Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief ---------------------------------------------------------
Sha'ban 7, 1426/September 11, 2005 #70
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On this anniversary of September 11, 2001, we honor the Muslims of America victimized by George Bush though they had nothing to do with 9.11. Please scroll way down to an outstanding Islamic woman's article on this theme titled GOING HOME
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Two thoughts on this day:

THE HORROR, the HORROR! Nearly two hundred Islamic prisoners still being held in Guantanamo Bay cages after 4 years are on hunger strike, indefinitely. Seventeen of them have been admitted to hospital as they were near death. They are protesting the inhumanity of the way they are being treated: No charges, no date of release or of trial, constant psychological warfare and denial of religious rights. Here in these cages earlier the Qur'an was desecrated.

DOES BUSH HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR? On September 10 President Bush personally called and congratulated dictator Hosni Mubarak for bringing democracy to Egypt!
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WAR NEWS: Massacre in Tal Afar

IRAQ: September 10: Al -Jazeera and others are reporting that U.S. forces have smashed the town of Tal Afar near the Syrian border. The U.S. used armored vehicles to smash their way into homes. Reports indicate 141 people killed 200 wounded. The U.S. says all were "insurgents. Human rights observers see this as another human rights catastrophe as details become available.

[Puppet Shi'ite "prime minister" Ja'afari of Iraq, appointed by Ali Sistani, reportedly "ordered" the U.S. troops to carry out this attack. More than 7,000 U.S. troops plus 1500 Shi'ite and Kurdish mercenaries were used in the attack. The United Nations remains silent about this gross violation of international law and ignores American troops smashing their way into a Muslim town.]
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PROTEST GENERAL MUSHARRAF's VISIT to the U.S.: He does not represent Pakistan

New Trend's Pakistan correspondents say that on September 9, 2005 the Pakistani people carried out a historic GENERAL STRIKE across the country to condemn and reject the regime and policies of General Musharraf. Something like this has not been seen before.

The strike call was given by the entire political spectrum: the Islamic Coalition, MMA, the secularist Peoples Party, and the middle-of-the-ground Muslim League [Nawaz Sharif] which gave Pakistan its last elected Prime Minister.

Thus Musharraf's visit to America, our writers say, is illegitimate as he is definitely not a representative of Pakistan. His plans to speak to pro-Israel Jewish groups, such as AJC, show that he is an enemy of Pakistan and Islam.

Islamic women leaders in Pakistan point out the suffering of women under his regime, including the very recent execution of two women in the city of Sanghar. Earlier, a woman rape victim, Mai Mukhtaran's attackers were not given the Islamic penalty. An army officer involved in the alleged rape of Dr. Shazia has gone "scot free" as they say here. On what basis is Musharraf presenting himself as supporter of women's rights, these observers ask.

The September 9 general strike was a referendum against Musharraf, although his ministers are busy denying the success of the strike. Syed Munawwar Hasan, Secretary General of Jamaate Islami, told the media flat out: Musharraf is a liar who lies and breaks his word on an ongoing and consistent basis.
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Jamaat al-Muslimeen News. P.O. Box 10881, Baltimore, MD 21234.{ 3 items.}

1."IMPEACH BUSH" RALLY in New York hit by Police

New York City - This past Sunday, 09/04/2005, there was a protest at the Union Square Station (Manhattan) calling for President Bush's impeachment. There were scenes of police dragging unarmed protesters and cracking skulls. Bush needs to be impeached. The strange thing is that all of the democratic dissenters have unanimously voted to give Bush everything he's asked for and more. I 've never believed the democrats' lies.

With regard to Hurricane Katrina being a punishment from Allah, I always understood Allah's wrath to come in the Afterlife. However, I found out that the state of Louisiana is a very big supplier of goods to Israel. I found this out at the AIPAC web site itself. It is a shame that all of these people had to die because of the evil-doings of their politicians.

A Louisiana native said that people critical of Hurricane Katrina victims for staying put did not understand that people in Louisiana have been hit by dozens of hurricanes and usually waited them out. This coincides with the heartbreaking eye witness account of what really happened after Hurricane Katrina left the state. A levy break led to all of those deaths and rescuers were turned away! This makes me so angry. I can understand why the Ayatollah Khomeini referred to the American government as the "Great Satan!"

Insha'Allah, I plan to distribute as many copies of this report as I can!

