The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its Missouri chapter (CAIR-Missouri) today called on the national office of Girl Scouts of the USA to lift its ban on fundraising for humanitarian aid for Palestinian children after a troop in that state was reportedly threatened with legal action if it did not cease making and selling beaded bracelets to raise money for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
SEE: Girl Scouts threaten legal action over troop’s fundraiser for children in Gaza
In a letter sent to Girl Scouts of the USA Chief Executive Officer Bonnie Barczykowski, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad and CAIR-Missouri Board Chairman Yasir Ali wrote in part:
“The troop was reportedly told to remove all references to the Girl Scouts from any communications about the initiative for Palestinian children and was told it had not followed the ‘appropriate policy, procedures and approval processes as outlined in our volunteer and leader training documents.’
“They were also threatened with legal action in a message reportedly stating: ‘Unfortunately, if this direct violation of the organization’s governing documents and policies continues, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri and Girl Scouts of the United States have no other choice than to engage our legal counsel to help remedy this situation and to protect the intellectual property and other rights of the organization.’
“This harsh and threatening response to Girl Scouts raising funds for humanitarian aid to children currently targeted by a genocide is extremely disturbing and worthy of your action at the national level.
“One has to question whether or not your organization would have issued such a harsh and threatening response if a Girl Scout troop had been raising funds in a similar way for Ukraine or Israeli children in harm’s way.
“It is our understanding that there was a recent lift on the ban on fundraising for outside causes such as victims of the recent Middle East conflict, which has now expired. We urge you to extend the lifting of the ban so that Girl Scout troops can raise funds for children in Gaza and others impacted by the ongoing violence, no matter their nationality or ethnicity.”
Washington, D.C., based CAIR’s letter asked Girl Scouts of the USA to:
- Launch an internal investigation into your organization’s handling of this incident.
- Clearly state that troops should be able to raise funds to assist in humanitarian relief for the Palestinian people on an equal footing with initiatives undertaken on behalf of other targeted groups regardless of ethnicity or religion.
- Apologize to the Missouri Girl Scout troop for the harsh and threatening way this matter was handled and ensure they are in good standing with your organization.
- Offer a professional development session for councils on the topic and the needs of impacted girls during an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
- Conduct an audit to evaluate the presence of bias toward Arab and Muslim girls in your organization.
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CONTACT: CAIR-Missouri Board Chairman Yasir Ali, yali@cair.com, 314-722-6116; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com