| Type | Humanitarian |
|---|---|
| Founded | November 1994 |
| Location | England |
| Key people | Ibrahim Hewitt |
| Area served | Palestine, Jordon and Lebanon |
| Focus | Medical, Education and Community |
| Method | Direct Aid / Program Funding |
| Revenue | £5.2 million (2006) |
| Motto | "Helping Palestinians in need" |
| Website | www.interpal.org |
Interpal is the working name for the British charity Palestinian Relief and Development Fund founded in 1994 which states that it is a non-political charity to alleviate problems faced by Palestinians, and focused solely on the provision of relief and development aid to the poor and needy Palestinians the world over, but primarily in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Jordan.
There have been allegations that Interpal is funding or supporting terrorism, but these have not been substantiated in the British courts or by the Charity Commission. United States citizens and permanent residents are however prohibited from doing business with them via a 2003 SDN listing[1].
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Interpal's program has four main points of focus: Community Development – which tries to lift communities out of poverty with long-term, sustainable solutions based on their needs; Humanitarian work – assisting those immediately affected by conflict, especially in the field of water and sanitation; Health & Medical – Distributing funds to hospitals, medical centers and local clinics to ensure continued service provision; Education programmes – in order to empower the youth of Palestine, and as a means of providing them with a better education and future.
Interpal is currently the largest British charity supplying humanitarian aid to Palestinians and is "one of the largest Muslim-led charities in Europe".
The charity organises several events throughout the year including charity bazaars, university talks, auctions, and fundraising dinners. Other annual campaigns include Ramadan and Qurbani appeals.
Interpal has a number of successful fundraising channels in addition to its mail and online campaigns. Tens of thousands of people in the UK make a regular financial contribution towards its work and many thousands more sponsor orphans and needy children on a regular giving scheme. Vital funds are received from mosque and street collections and through live TV appeals. Interpal also receives funds in return for providing and organizing volunteer stewards at events such as IslamExpo and the Global Peace & Unity events. As a seller of fair trade products, Interpal helps developing communities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Interpals policy is not to deduct administration costs from specified donations. Administration costs for the past 7 years have been less than 10% of the total annual budget, and they are met from the following sources;
Interpal is chaired by Mr. Ibrahim Hewitt. The other trustees are Mr. G Faour (also a trustee of the Palestinian Return Centre), Dr. E Mustafa, Mr. I Y Ginwala MBE, Mr. M Rafiq Vindhani and Dr. S Husain.
Interpal has on three occasions, following allegations, been the subject of investigations by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.[2] In all three investigations evidence was not found to prove alleged links between Interpal and organisations involved in terrorism.[3][4]
In 1996 allegations were made against Interpal and its Trustees in the Sunday Telegraph. A Charity Commission inquiry found no evidence that donations could not be accounted for or were made for political reasons.[5] Subsequently the Telegraph issued the following apology and retraction on 29 November 1997:
"On 26 May 1996, in an article entitled "London fatwa backs suicide bombers", we suggested that the Palestinian Relief and Development Fund (INTERPAL) was run by Hamas activists who encourage and support terrorist activities in Israel. We also reported claims which were being investigated by the Charity Commission that INTERPAL was used to raise money to fund the training of suicide bombers in Gaza and the West Bank. We now accept that the Trustees of INTERPAL are not Hamas activists. We also accept that the Charity Commission's investigations found there to be no evidence of any pro-terrorist bias in the charity or of any channelling of its funds towards the training of suicide bombers. The Commission concluded that the charity is a "well run and committed organisation which carries out important work in a part of the world where there is great hardship and suffering" and that INTERPAL takes every possible step to ensure that its donations go only to charitable purposes, helping the poor and needy. We withdraw the allegations that appeared in our article and apologise to the Trustees of INTERPAL for the embarrassment caused."
On 22 August 2003 the U.S. Treasury published a list of charities it alleged to have links to terrorism; this list included Interpal[6] which was defined as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" that aids Hamas. The Publication of this list led to the charities assets being frozen on 26 August and a full investigation by the Charity Commission. The investigation lasted five weeks and Interpal was cleared of any illegal activities, while the U.S. Treasury "...were unable to provide evidence to support their allegations..." to the Charity Commission.[7][8] Interpal remains on the OFAC "Specially Designated Nationals" list of individuals and organizations with whom United States citizens and permanent residents are prohibited from doing business.
After the Board of Deputies of British Jews repeated this allegation, it was sued by Interpal. The parties settled out of court,[9] with the Board of Deputies making a public apology and posting the statement on its website for 28 days. The statement on their Web-site concluded:
..We referred to “terrorist organisations such as Hamas and Interpal”. We would like to make it clear that we should not have described Interpal in this way and we regret the upset and distress our item caused.[10]
In July 2006 the BBC broadcast a Panorama programme, Faith, Hate and Charity, alleging that Interpal donated funds to voluntary organisations in Occupied Palestine that supported the ideology of Palestine's ruling party Hamas.[11]
The head of the Charity Commission said on the Panorama programme that the presenting journalist had raised some "pertinent" issues concerning the organisation's links to Hamas that should be investigated. On 4 January 2007 the Commission "reiterated its 1996 conclusion that Interpal is 'a well run and committed organisation which carries out important work in a part of the world where there is great hardship and suffering'."[12]
After an extended investigation, in February 2009 the Charity Commission report[5] dismissed allegations by Panorama that Interpal was funding organisations involved in terrorism.[3] Again the U.S. Treasury did not supply any evidence to the Charity Commission inquiry, though the Israeli government did provide an outline of its concerns.[5] However the inquiry concluded that Interpal “had not put in place adequate due diligence and monitoring procedures to be satisfied that these organisations were not promoting terrorist ideologies or activities. Where procedures were in place, they were not sufficient nor fully implemented”. The inquiry concluded that they "could not verify that the material it examined suggesting certain partner organisations funded by the charity may be promoting terrorist ideology or activities".[5]
Interpal has been ordered by the Charity Commission to end its links to The Union of Good, which had been designated by the U.S. Treasury as “an organization created by Hamas leadership to transfer funds to the terrorist organization”.[13] In May 2010 the Charity Commission found Interpal to be in full compliance with directions.[14]