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The Idol of Zionism Created by the West Must Be Shattered

MEMRI: Latest News

April 24, 2009 No. 2326

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: The Idol of Zionism Created by the West Must Be Shattered

According to reports in the West, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad toned down his speech at the Durban Review Conference, held April 22-24, 2009 in Geneva, due to public criticism. However, when he returned to Iran he stepped up his anti-West and anti-Israel statements. In an April 23, 2009 speech in Eslamshahr, near Tehran, Ahmadinejad said that the West is worshipping the idol it had created in the form of Zionism, and is forcing the entire world to worship it as well – but that this idol “must be shattered in order to save humanity.” He also claimed that the West fabricated the Holocaust and made it a sacred issue, and is using it to take over the entire world.

Also, in a speech the previous day at an international conference of prosecutors of Islamic countries in Tehran, he accused the West of “prepar[ing] the ground for the fulfillment of Zionism’s aspirations.”

The following are excerpts from speeches he made after returning from Geneva:

“This Idol of Zionism Must Be Shattered in Order to Save Humanity… Iran’s Revolution Has Already Been Exported”

In his speech in Eslamshahr, Ahmadinejad said: “Wherever we want to visit and at every conference in which we participate, they [the Western countries] say: ‘Who do you want to criticize? [You can] criticize the U.S., Europe, the [Second] World War, the Vietnam War, or the Korean War, but you must not criticize the Zionists.’ The people of the West fabricated what is known as the Holocaust and Zionism, and they have sanctified it and placed it at the top of all holy beliefs. They have all united around it, and by hoisting the banner of Zionism, while using violence and aggression, spreading civil strife, and [perpetrating] Zionist crimes, they have taken over the world and wish to rule it.

“I say to them: ‘In your countries, you permit [even] the affronting of the divine prophets, the holy of holies of the world.’ They respond by saying: ‘That’s freedom of speech.’ But when it comes to [the issue of] the Zionists, they say: ‘Shut up, and don’t utter a word.’ They [the Western countries] have fabricated an idol called Zionism, which they worship and want to force all the nations to worship.

“I declare from [this pulpit] that this idol of Zionism must be shattered in order to save humanity… [1] They must know that the free nations, the Iranian nation, and the people of Eslamshahr will not tolerate this modern idol-worshiping, that they will shatter this idol with force… Indeed, they have already shattered this idol.

“A journalist asked me: ‘Do you still want to export your revolution?’ I said to him: ‘Iran’s revolution has already been exported. The world’s nations chant the slogans of the Iranian nation, and talk about brotherhood, justice, and peace, and about the confrontation with oppression and with the crimes of the Zionists. The Islamic Revolution of Iran has already been exported. Can’t you see that? Can’t you discern that? If you go to America, [you will see] that there too people chant the slogans of the Iranian nation.” [2]

“The Zionists are the Ones Running International Relations… The Mask of Judaism [Behind which Zionism Hides] is False”

At an April 22, 2009 speech at the international conference of Islamic prosecutors, which convened in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said: “Let me say a few words about the Durban [2] conference in Geneva: The Zionists are the ones running international relations… Everybody knows that Zionism is a political party, and you all know that the mask of Judaism [behind which they hide] is false, because Zionism is devoid of religion, and they are against religion, against race, and against humanity.

“Zionism is a convoluted and crude party, which operates contrary to the teachings of the divine prophets and against humanity [in an effort] to take over the foundations of the world. Their management of the world takes two forms: One is behind-the-scenes control – they have arranged the [international] institutions so that they will continuously strive to achieve the Zionist goals. They [i.e. Westerners] have prepared the ground for the fulfillment of Zionism’s aspirations, and they fully support the Zionist regime, without donning the mask of Zionism [themselves].

“All the organizations – the [U.N.] Security Council and the international political and judicial institutions – wholeheartedly support the Zionists, even though the Zionist mark is not branded on their foreheads.

“I believe that behind the scenes, the Zionists are running these institutions to their own advantage.” [3]

“Over 70% of the Europeans Support Iran … [Because] the Statements of the Iranian Nation Stem from Divine Inspiration”

Upon his return from Geneva, Ahmadinejad said in a speech at Mehrabad airport in Tehran: “A journalist asked me in Geneva: ‘Why do you say these things? The Europeans are concerned about your statements.’ I told him: Let’s test what you say, and hold a referendum in Europe. You will see that over 70% of the Europeans support the Iranian nation. This is because the statements of the Iranian nation stem from divine inspiration.” [4]

[1] Fars (Iran), April 23, 2009.

[2] ISNA (Iran), April 23, 2009.

[3] The Institution of the Iranian Presidency, April 22, 2009.

[4] Kayhan (Iran), April 22, 2009.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says “in many ways Islam is maybe the most democratic religion because there is nobody between you and God”

Albright Praises Obama’s Efforts to Engage Muslim World


24 April 2009

President Barack Obama continued his outreach to the Muslim world in April with a visit to Turkey. There was generally favorable response across the political spectrum in Muslim countries to the president’s public statements – such as a pledge made before Turkey’s Parliament in Ankara.

“We seek broader engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect,” Obama said. “We will listen carefully, we will bridge misunderstandings, and we will seek common ground. We will be respectful, even when we do not agree.”

The president’s approach seems to enjoy popular support back home, as well. The latest Washington Post/ABC opinion survey shows that 81 percent of Americans believe it is important for the U.S. to engage the Muslim world.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says the president already has taken action to improve relations with Muslim countries
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says the president already has taken action to improve relations with Muslim countries

That is also the conclusion of the report by the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright – one of its authors – said the president already is adopting several of its recommendations.

“In terms of diplomacy and conflict resolution, he did say that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian issue was a major input, and he immediately named Senator George Mitchell as his envoy in order to work on that particular issue,” she says. “On Iraq, he made a commitment to a relatively fast drawn down. On Afghanistan and Pakistan, he also felt very strongly that it was very important to deal with as a regional diplomatic issue and has named Ambassador [Richard] Holbrook as his representative in order to deal with issues there.”

At the meeting with ambassadors from member states of the Organization of The Islamic Conference, or OIC., Albright laid out the project’s strategies for combating Islamic extremism: First, elevate diplomacy as the primary tool for resolving key conflicts involving Muslim countries. Then promote broad-based economic development in those nations, foster mutual respect and understanding between Americans and Muslims, and support efforts to improve governance and promote civic participation in predominantly Muslim societies.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Muslim countries can be democracies,” Albright says. “Turkey is a perfect example of that. It is very evident, and, actually, in my study of religions, in many ways Islam is maybe the most democratic religion because there is nobody between you and God. So I do not think that is something that can be used as reason not to have Muslim democracies.”

Albright said the members of the Leadership Group on U.S. Muslim Engagement are calling on the Obama administration to continue promoting democracy through diplomacy, not force.

Former U.S. Rep. Vin Weber says the administration should exert political and economic pressure to promote democratic reforms in the Middle East
Former U.S. Rep. Vin Weber says the administration should exert political and economic pressure to promote democratic reforms in the Middle East

Former Congressman Vin Weber, another group member, pointed out that the Bush administration policy of promoting regime change by military intervention strengthened the misperception that while the U.S. is calling for democratic reforms, Washington is continuing to support repressive governments in allied Muslim countries.

“It is a fact, unfortunately, that the word democracy has become a code word in recent years for regime change and maybe for armed intervention regime change, but at the end of the day, there is a core value that Americans have stood for, that we have to continue stand for, and we can’t allow that as well to become a fundamental impediment to improving the relations we are talking about.”

Weber said the report recommends fighting poverty and using U.S. political and economic leverage with authoritarian governments to promote democratic reforms and create a middle class and a civil society.

The OIC ambassadors were generally pleased with the report. Moroccan Ambassador Aziz Mekouar called it “a most constructive blueprint for building relationships of cooperation” between the United States and the larger Muslim world.

“I think that President Obama has taken very good steps immediately after he took office by appointing Senator Mitchell as a personal envoy, and he went there several times, and Secretary Clinton also went to the region, so we are seeing more than goodwill,” Mekouar says. “We are seeing a lot of actions to try to help solve the conflict in the Middle East on the basis of two-state solution.”

Libya Ambassador Ali Aujali says the Arab world will remain skeptical of American policy in the Middle East until they see concrete changes
Libya Ambassador Ali Aujali says the Arab world will remain skeptical of American policy in the Middle East until they see concrete changes

Libyan Ambassador Ali Aujali agreed, but said the Arab world is waiting for some concrete policy changes, especially in regard to Israel’s continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

“Until we see this change in American policy in the Middle East, and we see that Americans have shifted from supporting one side against the other side, until we see a clear position of the administration that they will help to stop the new settlements, I think the Arab world still will not believe there is a change in the administration’s foreign policy.”

In the face of such skepticism, members of the Engagement P
roject hope their proposed new strategies will help guide the Obama Administration to a more productive dialogue between the United States and the Muslim world.

MEMRI: Latest News

April 23, 2009 No. 2325

London Islamist Hani Sibai: ‘The Armenian Genocide by the Ottomans… The Big Lie’

The following is an article by Dr. Hani Sibai, [1] an Islamist activist residing in London who is the founder and director of a private institution called “The Almaqreze Centre for Historical Studies.” [2]

A “Reply to the Alleged Claim of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottomans”

“Praise be to Allah and Peace and Blessing be upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

“This is an article in reply to the alleged claim of the Armenian genocide by the Ottomans:

“First: Introduction

“Second: Crucial points to understand the conflict

“Third: [A] Few Examples of the Loyalty of the Armenians to Russia and their Mutiny against the Othman State

[“Fourth: A statement buried in the U.S. archives]

“Fifth: Conclusion.”

When Did the Issue of Armenia Come to Light – And Why Do the Armenians Insist That They Were Subjected to Genocide by the Ottomans?

“First: Introduction

“This false claim and despicable propaganda (i.e. the Armenian genocide by the Ottomans) had been adopted by the Russians who used the Armenians to achieve their political interests and ambitions. It was the Russians who had created the Armenian state and had given them, illegally, most of the lands owned by the Muslims after they were expelled from them. These vast lands were seized by the Russians during centuries of constant wars against the Ottoman Empire.

“Russia conducted an organized terror campaign against the citizens of the Ottoman state; they destroyed complete towns and villages fully inhabited with Muslims, and those Muslims who would remain alive were forced to leave. The Russians [would] seize all the properties of those oppressed Muslims, who were exposed to the worst kind of mass extermination in the history of mankind. At the same time, and under the pretext of defending Christianity, the Russian armies [would] bring in the Armenians who were supporting them in their wars against the Ottomans, and give them Muslims lands. The Russian government [would] provide the Armenian rebels with money and weapons, after any incident between a Muslim among the Ottoman nationals and an Armenian supporting Russia. The Muslim was not allowed to retaliate [against] the hostility of the Armenian gangs, who [would] attack the villages and rape women; and if a Muslim tried to defend his land and honor, the Armenian gangs would destroy and burn down the whole village.