Salaam,
Sis. 'Aisha

May Allah Reward You for Your Efforts

2. Hispanic Victims of the Hurricane

Latest reports indicate thousands of people of Hispanic origin also suffered at the hands of Katrina though this has not been publicized. To reach out to Muslims of Hispanic origin who might need help, we publish this note in Spanish from Br. Solano Perez:

Muchos musulmanes norteamericanos estan atrapados en la ciudad de New Orleans (Nuevo Real) en el Estado de Luisiana. El huracan le destruyo las mesquitas y todo lo que tenian. Necesitan su ayuda. si pueden ayudar por favor ponganse en contacto con el Dr. Kaukab Siddique a butshikan@msn.com lo mas pronto posible.

3. Bogus Case Against Jose Padilla, but court rules he can be held Indefinitely! From "Dirty Bomb" the charge against him changed to "presence in Afghanistan!"

On September 9, 2005 the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia ruled unanimously that the government can hold Jose Padilla indefinitely WITHOUT TRIAL. As Padilla is a U.S. citizen, a Hispanic who embraced Islam, this ruling deals a deadly blow to the rights of all U.S. citizens.

A brilliant Hispanic woman, Jenny Martinez, has been fighting to get Padilla his legal rights. At 33 she has reached a level of legal ability and fame which few attorneys at her age do. Here we present excerpts from her interview with the San Francisco Chronicle of August 28 which provide evidence of the bogus nature of this case:

Q: Is habeas corpus as intrinsic a right as there is? Are there levels of protection or levels of negotiation? Are some rights more intrinsic to us than others?

A: Habeas corpus is so important it's one of the only individual rights that the founding fathers included in the Constitution itself, rather than in the amendments. So as you know, the original Constitution was passed first, and then the Bill of Rights was passed a few years later. Habeas corpus isn't an amendment. It was so important that the framers put it in Article 1 of the Constitution itself. So, it is one of the most important rights and has been recognized as such since the 1600s when in fighting against the tyranny of the British monarchy it was established in English law that there was a right to habeas corpus.

Q: You became involved in this case during the two-year period during which Mr. Padilla was held without being allowed to meet with his counsel?

A: Correct.

Q: But since joining his team you've been able to meet with him?

A: I have.

Q: How has he seemed?

A: I think you can imagine that anyone held in solitary for that long -- it's going to have a harmful effect on their mental state.

Q: What is the prosecution's reason for holding him?

A: They really keep switching their story. First it was the "dirty bomb," then they backed off that and said no, it was some plot involving natural gas and apartment buildings. Now they're emphasizing neither of those things and saying that it's because he was in Afghanistan at some point. And that's the basis for holding him. So, they really do keep changing their story. It highlights the unreliability of whatever evidence that came through torture that they're relying on. Which is why we need to have a trial. They need to come forward and actually produce some concrete proof, and then we can decide.

Q: Did torture play a role in his case?

A: According to New York Times reports -- and we cite this in one of our briefs -- some of the people who allegedly produced evidence under interrogation against him were being "water-boarded," which means being held underwater and being made to think they were going to drown at the time that they gave information about him. Of course, the government never told us that, but if you read the New York Times it says so. But I have no idea.

Q: But if you're being held underwater are you likely to tell the truth or whatever you think your captors want to hear?

A: Yes, that's precisely the problem. Our own military's interrogation manuals have long recognized the things that people say while being tortured are notoriously unreliable.

Q: And the latest rationale for his detention is that he's visited Afghanistan?

A: They claim that he was in Afghanistan carrying a rifle, after the U.S. invasion. And that that is a sufficient basis upon which to hold him. That's the latest story.

Q: Is it possible that bringing Padilla to trial might reveal secret information that could compromise the war on terror?

A: We have a Classified Information Protection Act that allows the government to protect classified information in criminal trials. And the convictions of other terror suspects in recent months show that it's possible to protect classified sources and put people on trial. And a federal judge recently convicted some defendants accused of providing support for terrorism, and the judge said the case proves that our criminal justice system works in these cases, that we don't need to hold people without trial and throw our Constitution out the window.

Q: What has being defense counsel for the infamous "dirty bomber" meant for your career?

A: It's taken quite a lot of time. I mean I can't believe we're still fighting about this. The second circuit ruled in our favor years ago. The Supreme Court remanded it on a technical issue to a different court. The district court in South Carolina ruled in our favor in February and said he had to be charged with a crime. It's now August. They say justice delayed is justice denied, and I think that's true in this case.

