Yusuf Islam's (Cat Stevens) treatment shocks Muslims around globe

[Thurston Howell IV]

A London-to-Washington flight was diverted to Maine on September 21 when it was discovered that passenger Yusuf Islam - formerly known as singer Cat Stevens - was on a government watch list and barred from entering the country. A department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesman said Islam was denied admission to the United States "on national security grounds." What seems strange is that the Yusuf Islam (former Singer Cat Stevens) "stirred so much terror fears" that the flight was diverted. This denial of entry and the manner in which it was done shocked the Muslim community in the United States as well as UK and other countries.

One official, said Islam, 56, was identified by the Advanced Passenger Information System, which requires airlines to send passenger information to Customs and Border Protection's National Targeting Center. He was questioned by FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and denied entry into the United States. Flight 919 continued on to Dulles after Islam was removed from the flight.

Officials had no details of why the peace activist might be considered a risk to the United States. Islam had visited New York in May for a charity event and to promote a DVD of his 1976 MajiKat tour.

Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, has called upon the Bush administration to explain why Yusuf Islam, an internationally-known Muslim peace activist and educator, was barred from entering the United States. The former pop singer is second Muslim personality to face such treatment.

The CAIR issued a statement at a news conference in Washington, D.C. and said:
"Treating mainstream and moderate Muslims like Yusuf Islam as if they are criminals or terrorists, without bringing charges or allowing for due process, sends message to the Islamic world that even those who seek peace and condemn terror are not fit to enter the United States... This is not the way to win the hearts and minds of Muslims worldwide."

http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_12635.shtml

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Amin!

I've felt threatened by this administration for a long time. I am a Muslim and a peace activist. I'm really glad the SCOTUS ruled that US citizens cannot be deemed 'enemy combatants' and detained without benefit of counsel/Constitutional protection, because otherwise, I'm fearing I'd be locked up.

That someone like Yusuf Islam would be denied access makes me feel very very worried for all those moderate voices for peace--Bush is giving the world the impression that he isn't interested in peace or in seeing Muslims as anything other than the enemy. Knowing how he wears his version of Christianity on his sleeve, maybe to him we all are.

[hlthe2b]

4. Agree, but that is only a small part of the problem......

There is NO rhyme or reason behind the NTS "no fly" lists-- nor are there any checks and balances against mistakes. Combine this with blatant racism among those in power and we are looking at the end of any sense of democracy. I have great empathy for Muslims and other groups that may be racially profiled, but also note that when Ted Kennedy is put on the "no fly list" and only able to get it straightened out because of his ability to go straight to Tom Ridge, you know something even more insidious is going on. I am a female caucasian, native born American, but was not allowed to board a flight to Miami about a year ago because of apparent confusion over my name (which is not at all ethnic) and the fact my work had tagged a one way ticket onto an existing itinery and round trip ticket to safe money. Apparently one way tickets are a real "no no."

The bottom line is that we have to get rid of this administration to have any hope of bringing accountability to the process. Hopefully this final insult to Muslims and Arab-Americans will diminish any thought of voting for these creeps, especially in the important battleground states like Michigan.

Perhaps what happened to Yusef Islam/Cat Stevens is a blessing in disguise. It will surely have a spotlight shone on this fascist administration's policies.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Thank you

I'm sorry for your ordeal, but it is comforting to be reminded that this facist regime is targeting a lot of different folks. I have had encounters with wild-eyed "Christians" bent on "saving" me and have felt their fanatical hatred. My husband will not even attempt to take a flight-he says it isn't worth the hassle. I'll tell him that a lot of folks are having problems.

[hlthe2b]

19. I'm in agreement with your husband at this point...

I fly only for business and only when I have to. I've been embarrassed so many times-- in front of friends and colleagues traveling with me and it never seems to be something I can anticipate-- minute amounts of metal in an underwire bra? an athletic ortotic in my shoes? a metal compact full of pressed powder? a travel alarm that accidentally went off in my luggage? You name, it I've dealt with it. I actually taught in Saudi Arabia several years ago and can honestly say I had less trouble traveling as an unaccompanied western woman (which you can undoubtedly appreciate is not the norm in SA) then I have in recent years in the US. Even upon returning through Paris--coincident to a bomb threat evacuation, which are apparently not so rare in many European Airports--and personally meeting their "hot criteria" (as a western woman traveling alone from SA and other ME countries with constant contact with "locals"), I was not put through the same turmoil that US airports have inflicted during the past two years.