“Russia used the Armenian rebels to extend their areas of influence and seize countries that were under the Ottoman Empire, and this policy had helped them create the Soviet Union since the Bolshevist revolution in 1917. This has been confirmed by Laurent Chabri and Annie Chabri in their valuable book Politics and Minorities in the Near East, and although they were not unbiased in their book (Politics and Minorities in the Near East, translated by Dr. Dhuqan Qarqut, page 311), they said in it: ‘The Armenians, who remained in Armenia and who were under the authority of the Turks on one side and under the authority of the Persians on the other, had seen great hope by the end of the eighteenth century in the Russian power, the Christian power that would appear in the scene of the Near East, and with it came the desire to extend well behind the Caucasus towards the south and the southeast. Before that, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Armenians had tried vainly to get a support from the western Catholics, expecting a military intervention from the western countries in order to rescue them from the Turkish firepower. Russia did not break those new hopes, as it used the army of Armenian volunteers to invade Persia and occupy the lands that form what is held to be the Russian Armenia.’

“Perhaps, one [may] ask when the issue of Armenia came to light internationally, and why the Armenians insist about their allegation that they have been subjected to a genocide by the Ottomans.

“To answer these questions, we will shed light upon the following issues:

Crucial Points to Understand the Conflict

“Second: Crucial Points to Understand the Conflict

“The first point: The Armenian issue was raised at the international level for the first time following the Saint Stefano Deal: after the end of the Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878, the two parties conducted the deal of Saint Stefano and Berlin in 1878, where articles 16 and 61 gave way to deal with the Armenian issue internationally in a manner that is still gouging and exacting pressure on the Turks up to our present time.

“The second point: It is necessary to study the historical period during which the Armenians claim to have been subjected to genocide, and it is the period that more or less between 1821 and 1922. There should also be a study of a great geographical region that was under the authority of the Ottomans, from the Caucasus to Anatolia and the Balkans, including Bulgaria and Greece, where most of the inhabitants of these vast regions were Muslims.

“There are indeed some serious studies about this subject, although few, such as the one conducted by Justin McCarthy in his book Death and Exile: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ottoman Muslims, 1821-1922 (Princeton, N.J.: Darwin Press, ©1995), a book that was sponsored by the U.S. National Endowment for Cultural Studies to investigate the First World War and its effects, and by the Institution for Turkish Studies to look into the deaths and migration of the Turks, jointly with some American and British universities…

“This research is considered to be the best effort regarding this issue, despite our reservation about some remarks that do not diminish its value and its genuine effort, and it was translated into Arabic and published by Qadams in Damascus. Naturally, the study of this region geographically and historically, with the nature of the conflict in that period, necessitates a great deal of research and documented studies, which would allow reasonable and just people to discover the gravity of this allegation, repeatedly quoted by the West about the so-called ‘Armenian genocide,’ in time when the western writers ignore the fate of millions of Muslims who were expulsed from their lands and killed at the hands of the Russians, the Armenians, the Bulgarians, the Greeks and the Serbians during the aforementioned period up to 1922!

“As in the words of McCarthy: “There were Muslim societies in an area with the size of western Europe that were reduced or exterminated. In the Balkans, the great Turkish population was reduced to their previous number. In the Caucasus, there was expulsion of the Charkas, the Laz, the Abkhaz and the Turks along with other Muslim minorities. Anatolia has changed, as its east and west were almost completely destroyed. This was one of the greatest tragedies in history. (McCarthy: p327)

“The third point: There was the role of the ‘Union and Progress Group’ in the downfall of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1908, coercing the Sultan Hamid the Second to retire, and introducing an article in the new constitution, allowing all the Ottoman citizens to be armed and providing a legal cover for the ethnic minorities to procure weapons. The Armenians exploited the new legislation to acquire and store weapons with which they killed Muslims. The Armenian aggression against the Muslims began in the town of Adana before the middle of 1909, under the leadership of the vicar of the city of Asvin, named Mustic.

“The fourth point: There was also the role played by western ambassadors and consuls and American protestant missionaries in misleading the public opinion and spreading reports, exaggerating the number of killed Armenians, while disregarding the number of Muslims killed i
n the war. In many occasions, telling lies was deliberate as is the case of American consul who was accused of siding fanatically with the Armenians. The French consul was not less fanatic than the American or the Russian consuls!

“Unfortunately, the Sultan Abdul Hamid believed that the British government wanted to preserve the unity of the Ottoman provinces, but he came around after it was too late!

“Robert Mantran said in the second part of his book The History of the Ottoman State, a book that contains many inaccurate statements: ‘From 1878 to 1879, Abdul Hamid began to have suspicions that England wanted to abandon its traditional policy about preserving the unity of the Ottoman lands. These suspicions were fed by the pressures executed by the British government on the Sultan Abdul Hamid in order to carry out the promised reforms in the Armenian region, and were increased intensely by the appointment of Gladstone, leader of the Liberals, as the head of British government in May 1880. He was a known enemy of the Turks since the slaughters in Bulgaria. Those suspicions were confirmed, in a way, by the control of London upon Egypt in 1882. Since that time, the British diplomacy had witnessed – according to the Istanbul’s view – a complete turn over.’ (Robert Mantran: The History of the OttomanState ).

“The fifth point: It is the misleading western propaganda, diffused by the media to distort the facts and depict the Muslims as savages and barbarians; while on the other hand, it pictures the Armenians as genius, righteous and tolerant people!

“The sixth point: These problems and worries, stirred by enemy forces against the Ottoman State, appeared in its reigning lands of the Caucasus, the Crimean peninsula, the Balkans and Anatolia, and had an impact on the fate of the Muslims in those vast territories, because of many fundamental factors:

“a. The weakness of the Ottoman State, to the point where it was described as ‘the sick man’

“b. Inciting the Christian Nationalism among the minorities, who were under the Ottoman Empire. The Great Powers at that time, which were ambitious enough to divide the properties of the Ottoman Empire, strove to incite the non-Muslim minorities to rise up and revive nationalism, as is the case with Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia. Robert Mantran confirmed this issue, saying: ‘In reality, the Armenian National Movement, after 1878, is associated, to a considerable extent, with the analysis which the Armenian intellectuals had conducted about the Bulgarian independence. Bulgaria had achieved this independence with the help of Europe, but, in fact, it had been achieved by the use of force and ruthless methods used by the Bulgarian Revolutionary Committees. Therefore, the Bulgarian example dominated the Armenian combatants’ thought, especially those who would resort to create the first organizations. Actually, the first revolutionary parties started to appear in the middle of 1880: the Armenian Party was established (in Fan) in 1885 by a number of educators, then the two large parties, unlike the first party, were formed by Armenians from Caucasus who had very little link with the Armenian Turks. The first of these two large parties was Hintshaq, which was established in Geneva in 1887, and Tashnaq (The Armenian Revolutionary Union) established in 1890 in Tiflis.’ (Robert Mantran: Second 2, p. 217)

“c. The Russian colonial expansion, which continued to absorb the properties of the Ottoman Empire piece by piece.”

The West Uses “The Armenian Problem” Against the ModernTurkishState – Even Though the “Turkish Government Adopts the Secular System and Fights Any Aspect of Islam in the Country, in Order to Satisfy the West and Join… the EU”

“Therefore, from the aforesaid, we can understand the Armenian problem, which the West uses against the modern Turkish state, though the new Turkish government adopts the secular system and fights any aspect of Islam in the country, in order to satisfy the West and join the promised paradise of the European Union. However, the European Union will never allow Turkey to be a member in its club, because the Western leaders know very well that Kamal Ataturk had done a very good job by turning Turkey into a secular state. Nevertheless, they know that, although the Turkish people are far from the real Islam, they still have the spirit of it in their blood and a yearning for the return of the glorious Islam, which have started to spread in recent years, even though the army tried hard to stop this living spirit. Accordingly, the European leaders worry about the entry of Turkey into the European Union because they believe with faith that this Union is a Christian club and there is no place for a Muslim state in it.

“Although Turkey and the United States are close allies at the moment, the leaders of the White House are not certain about their interests in the remote future; therefore they will, eventually, adopt a resolution which condemns Turkey of the Armenian genocide, and hence use extortion against Turkey and use this resolution as an excuse to sanction Turkey economically, and intervene militarily, if Turkey abandons its extreme secular system and adopts an Islamic system. If that happens, Europe and the US will form an alliance and wage a fierce war against Turkey. It will be like a Third, Fourth or Fifth World War against Turkey in order to occupy Constantinople and annex it to the West.”

The Armenians’ Loyalty to Russia and Their Mutiny Against the OttomanState

“Third: The Loyalty of the Armenians to Russia and their Mutiny Against the OttomanState

“The religious loyalty had a major impact in the conflict between Russia and the Ottoman state, because the concept of citizenship had not appeared then. This principle was confirmed by McCarthy in his aforementioned book: ‘It is obvious that the Armenian people, under the Ottoman and the Russian control, used to view each other as brothers, regardless of their nationalities, and the same thing goes for Muslims. It is not clear whether the concept of citizenship, in comparison with the religious affiliation, was firmly established, to a greater extent, in either the Caucasus or eastern Anatolia before 1920.

“‘In the East, a Caucasian Muslim felt that he was closer to his Anatolian Muslim brother than to a Caucasus Armenian; likewise, the Eastern Anatolian Armenian related himself to the Caucasus Armenian and not to the Anatolian Muslims. Their affiliations with their religious groups were confirmed by the Caucasian and Eastern Anatolia wars time after time.” (Justin McCarthy: Expulsion and Genocide, p. 49)

“The religious loyalty is not something strange in world history, but what is strange is to exclude this principle in assessing the nature of the conflict throughout history. As an example of the importance of this religious loyalty, the Russian Tsarists used to persecute the Armenian Church, and then they changed their treatment during the reign of Peter the Great, so that they could use them as support in their expansionist wars against the Ottoman state. The Armenian people understood that on the basis that they belong, along with the Russians, to the same Christian religion and that their enemy was one (the Ottoman Islamic State).

“In fact, the Armenian people used the same principle with the French and established a legion which became under the French army command in Qulayqiliyyah. This Armenian legion caused mischief on earth on the basis that the French were their brothers in religion and that they had a common enemy (i.e. the Ottoman Islamic State). The American Protestant Missionaries had also a major role in inflaming this conflict and the religious brotherhood was the sole factor which associated them with the Armenians, and worst, it covered the reality of the carnage committed by the Armenians against Muslims. This is not prejudice from my part in understanding the nature of the conflict, because all the historical facts confirm it an
d the modern history supports this opinion.

