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Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief Muharram 3,1427/February 2, 2006 #8


New Trend greets its Muslim readers on the start of the new Islamic year, 1427. The Islamic calendar begins with the Hijra of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be on him, from Makka to Madinah and was formulated by Caliph 'Umar, r.a., the greatest Caliph Islam has ever had. Hijra, or giving up ones home, possessions and family/nation for the sake of Allah is strongly recommended in the Qur'an. [See 3:195]


Mohurram 1 is the anniversary of the martyrdom of Caliph 'Umar, r.a., as the result of a conspiracy among the defeated Persian oppressors whom he had out of the kindness of his heart allowed to come into Madinah and find employment there. Indications of Jewish involvement in his murder are also seen. The government of 'Umar, r.a., outdid anything humanity has ever known by way of justice, social welfare, women's rights and the implementation of Islamic Law.


Jamaat al-Muslimeen [0ne item]
P.O. Box 10881
Baltimore, MD 21234

"American Taliban" John Walker Lindh's Father Speaks out.

On January 19, 2006, Frank Lindh, John Walker Lindh's father addressed the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco to describe the plight of his beloved son. He said that his son never committed a crime against America. He was subjected to horrific suffering by American forces when he was taken prisoner following the massacre of Taliban prisoners by the Dostum Communists [allied to the U.S.]

The entire spectrum of American politicians, including Clinton and Barbara Boxer, condemned John Walker. America was in a frenzy of hatred against the Taliban following the 9.11 attacks and John paid the price.

However, when it came to the court, he could only be charged with "breaking the economic sanctions against Afghanistan" by going there. He was threatened with several life sentences and the young man [only 20 then] accepted a plea bargain and was ruthlessly sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The father regularly visits his son in prison, travelling all the way down from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The young man reads the Qur'an on an ongoing basis and remains a devout Muslim. Some members of the audience tried to get Mr. Lindh to speak against his son's religion and travel to Pakistan. Mr. Lindh replied: "I love Islam" and that he fully endorses the way his son chose.

The elder Lindh sounded very sad but expressed the hope that the American people would see things in a better perspective once the Bush administration leaves. He said that he feels that the American people will not support injustice in the long run.

[New Trend readers might remember that Jamaat al-Muslimeen was the only Muslim organization in America which came out in support of the rights of John Walker. Repeatedly Jamaat volunteers demonstrated in the streets of Alexandria, Virginia calling for his rights but to no avail as the money-controlled Muslim groups would not let their members go out in support of the Jamaat.]


New Trend Report

Mauri Saalakhan Caught in the Act: Attempted Fake Press Conference but Imam 'Umar Rejected linkage to Siraj Wahhaj

Imam Warith Deen Umar of Albany, New York is one of the very few imams in America who still have the courage to speak truth to power. As a result he has been targeted by the Zionist oppressors who rule America. He has undergone a series of attacks by the U.S. government. As New Trend reported earlier, Imam Umar's apartment in the Bronx, New York was trashed and desecrated by the police. He himself was attacked, then arrested and let out on bail after being handed over temporarily to the FBI.

Two FBI agents questioned the Imam about a khutba he gave last Ramadan in the mosque run by Siraj Wahhaj in Brooklyn. Siraj has still not explained how the tape of the khutba reached the government.
[Siraj Wahhaj is a staunch supporter of ISNA, a Muslim organization which regularly supports the government.]

After that Imam Umar's home was raided by the NYPD and the FBI and the sanctity of his Islamic home was defiled by police dogs. Thus Imam Umar, a distinguished citizen of the United States, has been subjected to Zionist oppression because he opposes the war and openly questions U.S. foreign policy.

After this horrendous suffering of Imam Umar, a Muslim named Mauri Saalakhan announced that a press conference to lend support to the Imam would be held. However, when Saalakhan published the announcement for the confrence, it had this headline:

"LOCAL LEADERS TO ADDRESS PATTERN OF HARASSMENT, FALSE PROSECUTION OF MUSLIM LEADERS AND ACTIVISTs. See Wahhaj and Umar as Targets of COINTELPRO-like Domestic Surveillance"

Thus, Saalakhan attempted to link Siraj Wahhaj, leader of the bootlicker organization named ISNA, to an outstanding and independent Islamic leader like Imam 'Umar. Unfortunately for Saalakhan, the trick did not work. Imam Umar was not only not fooled, but issued the following statement to New Trend:

"Dear believers and lovers of truth and justice. The reported announcement of the Press Conference in Harlem to "support Imam Siraj and Warith Deen Umar" was presented inappropriately and inaccurately. The Press Conference was called to report a grievous injustice done to me and my family by the NYPD and the FBI. To call it a Press Conference to support Imam Siraj and Warith Deen Umar only goes to obscure the injustice done to me and the continuance of harrassment and persecution of me and my family. Imam Siraj's home was not invaded nor was his family subjected to the police thugs rampaging through his home with dogs. We can not be silent about the inner-community fitnah that is going on because of poor, inept and scared leadership among the Muslims in America. In sha'llah we can use this opportunity to begin the movement to change the Muslim leadership here. The community is in danger with the current Muslims leaders.