Mr. Padilla has now been held for more than three years without charge. It's hard for him to understand why the case is taking so long to work its way to resolution. And it's hard for us to understand that as well: Why the government, this far down the road, is persisting in not charging him with a crime. Even if when they initially detained him they didn't have enough evidence, you would think that in the intervening three years they would have been able to accumulate enough evidence to charge him with something. If what they say is true, then he's committed any number of crimes.

Q: I understand some of your team has gotten some threatening letters.

A: I've gotten a little bit of hate mail, but to be honest I've gotten far more e-mail and letters that are supportive, that say, "This is wrong, they shouldn't be doing this to an American citizen, this is not the American way." I would say the number of favorable comments have outweighed the number of unfavorable by 20 to 1.
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Answering the Jewish Claims Against Dr. Siddique

Editor
Daily Local News
250 N. Bradford Ave.,
West Chester, PA 19382

Subject: Michael Crist's report titled "Muslim professor draws ire" Aug.28.

Dear Editor

At Lincoln University, where I have taught English, Journalism and World Literature for 20 years, I steadily try to get students to look at things "in context" and to look at both sides of an issue. I have always believed that discussion, debate, communication can lead to understanding and peace.

If the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Anti-Defamation League, Rabbi Eric Rosin of Kesher Israel in West Chester and other supporters of Israel had any corrections to make in my writings, they could have simply written to my Internet magazine New Trend. We give the right of reply to opponents unlike publications controlled by Zionist interests. The only civilized way to differ with opponents is through persuasion, argument and evidence.

Instead these Jewish groups approached my employers, Lincoln University, and tried to get them to violate my First Amendment rights although Lincoln has nothing to do with my web site. Such tactics speak of bankruptcy of intellectual ability and a sense of arrogant power which amounts to saying "how dare you criticize us."

It is true that Jews suffered tremendously in World War II as did many others, including millions of German civilians who suffered after Hitler's fall simply because they were Germans. We can blame Hitler for much that happened, but we also need to critique our ally Stalin to whom we handed over all of Eastern Europe in our desire to defeat Hitler.

Hitler did persecute the Jews but did he order their total destruction as a people and that too through the orrors of "gas chambers" in Auschwitz and other camps? There is no order from Hitler available to carry out any such ultimate crime. If the Simon Wiesenthal Center can provide any evidence of such an order from Hitler, I will be quite happy to publish it.
Few Americans know that Auschwitz is in Poland, not Germany. The camp was captured by the Soviets in January 1945 but the Communists, allies of the Jews, did not begin the story of "gas chambers" and other horrors in Auschwitz till after the overthrow of Hitler in May 1945.

The war ended 60 years back. Today's problem is the occupation of Palestine by Israel and the genocide of the Palestinian people, an entire nation uprooted from its homes and forced to live in squalid refugee camps. The U.S. gives billions of dollars to Israel, and the Israeli occupation of Palestine is supported by the majority of American Jews. Within that context, discussion of the themes used by American Jews to elicit sympathy and dollars for Israel is natural for people who think. This has nothing to do with anti-semitism.

I noticed with amusement that you asked the Council on American-Islamic Relations [CAIR] to comment on my writings. It's like asking O'Reilly to comment on Malcolm X. CAIR is not an Islamic group. It's a public relations organization which tries to spread the propaganda of the Bush administration among America's Muslims and received funds from Saudi Arabia.

My writings about the culture, religion and politics of Islam are internationally known and acclaimed. The CAIR lady you talked to is unknown even in the mosques of Philadelphia where my writings have reached thousands of people.

My point is simply this: Humanity is one family: If we bomb the people of Afghanistan and Iraq and keep supporting Israel in its murder of hundreds of Palestinian children, and then complain if Muslims carry out or attempt to carry out attacks in western cities, we will never have peace.

Our blind support for Israel, making parasites out of settlers living on stolen land, while our cities in America decay and our homeless grow in numbers, calls for criticism and review of American policies.

I once again invite Rabbi Rosin, as well as Jewish thought control groups, to come up with evidence for their claims. They won't be able to stop me from writing truthfully because I follow not only Moses but also Jesus and Muhammad [may God bless them all].