“If you really want to understand this fact clearly, look at the regions of conflict in the world: Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Burma, Thailand, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Somalia, Darfur and the pressure and oppression of Muslims in the West. Is all this just sheer coincidence, unintentional and with no religious loyalty in this conflict and in waging these unjust wars?

Examples of the Armenians’ Loyalty to the Russians

“A Few Examples of the Armenians’ Loyalty to the Russians and their Mutiny against the Ottoman Empire

“In his study, McCarthy mentioned many historical proofs of the Armenian’s loyalty to the Russians, which we will summarize as follows:

“1. During the reign of Peter the Great, the Armenians started to rely more on the Russians, hoping that they would get the support they needed. Since the first waves of attacks by the Russians on the Caucasus, the Armenians had formed a military power to help the Russians attack the region and they pledged their allegiance to the Tsars.

“2. During the eighth and ninth century, the Armenians (Church leaders, secular leaders, different groups, etc.) supported the Russian attack of Muslim lands in the Caucasus, hoping to overthrow the Muslim leaders in these states.

“3. The Armenians were employed as spies for the Russians against their Muslim leaders, whether they were the Ottomans or Armenians who were subjects of the Persian state.

“4. When the city of Derbend was under siege by the Russian army in 1796, its Armenian inhabitants sent to the Russians valuable information about the city’s water supplies, and this allowed the Russian army to defeat the army of Derbend.

“5. In the 1890’s, Armenian archbishop (Argotnisky-Dolgorokov) publicly announced that he hoped that the Russians would liberate Armenia from Muslim rule.

“6. During the wars of 1827-1829 and the Qaram war, the Armenian citizens of both the Ottoman and Persian Empires, together with the Armenians who lived inside the Russian Empire, fought alongside the Russian army against the Persian army and the Ottoman Empire.

“7. The Armenians, living inside Ottoman Anatolia, gave their allegiance to the Russian cause by working as spies for the Russian government.

“8. The Armenians would cross the borders of Anatolia and give reports of the Ottoman armies to the Russian in all the wars of eastern Anatolia.

“9. The Armenians in Anatolia helped the invading Russian armies in 1827, and when the Russian armies left, thousands of Armenians followed it outside Anatolia.

“10. During the Qaram war, the Armenians gave secret information from the city of Kars which was under the Russian siege.

“11. The Armenian guides paved the way for the Russian invaders from the Ottoman Anatolia in 1877.

“12. In 1877, the Armenians of Elsekirt valley welcomed the invading Russian armies, and when the Russian armies left all Armenians left with them.

“13. The Armenians of Anatolia and Caucasus were allies of the Russian armies in the First World War. In Anatolia, the Armenian rebels’ reliance on the Russians became clear by the middle of the 19th century, by revolting in Zeyton when there was need for financial resources to reinforce their defense in Zeyton against the Ottomans. In 1854, while the Ottoman armies were fighting against the Russian in the Qaram war, the Armenian rebels tried to get financial support from the Russians.

“14. In 1872, the Armenians of Van, who were citizens of the Ottoman Empire, wrote to the Russian Emperor’s representative in Caucasus asking help from him against their government. They wanted to become citizens of Russia so they started to buy and store weapons.

“15. There were constant contacts and communications between the Ottoman Armenians and the Russian Empire within the Armenian revolutionary groups, especially Tashnaq, and the other half of Armenia under the Russian control was a centre for storing weapons and revolutionary organization against the Ottoman Empire.

“16. The Archbishop of Derik, on the side of the Persian border with the Ottoman, transformed a monastery into a store for weapons and a centre of infiltration for the Armenian rebels to the Ottoman Empire.

“17. The Armenians and the Georgians, especially those who had relatives in Iran or had businesses, continued to be significant sources of information for the Russians; hence they had a major impact in the Russian political and strategic decisions. The Tsar, Alexander Tsitsianov, ordered his advisers to contact Patriarch Daniel and his followers.

“18. Patriarch Daniel, who was a candidate, supported by the Russians, for the position of the Armenian Church Patriarchy (after the death of Argotnisky-Dolgorokov) would spy and give valuable information to the Russians.

“19. In 1808, Alexander Tsitsianov rewarded Patriarch Daniel with a first-degree monastic for his services in spying and providing information to the Russians. While the Russians were fighting to expand their territories in Kur and Aras, the Armenians continued to send letters to the Russian officials encouraging them to capture areas under Muslims control and save the Armenian people from the Muslim persecution.

“20. The relation between the Armenian rebels and the Armenian Church had facilitated their activities to a larger extent, because the church was an organization which managed to cross the border easily, and in Istanbul, itself, the church leaders and priests had the freedom to move as they pleased and the Ottoman Armenians could not touch them, although they were caught many times carrying letters, reports and money to the rebels. Besides, some churches and monasteries were used as clandestine stores for weapons, which were smuggled to the Armenian rebels, as these churches and monasteries were not subject to security inspection.

“Therefore, we have examined some examples of the Armenians’ loyalty and allegiance to the Russians during times of war and peace, which quash their fabricated lie (The Armenian genocide by the Ottomans).
For more confirmation about the authenticity of our report, we present this statement:

The Americans Disregarded a Report on the Damage and Destruction Perpetrated by the Armenians and Their Atrocities Against the Muslims

“Fourth: A Statement Buried in the U.S. Archives

“This statement is in the form of a report, made by two men who did not have any sympathy for the Ottoman Muslims. They were rather fanatically inclined towards the Armenians, and went to the region with a deliberate thought that the Armenians were a victimized nation, against whom the Muslims had committed group killings and slaughters, according to information taken from the misleading Western media and from the American Protestant Missionaries, who did not deserve any trust as witnesses of the Muslims’ sufferings, because they were excellent in deceptively recording acts against the Armenians in details. They were also dishonest in recording acts against the Muslims, as reported by some historians! Therefore, who are these two witnesses who returned to America with a different mood than the one with which they set out to eastern Anatolia?

“They are Captain Emory Niles and Arthus Sutherland, who were commanded by the American State administration [sic] to check the situation in eastern Anatolia. When they arrived in Anatolia, they travelled all around the region and listened to the testimony of the two parties. They were surprised at the bulk of distortions, fabricated by the Armenians, and were shocked at the terrifying ordeal and atrocities suffered by the Muslims at the hands of the Armenians! The American government was not pleased with the report so they disregarded it.

“It was for this reason that the report of the two American envoys was not included in the file of the American Investi
gating Committee, and all thanks to Allah, Glorified is He, that their report was not lost, but rather concealed and buried in places linked to the First World War in eastern Anatolia!
Justin McCarthy, of the University of Louisville, printed the report in 1994, and published it in his book Muslims and the Minorities! He published it once more in another book, Expulsion and Genocide, and all thanks and praise to Allah.

“As for the report of Niles and Sutherland, they wrote: ‘In the entire region from Bitlis through Van to Bayezit, we were informed that the damage and destruction had been done by the Armenians, who, after the Russians retired, remained in occupation of the country and who, when the Turkish army advanced, destroyed everything belonging to the Muslims. Moreover, the Armenians are accused of having committed murder, rape, arson and horrible atrocities of every description upon the Muslim population. At first, we were most incredulous of these stories, but we finally came to believe them, since the testimony was absolutely unanimous and was corroborated by material evidence. For instance, the only quarters left at all intact in the cities of Bitlis and Van are Armenian quarters … while the Muslim quarters were completely destroyed.’

“They also said in their report: ‘The ethnic situation in this region (Bayezit and Ardrom) is extremely critical because of its closeness to an Armenian front, fled by the refugees who report about the atrocities and organized killings committed by the Armenian government and its army and people against the Muslim residents. Although few hundred Armenians live actually in the province of Van, it is impossible for them to live in the mountainous regions of the province of Ardrom, where everyone feel utmost hatred towards them. There, the Armenians destroyed the villages and committed all types of criminal acts against the Muslims, before they retreated. The criminal acts of the Armenians have left a living and influencing factor of hatred on the other side, an aversion that fumes with rage at least in the region of Van. The existence of organized killings in Armenia was confirmed by refugees from all Armenian territories and also by some British officers in Ardrom.’ (McCarthy: p251.)

“Niles and Sutherland presented, in their report, some statistics covering the number of Muslim villages and houses which survived the miseries of war around the cities of Van and Bitlis alone; its confirmed that the Armenians had destroyed most Muslim houses and demolished all building with Islamic features, as detailed in the following table:

“Destruction in Van and Bitlis
“After the War 1919 Before the War The City of Van
“3 3400 Muslim houses
“1170 3100 Armenian houses

“After the War 1919 Before the War The City of Bitlis
“Naught 6500 Muslim houses
“1000 1500 Armenian houses [3]

As for villages in the provinces of Van, Sanjiq and Bayezit before the war and the Armenian occupation, it was reported, in the statistics of Noles and Sutherland, that the number of Muslim houses before the war in the villages of the province of Van was 1,373 and it decreased after the war in 1919 to 350 houses! Whereas the houses of the Armenians were 112 before the war and they increased after the war to 200! In the villages of the province of Bayezit, the number of the Muslim houses before the war was 448 and they reduced to 243 after the war, while the houses of the Armenians were 33 and they remained 33 after the war!

“Niles and Sutherland conscientiously summarized the history of Muslims in eastern Anatolia in the end of their report: ‘Although it is not part of our investigation at all, one of the significant facts which affected us in every place of Bitlis and Trabzon, that we have passed through, was that the Armenians had committed exactly all the atrocities and group killings which the Turks had committed against the Armenians in other places. At first, we largely had doubt regarding all the narrations we have received, but the overall agreement of all the witnessed and the passion with which they discussed the evil acts perpetuated against them, and their apparent hatred towards the Armenians, besides all the materialistic proofs in the land itself, all this made us believe the authenticity of the facts in general.

“‘First, the Armenians killed Muslims in a large scale and with various barbarity in their methods. Second, the Armenians were responsible for the destruction of most towns and villages. The Russians and the Armenians occupied the country for a long period (1915-1916), and it appeared that during that period, anarchy was limited, even though the Russians undoubtedly had caused much damage. In 1917, the Russian army was disbanded and left the authority in the hands of the Armenians alone. During that period, the Armenian militias patrolled the country, killing Muslim civilians. When the Turkish army moved towards Arzugan, Ardrom and Van, the Armenian army broke up and its soldiers or militias began destroying Muslim properties and killings mercilessly the Muslim inhabitants. The result was a completely destroyed country and a strong hatred towards the Armenians; a fact which makes it impossible for these two people to co-exist in the present time. The Muslims declared that if they were to be forced to live under the Armenian authority, they would rather fight, and it seems to us that they are likely to execute their threat. This opinion is shared by the Turkish, British and American officers that we have met.’ (McCarthy: p 253-254).