[ProudDad]

40. This is nothing new

I've travelled extensively through Europe (before the EU made it easy), Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica, etc. Even before the EU made it a non-issue, the worst by far has ALWAYS been returning to the belly of the beast -- USA. U.S. Customs have always been overbearing, pompous assholes and now it's even worse. I nearly missed a connecting flight from Costa Rica--L.A.--S.F. earlier this year because of these shit-lickers.

We've GOT to get rid of these fascists and make sure that Kerry doesn't listen to the dem brand either...

:mad::puke::nuke:

[DenverDem]

2. Busholini inc demonizing Muslims to justify their worldwide extermination.

Who do you think the holy "war on (some) terror" is against?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. Why are people afraid of Islam?

Is the problem in Europe that there are so many Muslim immigrants and they are afraid the Muslims will gain more political power?

In the US, I see rank ignorance about Islam and intolerance from some Christian circles, whose fundamentalist views mirror that of bin Laden, imho.

[DenverDem]

10. It's the ignorance and the misinformation.

Islam baiting instead of the red baiting of yore. Same bullshit.

"Are you now or have you ever been a Muslim?"

[Radius]

13. YOu can be a communist and not a spy, same deal(NT)

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

14. I'm an American Christian

and I don't fear Islam. I see no reason to. I have talked with people about Islam and I sense it to actually be a very peaceful religion despite what some extremists seem to be doing with it.

No fear of Islam or Muslims here. But then I am an open-minded, informed, liberal and a Democrat!

[Radius]

15. Perception

Most people do not know any Muslims beyond casual acquaintances. Many do not have that knowledge to work from.
So the problem is multi pronged:

Media reports on conflicts involving Muslims, darfur, killings in Thailand, 9/11, etc. People see the Muslim world as violent, and assume it is a violent religion.

The news never mentions Turkey and its progressive interpretation of Islam. Only Saudi, where women can't drive or vote, and people get their hands chopped off for stealing.

Lack of central authority allows wackos to issue fatwas that are generally un-Islamic with no one to put them in place.

Like preachers supporting killing doctors who perform abortions. The church organizations (Vatican, etc) can denounce or excommunicate them.

Xenophobia, many people intolerant, and even if they understood properly practiced Islam still will not accept it. Fact of life.

The list goes on but you get the idea of perception. Europe has a long history with Islam and war, slavery, etc. Old bad blood. The US does not and they should not really be lumped together.

[w4rma]

36. Muslims, today in U.S. = Jews, in Nazi Germany (nt)

[PDittie]

3. "Who cares what they think?"

I'm reading Kitty Kelley's book and there's a passage where * , during one of his lost years, encounters a teenager and offers her a white powdery substance.

She declines, and says that she will get a policeman if he doesn't leave her alone.

His response: "Who's gonna believe you?"

You know, he has raised his two daughters the same way he grew up.

Lazy, no account, sorry-ass, fuck-ya-over-soon-as-look-at-ya white trash.

Slime. All of the Bushes, going back to GrandPappy Prescott.

We have GOT to get rid of them.

[Radius]

6. Hamas in 88

This stems from an Israeli assertion that he gave tens of thousands of dollars to hamas. People who intentionally kill women and children, including Americans. They have been on the state dept terrorism list for years.

He said he never knowingly did this. However giving money to hamas, islamic jihad, etc in the US will land you in federal prison. Several people selling cigs and giving the proceeds to hamas here will never step foot outside a federal prison for material support and tax charges. They will die in prison.

If he donated to hamas he is not mainstream, he is a supporter of terrorism and can be barred entry to the US. If he did not he deserves an apology.

He was barred entry from israel as well. many Muslims leave and enter both nations freely, the hamas claim is central to the incident.

