How can I be sure that my charities do NOT give aid in the form of money to terrorist organizations or any group that harbors weapons in any form?

Question

I would never have thought of asking this question. The thought never even crossed my mind until I saw an article about this topic. I donate to charities myself and just want to make sure the charities I use do not give cash to terrorists.

As far as I know they provide food and services not cash. I don't think this is an issue for my donations but would not mind getting feedback.

Here is the link:https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-cash-to-crypto-global-finance-maze-israels-sights-2023-10-16/

Answer 1

Define "charity" and specify a country.

If you are in the United States giving money to a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization, it is highly, highly unlikely that your contributions would flow to a terrorist organization. Money laundering does happen but it is incredibly rare. Assuming the charity has existed for a few years, any number of charity watchdogs should be able to report on the charity's financial statements to evaluate whether there is anything dodgy.

If you are in a country in the Middle East giving to a non-registered organization that claims it has charitable goals, it is much more plausible that you're giving to an organization that is a front for terrorists.

If you don't limit yourself to cash assistance, then things get stickier. It is always possible that terrorist groups that control territory will repurpose legitimate charitable infrastructure. For example, Hamas used a lot of the water pipes that charitable organizations installed to build rocket launchers. The charities couldn't control what happened to the pipes they installed once they left.

Answer 2

Charities obviously are not intended to give money to terrorists directly.

But, many charities are being used (either intentionally or not, from charity's employees' and donors' perspectives) by the terrorists.

Think of UNRWA for example, a UN agency and a relatively reputable charity for the Palestinians. Their facilities have been used numerously by Hamas to stockpile weapons, fire at the Israeli civilian populations, and all that even when children were present. See the UN report on this from one of the previous rounds of violence in the area. Obviously, the UN didn't build its schools to be used for launching missiles into the neighboring countries. But what can they do when Hamas comes and does that? Nothing.

In addition, keep in mind that the local government is a theocratic dictatorship, there's no freedom of press, no freedom of expression, no protection to whistleblowers, and very violent punishments for what may be considered as "cooperating with the occupation" (and that can include letting the Israelis and the world know when the charities are misused and abused by the militants).

As mentioned in the comments, Hamas itself may be considered a "charity" in some countries. In the Western world it is defined as a terrorist organization and cannot raise any funds. Any organization with direct links to it would also be disqualified once identified. That doesn't prevent them from trying and starting charities under various disguises which in reality launder money for the group. Those are usually identified and shut down quickly, so if you're donating to an established charity with a track record of >20 years (or solid independent auditing and supervision on the ground), you're probably fine.