“This is just a testimony about the organized killing perpetuated by the Armenians against the Muslims during the First World War, from 1914 to 1918 in the provinces of Van and Betlis, in east Anatolia, let alone the decrease of the number of Muslim inhabitants in the all eastern Ottoman provinces, such as Ardrom, Betlis, Diyar Bikr, the Al-‘Aziz colony, Siwas, Halab and Trabzon. We will discover that in the period from 1912 to 1922, more than 62% of the Muslims in the province of Van were missing, 42% in the province of Betlis, 31% in the province of Ardrom and more than 60% in the Qoqaz!

“As for the provinces in western Anatolia, such as Aydin, Kadawindakar, Bigha and Idmid, the coalition forces expulsed the Turkish refugees who settled there and handed their properties to the Greeks! They left the Muslims without any refuge in the greatest public group theft in history. It was a premeditated group killing against the Muslims in the Qoqaz, Anatolia and the Balkans, with the blessing of the world imperialistic powers in that miserable period, and the dramatic end of the Ottoman Caliphate, which lasted six centuries.

“Millions of Muslims Were Killed at the Hands of the Armenians… The Defect Lies With Us as a Nation That Accepts Humility and Cheers Its Executioner”

“Fifth: Conclusion

“Therefore, it has become clear to us the weakness of this allegation of ‘the Armenian genocide by the Ottomans,’ which is repeatedly declared by the Armenians and those who encouraged them and supported them.

“Millions of Muslims were killed at the hands of the Armenians, the Russians, the Greeks, the Bulgarians, the Serbians and other enemies of the Ottoman Islamic state, in which lived under its reign various ethnic minorities in peace and security! Yet, no one asked for the punishment of the criminal perpetrators, who committed those group killings.

“The Muslims who were and still are the victims of these gruesome killings are exposed as savage killers!

“The real problem lies with the regimes related to the Islamic world for not demanding – even with diffidence – the punishment of the offenders behind the ongoing crimes against the Muslims in the Caucasus and Chechnya, the population exterminated in the Balkans, the mass graveyards in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the killing of more than one million child in Iraq alone, the destruction and complete disappearance of towns and villages in Afgha
nistan during the barbaric British, Russian and American aggressions. These oppressive regimes did not take one sound decision in its life to demand justice for their people, and ask for compensations from the French, the British, the Spanish, the Italians, the Dutch, the Russians and the Americans for their victims in Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kashmir, Thailand, Somalia and Sudan!!!

“The Armenians have scraped the scab off wounds which are not dressed yet. They revived grieves which have not calmed yet. They stirred sorrows which would not rest until justice is done in the future. The western world owes a clear apology to the Muslims and compensation deemed for the crimes committed in the crusade wars, past and present! Yes, we demand apology and compensation for the mass killings of the Muslims during many centuries.

“As for those who seek their mercy in every fabricated case highlighted by them, and keep on defending disgracefully on the doorsteps of the Security Council and European Union, well it is self-destruction itself! It is better for this nation (Islamic) to be swallowed by the earth than to live in disgrace and dishonor!

“The defect lies with us as a nation that accepts humility and cheers its executioner and does not punish its killer!”

[1] For more about Hani Al-Sibai Visit MEMRI TV: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1513.htm ; http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/803.htm ; http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/748.htm ; http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/576.htm

[2] Article is posted on the centers website, see http://www.almaqreze.net/articles/artic1059.html.

[3] The table is presented here as in the original article.

2006 Malegaon blast witness accuses ATS of malpractice, absolves Muslim detainees

2006 Malegaon blast witness accuses ATS of malpractice, absolves Muslim detainees | TwoCircles.net

2006 Malegaon blast witness accuses ATS of malpractice, absolves Muslim detainees
Submitted by admin3 on 22 April 2009 – 5:14pm.

* Crime/Terrorism
* India News
* Indian Muslim

By RINA,

New Delhi: Turning hostile to government organs a key witness in Malegaon blast case now says: “All detainees arrested for Malegaon bomb blast are blameless.” Police initially arrested several Muslim youths but the crime is now revealed to be perpetrated by Hindu extremists.

Abrar Ahmad, the only witness, today signed an affidavit confessing that ATS and former Malegaon S. P. had forced him to witness falsely against arrested persons. “This was all for money and on account of intimidation”, the witness acknowledged in fresh official declaration.

Abrar Ahmad further said, “The culprits of shab-e-bara’at bombings in 2006 are the same persons who exploded bomb on Bhikkoo Cowk in 2008.” ATS had arrested them later.

Abrar’s affidavit, received by the legal cell formed by all organizations of Malegaon yesterday, may prove a decisive turn in the case. Abrar’s brother advocate Jalil Ahmad had requested court’s permission for fresh affidavit as the earlier one was signed under influence of greed and intimidation.

In a press conference organized in Asex Hall in Malegaon, the chief of the legal cell, advocate S. S. Sheikh said, “Local police and ATS hatched a conspiracy without telling it to Abrar Ahmad. Now Abrar’s affidavit reveals that former S. P. Govardhan Raj’s role has been extremely abominable in this case. Police officer’s activities tell that he is an accomplice of bhagwa terrorist ideology.”

Advocate Shabbir Ahmad Kardar complained about another connection, “When the justice loving masses of Malegaon were complaining about partisan activities of ATS, city MLA, Sheikh Rashid had justified ATS in a meeting in 2006.” The legal cell has decided to file a writ petition in the high court within a fortnight in the light of Abrar’s exposure.

Hadith: God Accepts a Traveler’s Prayer

April 20, 2009 Forward to a Friend Support CAIR Contact Us Update Your Profile

—–

HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD ACCEPTS A TRAVELER’S PRAYER – TOP

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “The supplications of three people are accepted (by God), and there is no doubt concerning their acceptance: the supplication of a (parent), of a traveler and of one who has been wronged.”

Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 608

—–

CAIR DIRECTOR PRESENTS AWARD TO NJ MUSLIM LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS – TOP

(SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ, 4/20/09) – The executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Saturday presented an award to the American Muslim Law Enforcement Officers Association (AMLEOA) at the annual banquet of the council’s New Jersey chapter.

More than 300 people turned out for the event in Edison, New Jersey. Rashida Tlaib, the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Michigan Legislature, spoke about the important role of Muslims in the political process. CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad also addressed the crowd, and presented CAIR-New Jersey’s 2009 Champions of Justice Award to AMLEOA “for outstanding service to the community.”

CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-NJ Community Relations Director Afsheen Shamsi, Tel: 908-668-5900, E-Mail: ashamsi@cair.com

—–

U.S. BORDER SCREENING UNDER FIRE – TOP
Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post, 4/20/09

To read the Muslim Advocates report, go to: Unreasonable Intrusions: Investigating the Politics, Faith & Finances of Americans Returning Home

Civil liberties groups are renewing calls for the Obama administration to change screening at border posts by limiting questions about Americans’ political beliefs and religious practices and establishing a process for U.S. citizens and residents who are mistakenly included on terrorist watch lists to clear their names.

In a report to be released today, the Asian Law Caucus of San Francisco cited more than 40 complaints from U.S. citizens and immigrants that it has received since 2007 as evidence of “a much wider pattern of profiling and discrimination at U.S. borders.”

“Many people in America’s Muslim, South Asian and Middle Eastern communities have come to expect harassment and discriminatory treatment at our nation’s doorstep” when returning home, the report said.

Separately, Muslim Advocates, the advocacy arm of the National Association of Muslim Lawyers, issued a report saying that citizens should not be threatened with detention for not answering questions that go beyond establishing their legal status to enter the United States or whether they are carrying contraband.

The actions come as civil liberties groups press for a swifter response by the new Democratic president and Congress to long-standing complaints that security measures adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have subjected innocent travelers to unwarranted delays and scrutiny. (More)

SEE ALSO:

ACLU CALLS ON SECRETARY NAPOLITANO TO RELEASE YOUSSEF MEGAHED – TOP
USF Student’s Arrest Vindictive, Says ACLU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 20, 2009

CONTACT: Brandon Hensler, Director of Communications, (786) 363-2737 or media@aclufl.org

TAMPA, Fla. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida today sent a letter to Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), urging the release of Youssef Megahed, a University of South Florida student who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on April 6, in what the ACLU is calling a vindictive arrest.

Megahed’s arrest came just three days after he was acquitted by a federal jury of criminal charges relating to possession and transportation of explosive materials. The new arrest, which DHS and ICE have indicated are based on the same charges as in the criminal trial, undermines the jury system and illustrates the lack of due process for those caught in the web of the immigration courts.

“This arrest and the impending deportation charges highlight the flaws in our system,” said Rebecca Harrison Steele, ACLU of Florida West Central Regional Office Director. “A federal jury acquitted Mr. Megahed of all criminal charges. Now the government’s trying to get another bite at the apple in immigration court, where due process takes a lower priority. This latest arrest seems so vindictive. We are urging the federal government to release Mr. Megahed during the proceedings in immigration court and, if the charges in immigration court are indeed based on the very same facts as the criminal charges for which he has been acquitted, to dismiss the removal proceedings.”

Perhaps most telling was the release of statements by several of Megahed’s jurors, who also view ICE’s arrest as vindictive: “It strikes us as fundamentally wrong that the Government has put Mr. Megahed back in jail for suspicion of the same activities that he was acquitted of in the criminal case.” The jurors also stated: “More troublesome is the Government’s seeming blatant disregard of the will of its own people.”

The full text of the letter sent today is below, or can be downloaded in PDF.

—–

U.S. MUSLIM COALITION REAFFIRMS OPPOSITION TO FBI TACTICS – TOP

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/19/09) – Following a meeting in Washington, D.C., the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT), a national coalition of major Islamic organizations, issued a statement re-affirming opposition to FBI tactics and government policies targeting the Muslim community.

SEE: U.S. Muslim Coalition Considers Suspending Relations with FBI

Representatives from the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), Muslim American Society-Freedom Foundation (MAS-FF), Muslim Student Association-National (MSA-N), Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) took part in Saturday’s meeting. Other member and observer organizations were briefed by phone.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, all AMT members and observer groups agreed that:

“We reaffirm our commitment to being full partners in the defense, development and prosperity of our homeland, the United States.

“We also reiterate our determination to continue to work for greater unity and mutual cooperation among ourselves and with like-minded fellow Americans. We recognize that we may have different approaches to the varied challenges facing our community and country, yet our resolve to advocate on behalf of our community remains solid.

“We are fully united in asking the Obama administration to address the following issues: 1. Infiltration of mosques and systematic manipulation of Muslim religious affairs, 2. Use of agents provocateurs to trap unsuspecting Muslim youth, 3. Unfair targeting and deliberate vilification of CAIR, a national Muslim civil rights organization, 4. Use of McCarthy-era tactics, most notably dissemination of Islamophobic analysis by federally-funded ‘fusion centers’ to local law enforcement agencies.”