Sincerely

Kaukab Siddique, Ph.D
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What Stops Americans from Knowing the Realities of Islam: A Specific Example.

by Bashir Syed

I wish PBS had put the transcripts of this program on the web like other programs. But, anyway as I understand PBS will telcast it again on Sunday, September 11, 2005, and I encourage others to watch this program and send you their feedback.I am an expert in short hand but I manage to jot down important aspects being projected by the is program.
Let me first go over the cast of particpants and their peculiarities:
  1. Thomas Friedman (TF), B. A. Brandies University, and M.A. Oxford, New York Times, Foreign Affairs Columnist, with Pro-Israel Bias.
  2. Dr. Bernard Lewis, Professor, Princeton University, Orientalist, author of "Roots of Muslim Rage," and more than twenty books related to Islam (his books project a skewed Orientalist image of Islam, not approved by real Islamic scholars of Al-Azhar University Cairo, Egypt, or even a non-Muslim like late Prof. Edward Said of Columbia University, because of his personal biases ).
  3. Fawaz A. Gerges, London School of Economics & D.Phil (Cambridge), Prof. Sara Lawrence College (although he hails from Middle East, he gained TV visibility after 9/11 on PBS, and his views about Muslims are skewed being a non-Muslim).
  4. Saad-EDDin Ibrahim, Prof. of Political Sociology, American Univ at Cairo, Egypt, is a Human Rights activist who spent three years in jail for speaking against Husni Mubarak.
  5. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Islamic Center of New Mexico, founder of ASMA, and author of "What's Right With Islam: A new Vision for Muslims & The West."
  6. Farid Zakaria, Editor NewsWeek International, an Americanized-Indian, Republican, and former member CFR.(Secularist)
  7. Irshad Manji, Member of Ismail Sect, A Muslim Refusenik, Author of The Trouble With Islam, an out-of-the-closet Lesbian.
  8. Kenan Makiya, Fellow at Havard University's Center for Middle-east Studies, author of "Republic of Fear, and "Cruelty and Silence, an Iraqi political activist.
  9. Michael Doran, Assistant Professor at Princeton University, and Member of CFR New York, anti-Saudi, and anti -Wahabi
  10. Roya Baranmoud, a Secular Iranian woman of unknown background.
  11. Another Iranian woman, whose name was not displayed, an unknown but secular woman.
The Program was slanted and disjointed to convey incoherent thoughts. Muslim men and women with the exception of one (Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf) were either secular or opponents of Islamic way of life. Thus the program did not serve any useful purpose other than leaving the viewers in a confused state of mind, with anti-Islamic slant blaming Islam for hostility towards West based on imagined extremist and inaccurate understanding of Islamic teachings.
In my personal opinion it did not serve the purpose for which this was planned.
The program, was funded by Smith Richard Foundation, World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, and others. It was produced by KUNHARDT production with WETA--TV.

Bashir A. Syed is a retired Aerospace Physicist and Member: APS, AAPT, IEEE, UCS, ASES, ISES, and New York Academy of Sciences, and a Fulbright Scholar

----- Original Message -----
From: "Connie Hassan" chassan@weta.com
To: "Bashir A. Syed" bsyed@worldnet.att.net
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 12:20 PM
Subject: Re: Road to 9/11 - Program
Dear Mr. Syed:
Thank you for taking the time to share your views and concerns with WETA. I will send your comments on to the producers of the program for review.

Connie Hassan
Audience Services Coordinator
WETA TV 26 * 90.9FM
2775 S. Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22206
chassan@weta.com
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LETTER:

Reader thought we Were Referring to New Orleans

[Re: Why Allah sent Katrina?]

Dear Siddique,

I must say I was distressed re your article, "What drew Allah's wrath in the form of Katrina?" explaining it as partially New Orleans' acceptance of adultery, gambling, homosexuality . . . I can understand that sexual diseases might result from this, but not a flood.

I think there were very scientific reasons for this flood. The Corps of Engineers built dams upstream of the Mississippi, and even altered its course in some instances. I don't understand the environmental issues completely, but not allowing nature to take its course is the basis of the problem.

Why would Allah want to inflict his wrath on mostly poor and black people?

If, hopefully, this incident somehow contributes to the shortening of the war in Iraq, that would be something good coming out of it. Otherwise, we are all going to suffer for it in one way or the other.

