Under Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, Minnesota awarded millions to an American Islamic association which later fundraised for a Muslim charity that collaborated with an al-Qaeda-linked organization.
The Minnesota Department of Health committed to giving the Islamic Association of North America well over $2 million in public health-related grants between 2020 and 2026, coinciding with Walzās term as Minnesota governor, according to state spendingrecords first reported by the Washington Examiner. The Islamic Association of North America, following Hamasā Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, heldĀ a fundraiser for Rahma Worldwide, a Muslim charity that has collaborated on a Gaza aid program with the Islamic Heritage Revival Society of Kuwait, an organization the U.S. government sanctioned for funding al-Qaeda and which U.S. intelligence officials believed to be part of a Hamas fundraising operation.
The governor is responsible for appointing the Minnesota Department of Healthās commissioner, according to MinnPost.
āDetermined to choose the worst possible partners at every turn, we now know that Walz oversaw $2.1 million of grants to yet another terror-aligned organization, with whose officials the governor seems to have close relations,ā Sam Westrop, a terrorism analyst at the Middle East Forum, told the Examiner. āItās not just a reprehensible use of Minnesota taxpayersā money, itās also a complete betrayal of all those moderate Muslim and Somali activists working to fight this extremism in their communities every day.ā
Walz, now the presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee, is under fire for his ties to Asad Zaman, an Islamic cleric who shared a pro-Hitler video to social media, defended the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and posted a link to a Hamas press release on his Facebook page. āThe Governor and he do not have a personal relationship. Governor Walz strongly condemns Hamas terrorism,ā a spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harrisā campaign told CNN.
Walz, however, called Zaman a āmaster teacherā at a 2018 event, the Examiner reported.
āI am a teacher, so when I see a master teacher, I know it,ā Walz said of Zaman, according to the Examiner. āOver the time weāve spent together, one of the things Iāve had the privilege of is seeing the things in life through the eye of a master teacher, to try and get the understanding,ā
Walzās administration also gave over $100,000 worth of grants to the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, which Zaman heads.
The Islamic Association of North America says it represents āMuslim communities on national levels and speaking on behalf of member organizations on all matters concerning Muslims,ā according to its website.
At least some of the grant funds sent to the organization by Walzās administration paid for it to help increase COVID-19 vaccination rates, per a press release. The Islamic Association of North America was part of a state-wide āCOVID-19 Community Coordinatorsā program which sought to engage minority stakeholders to āsupport Minnesotans who need COVID-19 information specific to their communities, including in their languages.ā
Yusuf Abdi Abdulle, the groupās director, said on Facebook that āPalestine has the right to defend itselfā following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks where Hamas militants killed 1,200 people, raped women and kidnapped children.
The Islamic Association of North America, Minnesota Department of Health and Harris campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundationās requests for comment.
(Featured image credit:Ā Screen Capture/CSPAN)
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