CONTACT: AMT Chair Dr. Agha Saeed, Tel: 510-299-9313, E-Mail: aghaksaeed@yahoo.com

SEE ALSO:

CAIR-LA: SOME INFLUENTIAL MUSLIM GROUPS QUESTION FBI’S ACTIONS – TOP
Revelations that the agency has been surveilling popular leaders and infiltrating mosques and schools has many organizations turning away from their post-9/11 cooperation.
Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times, 4/20/09

As they sipped tea and nibbled on dates, more than 100 men and women listened to a litany of speakers sounding the same message: The FBI is not your friend.

“We’re here today to say our mosques are off limits,” Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations for Greater Los Angeles, told the crowd last month at an Anaheim mosque.

“Our Koran is off limits,” Ayloush said. “Our youth, who they try to radicalize, are off limits. Now is the time to tell them, ‘We’re not going to let this happen anymore.’ “

Such strong words from a man who once was a vocal advocate of ties with federal law enforcement was yet one more signal that the fragile relationship between Muslim American groups and the FBI is being tested.

In the months and years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, FBI officials met privately with Muslim leaders, assuring them that a spate of hate crimes would be vigorously investigated and at the same time asking for help in the campaign against terrorism. Local leaders promised to encourage cooperation.

But even as relations warmed, a series of revelations — including allegations that the FBI sent an informant into a mosque in Orange County, surveilled community leaders and sent an agent to UC Irvine — caused some to begin questioning the FBI’s real intentions. (More)

CAIR-MI: MUSLIMS DESCRIBE FBI OFFERS TO ACT AS INFORMANTS – TOP
Several claim they have been asked to act as informants; agency denies targeting mosques
Gregg Krupa, Detroit News, 4/20/09

The FBI has come under fire from Muslim leaders in Metro Detroit who say the agency is threatening or coercing local residents into informing on people in their communities and mosques.

The prospective informants, their lawyers and community leaders said the federal agents identify themselves and tell them their immigration status could be blocked or revoked if they turn down FBI requests to report on activities of people who attend mosques.

“Cooperation will not be gained through the twisting of arms,” said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. “We have worked extensively with the FBI and others in the past, and certainly we would provide any information of a national security concern. But the issue now is this: Will they treat us as partners, or suspects, or both? We want to know.”

Several Muslims agreed to talk to The Detroit News about their experiences, amid recent revelations about FBI activities. Those who say they were contacted to become informants express alarm at what they call intrusion
in places of worship and private lives without reasonable cause. They say the federal initiative is bruising feelings and making Muslims fearful of cooperating with federal officials…

As he waited on tables in a Middle Eastern restaurant in Dearborn, a recent immigrant with a pending citizenship application told his story. “First, they asked me about my status in the country, why I am here, and what work I do,” said the man, who asked for anonymity because he doesn’t want to jeopardize his citizenship efforts.

“They said, ‘We want you to work with us, and we’ll help you with your (immigration) status.’

” … But I feel I cannot be spying on my mosque or my neighbors. That is not right. That is not American,” he said. “But a threat to my country, to the United States? My goodness, me and my family would run to them to alert them.

“… Now, my citizenship seems like it is permanently on hold, on hold, forever,” he said. “I constantly worry, and I feel I have no life since they approached me.” (More)

ACLU DEMANDING THAT FEDS TURN OVER OC MOSQUE SPYING RECORDS – TOP
Daffodil J. Altan, OC Weekly, 4/20/09

The case that erupted with ex-con man Craig Monteilh’s confession that he’s been spying on OC mosques for the FBI will hit local federal courts this afternoon, when the ACLU makes arguments asking for the release of all the information attached to the FBI’s infiltration of various local mosques. ACLU missive below:

SANTA ANA, Calif. – In the wake of news that an FBI informant infiltrated several Orange County mosques, the ACLU of Southern California will demand in federal district court Monday that the bureau release full information about its surveillance of the lawful activities of Muslims in Southern California. For nearly three years, the bureau has refused to release this information.

ACLU attorneys will talk to reporters after the hearing in front of the Santa Ana federal courthouse at approximately 2:30 p.m. See our coverage of the alleged spying here.

—–

CAIR-NY, JAPANESE-AMERICANS DISCUSS CIVIL RIGHTS ABUSES IN TIMES OF WAR – TOP

(NEW YORK, NY, 4/20/09) – Representatives of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) and Japanese American Citizen League (JACL) recently took part in a workshop, entitled “9066 to 911: What Happens When You Start Looking Like the Enemy,” as part of a conference themed “Act: Empower Our Generation” at New York University (NYU).

(In World War II, Executive Order 9066 authorized the Secretary of War and U.S. armed forces commanders to declare areas of the United States as military areas “from which any or all persons may be excluded” through relocation. The order led to the internment of some 120,000 Japanese-Americans who were held in internment camps for the duration of the war.)

Some 600 people attended the all-day conference hosted by New York City Asian American Student Conference (NYCAASC) a committee of Asian American students from NYU, Columbia University, Fordham University, Hunter College, and Brooklyn College.

“From Manzanar to Gitmo, civil liberties of minorities have been dismissed as collateral damage under the false guise of national security,” said CAIR-NY Civil Rights Director Aliya Latif. “Our united call must be to uphold the rule of law at times of war through coalition building, community engagement and government accountability.”

Latif said that the Islamic civil rights group’s California chapter recently took an educational trip with a group of Muslims to attend the 40th Annual Pilgrimage at Manzanar one of 10 internment camps that held more than 10,000 innocent Japanese-American men, women, and children during World War II.

SEE: CAIR-LA Manzanar Pilgrimage Documentary

CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 35 offices, chapters and affiliates nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-NY Civil Rights Director Aliya Latif, 212-870-2002, 732-429-4268, alatif@cair.com; CAIR-NY Community Affairs Director Faiza N. Ali, 212-870-2002, 718-724-3041, fali@cair.com

—–

WHY MUSLIMS LEFT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY – TOP
Kamran Pasha, Watan, 4/17/09

Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann recently gave a radio interview in San Francisco where she questioned the patriotism of her colleague Rep. Keith Ellison, the first American Muslim elected to Congress. As a Muslim and a former Republican, I would like to respond.

Bachmann’s comments, where she derided Ellison for seeking to bring Muslims into the Obama Administration, reveal why Muslims like me left the Republican Party in droves over the past few years.

The fact that American Muslims historically identified and voted Republican will likely shock many people. But it shouldn’t, if we remember what the Republican Party used to represent. Growing up as an immigrant from Pakistan in Brooklyn, every Muslim I knew embraced the Republican brand of economic growth and family values. We were entrepreneurs who left our countries to find a better life in America, and loved the Republican promise of free enterprise and social mobility. As people of faith, we embraced the Republicans’ traditional values and social conservatism. And we saw Republicans like President George H.W. Bush and his Secretary of State James Baker as statesmen who were sympathetic to Palestinian suffering and willing to work hard to bring peace between Arabs and Israelis.

And then something started to change within the party. An ugly cancer of anti-Muslim bigotry began to reveal itself during the first Iraq War. I was an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, where the student body was perhaps the most conservative of the Ivy League schools. At meetings of the College Republicans, I began to hear distressing venom against Muslims. American Muslims were being openly talked of as a fifth column in the country, and my fellow students applauded rumors that internment camps were being set up in the Midwest for Muslim subversives. I was shocked to see my friends suddenly speak of my faith as the enemy. Our fight against Saddam had finally revealed the deeply held hatred for Islam among my fellow conservatives. (More)

—–

STILL NO ANSWERS IN WEST KENDALL MOSQUE SHOOTING – TOP
Mosque members met with police and FBI officials Tuesday after a shooting left the Masjid of Noor building with bullet holes back in early January. The case is still ongoing with no leads or suspects.
Paradise Afshar, Miami Herald, 4/19/09

There are still no leads or a suspect in an early January shooting at Masjid o
f Noor that left the mosque with 51 bullets on the building’s north side.

Officials from the Miami-Dade Police Department, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, spoke to the Miami-Dade Asian American Advisory Board and mosque members on Tuesday about the ongoing investigation.

At the meeting, held at the Islamic School of Miami, police said they have been working diligently, but so far no leads have developed.

“As of now, it is still an open investigation,” Sgt. Thomas Martinez said. “We were able to quantify some evidence on the scene. We haven’t received any leads from the community.”

This was not the first time the mosque was the target of an attack; there have been four prior incidents where swastikas have been drawn on the walls of the center, or rocks thrown. (More)

—–

SOURCES: WIRETAP RECORDED REP. HARMAN PROMISING TO INTERVENE FOR AIPAC – TOP
Jeff Stein, Congressional Quarterly, 4/19/09

Rep. Jane Harman, the California Democrat with a longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department to reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.

Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the NSA transcript.

(Join Jeff Stein for a live online chat at 3 p.m. today about his story, or submit a question for Jeff.)

In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win.

Seemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, according to an official who read the NSA transcript, Harman hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.” (More)

Hadith: God Accepts a Traveler’s Prayer

April 20, 2009 Forward to a Friend Support CAIR Contact Us Update Your Profile

—–

HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD ACCEPTS A TRAVELER’S PRAYER – TOP

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “The supplications of three people are accepted (by God), and there is no doubt concerning their acceptance: the supplication of a (parent), of a traveler and of one who has been wronged.”

Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 608

—–

CAIR DIRECTOR PRESENTS AWARD TO NJ MUSLIM LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS – TOP

(SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ, 4/20/09) – The executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Saturday presented an award to the American Muslim Law Enforcement Officers Association (AMLEOA) at the annual banquet of the council’s New Jersey chapter.

More than 300 people turned out for the event in Edison, New Jersey. Rashida Tlaib, the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Michigan Legislature, spoke about the important role of Muslims in the political process. CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad also addressed the crowd, and presented CAIR-New Jersey’s 2009 Champions of Justice Award to AMLEOA “for outstanding service to the community.”

CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-NJ Community Relations Director Afsheen Shamsi, Tel: 908-668-5900, E-Mail: ashamsi@cair.com

—–

U.S. BORDER SCREENING UNDER FIRE – TOP
Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post, 4/20/09

To read the Muslim Advocates report, go to: Unreasonable Intrusions: Investigating the Politics, Faith & Finances of Americans Returning Home

Civil liberties groups are renewing calls for the Obama administration to change screening at border posts by limiting questions about Americans’ political beliefs and religious practices and establishing a process for U.S. citizens and residents who are mistakenly included on terrorist watch lists to clear their names.

In a report to be released today, the Asian Law Caucus of San Francisco cited more than 40 complaints from U.S. citizens and immigrants that it has received since 2007 as evidence of “a much wider pattern of profiling and discrimination at U.S. borders.”

“Many people in America’s Muslim, South Asian and Middle Eastern communities have come to expect harassment and discriminatory treatment at our nation’s doorstep” when returning home, the report said.

