier this year called Jews a "bigoted and arrogant breed of people" and prayed they "will be annihilated" in a war over the Holy Land, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.
Then there is the Islamic Center of Detroit, which received $150,000 on Oct. 12, 2022. Its head imam, Imran Salha, said at a pro-Palestinian rally days after Hamas’s invasion of Israel that Muslims have a "fire in our hearts that will burn that state until its demise." During a sermon in March, he referred to the "sick, disgusting Zionist regime" and prayed: "may Allah eradicate them from existence."
The rhetoric could fuel the sorts of hate and terrorist attacks that the Homeland Security grants aim to prevent. Anti-Semitic hate crimes have surged 400 percent since Hamas’s attack, in which 1,400 Israelis were slaughtered. A bipartisan group of senators called for additional funding under the program last month to protect against "a potential rise in anti-Semitic threats."
There is little oversight over which organizations receive funding under the program, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state agencies. A majority of the grants have gone to synagogues, churches, mosques, and temples that do not support violence or promote terrorist organizations.
But there are also grants to outfits like the Islamic Center of San Diego, a mosque best known as the home to two 9/11 hijackers. Days after the Hamas attack, Imam Taha Hassane defended the attack on Israel as an act of self-defense.
"When people are occupied, then the resistance is justified," he said in an Oct. 20 sermon. "We cannot accuse somebody who is fighting for his life to be a terrorist. The terrorist is the one who started the occupation, not the one who is defending himself."
The mosque received $150,000 under the grant program on Aug. 15, according to federal spending records.
At the Flint Islamic Center, which received $300,000 in grants on Oct. 12, 2022, an Islamic scholar asserted in a sermon last month that Jews "literally live for the purpose of genocide" of Palestinians.
"These people … their businesses have foundations just to serve their objectives. They literally live for a purpose of genocide in an occupation like this," said Shaykh Adbullah Waheed.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group identified as a co-conspirator of Hamas, has mounted a public awareness campaign to urge mosques and Islamic nonprofits to apply for the Homeland Security grants. CAIR noted that fewer than 50 Islamic organizations had received funding under the program, largely due to "concerns about the potential strings attached" to accepting the federal funds.
CAIR, which received grants under the Homeland Security program, blamed Israel for the "root causes" of the Hamas attack. Its executive director, Nihad Awad, condemned President Joe Biden for criticizing Hamas instead of Israel.
Dar al-Hijrah, the mosque of Al-Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki and Nidal Hisan, has received funding under the grant program. An imam at the mosque appeared to condone Hamas violence against Israel during a sermon last month, saying: "When the hypocrites say, ‘those people are deluded by their beliefs, they think if they kill their enemies, they go to paradise.’ Well, you don’t have to accept it. It’s not your faith. But we are free to believe what we believe."
The Muslim American Society’s Chicago affiliate, which received $149,000 on Sept. 1, was founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the radical Islamist group that spawned Hamas. The Muslim American Society regularly hosts anti-Semitic speakers. Yasir Qadhi, an Islamic scholar who has said that "Hitler never intended to mass-destroy the Jews," is slated to speak at its annual convention next month.
The head imam at the Islamic Organization of North America, which received $450,000 on Nov. 3, 2022, said at a rally last month that Palestinians were being "slaughtered by the Israeli Zionist government." The event was emceed by Amer Zahr, an activist who has said, "We stand with every resistance against Israel and every resistance against the occupation … whether it’s called Hamas, whether it’s called Hezbollah."
Other grants have gone to ICNA Relief USA, whose religious director, Rafiq Mahdi, has expressed "support" for Hamas and said it is "difficult to blatantly condemn [suicide bombers]."
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.