As Salaamu Alaikum
Resist Oppression Always.
[Imam] Warith Deen Umar


LETTER: Siraj Wahhaj Supports Coca Cola and Disney. Why does Saalakhan think the government is against him, and why abuse New Trend's editor?

[In an abusive letter circulated secretly, Mauri Saalakhan, a vocal supporter of ISNA-man Siraj Wahhaj, claimed that Dr . Kaukab Siddique is not a Muslim and is an "agent provocateur." A sister known for her work in the African-American community responds.]

I read El-Hajj Mauri Saalakhan's article with some bemusement. What a bold and reckless thing to do... to accuse, in a long handled way, Kaukab Siddique of not being Muslim and, further, an agent provocateur. How else is one to take the quotation marks he put around the word, Muslim, in his reference to Dr. Siddique.

I guess El-Hajj Mauri Saalakhan was a little skittish about owning the accusation fully. And I can understand why. To accuse someone of not being Muslim creates the possibility of the accuser, by his very accusation, of not being Muslim, himself. That's why it's such a serious accusation. But that aside, why would this government want Siraj Wahhaj, supporter of Coca Cola and Disneyland, to be discredited? Why would they want the reputation of one who's been proven so useful in their case against Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, to be besmirched?
In answer to the question: Did you ever hear Sheikh Omar call for robbing banks, why didn't Siraj Wahhaj simply answer, no. He could have. Instead, he laughed and volunteered an unnecessary interpretation of what was being asked. He assumed, to the benefit of the government's case, that he had to recount any allusion to bank robbery. It makes one wonder. He could have stopped with simply answering the question. Why did he go beyond that? If the defense attorney brought it up then it must have been brought up to show that the Sheikh did not advocate robbing banks.
Obviously, Saalakhan feels that merely pointing this out makes one an agent provocateur. An agent of whom? I'm sure this government considers Siraj Wahaj a great example of a "moderate," cooperative Muslim. Wouldn't they want him to be popular?
Actually, now that I think about it, Dr. Siddique is a provocateur. He provokes Muslims to think, to discern, to see past the pomp and circumstance.

Sis. Karen English, Los Angeles, California


Quotes from Saalakhan's poison pen letter:
"Off and on for a number of years now, an unbalanced "Muslim" has been accusing Imam Siraj Wahhaj of being one of the principle factors (if not the principle factor) in the successful prosecution, and (at the time of this writing) decade long political imprisonment of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman."
"His actions are more like that of an agent-provocateur."

National Association of Muslim American Women "Honor, Piety, Justice"

US Muslims call for resignation of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

For immediate release
January 31, 2006

The National Association of Muslim American Women (NAMAW), along with the undersigned-endorsing individuals and organizations and with the support of what we believe is a silent majority of Muslims, both in the US and internationally, is today calling upon US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to resign. We are issuing this call based upon Secretary Rice's attempts to cover up the truth regarding the alleged illegal rendition and torture of Muslim detainees in Europe and other countries. We are also asking her to resign due to her obvious inability to formulate, and implement a just and balanced US policy towards the Muslim world that is based upon mutual respect and a desire for peace. We feel that her poor judgment, and personal biases are undermining US efforts to promote real freedom and democracy in the Muslim world, and to achieve peace in areas of conflict.

Secretary Rice's hasty call to end US humanitarian aid to Palestine almost immediately following the announcement of Palestinian election results is another demonstration of her poor judgment, and in our view results from a personal prejudice that is inappropriate for a senior US diplomat. In an effort to punish the Palestinian people for exercising their right to vote, she has sought to persuade the United State's European allies to also discontinue aid to Palestine based upon her personal dislike for the outcome of the election, and pressure from pro-Israeli special interest groups inside the US, even though she is aware of the serious humanitarian crisis that presently exists in Palestine. It is strange indeed that she supported the distribution of more than 2 million dollars in USAID funds in an attempt to dictate the outcome of those elections. Now she wants to withdraw already scheduled humanitarian aide to Palestine because her attempt to control the outcome failed. This makes it even more obvious that her view of diplomacy, and understanding of the importance of US/ Muslim relations is not consistent with our country's stated foreign policy objectives, which have been repeatedly characterized as a desire to ease tensions, and to improve communication, and relations with the people of the Muslim world, with an eye towards restoring US credibility, and strengthening our ability to serve as a trusted friend and ally to all of the people in that region. It also highlights her lack of commitment to legitimate democratic processes, and democracy in the Muslim world.

