The Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas accused Washington Wednesday of denying funds to kindergartens in the Gaza Strip and West Bank with its freeze on the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation, according to AFP. Meanwhile, Canada followed suit and froze the assets of the same three organizations in the country.
"The freeze of the foundation's assets is an illegal measure. It aims to please the Zionist lobby," said the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk.
"The Jews and the Zionist lobby have long had this foundation in their sights because it finances charity and relief works in Palestine," he told AFP in the Syrian capital.
"The US administration has, in the past, verified the accounts of this foundation and found no irregularity. It saw that the money serves the financing of schools and kindergartens in Palestine," he said.
The United States on Tuesday froze the assets of the foundation on suspicion of helping Hamas recruit and train suicide bombers to strike at Israel.
US Attorney General John Ashcroft said the foundation had taken funds from Abu Marzouk, whom US courts have allegedly tied to terrorist activities.
Abu Marzouk said his donation was made "a very long time ago,” when he lived in the United States. "But that doesn't mean anything ... The money has been going to charitable projects" such as kindergartens, he insisted.
Hamas claimed responsibility for suicide bomb blasts in Israel on Saturday and Sunday that killed 25 people, apart from the three bombers.
According to Reuters, the Canadian government matched US moves. Finance Minister Paul Martin and Foreign Minister John Manley said in a statement three organizations were linked to terrorism. Their assets are to be frozen and reported to the relevant Canadian authorities.
The entities are Al-Aqsa Islamic Bank, Beit el-Mal Holdings and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien painted the suicide bombers in Israel as terrorists. "Probably it's a form of terrorism. That creates terror, of course," he told reporters – Albawaba.com
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