NYC Council Funds Group Accused of Being Hamas Financier

An Islamic advocacy group named by the federal government a decade ago as having served as a front to funnel money to Hamas has received taxpayer funding from the New York City Council for the first time.

A press release issued by Councilman Daneek Miller on Tuesday identified the New York branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a recipient of a $15,000 grant. The group was named in a 2005 indictment of the Holy Land Foundation as an unindicted co-conspirator to fund Hamas during the height of the second intifada.

The term “unindicted co-conspirator” denotes a person or group that is identified as having committed a crime but for whatever reason is not prosecuted.

CAIR has been in the news over the past 20 years for its refusal to categorically condemn Islamic terrorism against Jews, its ties to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and verbal support for Hamas and Hezbollah.

The organization, which describes itself as an advocacy group for Muslims, was among 14 Muslim groups provided funding by Miller to fight Islamophobia against the city’s half million Muslims. This is the first time the group has gotten funding from the council.

While other mainstream Muslim groups have been given funding by the council for years, CAIR’s past has prevented it from passing the rigorous vetting process that would allow it to receive public money.