[Wright Patman]

8. Double standards in action

There are plenty of world-class war criminals such as Dr. Henry A. Kissinger who travel freely. It just depends upon which population is being terrorized as to whether one can travel or not.

It seems to me, by your analysis, as if the state of Israel now has the power to determine who can and cannot enter the United States.

[Radius]

9. State Dept.

Has Hamas on the list. If Israel passes information through intelligence channels that someone gives them money they should be red flagged. Khmer Ruge (sp) was the same deal.

[DenverDem]

11. The State Department can say whatever it wants.

Doesn't make it the truth.

[DemoTex]

30. Hope you are careful with your donations, Radius.

If a seemingly legit charity to which you donate is found by the A$$croft shop to have any ties what-so-ever with a black-listed party, by very subjective and specious criteria, you too could be in the slammer. Thanks to the PATRIOT Act. Verb sap.

[papau]

33. Interesting State Department review of the charities - are these the ones

Yusuf gave money to and even went Israel in 88 to give 4000 lbs to?

I do not know Yusuf's current views - but at one point he wrote "The Jews seem neither to respect God nor his creation. Their own holy books contain the curse of God brought upon them by their prophets on account of their disobedience to Him and mischief in the earth. We have seen the disrespect for religion displayed by those who consider themselves to be 'God's chosen people.' ... There will be no justice until all the land is given back to its rightful owners ... Only Islam can bring peace back to the Holy Land..." and that is held out as proof of radical hate.

I thought Yusuf contributed to Hamas's "Relief Fund for Lebanon and Palestine" founded by Musa Abu Marzook, who is a real terrorist (FBI says he founded the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) in Richardson, Texas. Throughout the decade, the organization featured Hamas terrorists and radical clerics as keynote speakers at its annual gatherings. The 1989 convention in Kansas City was addressed by a veiled terrorist who recounted the sabotaging of a bus that killed 16 people in Israel. One year later, at another IAP conference in Kansas City, leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas were featured guests. FBI Counterterrorism chief Oliver Revell told The Washington Post on October 31, 1998 that, “IAP is a Hamas front…It’s controlled by Hamas, it brings Hamas leaders to the US, it does propaganda for Hamas.” The IAP remains active today and is linked to Hamas's Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. On December 4, 2001, the Federal Government froze the assets of the HLF, with Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill stating, “The Holy Land Foundation masquerades as a charity, while its primary purpose is to fund Hamas.” Tax records show that Marzook made a one time cash donation of $210,000 to the HLF in 1993).

Seems Yusuf's treatment is the same we gave IRA donors in the 80's and 90's (there has been a 10 year IRA ceasefire which currently still in force).

[bobbieinok]

43. links please to support what you have stated

[gottaB]

44. Without ellipses

Blood on the Holy Land

This is a joint statement by a delegation of Muslims, including Yusuf Islam, upon returning from a visit to "occupied Palestine" (Israel and the occupied territories). Although Yusuf Islam did not utter these words, the statement is said to sum up the feelings of the group.

[tlcandie]

12. Agree..

by this analysis all American's who pay taxes to the government should be arrested wherever they are and held on terrorism charges!

We ARE supporting terrorism with our tax dollars! And I know that I do it, but feel forced to comply.

[Aidoneus]

16. Let us say that even is the case

Which I don't believe is, but I'll give the ridiculousness the benefit of the doubt it doesn't deserve to make this point.

In '88 Hamas was still fighting the good fight (in some ways they still are, with quite notable exceptions), and it was not until the revered zionist mass murderer, Dr. Baruch Goldstein, went on a rampage in al-Khalil that the human-bombings campaign began.

Every dime that goes to Israel contributes to far worse atrocities in a single year than whatever half a dozen Hamas' could ever do in half a dozen, so I suggest hassling some of the people responsible for that as well--or worse than mere 'hassling'. The State Department's judgement on practically anything is of negligible value at best, considering what they are a part of.

Then again, considering that you act as "devil's advocate" to an obvious campaign of mass murder on a regular basis, your mistaken positions on other matters are not a surprise.