A persistent pattern of what we consider Rice's poor judgment, bad decision making and personal biases have weakened, rather than strengthened our country's credibility and image internationally. We believe that the only way to break this pattern of undiplomatic persistent and aggressive condemnation of Muslim and Arab governments and peoples, and a demonstrated lack of respect for the people's right to self determination, her attempts to illegally stack the deck in a legitimate political process, and her tacit support for torture and rendition of Muslim detainees, along with her efforts to further punish the people of the region with economic sanctions and termination of humanitarian aide, are all indications that her personal prejudices prevent her from serving our country effectively as Secretary of State, and for these reasons, we, the undersigned and our supporters call for the resignation of US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

Signed:

Anisa Abd el Fattah, National Association of Muslim American Women, (NAMAW)
Columbus Ohio
Rafiq Jaber, Islamic Association for Palestine, (IAP)
Chicago Illinois
Hodari Ali, Give Peace a Chance Coalition, (GPACC)
Washington DC
Imam Muhammad Elahi, Islamic House of Wisdom, (IHW)
Dearborn Michigan
Jamal Abdur Rahman, Islamic Political Party of America, (IPPA-VA)
Va. Chapter
Seham Fare, Citizens for Fair Legislation, (CFL)
CA.
Kaukab Siddique, Jamaat Al-Muslimeen,
Baltimore Md.

For More Information Please contact Anisa Abd el Fattah at namaw01@yahoo.com.


Report sent in by a New Trend reader.

Three Palestinians are facing Injustice in the U.S.
Prosecution Wants Israelis in a Closed Hearing to Testify Against the Three. Salah's Torture by Israelis being Legalized

"Judge to decide on closed testimony"

January 26, 2006

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Legal Affairs Reporter

It would be absolutely unprecedented in American law to close a courtroom to allow Israeli agents to testify about what methods they use to extract confessions from prisoners, lawyers for Mohammad Salah, a Bridgeview man charged with funding terrorist acts in Israel, told a federal judge Wednesday.

But federal prosecutors say it's a reasonable request by the Israeli government. Never before has the Israeli government allowed its agents to travel to an American courtroom to testify, they said. To accommodate them, the court should be willing to close the courtroom so fringe Palestinian groups can't target the agents, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's office argued.

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve listened to both sides' arguments Wednesday and will hold a formal hearing in March.

Prosecutors will travel this weekend to Israel to interview agents, police and others who may be called to testify against Salah and his co-defendants, Abdelhaleem Ashqar of Alexandria, Va., and Mousa Abu Marzook of Syria. They are accused of a 15-year campaign of laundering money that went to Hamas, which the United States has classified as a terrorist group Americans are not allowed to fund.

Salah says the government wants to "launder" torture-obtained confessions from Israel to be used in an American court. In 1993, Salah gave a 64-page, handwritten statement to Israeli authorities describing his activities in Hamas, prosecutors say. He spent five years in an Israeli prison.

Prosecutors want to introduce that confession at his trial here. Salah has unsuccessfully sought to have Israel turn over manuals of how interrogations are handled there in an effort to block the confession's admission.

Eavesdropping topic?

St. Eve assured Salah's attorney, Michael Deutsch, on Wednesday that "I have never said they can [admit] the statements -- that's what the hearing is about. I have no jurisdiction over Israel. I cannot order them to do anything. I can order the government to try to get it and they say Israel will not turn it over."

St. Eve scheduled opening statements in the hearing about whether the confession will be admitted for Friday, March 3.

"This will be open to the public," she said.

Whether the testimony from the Israeli agents the following Monday is public remains up in the air, she said. Prosecutors have said in their court filings that the only part of the hearing they want closed to the public and press will be the testimony of the agents.

Deutsch has asked the government to disclose whether Salah was one of the people whose telephone calls the National Security Agency has been eavesdropping on.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Ferguson said he has not gotten a response from the NSA about that yet, but the eavesdropping was supposed to be focused on associates of al-Qaida.

"If they want to admit he's an associate of al-Qaida, I would be willing to step up the investigation," Ferguson said.

2006-02-02 Thu 02:39:41 cst
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