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Worsening Situation of Muslims in America
Desire to Assimilate Thwarted by Suspicion and Fear
Loyalty to Allah Challenged by Sectarian, National Interests
1. Since 9/11, the U.S. has arrested 1247 Muslims and is holding them
without
trial in prison pens. Only their statistics are known. Their names are
are
not easily available and reports indicate that even their family
members do
not know their locations.
1a. One of these, a Pakistani prisoner, died of a heart attack while in
prison. It's not known through any impartial inquiry if his death
occurred
owing to assault or mistreatment or merely due to the fear caused to a
peaceful person by the sudden end of his normal life. Two other
Pakistanis
are being alleged as more suspicious and possibly connected to 9/11.
They are
refusing to speak.
2. The U.S. has now decided to investigate 5000 Muslims in America for
possible or potential links to terrorism. Most of these are reportedly
students.
3. All independent Islamic dissenters, citizens of the US, were visited
by
the FBI and files were started on them. These are said to number 500.
4. Several thousand Muslims, mostly Arabs, particularly from Saudi
Arabia,
who had the resources, have gone back home owing to fear of
mistreatment.
5. A particular tactic is being used to demoralize the entire immigrant
Muslim community. Muslim supporters of the U.S. government are brought
on TV
to grovel and repeat their loyalty to the government. The most recent
was
Salam al-Maryati on Fox News. The low behavior of these "leaders"
reduces the
courage and sense of honor of the whole community. Bush is offering
iftar to
his favorites.
6. A national ID card is in the making so that Muslims will get a taste
of
Apartheid. Any Muslim anywhere will be asked to show his/her ID card or
be
harrassed and/or arrested.
7. The authorities seem to be eyeing all those Muslims who work in labs
or
who supervise labs. Recently there was a raid on a lab run by two
Pakistanis
in Chester, Pennsylvania. One of them is from the prestigious Johns
Hopkins
University in Baltimore. He was shocked to see the special police
barging in
to cart away all his lab equipment.
8. Those who can be used to oppose "wahhabis" are being brought
forward.
Kabbani was one of them. But there are others brought in from different
angles. For instance, a pro-Iran writer, Zafar Bangash, makes this
comment on
Usama bin Laden's call for Jihad: "An individual cannot issue a Jihad.
Only
highly qualified scholars respected through the Muslim world can do
that, not
somebody sitting on some mountain." (Toronto Star, October 13.) The
same
paper quotes Tarek Fatah who runs a MuslimTV channel in Toronto. He
claims
that he has been getting "death threats right here in Canada" because
he
criticizes the Taliban.
The point here is that the western media want to validate those views
which
create sympathy for the assault on Afghanistan.
Islamic observers say that the ongoing attempt to nationalize
Islam in
America has gained momentum. Any view which supports internationalism
is
being dubbed as "support for terrorism."
The leaders of Islam in America, Imam Jamil al-Amin from among
African-Americans and Shaikh Omar Abdel Rahman from among immigrants
are both
in prison. Imam Jamil's prosecutor plans to go for the death penalty
when the
trial opens in January. Shaikh Omar is dying a slow death after being
sentenced to life and 65 years.
Both leaders have not compromised. Hence, there is hope for the
Ummah.
The life of Malcolm X is always a reminder to American Muslims of their
real
mission in this country.
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WAR AGAINST CORRECT NEWS: Al-Jazeerah TV claims that its office in
Kabul was
deliberately bombed by the U.S. to stop transmission of news.
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2001-11-19 Mon 17:12ct