Separately, Muslim Advocates, the advocacy arm of the National Association of Muslim Lawyers, issued a report saying that citizens should not be threatened with detention for not answering questions that go beyond establishing their legal status to enter the United States or whether they are carrying contraband.

The actions come as civil liberties groups press for a swifter response by the new Democratic president and Congress to long-standing complaints that security measures adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have subjected innocent travelers to unwarranted delays and scrutiny. (More)

SEE ALSO:

ACLU CALLS ON SECRETARY NAPOLITANO TO RELEASE YOUSSEF MEGAHED – TOP
USF Student’s Arrest Vindictive, Says ACLU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 20, 2009

CONTACT: Brandon Hensler, Director of Communications, (786) 363-2737 or media@aclufl.org

TAMPA, Fla. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida today sent a letter to Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), urging the release of Youssef Megahed, a University of South Florida student who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on April 6, in what the ACLU is calling a vindictive arrest.

Megahed’s arrest came just three days after he was acquitted by a federal jury of criminal charges relating to possession and transportation of explosive materials. The new arrest, which DHS and ICE have indicated are based on the same charges as in the criminal trial, undermines the jury system and illustrates the lack of due process for those caught in the web of the immigration courts.

“This arrest and the impending deportation charges highlight the flaws in our system,” said Rebecca Harrison Steele, ACLU of Florida West Central Regional Office Director. “A federal jury acquitted Mr. Megahed of all criminal charges. Now the government’s trying to get another bite at the apple in immigration court, where due process takes a lower priority. This latest arrest seems so vindictive. We are urging the federal government to release Mr. Megahed during the proceedings in immigration court and, if the charges in immigration court are indeed based on the very same facts as the criminal charges for which he has been acquitted, to dismiss the removal proceedings.”

Perhaps most telling was the release of statements by several of Megahed’s jurors, who also view ICE’s arrest as vindictive: “It strikes us as fundamentally wrong that the Government has put Mr. Megahed back in jail for suspicion of the same activities that he was acquitted of in the criminal case.” The jurors also stated: “More troublesome is the Government’s seeming blatant disregard of the will of its own people.”

The full text of the letter sent today is below, or can be downloaded in PDF.

—–

U.S. MUSLIM COALITION REAFFIRMS OPPOSITION TO FBI TACTICS – TOP

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/19/09) – Following a meeting in Washington, D.C., the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT), a national coalition of major Islamic organizations, issued a statement re-affirming opposition to FBI tactics and government policies targeting the Muslim community.

SEE: U.S. Muslim Coalition Considers Suspending Relations with FBI

Representatives from the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), Muslim American Society-Freedom Foundation (MAS-FF), Muslim Student Association-National (MSA-N), Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) took part in Saturday’s meeting. Other member and observer organizations were briefed by phone.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, all AMT members and observer groups agreed that:

“We reaffirm our commitment to being full partners in the defense, development and prosperity of our homeland, the United States.

“We also reiterate our determination to continue to work for greater unity and mutual cooperation among ourselves and with like-minded fellow Americans. We recognize that we may have different approaches to the varied challenges facing our community and country, yet our resolve to advocate on behalf of our community remains solid.

“We are fully united in asking the Obama administration to address the following issues: 1. Infiltration of mosques and systematic manipulation of Muslim religious affairs, 2. Use of agents provocateurs to trap unsuspecting Muslim youth, 3. Unfair targeting and deliberate vilification of CAIR, a national Muslim civil rights organization, 4. Use of McCarthy-era tactics, most notably dissemination of Islamophobic analysis by federally-funded ‘fusion centers’ to local law enforcement agencies.”

CONTACT: AMT Chair Dr. Agha Saeed, Tel: 510-299-9313, E-Mail: aghaksaeed@yahoo.com

SEE ALSO:

CAIR-LA: SOME INFLUENTIAL MUSLIM GROUPS QUESTION FBI’S ACTIONS – TOP
Revelations that the agency has been surveilling popular leaders and infiltrating mosques and schools has many organizations turning away from their post-9/11 cooperation.
Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times, 4/20/09

As they sipped tea and nibbled on dates, more than 100 men and women listened to a litany of speakers sounding the same message: The FBI is not your friend.

“We’re here today to say our mosques are off limits,” Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations for Greater Los Angeles, told the crowd last month at an Anaheim mosque.

“Our Koran is off limits,” Ayloush said. “Our youth, who they try to radicalize, are off limits. Now is the time to tell them, ‘We’re not going to let this happen anymore.’ “

Such strong words from a man who once was a vocal advocate of ties with federal law enforcement was yet one more signal that the fragile relationship between Muslim American groups and the FBI is being tested.

In the months and years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, FBI officials met privately with Muslim leaders, assuring them that a spate of hate crimes would be vigorously investigated and at the same time asking for help in the campaign against terrorism. Local leaders promised to encourage cooperation.

But even as relations warmed, a series of revelations — including allegations that the FBI sent an informant into a mosque in Orange County, surveilled community leaders and sent an agent to UC Irvine — caused some to begin questioning the FBI’s real intentions. (More)

CAIR-MI: MUSLIMS DESCRIBE FBI OFFERS TO ACT AS INFORMANTS – TOP
Several claim they have been asked to act as informants; agency denies targeting mosques
Gregg Krupa, Detroit News, 4/20/09

The FBI has come under fire from Muslim leaders in Metro Detroit who say the agency is threatening or coercing local residents into informing on people in their communities and mosques.

The prospective informants, their lawyers and community leaders said the federal agents identify themselves and tell them their immigration status could be blocked or revoked if they turn down FBI requests to report on activities of people who attend mosques.

“Cooperation will not be gained through the twisting of arms,” said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. “We have worked extensively with the FBI and others in the past, and certainly we would provide any information of a national security concern. But the issue now is this: Will they treat us as partners, or suspects, or both? We want to know.”

Several Muslims agreed to talk to The Detroit News about their experiences, amid recent revelations about FBI activities. Those who say they were contacted to become informants express alarm at what they call intrusion
in places of worship and private lives without reasonable cause. They say the federal initiative is bruising feelings and making Muslims fearful of cooperating with federal officials…

As he waited on tables in a Middle Eastern restaurant in Dearborn, a recent immigrant with a pending citizenship application told his story. “First, they asked me about my status in the country, why I am here, and what work I do,” said the man, who asked for anonymity because he doesn’t want to jeopardize his citizenship efforts.

“They said, ‘We want you to work with us, and we’ll help you with your (immigration) status.’

” … But I feel I cannot be spying on my mosque or my neighbors. That is not right. That is not American,” he said. “But a threat to my country, to the United States? My goodness, me and my family would run to them to alert them.

“… Now, my citizenship seems like it is permanently on hold, on hold, forever,” he said. “I constantly worry, and I feel I have no life since they approached me.” (More)

ACLU DEMANDING THAT FEDS TURN OVER OC MOSQUE SPYING RECORDS – TOP
Daffodil J. Altan, OC Weekly, 4/20/09

The case that erupted with ex-con man Craig Monteilh’s confession that he’s been spying on OC mosques for the FBI will hit local federal courts this afternoon, when the ACLU makes arguments asking for the release of all the information attached to the FBI’s infiltration of various local mosques. ACLU missive below:

SANTA ANA, Calif. – In the wake of news that an FBI informant infiltrated several Orange County mosques, the ACLU of Southern California will demand in federal district court Monday that the bureau release full information about its surveillance of the lawful activities of Muslims in Southern California. For nearly three years, the bureau has refused to release this information.

ACLU attorneys will talk to reporters after the hearing in front of the Santa Ana federal courthouse at approximately 2:30 p.m. See our coverage of the alleged spying here.

—–

CAIR-NY, JAPANESE-AMERICANS DISCUSS CIVIL RIGHTS ABUSES IN TIMES OF WAR – TOP

(NEW YORK, NY, 4/20/09) – Representatives of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) and Japanese American Citizen League (JACL) recently took part in a workshop, entitled “9066 to 911: What Happens When You Start Looking Like the Enemy,” as part of a conference themed “Act: Empower Our Generation” at New York University (NYU).

(In World War II, Executive Order 9066 authorized the Secretary of War and U.S. armed forces commanders to declare areas of the United States as military areas “from which any or all persons may be excluded” through relocation. The order led to the internment of some 120,000 Japanese-Americans who were held in internment camps for the duration of the war.)

Some 600 people attended the all-day conference hosted by New York City Asian American Student Conference (NYCAASC) a committee of Asian American students from NYU, Columbia University, Fordham University, Hunter College, and Brooklyn College.

“From Manzanar to Gitmo, civil liberties of minorities have been dismissed as collateral damage under the false guise of national security,” said CAIR-NY Civil Rights Director Aliya Latif. “Our united call must be to uphold the rule of law at times of war through coalition building, community engagement and government accountability.”

Latif said that the Islamic civil rights group’s California chapter recently took an educational trip with a group of Muslims to attend the 40th Annual Pilgrimage at Manzanar one of 10 internment camps that held more than 10,000 innocent Japanese-American men, women, and children during World War II.

SEE: CAIR-LA Manzanar Pilgrimage Documentary

CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 35 offices, chapters and affiliates nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-NY Civil Rights Director Aliya Latif, 212-870-2002, 732-429-4268, alatif@cair.com; CAIR-NY Community Affairs Director Faiza N. Ali, 212-870-2002, 718-724-3041, fali@cair.com

—–

WHY MUSLIMS LEFT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY – TOP
Kamran Pasha, Watan, 4/17/09

Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann recently gave a radio interview in San Francisco where she questioned the patriotism of her colleague Rep. Keith Ellison, the first American Muslim elected to Congress. As a Muslim and a former Republican, I would like to respond.

Bachmann’s comments, where she derided Ellison for seeking to bring Muslims into the Obama Administration, reveal why Muslims like me left the Republican Party in droves over the past few years.

The fact that American Muslims historically identified and voted Republican will likely shock many people. But it shouldn’t, if we remember what the Republican Party used to represent. Growing up as an immigrant from Pakistan in Brooklyn, every Muslim I knew embraced the Republican brand of economic growth and family values. We were entrepreneurs who left our countries to find a better life in America, and loved the Republican promise of free enterprise and social mobility. As people of faith, we embraced the Republicans’ traditional values and social conservatism. And we saw Republicans like President George H.W. Bush and his Secretary of State James Baker as statesmen who were sympathetic to Palestinian suffering and willing to work hard to bring peace between Arabs and Israelis.

