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--------------------------------------------
POWERFUL FAITH OF YOUNG MUSLIMAH WHO DEFIED NEW
YORK POLICE
[Report sent by Sis. Farah, Atlanta, Georgia.
Sis. Tabassum is mixed
Pakistani,
Native American and African-American.
May Allah reward their
parents for having brought up such a Muslimah
-Ed]
[If this makes you cry, with pride or with
emotion, say Allahu Akbar -Ed.]
A must-read personal account of an American
Muslim woman detained by
NYPD who refused to take off her hijab.
Here is the best quote I have read in a very long
time for everyone here
to think about:
"To those of you who are muslim and reading this:
now is
not the time to give up on Islam and your
identity. We are only
strong when we are with Allah (swt) and when we
adhere to Allah's
revelations."
======
Greetings of peace to everyone,
The story you are about to read is from a very
good friend of mine.
I sincerely hope that her tale will be an
inspiration to you as it
is for me.
Ma'a asalaama (with peace),
Shirley
======== From: Tabassum
I am so tired after the incident yesterday with
the police and I
had written an email about it and then it was
lost. So irritating,
but I will write it again. If any of you would
like more explicit
details, just ask. And if you want a revised
version without any
grammar errors, just ask. Quick note to the
Muslims at my university: I am
thankful for all of your support today; it
really means such much
to me to have my community behind me. In
addition, any of you are
welcome to share this account with others. I
trust your discretion.
All of you know about the citywide
demonstrations that were held
yesterday (Thurs. 3/27/03 8am-noon+) in front
of and near
Rockefellar Center (5oth and 5th Ave.) Our goal
was to clog up
Midtown Manhattan and stop "bussiness as usual"
to the
media
corporations and other businesses that
supported and bankrolled
this war. We were successful. NYC really hadn't
seen something like
this until now. But what I wanted to share with
all of you was my
experience with the NYPD as a detainee and more
importantly as a
Muslim woman of color. The way I was treated
was unlike many of the
other protesters. But there were a few
incidences of police
brutality. Because I fit the profile of a
"terrorist", because I am
the new threat to national security, it was
fine for them to
disregard my rights as a human being and as a
citizen.
I was arrested around 12noon at 48th and 5th
Avenue close to the
Fox News
Building where they were childishly
typing messages on
their computerized ticker tape (which people on
the street can
read), "Go home," and other ridiculous phrases.
My group and I lay
down in the middle of the intersection blocking
all four ways of
traffic at once. We were dragged away one by
one by undercover cops
while we were fervently chanting anti-war,
anti-corporate
media,
and anti-Bush administration slogans. We were
dragged on our backs
twice to the corner and the police then
surrounded us preparing to
handcuff us. We remained firm in our actions
and we didn't let the
police intimidate us with their weapons or
supposed might. As I was
handcuffed with handcuffs tightly (very
tightly) secured around my
wrists, another police officer grabbed me and
slammed my body on
the side of the prisoners' bus. As my left
cheek was pressed hard
against the side of the bus another officer was
twisting my already
secured arms. This African American woman
officer who was
aggressively searching me was a riot
policewoman who was called
over for me only. I was surprised to see a woman
of color treating
another woman of color so harshly. The members
of my group were
arguing with her and the supervising seargent
to make her to stop
handling me so roughly and to stop searching me
so vigorously. They
didn't treat anyone else this way and the
police ignored their
complaints.
I was photographed and put into the bus. I
managed to look out and
see how the crowd had swelled as well as the
police presence. Other
members from our group who were not arrested
but in charge of our
legal aid, quickly started the process of
contacting lawyers, our
emergency contacts, and taking interviews with
the
media.
We were
taken to a location near the Javitts Center to
be transferred to
another bus. When I was taken off the bus, I
was the only one
searched again. On the new bus we were taken to
One Police Plaza
which is similar to a detention facility for
people who do things
like we did (civil disobedience). When we
arrived, our lawyer team
was already there as well as other protesters
who were supporting
us. In the parking lot we sat cuffed for an
hour and a half. So we
were cuffed for almost 2-3 hours. It was
painful, uncomfortable,
and aggravating.
Next we were taken off the bus to be processed
inside. A few of the
officers separated me from the crowd. A female
member of the group
said that she didn't want to be separated from
me and she made a
spectacle of it. Since she works with the INS
detainees she didn't
even want to think about what they would do if
I was taken
somewhere alone. They still pulled me out of
the entire group to
search me again and my bag. One officer as a
joke said," You might
have a bomb," and he laughed.
Once inside it was another hour or so before we
were put into our
cells. They passed out something that resembled
food. I asked for
the food in my bag and told them that I was
Muslim and I couldn't
eat what they provided. Eventually they
complied. After I was
finally assigned to my cell after going through
two other cells, we
were there to wait.
The cells were no bigger than an average closet
and they smelled of
urine. The men were placed in one large cell
and it was obvious how
crowded and stuffy it was. But for the women,
we were divided into
the smaller cells that I described earlier with
4-6 women inside,
which was clearly too many.
Many hours passed and us women did everything
from converting
popular songs into protests songs, to playing
word games, to
sharing other activist activities we were
involved in, to etching
on the walls, to just getting to know each
other. For me I did just about
all of that and talking to the women about Islam
because I
had a feeling that most of them had a
misconception about Islam and
women in Islam. We didn't want to think about
how confined we were
because after awhile it starts to get to you a
lot and the restless
energy starts to build. Since I was with the
"mobile
demonstrators", we were exhausted from going
all over the city
blockading traffic.
Now fingerprinting and photographing. I was
filed in with the
others to be fingerprinted and photographed.
