Trouble Brewing
With Caribou Coffee?

E-mail spreads concern about links to Islamist terrorist
organizations through parent company.

DON COHEN
Special to the Jewish News

I

t is increasingly hard to get a good cup of coffee
and avoid getting burnt by the passions and poli-
tics of the Middle East and terrorism.
An e-mail message urging consumers to boy-
cott Caribou Coffee, alleging links to anti-Israel terror-
ism, is making the rounds and having an impact.
As often happens with widely circulated e-mails
about a consumer product, many people are willing to
accept the e-mail as fact and avoid Caribou; others are
staying away until they find out the facts.
Unlike similar e-mails quickly proven as hoaxes,
much of the information in this e-mail is accurate.
Still, the conclusion that supporting Caribou is sup-
porting terrorism remains unproven, and has been
strongly denied by the company.
It is true that 87.8 percent of Caribou Coffee is
owned by the First Islamic Investment Bank and its
investors. It also is true that Sheik YusefAbdullah al-
Qaradawi, a prominent Muslim cleric with strong links
and tremendous influence on Islamist terrorist organiza-
tions such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood [see
accompanying box], serves as chairman of the Islamic
Bank's Shari 'h (Islamic religious law) advisory board.
The advisory board is an important element of the
working of the Islamic Bank. According to its Web site
www.firstislamic.com — to ensure rigorous com-
pliance with Shari'ah requirements, the Shari'ah and
legal teams, and through them the. Shari'ah
Supervisory Board, are involved in the key phases of
each new transaction.
So there has been a direct link between the owners of
Caribou and al-Qaradawi, a man who urges and sup-
ports suicide bombings against Israel and castigates
America as a terrorist country. But al-Qaradawi's role is
to advise on the Islamic aspects of running an invest-
ment bank, which centers around the prohibition of
charging interest on transactions, but also extends to
prohibitions on liquor, pork, gambling, pornography
and anything else the Shari'ah deems Haram (unlawful).
"Any concerns that anyone involved in ownership
of Caribou condones terrorism are totally unwar-
ranted. Our ownership has no political agenda and
is 100 percent opposed to terrorism of any kind,
anywhere — period," Caribou says in an e-mail
message to those who expressed concern.
"[First Islamic is] a highly respected and purely
financial organization based in Bahrain and regulat-
ed by the government of Bahrain, a strong U.S. ally
in the Middle East and the headquarters of the U.S.
Navy's 5th Fleet."
Caribou's statement goes on to say that al-Qaradawi

6/21
2002

30

is not an employee or owner of the Islamic Bank,
though it has been confirmed that he has been com-
pensated for his services on the advisory board.
"He [al-Qaradawi] is an inactive member of the
board that advises us on Islamic law relating to business
practices, and does not represent us on issues of inter-
nal affairs or from a political standpoint. Taken on the
face of it, just the opposite," says David P. Crosland, an
executive director of both the First Islamic Bank and
Crescent Capital Investments Inc., the U.S. private
equity arm of First Islamic.
"We condemn terrorist acts, including Palestinian
suicide bombings. To the point that al-Qaradawi
contradicts our position, he doesn't represent us,"
Crosland says.
Concerns about Qaradawi's links to terrorism has
put his future association with the Islamic Bank in
question. The bank has removed the page about the
Shari'ah advisory board from its Web site pending
the review of the relationship.
"We have accelerated the review process," Crosland
said, "and should come to a decision within a week."

Where Does The Money Go?

Another item, not directly mentioned in the e-mail
about Caribou, but certainly implied, is'whether or not
the Islamic Bank funds any anti-Israel activity, terrorist
or political. The Bank's online annual report lists chari-

table contributions totaling between $200,000 and
$400,000 a year. Where does that money go?
"Buying a cup of coffee at Caribou is not support-
ing terrorism. I am certain of that," says Crosland,
who says that contributions go to either U.S. or
Bahraini charities that have a local focus. "We take
our list of proposed contributions to a law firm with
expertise in that area [terrorism] and we have been
given a clean bill of health."
He denies that any funds have gone to any groups on
the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist organiza-
tions, nor to any political movement or charity promot-
ing terrorism or providing funds to families of terrorists.
But concerns remain.
"Emotions in our community [about Israel] are
running very high, and we want to know who is
friend and who is foe," said Stephen Silberfarb, exec-
utive director of the Jewish Community Relations
Council (JCRC) of Minnesota and the Dakotas,
who has been workinc, on this issue for some time.
It is a relatively old story, one that has been
rehashed. But, if you want to go a coffee shop that
you know supports Israel, you want to know."
Caribou, founded and still based in Minneapolis
with about 185 stores in eight states, is a particularly
hot issue in that Jewish community. Silverfarb has been
encouraged by his communications with First Islamic
and Caribou, but acknowledges there are unknowns.
"My guess is that among the 500 shareholders in

"

About Sheik Yusef al-Qaradawi

FROM AMERICAN JEWISH
COMMITTEE:

Sheik Yusef al-Qaradawi is a well-
known ideologue of the Muslim
Brotherhood movement, who
legitimizes suicide bombings via
his own radical interpretation of
Islamic theology.
Al-Qaradawi's radical theological
rulings are prominently featured
on the official Internet site of
Hamas, and his fatwa (religious
ruling) on suicide bombings is
entitled, "Hamas Operations Are
Jihad And Those Who [carry it
out] Are Killed Are Considered
Martyrs." In December 2001, al-
Qaradawi elaborated on his stance
regarding suicide bombings by

articulating the position that there
are no innocent Israeli civilians:
"In Israel, all men and women are
soldiers. They are all occupying
troops."

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

Al-Qaradawi blesses "the martyr-
dom operations in which a given
Muslim fighter turns himself or
herself into a human bomb that
casts terror in the hearts of the
enemy ... If we can't carry out acts
of Jihad ourselves, we at least
should support and prop up the
Mujahideen financially and moral-
ly so that they will be steadfast
until God's victory."
— September1999, Palestine Times

"The Palestinians have the
right to defend themselves.
Each one of them has the right
to explode himself, make him-
self a human bomb and
explode himself against his
enemy and kill whomever he
kills ... Take the hand of our
oppressed brothers on Earth,
our brothers in Afghanistan,
Palestine and Kashmir, and
lead them to the victory. Allah,
attack the oppressors, attack
the Americans and the occu-
piers, the arrogant Zionists,
your enemies who are the ene-
mies of Islam."
— sermon of Oct. 12, 2001