[Radius]

21. You have come to smite me here as well??

Fact has no politics, truth no allegiance.
Hamas:

Palestine, December 1987: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, backed by donors in the Gulf states, creates the civilian and military organization Hamas in Gaza as the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, with the goal to drive Israel out of the Middle East and establish an Islamic state

http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/middleea.html
1981-1987: Political influence through establishment of the mechanisms of action and preparation for armed struggle
(para bellum)
1987: Founding of Hamas as the combatant arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and the launching of a continuing "jihad".
http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/h/ha/hamas.html

They are terrorists. Most jews, and Israelis hate Goldstein. One guy, now how many suicide bombers have killed women and children? Are you really suggesting one guy is the root of 3 wars and Hamas' activity? That is a whole different thread. Hamas has killed Americans, jews, are they worth less than real Americans because they were on a bus in Israel?

They managed to blow up a Palestinian kid with their quassam rocket today. Somebody flunked ballistics 101. Guess shooting rockets takes more work than shooting soldiers with a rifle and scope, no. Why, terrorism, instill fear of random death.

The facts are if he gave money to Hamas he can and should be barred entry to the US.

[TexasSissy]

31. I agree with you. Safety first. If he gave to Hamas,

he can and should be barred from entry into the U.S.

We must have some rules about entry into the U.S. Contributions to terrorist organizations is a reasonable criteria. We do not have the luxury of being wrong. If he didn't contribute to Hamas, he can provide his tax returns or whatever to show his contributions during the time period in question, and clear it up. If he can't do that....well, we have to err on the side of caution, IMO. Foreigners do not have a legal right to entry into the U.S., do they?

The rules are different for U.S. citizens. He's not a U.S. citizen. Israel has a longer history of tracking terrorists and contributors to terrorist organizations. I wouldn't dismiss their lists offhand. This is just common sense, it seems to me.

[ProudDad]

41. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

Israel (with Israel's bank, the U.S.) is the ILLEGAL occupier of Palestinian territory.

I equate The IDF with the Wehrmacht that occupied Europed during WWII and any self-defense force in occupied Palestine with the European resistance during WWII. Just my opinion and I'm entitled to it.

Just using the word terrorist nowadays blurs the search for the truth of any situation. It's like yelling "Commie" from 1918 to the present; just a substitute for thought and analysis designed to produce a knee-jerk reaction.

[ProudDad]

42. Fact has no politics, truth no allegiance

Description
Formed in late 1987 as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Various HAMAS elements have used both violent and political means— including terrorism—to pursue the goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel. Loosely structured, with some elements working clandestinely and others openly through mosques and social service institutions to recruit members, raise money, organize activities, and distribute propaganda. HAMAS’s strength is concentrated in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. First designated in October 1997.

--------------------------

I suspect that Yusuf Islam's support was for the open channels rather than the violent branch. It's my understanding that along with their violent activities they also engaged in social services.


http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/hamas.htm

[Minstrel Boy]

20. Irish Americans and the IRA.

Shall we talk about that?

[Radius]

22. Different thread, good topic, IMHO(nt)

[freethought]

17. Quoted on 'Democracy Now'

I was watching Democracy Now the other night. Apparently he said that the one good thing that came out of this fiasco was that a bunch of security personel was able to get his autograph.

God! This is one royal embarrasment.

[demosincebirth]

18. 9/11 should have shocked them more.

[DrWeird]

23. Did Oklahoma city "shock" Christians?

Were popular christian singers put on no-fly lists after the bombing?

[demosincebirth]

39. I don't listen to "christian" singers. I don't know any.

[DrWeird]

24. Is piety a sin or a virtue?

Is Yusuf Islam a Taliban-esque nutjob? Or is he just a devote Muslim? Despite all the hatred I have no reason to believe it's anything but the latter.

I think it's important to distinguish between piety and zealotry.

[daleo]

25. I imagine Bush would have found a reason to bar John Lennon, too

I suspect that almost anyone who deviates from neo-conservative orthodoxy and is a public figure interested in peace and international relations has somehow, at some time, expressed sentiments that could be construed as support for "terrorism", given that the definition of the term is so elastic.

Think of the Viet Nam era. Anyone against that war could be considered to be supporting terrorism these days.