And then something started to change within the party. An ugly cancer of anti-Muslim bigotry began to reveal itself during the first Iraq War. I was an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, where the student body was perhaps the most conservative of the Ivy League schools. At meetings of the College Republicans, I began to hear distressing venom against Muslims. American Muslims were being openly talked of as a fifth column in the country, and my fellow students applauded rumors that internment camps were being set up in the Midwest for Muslim subversives. I was shocked to see my friends suddenly speak of my faith as the enemy. Our fight against Saddam had finally revealed the deeply held hatred for Islam among my fellow conservatives. (More)

—–

STILL NO ANSWERS IN WEST KENDALL MOSQUE SHOOTING – TOP
Mosque members met with police and FBI officials Tuesday after a shooting left the Masjid of Noor building with bullet holes back in early January. The case is still ongoing with no leads or suspects.
Paradise Afshar, Miami Herald, 4/19/09

There are still no leads or a suspect in an early January shooting at Masjid o
f Noor that left the mosque with 51 bullets on the building’s north side.

Officials from the Miami-Dade Police Department, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, spoke to the Miami-Dade Asian American Advisory Board and mosque members on Tuesday about the ongoing investigation.

At the meeting, held at the Islamic School of Miami, police said they have been working diligently, but so far no leads have developed.

“As of now, it is still an open investigation,” Sgt. Thomas Martinez said. “We were able to quantify some evidence on the scene. We haven’t received any leads from the community.”

This was not the first time the mosque was the target of an attack; there have been four prior incidents where swastikas have been drawn on the walls of the center, or rocks thrown. (More)

—–

SOURCES: WIRETAP RECORDED REP. HARMAN PROMISING TO INTERVENE FOR AIPAC – TOP
Jeff Stein, Congressional Quarterly, 4/19/09

Rep. Jane Harman, the California Democrat with a longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department to reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.

Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the NSA transcript.

(Join Jeff Stein for a live online chat at 3 p.m. today about his story, or submit a question for Jeff.)

In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win.

Seemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, according to an official who read the NSA transcript, Harman hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.” (More)

US federal agents harass Muslim, Arab travelers at borderUS federal agents harass Muslim, Arab travelers at borders

International News | US greets returning Muslims with interrogation

US federal agents harass Muslim, Arab travelers at borders
US greets returning Muslims with interrogation

Invasive interrogation

FBI/Muslim saga

Impact of NSEERS

Call to end racial profiling
Report reveals extent of U.S. border interrogations of American Muslims (Courtesy of Muslim Advocates)
Report reveals extent of U.S. border interrogations of American Muslims (Courtesy of Muslim Advocates)

CAIRO (Marwa Awad)

A Muslim legal advocacy group in the United States accused federal agents at borders and airports of routinely selecting Muslim-American travelers and those with ethnic backgrounds perceived as Muslim for searches and interrogations on the basis of race, religion and national origin without any “evidence or even suspicious wrongdoing.”

Muslim Advocates, a non-profit group of the National Association of Muslim Lawyers, said in a report released earlier this month that the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection agents committed “profound privacy intrusions” without cause against law-abiding Muslim, Arab and South Asian Americans returning home from overseas travel.

” These incidents from across the country suggest that the First and Fourth Amendment rights of innocent Americans are being violated “
Farhana Khera, Muslim Advocates president

The report “Unreasonable Intrusions: Investigating the Politics, Faith and Finances of Americans Returning Home,” charged that federal agents routinely questioned such individuals about their religious values, political views and civic associations as well as extensively searching their laptops, cell phones, digital cameras and photocopying private documents.

These extensive interrogations are done “without evidence or even suspicion that the travelers have engaged in wrongdoing,” stated the report, warning that such racial profiling does little to strengthen national security, generating false leads and wasting scarce government resources.

Racial profiling of Muslim Americans since Sept. 11 has tested the limits of democracy in America and the government’s ability to balance national security concerns with individual rights of its citizens.

“These incidents from across the country suggest that the First and Fourth Amendment rights of innocent Americans are being violated,” Farhana Khera president and executive director of Muslim Advocates said in a statement.
Top

Invasive interrogation
US Muslims are routinely interrogated, some harassed, at US borders

The increase of invasive interrogations has many Americans concerned about their freedom of movement.

“Delays and routine profiling have been a staple part of my travels,” 34-year-old Hussain Adley, a U.S. Muslim business consultant of Egyptian-Jordanian origin, told AlArabiya.net.

“I travel frequently and mostly for work and this makes the feds meticulous about searching my belongings,” he explained.

Adley said agents at the airport have downloaded documents from his laptop and questioned him about the addresses and livelihoods of people in photos on his camera and his relation to them, in addition to asking the routine questions on his religious and political beliefs.

David Evans, 26, a U.S. citizen and a Muslim convert, has experienced intrusive searches during his frequent travels between the U.S. and Egypt where he works as a translator.

” Those who travel frequently back and forth between the same set of destinations are grilled more vigorously “
David Evans, US Muslim living abroad

On his latest visit to the U.S., all his documents were photocopied at the airport including his personal diary and list of contacts. He was detained and questioned at length about why he resides in Egypt and what his religious views are.

Evans explained that travel patterns are used as a pretext for racial and religious profiling. “Those who travel frequently back and forth between the same destinations are grilled more vigorously,” he said.

The Muslim Advocates report listed numerous cases of U.S. citizens who have been interrogated – some even harassed – by federal agents who came from various educational and vocational backgrounds and different age groups, with the only common denominator their religion and travels to Muslim countries.

One such case was Fairuz Abdullah, a lawyer and civic leader who was wrongly forced into immigration processing and denied access of counsel despite her American citizenship.

In 2007 federal agents at the Miami International Airport “aggressively interrogated” Abdullah about her previous travels and private life after she returned from Peru. Agents continually harassed her, according to the report, threatening to confiscate her cell phone when she tried to call her lawyer and addressing her only in Spanish although she is a native English speaker.
Top

FBI/Muslim saga
” Constructive relations with any law enforcement agency must be based on mutual respect and trust. We hope that the FBI addresses these crucial issues so that trust can be restored and relations maintained “
Asma Hanif, CCMO

Years of strained relations between the FBI and Muslim Americans lately culminated in Muslim groups threatening to cease their post-Sept. 11, 2001 cooperation with the FBI after a series of revelations that the agency infiltrated mosques and coerced the faithful into becoming informants shored up the limits of Muslim Americans’ civil rights.

“Constructive relations with any law enforcement agency must be based on mutual respect and trust,” Asma Hanif Chair of the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations said in a statement. “We hope that the FBI addresses these crucial issues so that trust can be restored and relations maintained.”
Top

Impact of NSEERS
Muslim Advocates calls on the Obama administration to change FBI guidelines on border crossing

Besides targeting home comers, the government has also implemented the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), a counterterrorism tool that tracks non-immigrants on temporary visas.

The program requires racially profiled non-immigrants to register themselves at ports of entry for finger-prints, photographs and lengthy interrogations.

According to a report issued in March, 80,000 males, mostly Muslim and Arab, were selected, 13,799 of whom were referred to further investigations and 2,870 detained. Charges against them were mainly immigration violations such as overstaying a visa.

The impact of NSEERS has been damaging for many individuals who did not have terrorism charges or criminal histories, said the report.
Top

Call to end racial profiling

Muslim Advocates called on the Obama administration to ban FBI guidelines issued in the Bush era which use racial and ethnic criteria as basis for investigations and to protect citizens who travel abroad and ensure that they are not subjected to unreasonable and coercive interrogations and searches without cause.

In order to “restore constitutional protections eroded by the status quo border security apparatus,” the group advised President Obama to start a Homeland Security review and reform CBP policies and practices that target Muslims, Arabs and South Asian Americans and to forward the review to congressional committees.
عودة للأعلى

Church seeks to convert Obama grandma

First Published 2009-04-20


‘Born a Muslim and wishes to die a Muslim’

 
Church seeks to convert Obama grandma

 
Relatives of ‘Mama Sarah’ say she was surprised by Church baptism offer, declined to attend.

 
NAIROBI – A Protestant church in Kenya is trying to convert US President Barack Obama’s step-grandmother to Christianity against her will, a Muslim group said Monday, condemning the move as provocation.

The Seventh Day Adventist church in the western town of Kisumu had invited 87-year-old Sarah Obama — a Muslim — to a function on Saturday, where she was allegedly to be baptised.

According to relatives in her village of Kogelo, “Mama Sarah”, as she is popularly known in the US president’s paternal homeland, was surprised by the offer and declined to attend.

“I regret the attempt by the Christian religion to force her to convert,” said Sheikh Mohamed Khalifa, the organising secretary of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya.

“Why only her? Why not before Obama became president? Didn’t they see her before he became president?” he said.

Said Obama, a step-brother to the US president, said the church pastors had approached Sarah Obama with news that she could become a Christian.

“Mama (Sarah) was born a Muslim and wishes to die a Muslim. The issue of conversion is neither here not there,” he said.

Khalifa denounced the move as a “provocation.”

“They don’t have permission from Jesus to convert someone. I challenge them to quote a verse from the Bible allowing them to convert someone,” he said.

Sarah became a national celebrity when her grandson visited the country in 2006 and her modest homestead has become a tourist attraction since the former Illinois senator’s November 2008 election triumph.

The Kenyan government last month declared Kogelo a protected national heritage site.

U.S. military recruiting minors?

alJazeera Magazine – U.S. military recruiting minors?

AMY GOODMAN: Two Northern California towns are finding themselves in a showdown with the Pentagon over a ban on recruiting minors for the military. Last November, residents of Eureka and Arcata passed a ballot initiative known as the Youth Protection Act. The measure bars the U.S. government from trying to enlist youths under the age of eighteen in any branch of the U.S. armed forces.

But just days after the laws went into effect, the Justice Department filed a suit seeking to overturn them. The Justice Department’s civil action says the initiatives are invalid because they conflict with federal law. Both towns are refusing to cave. They’ve hired lawyers, filed counter-claims challenging the federal government’s action.

I’m joined now by two guests involved with this local grassroots effort. David Meserve is a member of the Stop Recruiting Kids coalition, which spearheaded the successful ballot measure banning military recruitment of minors in Arcata and Eureka, former member of Arcata’s city council. Sharon Adams is also with us. She’s a San Francisco-based attorney with the Stop Recruiting Kids coalition, board member at large of the National Lawyers Guild Bay Area Chapter.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now!

DAVID MESERVE: Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: When did you pass this, David?

DAVID MESERVE: We passed it last November as a ballot initiative.

AMY GOODMAN: And explain exactly what it says.

DAVID MESERVE: Well, what it actually says is that no person who is employed by or an agent of the United States government shall, within the city limits of Arcata, recruit, initiate contact with for the purpose of recruiting, or promote the future enlistment of anyone under the age of eighteen.

AMY GOODMAN: How much was this being done before? And how much is it continuing?

DAVID MESERVE: Well, it happens nationwide, that the recruiters target kids at increasingly younger ages, but certainly down to fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, not to actually enlist, but to encourage them to think about enlisting in the future and to portray the military life as something that would be a good choice for them.

