WITH the Israel-Palestine conflict raging, the Muslim Consumer Association of Malaysia (PPIM) urged Malaysians to be wary of tricksters taking advantage of the situation to collect donations.
“This is nothing new. Times likes this there will be a lot of response from the public and scammers may take advantage of the public.
“As consumers, they must check and ensure their donations reach the community in need. Therefore, I urge everyone to check whether they are dealing with reputable organisation,” its president Datuk Nadzim Johan told FocusM.
Since last week, the conflict between Israel and Palestine escalated after the Zionist nation’s police stormed and assaulted congregation praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan.
Both sides started firing rockets and launched air strikes on each other’s land, causing hundreds to lose their lives and leaving many others injured.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had since vowed to take down Hamas leaders across the globe, using its intelligence service.
Following the incident, many have come forward to donate and collect donations for Palestinians, with PAS leaders forgoing their salaries and auctioning off possessions to amass funds.
On Feb 19 last year, Palestinian ambassador to Malaysia Walid Abu Ali revealed that donations raised by Malaysian non-governmental organisations (NGO) did not reach the al-Aqsa Mosque Fund for years.
He added that only funds sent by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) had been accounted for.
“Some NGOs in Malaysia, they focused on supporting Palestinians, supporting people in Gaza by raising donations.
“I mean, you contribute. You raised the money, but did you ever ask who received the money? Who benefited from it? No one knows,” New Straits Times reported Walid as saying.
Touching on the matter, Nadzim said that the public could easily verify whether an organisation was legitimate or otherwise by checking on the Internet, before making donations.
Among the genuine organisations, he added, was Aman Palestine and Yayasan Perdana.
“PPIM is also collecting donations for the Palestinians using the Sumbang.com platform. Whatever sum collected, we will pass it to Aman Palestine for further action,” he stated.
While acknowledging Walid’s concerns, Nadzim remarked: “Quite of number of donations, from across the world, were given to the Middle Eastern nation without going through the Palestinian authority.”
Article by: Focus Malaysia
ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT: DONATE TO REPUTABLE GROUPS, SAYS CONSUMERIST