Times: Hakeem speaks out on controversial charities

SamFisher · Feb 16, 2005

It's kind of too bad that this is the only thing we hear from him these days.

Olajuwon Says He Trusted Charities
By DAVID PICKER

Published: February 16, 2005

Hakeem Olajuwon said yesterday that contributions made by a mosque that he established and financed had been intended for charities performing humanitarian work. He said there had been no way to know, when the contributions were made, that the groups receiving them had links to terrorism.

Olajuwon was responding to a report last week by The Associated Press that said the Islamic Da'Wah Center of Houston had donated more than $80,000 to charities that the United States government later accused of being connected to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Olajuwon, who retired in 2002 after 17 seasons with the Houston Rockets and one with the Toronto Raptors, is in Jordan studying Arabic.

"It took my whole career to build my name and the causes that I choose to support," Olajuwon said yesterday from Amman, Jordan, during a 40-minute teleconference that he initiated. "It took my whole career, and it's difficult to accept when my name is coming linked into anything such as terrorism."

The mosque donated $61,250 in 2000 and $20,000 in 2002 to the Islamic African Relief Agency, in addition to $2,430 in 2000 to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, The A.P. reported on Feb. 9.

The United States government shut the Islamic African Relief Agency in October, accusing it of having supplied money to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, the A.P. reported. The government shut down the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in 2001, saying that it had raised money for Hamas, according to The A.P.

Olajuwon, who was born in Nigeria and converted to Islam, insisted that he had no knowledge of any connections the charities had to terrorism. Had he known, he said, he would not have allowed the mosque to make the donations.

"At the time they were raising the money in 2000, we didn't even know anything about a terrorist," he said. Olajuwon said he had no reason to suspect that the charities had terrorist links, noting that the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development was an American-based nonprofit organization registered with the Internal Revenue Service. The mosque's donations were reported properly to the I.R.S., he said.

"It was reported in our tax return," Olajuwon said.

"This wasn't something that was secretive," he added. "It was very open. That's what I'm referring to. This was clear. This was not something like, you know, like it was underground. It was clearly a fund-raising for the relief organization."

Olajuwon, 42, said the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development had approached the mosque seeking support for a program for orphans.

"You see their work, you see their brochure, they've been doing it for years and they're approved by the government," Olajuwon said. "And it's not just us. And they go to different communities to raise funds, because they have this permit."

He added: "We don't want to give the money where most of the money is spent on the administration. We're going to make sure that this organization is actually spending the money," he said, on "what they're supposed to."

He said such money should go for "medicine, schools, doing well in Africa in the villages."

Olajuwon said the mosque must do a better job researching charities before making donations. "But we were careful before," he said.

Olajuwon said he was surprised that the initial report became international news. Sounding deeply distressed, he said that an "article that linked me with a terrorist group" had been published in Nigeria.

"This is where, you know, we have a responsibility as friends to report stories sincerely," he said.

Olajuwon argued that The A.P.'s report was misleading and that it had taken facts out of context.

Olajuwon, who is an American citizen, said that he was worried about how people would view him when he returns to the United States in a few months. He called himself a public figure who tries to "help the community and give back."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/sports/basketball/16Hakeem.html
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RocketManJosh · Feb 16, 2005

I heard Dream speaking on the radio yesterday and he was verbally sparring with the AP writer that wrote it. Dream was upset that the headlines made him out to be a terrorist. He took a lot of his anger out at the AP writer, who made the point that he does not write the headlines.

I think the article itself was nothing close to an attack on Dream. The headlines that all the news agencies are the ones that really are at fault if you ask me.

IndianPlaya · Feb 16, 2005

Olajuwon has a legacy of being humble and kind. He specifically signed a contract with spalding so that his shoes cost only $30, just so poor kids could afford them. The headlines made it seem like Olajuwon deliberately gave money to terrorists, when this was clearly not the clase. IMO, the papers were just harassing him because he is Muslim.

Dr of Dunk · Feb 16, 2005

Originally posted by IndianPlaya
IMO, the papers were just harassing him because he is Muslim.
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If anything, they wanted an eye-catching headline.

GoatBoy · Feb 16, 2005

Originally posted by IndianPlaya
Olajuwon has a legacy of being humble and kind. He specifically signed a contract with spalding so that his shoes cost only $30, just so poor kids could afford them. The headlines made it seem like Olajuwon deliberately gave money to terrorists, when this was clearly not the clase. IMO, the papers were just harassing him because he is Muslim.
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The media is harrassing him because it will sell papers. Once upon a time (that maybe never really existed) journalists felt they had a duty to be impartial. Now, they are just another form of entertainment. There are very few remotely reliable news sources anymore. If I want to try to get close to the truth, I look to the NY Times or the BBC. And even their veracity is questionable, in my opinion.

In other words, they don't just do this to Muslims, they do this to everyone. Although Muslims are definitely targets for sensationalzed news stories these days.

CriscoKidd · Feb 16, 2005

At least he wasn't driving a SUV.

Oski2005 · Feb 16, 2005

Maybe I haven't followed this much, but there are some posters here who I assumed would comment on this in a negative way towards Hakeem. Cat Stevens didn't get the benefit of the doubt, but he didn't win us 2 championships.

tigermission1 · Feb 16, 2005

Originally posted by Oski2005
Maybe I haven't followed this much, but there are some posters here who I assumed would comment on this in a negative way towards Hakeem. Cat Stevens didn't get the benefit of the doubt, but he didn't win us 2 championships.
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Cat Stevens has just won a Libel suit against two British papers for slandering his good name, just because our government made a stupid mistake of "mistaken identity", that is of someone who has similar name as his on the "no-fly list". The least our government could have done was appologize and acknolwedge a mistake, did not happen, and probably won't.

Now Hakeem's great name is used in a negative context in a number of articles (three or four of which I have read that use slightly different language and style) that clearly insinuate or give the reader the sense that Hakeem knew he was financing terrorism.

Let me say it ONE LAST TIME GUYS: HAKEEM OLAJUWON DECLARED THOSE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE IRS!! SO HOW THE HELL CAN HE BE HIDING ANYTHING?!!!

Is he really that stupid? You do something suspicious, you try your best to hide it, not declare it to the GOVERNMENT!

I hope this gets through to some thick-headed idiots around the world, who clearly are using every chance they get to slander Muslims at every turn. It is really sad what our world has come to. I guess it is too much to ask people to be fair-minded

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