Hamas charities thrive despite U.S.-led fund freeze

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RAMALLAH, West Bank -- A U.S.-led funding squeeze, which has paralyzed the Hamas-led Palestinian government, has had the unintended effect of bolstering the militant group's network of schools, hospitals and alms societies.

Foreign donations, often consisting of cash in suitcases smuggled across the border, have permitted Hamas' vast social-welfare network to thrive, say officials and analysts.

"All charitable organizations affiliated with Hamas are still functioning," said Sheik Yazeeb Khader, an editor of Hamas' West Bank newspaper. He said the charities in Gaza have especially benefited from money "brought across the border and not checked."

For years, while Hamas' military wing dispatched suicide bombers to Israeli cities, the group's civilian wing quietly built up a grass-roots following with its network of Islamic social-welfare organizations.

The charities went far beyond anything established by the secular government of Yasser Arafat and helped give Hamas the support needed to oust Arafat loyalists in January elections and take power in March.

Unable to pay for supplies, government ministries have since ceased to function, and without salaries, civil servants have gone on strike.

The charities, however, openly boast that they continue to get money from Muslim communities in the Persian Gulf, Europe and the United States.

"These organizations are living in a golden age, where they are badly needed. There is no other way to take care of those people," said Basem Ezbidi, a political science professor at Birzeit University.

The links between Hamas and its social affiliates are kept deliberately murky.

None of the charities bear the Hamas name. Ask the managers about support from Hamas, and they are quick to deny any political affiliation.