The problem happened
with the photo. The officer said take off your
scarf and I said no.
he said you have to take it off. I said that I
had a Constitutional
right to practice my religion which included
wearing my scarf. At
this point it was clear to me that I did not
have any rights. (We
do live in a military state). At this point a few
of the officers
began to yell at me saying that I take it off
or you will be
refusing which means I will be charged again
with this. I said that
I am not refusing that I will take the picture
but I will take it
like this. They said no you are refusing so you
go back and you
will just stay here. I argued back saying that
they can't do that
that I have a right to religious freedom . They
were basically
saying no: I didn't that this is the law and
that's it. I said what
I believe in supercedes all of your laws. All
the other detainees
were arguing with them and they were quickly
silenced. The chief
sat me down and said let me give you some legal
advice. I said that
I didn't want "his" legal advice but that I
wanted to talk to my
lawyer outside. He said there are no lawyers
outside (this is
where the lying begins- because there was a
whole team of lawyers
and medics outside who were barricaded from
coming in. And what
the police did was against the law).
He said just take it off, take the picture, and
sue me later. I was
disgusted by his answer and I said no. He said
we will keep you
here indefinitely and you will never speak to
anyone. He said other
people took off their religious garb (lie#2). I
said no I won't
take it off. He said fine you'll just stay
here. I demanded to
speak to my lawyer.
Finally a cop gave me his cell phone. I called
my parents asking for their advice because at
this point I was so
stressed from being intimidated by the officers
and being
manipulated and lied to that I forgot that I
wrote my lawyer's
number on my arm. After my family advised me to
take it off because
this was a serious situation and this was the
worst place to be
stuck in prison, I was devastated. I was crying
uncontrollably. I
had never taken off my hijab since I put it on.
And to enter a room
full of armed officers who were yelling at me
and then to have them see
me without my hijab was humiliating and such a
violation of my
privacy. After I told the officers how much I
hated them; through
all of the sobbing I stood in front of the
camera and I removed one
pin. My hijab was still on. I couldn't do this
but the pressure was
unreal. The detainees there were saying don't
do it, don't let them
intimidate you, they are lying to you, don't do
it. I was
completely humiliated as they (the police) just
stood there
watching me waiting to see what I would expose
to them. My strength
came back and I said NO again very loudly and
they said so be it. I
was to remain in jail indefinitely.
After a half an hour of yelling to the officer
I finally got my
phone call to my lawyer. He said that they were
all outside and
they knew about me and my case. Some people
were already released
and they passed the word along. He said we are
calling the judge to
override this. He said hang in there and don't
let them intimidate
you, it's against the law what they are doing,
they can't keep you
there, don't worry we are all on this. I felt
better but annoyed.
The officers who taken away yet another right
for me to see a medic
and get food from my bag (it was now about 10pm
or so) because I
was resisting; they were holding it against me.
I returned to my
cell. All the women wanted to know what was
going on. I passed the
word throughout the cells and eventually it got
to the men: my
name, the incident, my email, etc. Everyone
there vowed to stay in
until I was released and they were all going to
call the media and
other civil rights groups when they got out. If
anything the women
that night saw how empowered a Muslim woman is.
They had a new
respect for the hijab and a better
understanding of what Islam was.
After a few more hours sitting there preparing
my self for an
extended time in jail and after prayers to
Allah for patience and
protection, an officer came to my cell and said
get out. Another
officer came to me who was not from this
facility and asked if I
was okay. I said I was considering the
circumstances. He said that
you are taking the photo with everything on. I
was shocked. I
entered the photo room again. He stopped the
processes that were
already in progress and said that she is taking
the picture with
her stuff on. The officers looked dumbfounded.
The other detainees
were quietly congratulating me for persevering
and for sticking to
my beliefs. I took the picture. I found out
later that 3 lawyers
were working on my case to get things
overturned and everyone
outside was putting immense pressure on the
police that were
barricading them on my behalf. As I walked past
the men's holding
area they cheered. They knew that I won this
battle and as I
entered the women's cells they did the same.
I was released around 1:00a.m. this morning,
Friday, March 28,
2003. I was escorted outside and the officer
said to me good luck.
The others outside started cheering when I
approached them as they
did for everyone who was released. The medic
came to check me out,
the Lawyers and the people from my group who
were our support came
up to me to congratulate me and see how I was.
I have much
appreciation for them and the National Guild of
Lawyers. They were
all there until every last 215 of us were
released. One lawyer took
my case personally because I have to appear in
court because of my
two charges of disorderly conduct. When I got
home and after the
cab had left, I saw about 4-5 armed National
Guard standing there.
Coincidence? I don't think so.
At this point I sit here physically tired and
in some pain, but
just amazed that I am here and not there. The
police are very
skilled in manipulating , lying, and
intimidation that I almost
believed in what they told me. I'm still
emotionally sensitive to
the incident but compared to others who are
detained, incarcerated,
tortured, and oppressed, I am doing fine,
alhamdulillah (thanks to
God). I have had a humbling and truly
eye-opening educational
experience. To those of you who are Muslim and
reading this: now is
not the time to give up on Islam and your
identity. We are only
strong when we are with Allah (swt) and when we
adhere to Allah's
revelations. We should not give in to the fear
and intimidation.
They only way they can deconstruct Islam, our
Ummah (community),
and our identity is if we let them.
This is a good place to stop. I pray that any
of this can be
helpful to any of you. I pray that I can be
supportive to each of
you in these increasingly difficult times. And
I also pray to Allah
(swt) to keep us protected and connected as a
strong community of
brothers and sisters.
Ma'a asalaama,
Tabassum
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2003-04-06 Sun 16:54ct