AMY GOODMAN: What was the vote in Eureka and Arcata?

DAVID MESERVE: Well, in Arcata, it passed by 73 percent margin, and in Eureka, by 57 percent. And we were actually—we had kind of thought that it was going to pass in Arcata. Arcata is known as a fairly liberal town, has done things like this in the past. The really exciting thing was it passing in Eureka, which is much more of a kind of working-class town, logging, fishing, etc. And we felt that we had really succeeded in Eureka, because we intended this as a nonpartisan measure, as something that did not require being anti-military to pass it. All we were really saying is that it’s inappropriate to recruit kids into the military. And apparently that message rang true for the people of Eureka.

AMY GOODMAN: OK, so it hasn’t been implemented yet. The Justice Department is not pleased. Explain what they’re doing.

DAVID MESERVE: Well, the Justice Department immediately sued to invalidate the measure—

AMY GOODMAN: This was under President Bush?

DAVID MESERVE: This was under President Bush. There were those who encouraged us to delay things until President Obama was in office, but we don’t really think that there would have been much difference, and they certainly haven’t dropped the lawsuit since he’s been in office.

So, they are trying to invalidate the measure under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, and we are fighting back legally and saying that the government really needs to remember that the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution also includes the Bill of Rights and also includes treaties signed by the U.S. government.

AMY GOODMAN: We tried to have a representative from the Justice Department on the show today, but they did not get back to us. Sharon Adams, explain the significance of these two referendum that have been passed by these towns and the Justice Department taking them on.

SHARON ADAMS: Well, the Justice Department is saying that they violate the Supremacy Clause, as David said. And—

AMY GOODMAN: And explain exactly what that is.

SHARON ADAMS: The Supremacy Clause is an article in the Constitution that says that the laws of the United States are the supreme law of the land, but it also includes in there the treaties that the United States has signed. So, one of our arguments is that there’s a protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. That’s a treaty that the United States has signed. And in that treaty, it specifically discusses recruiting. And it specifically says, as far as the United States is concerned, that the United States will not recruit under the age of seventeen. And what we see over and over is that they are actually recruiting under the age of seventeen. So what we are saying is that there is no violation of the Supremacy Clause. What we’re saying is that the Supremacy Clause—the laws of the United States and this protocol are actually in—they’re in accord. And what’s happening is that the way that the recruiting is actually happening is not in accord with the existing laws in the United States and with the treaties.

AMY GOODMAN: So, what are you going to do now, David Meserve? You used to serve on the city council, but these laws are now not in effect.

DAVID MESERVE: Well, we’re moving ahead to defend them, and we’re also hoping that other cities want to follow suit. We’re encouraging other cities to think about ballot initiatives like this in the future, because it is a way for people to speak out from a grassroots level. And we’re also asking that they hold back a little bit and take a look at how the case turns out and whether there are any changes that would be advised for cities who will be doing this in the future, because we think it’s really important for cities and communities to be able to speak out and say that we believe that it’s wrong to recruit kids, and we believe that we have the power of the law on our side, as well as just the power of the right of what should be.

AMY GOODMAN: And what about the federal government saying it trumps what you want in your local town?

DAVID MESERVE: Well, we don’t think that the federal government does trump it, both because of the optional protocol and also because of the Ninth Amendment. And under the Ninth Amendment, there is the right to privacy, and we believe that intrinsic in that is the right to protect children from being approached by recruiters.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask you, Sharon Adams, about a different issue, maybe somewhat related. I was speaking at the Federal Reserve here at lunchtime in San Francisco yesterday, and a woman came up to me from the National Lawyers Guild, and she talked about the attempted impeachment of a judge here, Jay Bybee, talking about the torture memos. Can you talk about the efforts around these torture memos and what you’re doing?

SHARON ADAMS: Well, the National Lawyers Guild has filed in California a complaint with the State Bar of California against William Haynes. William Haynes was the attorney for Donald Rumsfeld and the Department of Defense, and William Haynes wrote a memo that basically recommended that Donald Rumsfeld approve certain enhanced interrogation techniques. And based on this recommendation by William Haynes, Donald Rumsfeld did do that. It was directly linked—it has been directly linked to the torture abuses that occurred at Abu Ghraib.

So, what we did with the Guild was we filed a complaint with the State Bar against William Haynes, who is regi
stered in-house counsel here in California, because he’s now working at Chevron Corporation in San Ramon. And we are seeking to have him disciplined for his actions in writing those—in making that recommendation that led to approval of basically torture techniques.

AMY GOODMAN: So, you have Jay Bybee, this impeachment effort?

SHARON ADAMS: Right. The impeachment effort is being done by a slightly different group, but they are trying to go through the Democratic Party and get an actual resolution trying to get Jay Bybee impeached, because the only way to get him removed from the bench right now is through Congress, through an impeachment action. So they’re trying to do a grassroots movement to begin that.

AMY GOODMAN: And John Yoo, who’s a professor here at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, California, though he’s teaching at Chapman Law School down in—

SHARON ADAMS: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: —near Los Angeles.?

SHARON ADAMS: He is not registered in California as an attorney. He teaches here, but he’s not a registered attorney here. His registration is in Pennsylvania. So the Guild is also trying to—is working on a complaint against him in Pennsylvania, as well.

AMY GOODMAN: And how does this relate to the latest news we have out of Spain? Scott Horton is reporting that the proceedings will move against a number of these men.

SHARON ADAMS: I think it’s just the tide is turning. I really do. I’m just—every time I hear some new little bit of news, I feel that maybe the world is waking up from slumber.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you very much for being with us, Sharon Adams and David Meserve, coming down from Northern California from Arcata and Eureka, of Stop Recruiting Kids coalition.
Source: Middle East Online

Muslims are listening, Mr. Obama!

Muslims are listening, Mr. Obama!

Muslims are listening, Mr. Obama!
Aijaz Zaka Syed | Arab News

A perceptive colleague is tired of my endless adulation for Barack Obama. Every time I talk about him, she rolls her eyes to point out all that America’s new president has done is talk, talk and talk. There are no actions to back up his rhetoric. She accuses me of “betraying the cause” when she sees my repugnance of Bush give way to hopeless admiration for his successor.

And I ask her to pit Obama against W. and see the difference. Imagine the alternate scenario if the Americans had NOT voted for Obama. We would be stuck with John McCain today, the 72-year old warhorse who talked of staying in Iraq and Afghanistan forever and promise to “bomb-bomb” Iran.

Obama may not have produced any pigeons out of his hat yet. But look at what he has already set out to do. It gives you real hope about the “change we can.” Next week, he will be completing three months in office. These have been perhaps the most eventful twelve weeks of any leader in the US history with implications that go far beyond America’s borders.

During his long campaign for the most powerful office on the planet, the young African-American candidate would tell the Americans that if elected he would “hit the ground running” to put the country back on the track. Once elected, Obama wasted little time celebrating and savoring his historic victory. In any case, the wreckage left behind by his predecessor gave him little time or opportunity to celebrate.

True to his words, our hero has been busy from the word get-go, in his efforts to reinvent the ideals and values that once inspired the land of the free. Nobody ever thought bridging the gulf that the neocons spent eight long years digging up would be easy. But Obama is at least trying.

While the ever-deepening economic crisis keeps him busy at home, the new president has in the first three months in office taken steps that have forced the world to sit up and look at his nation with fresh eyes and new respect. It’s perhaps the most ambitious agenda any president has set himself.

And unlike his equally ambitious predecessors such as FD Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, Obama hasn’t mobilized the awesome military and economic power at America’s disposal to achieve those goals.

As someone who virtually talked and charmed his way to power against impossible odds, he certainly knows how to make use of America’s soft power and his own incredible charisma to push his agenda. While this president has demonstrated exceptional political maturity and farsighted pragmatism on all fronts, future historians might remember him for his role in reconfiguring the US relations with the Muslim world.

As promised in his inaugural address, this son of a Kenyan Muslim has steadfastly sought a “new way forward with the Muslim world based on mutual respect.”

The first executive order he issued was to get the Guantanamo Bay shut, a legacy of the Bush years that has been a source of anger and frustration in the Muslim world for many years. This was not just about closing an infamous prison but shutting the door on an era that has brought nothing but shame and disgrace to America.

And the first interview the new US leader decided to grant was to the Dubai-based Arabic television network Al Arabiya — a clear case of medium being as important as the message — honing his mantra of peace and reconciliation with the Arab and Muslim world.

The appointment of special envoys to the Middle East and Afghanistan-Pakistan is perhaps the second most important decision the new president made. George Mitchell and Richard Holbrooke were dispatched to tackle the two long-festering conflicts in the Muslim world even before Obama completed his first week in office.

Around the same time, he reached out to Iran offering it America’s “unclenched fist” in friendship after three decades of endless hostilities and perpetual fear mongering on both sides.

After initial shock and awe followed by confusion, Iranians seem to have concluded that Obama indeed means what he says. Regular, normal relations with the West after decades of isolation may not be so bad after all.

Ahmadinejad now agrees there are some “new and positive things” in the message from Washington, although Tehran is far from likely to scrap its nuclear program solely because of Obama’s noble intentions.

And now the US says enrichment or no enrichment, it is willing to hold direct talks with Iran, dropping a key demand that Tehran freeze nuclear enrichment before the two sides could come to the negotiating table.

More important, Obama says Iran has a right to pursue nuclear energy — if it’s peaceful. And President Ahmadinejad, who comes up with “good news for Iranian people” from time to time, would tell you it is indeed a “peaceful” nuclear program. Anyway, that’s another debate altogether.

What matter is these are extraordinary times and we are witnessing extraordinary changes. Changes that would be totally unthinkable even weeks ago. It’s amazing how much Bush’s America has changed under his successor. And how fast! This is why when Obama stood in Turkey’s Parliament to reassure the Muslim world that America “is not and never will be at war with Islam,” Muslims around the world were not only willing to listen to him but were prepared to take his word for it.

Of course, we are yet to see any significant changes on the ground. But we’ll get there, if America persists on the path chosen by its 44th president.

Obama’s real work lies ahead. The road ahead will be rough and treacherous, with pitfalls everywhere. The Middle East will be his real litmus test, just as it had been for many before him. It’s a tragedy that finally when we have a willing leader in the White House, the Israelis had to pick up Netanyahu and his even more batty deputy Lieberman. In any case, Israel’s fundamental policies seldom change, no matter who calls the shots in Tel Aviv.

If Obama is the honest and courageous leader that I believe he is, he just might pull it off, succeeding where all his predecessors failed. God knows enough innocent blood has been shed in the Holy Land. About time somebody told Israel enough is enough. The party is over. It’s time to behave and give up what doesn’t belong to you.

— Aijaz Zaka Syed is a Dubai-based commentator and can be reached at aijaz.syed@hotmail.com