New Trend Magazine

(News and Analysis)
(New Trend does not agree or disagree with any and all info presented here.)


Tens of Thousands Demonstrate In Somalia against U.S.
Mourning Ceremony did not Include Major Islamic leaders from New York
Latino Muslim Reports FBI "Visit" for suppression of Dissent

"The essence of faith will be tasted by one who has these three qualities:
1. His/her friendship is for the sake of Allah alone.
2. He/she wants Allah and His messenger above all else.
3. He/she would rather be thrown into the fire than to be of the rejectors after receiving faith from Allah." (Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, Hadith in Sunan of Nasai.)


The government of Somalia had banned all demonstrations, but in a tremendous outpouring of solidarity with the Islamic struggle, the Somali people broke all restrictions. Tens of thousands of Somalis in Mogadishu and other towns came out in the streets to support Osama bin Laden. They burned American flags and effigies of Bush. They chanted slogans in support of unity of all African and Islamic peoples and against planned aggression aimed at Afghanistan.

(The news from Somalia was given in small news scripts below the TV screen by MSNBC and others but there has been no discussion of its significance.)

We are also compiling information from other parts of Africa.
VALUABLE POINTS MADE BY SOME AFRICAN OBSERVERS:
1. All Africans and Muslims share the sorrow and mourning of the people of New York. We would help even our enemies in such circumstances.
2. The attack on the twin towers and the Pentagon has shaken the power of the U.S. and Israel beyond measure. (Note the cease fire in Palestine.) Tens of thousands have been laid off and damage is estimated at $40 billion. Top businesses and financing centers, which are the heart of the economy, have been wiped out.
3. The U.S. will probably attack Afghanistan and hunt Osama Bin Laden but perceptive observers sense that the martyrdom operation of Sept. 11 will probably lead to serious re-thinking of U.S. strategy. There is a good chance that the U.S. will withdraw its forces from the Middle East after the Afghan operation. If even one more Islamic country gets involved in martyrdom operations against the U.S., it would mean the total failure of the pro-Israeli U.S. foreign policy.
4. If there are serious and tragic Afghan losses, the consequences could be serious because the Afghan honor code teaches "badal" (retaliation), which could go on for the next hundred years. Even if the Taliban are wiped out, there will be enough Afghans left to do it. Afghans have never carried out martyrdom operations, but if they get into it, they will be more fearless than anything seen till now.
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BRIEF NEWS: The Afghan mujahideen have shot down a U.S. CIA spy plane costing $3.2 million, like the two Iraq shot down recently. The U.S. seems to be preparing to strike through Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the Northern Alliance. Iran is involved in conspiratorial moves with the U.S. Today the U.S. stated that it was in regular contact with Iran. Pakistan seems to be getting shy of open involvement.
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THE IMPRESSIVE MOURNING CEREMONY in NEW YORK'S YANKEE STADIUM (Sept. 23) made people of all religions cry. The fate of the firemen and other brave people is truly saddening. One peculiar aspect of the New York ceremony was the striking absence of:
1. New York's Maslis Shura. These are the representatives of major New York Muslim communities, mostly African-American. Are they under suspicion? Is this a new McCarthyism that even loyal Muslims cannot be trusted? Is it that only one group can be trusted to walk the straight-and-narrow?
2. All Arab Muslims. How come New York's large Arab Muslim community was neglected? Which Arab Muslim would not like to mourn the sorrow of sudden death and destruction? Is it possible that even decent Arab Muslims were seen as a risk to the harmony of the well-orchestrated ceremony?
3. Are those activists who supported the cause of Imam Jamil al-Amin being kept out of mourning ceremonies?

Such suspicion cannot lead to national cohesion. A Muslim who rejects U.S. foreign policy and thinks that the war has come to USA owing to its wars overseas does not condone terrorism. How can there be a rational study of the causes of tragedy if dissenting voices are to be banned and strictly kept away from the public?
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EGYPT: A country to watch. Such is the popular support for Palestine that Mubarak, the well-paid dictator, is making NO STATEMENT in support of American moves against Afghanistan. He does not want to be seen as anti-Islam though keeping in steady contact with the U.S.
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Br. Solano is a Latino Muslim activist living in Texas. Here is his report on how much America loves independent Muslim dissenters.
Assalamus Alaikum
This afternoon an FBI agent paid me a visit. He had a State Police officer with him to make it more "official"...He stated that neighbors and numerous people had reported suspicious activities at my apartment in that middle eastern type of people had visited me and had carried boxes in and out of my place, etc. I told them that these were lies since nobody except Mexican-Americans and an African-American had ever visited me. They were looking and looking around my place and at my computers used for religous purposes.
Probably some Islam hating persons did call. But I suspect that they just don't like my Constitutionally protected remarks on the internet.
Robert Solano
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An African American (salafi) brother writes:

We are preparing to make Umrah again during the last 14 days of Ramadan, Inshaa'Allah; that is if the United States does not freeze all International flights due to the war. We are fasting and making dua that the Afghanistanis do to the United States what was done to Russia. May they fight a good Jihad and may Allah azza wa jall bless them with Angels to aid them in their battle, Aameen.
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Our chant (is in Urdu, not Arabic):
Allah hu! Allah hu! la illaha illa hu!
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2001-11-07 Wed 12:32ct