Questions Raised About Donors To Georgia Lawmaker's Campaign

Questions Raised About Donors To Georgia Lawmaker's Campaign

Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Tuesday, August 13, 2002

The reelection campaign of Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) has received campaign contributions from at least 18 donors who are either officers of Muslim foundations under investigation by the FBI, have voiced support for Palestinian and Lebanese terrorist organizations or have made inflammatory statements about Jews.

Questions about the donors' backgrounds mark the latest twist in a House race heavily funded by outside groups interested in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. Most of McKinney's money has come from non-district residents with Muslim or Arab surnames. Her Democratic challenger, former state judge Denise Majette, is heavily funded by Jews living outside Georgia.

The survivor of the Aug. 20 Democratic primary is almost certain to win the general election in the Atlanta-based district.

While Majette has not focused her campaign on McKinney's donors, local media outlets have questioned their role in the election. McKinney's backers include:

• Abduraham Alamoudi, a board member of the American Muslim Council, who declared at a White House demonstration in October 2000, "We are all supporters of Hamas," or Islamic Resistance Movement, a principle sponsor of suicide bombings in Israel.

• Many of the officers of a network of foundations and business, most based in Herndon, Va., that were raided by federal officials in mid-March. Federal investigators have been trying to determine how these groups raised and spent at least $1.7 billion.

• Sami Al-Arian, a Florida professor whose past videotaped remarks include: "Let us damn America, let us damn Israel. Let us damn their allies until death," and "Victory to Islam, death to Israel."

Wendell Muhamad, McKinney's campaign coordinator, declined to discuss the donors. "I don't have any comment on that," he said before hanging up.

In a recent televised debate, McKinney, asked about some of her donors, said: "All of our contributions are legal. My opponent, on the other hand, has an awful lot of Republican money going into her coffers." McKinney has been an outspoken supporter of Arab and Muslim causes over the past year.

Majette recently pulled ahead of McKinney in the battle for dollars. McKinney has raised $618,166 in the election cycle, while Majette has raised $1.12 million.

The McKinney-Majette election is the second contest this year pitting a black incumbent with support from the Muslim community against a black challenger with backing from the Jewish community. In Alabama, Artur Davis beat Rep. Earl F. Hilliard in a June Democratic primary runoff.

On Aug. 3, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution identified eight of the controversial donors to the McKinney campaign. Muhamad told the paper that FBI inquiries into the activities of some of the donors was part of a long history of targetting minorities. "They're doing stuff like they did in the '60s to Dr. [Martin Luther] King," he said.

Faiz Rehman, communications director for the American Muslim Council, said it is unfair to criticize McKinney and her donors. "Not a single charge has been filed, it's all just press hype, media hype," he said. McKinney, he said, has been "targeted by the pro-Israel lobby. . . . Every time someone speaks out against Israeli aggression, they are targeted."

Al-Arian, the University of South Florida professor, defended himself at an Aug. 1 news conference in St. Petersburg. He said, " 'Death to Israel' meant death to apartheid, death to oppression. . . . I never incited people to violence or murder. It never happened."

Alamoudi, in a letter to The Washington Post, defended his comments supporting Hamas:

"Suicide bombings against civilians are tragic and condemnable acts of terror," Alamoudi wrote. "I do not support them. Military actions, taken against military targets, are understandable acts of resistance. I support these actions, as does international law. However, Hamas and Hezbollah are complex organizations that cannot be reduced to their violent extremes. They are popular movements with both military and political wings."

On March 20 and 21, federal agents searched 16 businesses, foundations and homes. One purpose, according to news reports, was to try to trace how $1.7 billion was raised and spent by the Herndon-based SAAR Foundation. Other subjects of the searches were the Safa Trust, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), Success Foundation and Mar-Jac Poultry in Gainesville, Ga.

Many of the officers and officials of the foundations and businesses have contributed to McKinney's campaign.

Jamal Barzinji, who gave $500 on Sept. 26, has served as secretary and treasurer of IIIT, and chairman of both the SAAR Foundation and Mar-Jac Poultry. Taha Al-Alawani, who also gave $500 on Sept. 26, is a former president of IIIT. Yaqub Mirza and Mohamed Omeish, who each gave McKinney $500 on Sept. 11, are former president of the SAAR Foundation and president of Success Foundation, respectively.

On June 2, the news service IslamOnline reported that McKinney told a gathering at the Islamic Foundation School in Chicago: "I need your help. . . . It's just not about a congressional district. It's about the members of Congress who have the courage to come to the Muslim community."