Best wishes,
Doris R.
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Ed Note: We have received several such letters. Please go back and re-read the article. It was referring to the destruction of the entertainment industry in Mississippi and Alabama as well as the military installations there. By contrast, New Orleans suffered owing to human incompetence and institutional racism.
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The Qur'an's Hijrah Concept which we forgot

GOING HOME:
U.S. Muslims Who Never Wronged America Were Humiliated, their Religion Put in the Dirt.

by Anisa Abd el Fattah

Muslims living in the West might remember how we used to criticize the "backhomians." These were the Muslims who had immigrated to the West from the Muslim World, mostly to work and to send money back home, or to get an education, yet never hoped, or even wanted to stay. It was always their desire, and their fervent hope to return home. Remember their dreams? They could talk about a dirt road and a single community telephone that everyone shared at the post office, and bring tears to your eyes. They made us all nostalgic for simpler times, simpler challenges, and most of all, a feeling of family and home. They made us dream of Muslim communities in Muslim countries where we fit in, and where no one dared to call the prophet Muhammad "a terrorist" or to call Islam a "terrorist organization."

They made us dream of places where you can hear the adhan called to remind you to pray, and where celebrations like the Eid ul Fitr brought families together over good food, and everyone gets new clothes, new shoes, sweets, and prayers. They made us forget about the brutal politics, the disappearances, the poor economies, and the third world status of the Muslim countries, perhaps attempting to remind us that life is a trade-off.

We used to laugh at them, yet today we miss them. Maybe we should all become backhomians. Maybe the test was to go there, or to stay, and take up the struggle for reform. Maybe the test was to choose between here and there. Or maybe the test is to return, and to restore the Muslim world, rather than to be here like beggars, begging for fair treatment, begging for rights, begging for justice, from a people who love no one, not even themselves. Their justice is for sale, but only to people who look like them, and pray like them, and hate like them, and kill innocents, like them. People who walk in lockstep to the mantra of "more money" and who worship that Golden Calf.

Reading and listening to the latest theories on Muslim terrorism, assimilation and multiculturalism will turn you into a backhomian, especially if you live in the US. The Muslim community in the US is one of the most highly educated and financially affluent communities in the United States. Among Muslims the crime rate is near zero. Divorce, runaway children, drug abuse, unwed parenting and many of the other societal plagues that are so prevalent in the greater society, have touched our families only slightly. We recognize that any experience with these misfortunes is serious, and no one wishes them upon anyone, even upon the people who hate Islam and Muslims.

The point is that Muslims have been good for the United States, and we are, according to the statistics, better citizens than most, yet we are being subjected to a type of public humiliation here in the United States that is better suited for another type of people. It should be very interesting to historians that Muslims did not come to the US and create gangs, or organized crime. We did not bring prostitution, and sell your children drugs. We did not create gambling, and contract killing, and fear and intimidation rackets that corrupted your major institutions. We came and simply said, "There is only One God," and set off a firestorm of hate, envy and resentment that found justification in the World Trade Center bombing, and the attacks of 9/11.

The hijrah or migration of the prophets and their communities is a common theme in religious history and literature. It seems to be a part of the Divine methodology that each era is distinguished by a mass migration of believing people from a place where they are hated, and persecuted for their profession of belief in the One God. Noah migrated, Abraham migrated, and Moses, Jesus and Muhammad and all of the other prophets of monotheism migrated, even if not to very far away places. In these instances of migration, their treasure that enriched and empowered the societies that accepted them and gave them asylum was of course their skills, but most of all, it was their faith, and their prayers. All of the societies that the faithful abandoned ultimately failed.

It may be time for Muslims in the West to rethink the choices we have made. Perhaps it's time for us to plan our own hijrah. Somewhere in the world there is a society that will give sanctuary to 8 million well educated and affluent, law abiding people who believe in One God, and desire only to worship Him, in peace.

I ask forgiveness from the backhomians. Perhaps if we had listened to them more closely, we would have understood that they were warning us of a price to be paid that would be too high. They were warning us of a high price, for something of so little value when it is compared to peace, and the freedom to worship God, and to live, as we believe, and the hope of salvation on the Day of Judgement. It is of so little value when compared to our children's right to live in societies where they are free to be who they are, and who they want to be. The backhomians were reminding us perhaps of God's warning to be careful not sell the eternal home, for temporary status and wealth that leads to hellfire, because hell is the ultimate self imposed injustice for people of potential and faith, and who have choice.
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Anisa Abd el Fattah is the Founder and Chairwoman of the National Association of Muslim American Women. She has participated in Muslim community work for the better part of the last twenty years serving the community and variuos Muslim organizations in different capacities. She also served as the Executive Director for the Center for Public Policy Research, and as editor of the Middle East Affairs Journal.
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2005-09-11 Sun 18:29ct
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