Statement of Support for the Alavi Foundation

The Alavi Foundation is owner of the world-renowned Piaget Building at 650 Fifth Avenue, in New York City. The building funds the Foundation’s charitable giving and symbolizes Persian-American pride, friendship and good-will to all, and the idea that immigrant communities can achieve the American Dream in this country that we love.

The Alavi Foundation makes charitable and philanthropic donations to educational, religious and cultural programs that support interfaith harmony, Islamic studies, and Persian language and literature within the United States.

Restrictions on the services and resources that the Alavi Foundation provides to others will have catastrophic results on numerous American organizations and individuals:

• 36 organizations serving over 30,000 congregants will be forced to shut down.
• Deserving students will not have access to interest-free loans.
• 23 schools with 2,100 students and 120 staff will cease to operate.
• Programs that have distributed over 150,000 free books about Islam, philosophy, and Persian culture will shut down.
• Higher educational programs at 30 American Universities focusing on Islamic studies and Persian language and literature will be permanently discontinued. Affected institutions include Harvard University, Princeton University, California State University, Hunter College and Hartford Seminary.
• Free medical clinics that have assisted thousands of indigent patients will have to curtail or stop their activities.