[amazona]

27. john lennon had well documented problems with US immigration

Of course time passes more slowly when you are a child but it seemed to me that his fight to enter/stay in the U.S. went on for a very long time before he was finally admitted. The claim was that he'd once been arrested for smoking marijuana, hence, was banned from the U.S. but the presumption is that he was actually banned for his various protests against the war in Vietnam since all musicians and a large minority if not majority of American adults smoked marijuana in those days.

History goes in circles, I guess.

[TexasSissy]

32. Yes, I think Lennon WAS deported. For a drug conviction or

something. He wasn't just denied entry. I think he was actually deported. This was during the Vietnam era, and he was, of course, very much against the war and vocal about it.

If he was just denied entry, maybe another poster can correct me on that. But I think he was deported.

[peacetalksforall]

26. Strike three and the government is out -

1. Yusuf would have had to have obained a visa. They let that one slip by.

2. His name would have been submitted to INS (and who knows who else) before he boarded the flight or even when he made a reservation. They also let that one slip by.

3. In other words, the flight diversion, passenger inconvenience, extra cost to the airline, and the hoopla in the press is strictly propaganda. Asa and Tom and PNAC and Poindexter project operatives want all passenger data (more than they are getting now and for domestic flights as well as international) for a couple of reasons - to populate the new Poindexter Special database which must now be up and running or in a final test so they want to be able to say that they nearly let a person who funds terrorists get into the country...... and who knows what havac he would have caused - even though he had been in this country in May.

Our leaders are brilliant! And the press who help them are brilliant! Because there will be plenty of idiot swallowers who will believe it all.

Get all that information on everyone who is flying - including their meals because only terrorists order Moslem Meals.

With all due disrespect for the hypocrisy and transparency of it all. I will always remember hearing how Russians made so many jokes about their leaders. Now I understand the irony. They (our leaders) take themselves so seriously in their attempts at propaganda. I can just imagine what their planning meetings are like.

This activity is un-American, if true.

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. Being a British citizen, he could have come in under the visa waiver

program, so there needn't have been advance knowledge by the US government that he was going to come into the US through that. However, the airline is meant to have a copy of the no-fly list, and, as you say, they are meant to be forwarding basic ticket details to the US government. Maybe the system is screwed up anyway, and updates since May haven't made it to the airline offices in London, and data doesn't get looked at in the USA before the plane takes off - in which case we're screwed if a real terrorist ever turns up.

I agree the flight diversion was purely for propaganda - they can't seriously claim he was going to do something on the flight in the time between Maine and Washington. They could have turned him back at Washington immigration.

[peacetalksforall]

35. I didn't know he was a British citizen. At the same time, don't you

think that the British and the U.S. would have swapped names by now - supposedly they spy through Echelon on our citizens and we spy on theirs so that there will be less legal hassle if breaking a law.

Not sure about spelling of Echelon at the moment.

[AmanAplanKerry]

29. The honest and true Muslims need to stand up against those

people that are using the Muslim religion to declare death to America and all the other rhetoric. We need respected Muslim leaders to distance themselves from these terrorists.

[Child_Of_Isis]

34. Shocked Muslims?

Where in the hell have they been for the last couple of years? It didn't shock me at all. Hell, it wouldn't shock me if half of DU was on the no fly list.

[Maat]

37. Thanks for clearing up that he is a British citizen.

You see, at one time, I believed that, having been born here, and being a U.S. Citizen, it did not matter what I said (there's this thing called the 1st Amendment), or to whom or what I contributed. If I committed a crime, I did the time. But I was still a U.S. Citizen, whose citizenship could not be monkeyed with. But I guess this is Ashcroft's America now.

[gottaB]

38. Just because a man hates jews, gays, novelists and instrumental music

doesn't mean liberals shouldn't fully support him.

Giving money to terrorists? Nah, don't worry about it.

If you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free, be free
Cause there's a million ways to be
You know that there are, you know that there are

[geek tragedy]

45. Boo fucking hoo.

Stevens endorsed the Rushdie death sentence. Fuck him and Jerry Falwell too.