Cat Stevens
Ok, I like his songs, so maybe I started out a bit biased with regards to this... but still, what were they thinking?
From Al-Jazeera:
A London-to-Washington flight has been diverted after US officials issued a security alert that passenger Yusuf Islam, formerly known as the singer Cat Stevens, was on board.
The flight was already in the air when US officials identified that Islam was on one of their "watch lists".
United Flight 919 was diverted to Bangor where Islam was questioned and detained by federal authorities who planned to put him on a return flight early on Wednesday, a US transportation security official said.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials said access was denied "on national security grounds", without giving any further details.
The Washington Post, citing sources familiar with the event, reported that Islam, whose name is listed as "Usef Islam," is on several government watch lists, including the no-fly list.
The flight, with the remaining passengers, departed for Dulles International Airport after about four hours on the ground.
Islam's daughter, who was accompanying her father on the flight, will be allowed to stay in the US, government officials said.
From the BBC
Embracing Islam, he changed his name to Yusuf Islam and entered into an arranged marriage that bore him five children.
Becoming a teacher and an advocate for his religion, he founded a Muslim school in London in 1983 and is now an active member of the British Islamic community.
However, his dramatic change of lifestyle has not been without controversy.
In the late 1980s he shocked many of his former fans by supporting the fatwa ordered by the Ayatollah Khomeini against Salman Rushdie, which led to him being put under a death sentence by the Iranian government.
And in 2000 he was deported from Israel over allegations that he backed the militant Islamic group Hamas.
The former folk singer claims he has never given money to charities that support terrorism, though that has not prevented his name from appearing on an FBI watch list.
It is this that resulted in this week's mid-air alert and the singer being denied entry into the US "on national security grounds".
On his website, though, the former singer says he has "consistently denounced the acts of terrorists as being directly contradictory to the peaceful teachings of Islam".
Last year he released a new version of Peace Train to express his opposition to the war in Iraq.
And just to clarify something written in that BBC article:
From Rolling Stone
Islam came under fire more than ten years ago when the British press alleged that he supported Ayatollah Khomeni's fatwa by calling for the life of author Salman Rushdie for committing blasphemy against the Qur'an in his novel The Satanic Verses. (Islam denied this claim to Rolling Stone last year).
Despite having had some negative press in the past, it is clear to me that Yusuf Islam is one of the better known and more widely respected members of the Islamic community. He's a well known peace activist. I don't doubt that he's been entirely good intentioned and sincere in his charity work, and in his opposition to terrorism.
Yusuf Islam on the Beslam school seige:
"The fact that the hostage takers were reportedly Muslim makes it difficult for some to avoid the conclusion that the religion of Islam must be the cause of this demented act, however, perceptions like that are maintained only if the majority of right minded believers stand back and say and do nothing. In reality, the whole masquerade being played out is purely political without any reference to spiritual truth: one thing is for sure, this action had as much connection with Islam as those innocent children had to do with the ferocious battle for Chechnya.
The religious premise of the oft-repeated accusation disappears when you look closer at the facts: how opposed to the teachings of Islam this kind of act is...
...Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The concept that Islam allows the taking of one person's life in exchange for another person's sin is absolutely warped..."
On the September 11 terrorist attacks:
"...it must be stated that no right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: The Qur'an equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity. We pray for the families of all those who lost their lives in this unthinkable act of violence as well as all those injured; I hope to reflect the feelings of all Muslims and people around the world whose sympathies go out to the victims of this sorrowful moment."
If this "war on terror" is to achieve any good, surely the Muslim community must not be made to feel vilified? Here's some of the reaction to Yusuf Islam being deported:
"The United States is shutting down its house, building walls around itself," said Anas Altikriti, spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain. "It seems that the US officials would rather show that the untrue and distorted images of Islam and Muslims persist in the minds of its own citizens"
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, issued a statement at a news conference in Washington, D.C. and said:
"Treating mainstream and moderate Muslims like Yusuf Islam as if they are criminals or terrorists, without bringing charges or allowing for due process, sends message to the Islamic world that even those who seek peace and condemn terror are not fit to enter the United States... This is not the way to win the hearts and minds of Muslims worldwide."
The Muslim Council of Britain's deputy general secretary, Mohammad Abdul Bari said, "It is a slap in the face of sanity. If prominent, well-known personalities are treated like this, then how can there be bridge building?"
I'm mentioning all of this because it's achieved a fair bit of press and is likely to bring the manner in which this "war on terror" is being handled to the forefront of people's attention. I've seen the negative effects of fear and how it's helped to produce seemingly ill-thought out and dangerous legislation in my own country, Australia. If certain injustices are to be avoided and innocent members of our communities are not made to feel vilified, I think that it's very important that our decision makers and people in our general communities continuously re-examine their perceptions of the people behind terrorist activities.
From Al-Jazeera:
A London-to-Washington flight has been diverted after US officials issued a security alert that passenger Yusuf Islam, formerly known as the singer Cat Stevens, was on board.
The flight was already in the air when US officials identified that Islam was on one of their "watch lists".
United Flight 919 was diverted to Bangor where Islam was questioned and detained by federal authorities who planned to put him on a return flight early on Wednesday, a US transportation security official said.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials said access was denied "on national security grounds", without giving any further details.
The Washington Post, citing sources familiar with the event, reported that Islam, whose name is listed as "Usef Islam," is on several government watch lists, including the no-fly list.
The flight, with the remaining passengers, departed for Dulles International Airport after about four hours on the ground.
Islam's daughter, who was accompanying her father on the flight, will be allowed to stay in the US, government officials said.
From the BBC
Embracing Islam, he changed his name to Yusuf Islam and entered into an arranged marriage that bore him five children.
Becoming a teacher and an advocate for his religion, he founded a Muslim school in London in 1983 and is now an active member of the British Islamic community.
However, his dramatic change of lifestyle has not been without controversy.
In the late 1980s he shocked many of his former fans by supporting the fatwa ordered by the Ayatollah Khomeini against Salman Rushdie, which led to him being put under a death sentence by the Iranian government.
And in 2000 he was deported from Israel over allegations that he backed the militant Islamic group Hamas.
The former folk singer claims he has never given money to charities that support terrorism, though that has not prevented his name from appearing on an FBI watch list.
It is this that resulted in this week's mid-air alert and the singer being denied entry into the US "on national security grounds".
On his website, though, the former singer says he has "consistently denounced the acts of terrorists as being directly contradictory to the peaceful teachings of Islam".
Last year he released a new version of Peace Train to express his opposition to the war in Iraq.
And just to clarify something written in that BBC article:
From Rolling Stone
Islam came under fire more than ten years ago when the British press alleged that he supported Ayatollah Khomeni's fatwa by calling for the life of author Salman Rushdie for committing blasphemy against the Qur'an in his novel The Satanic Verses. (Islam denied this claim to Rolling Stone last year).
Despite having had some negative press in the past, it is clear to me that Yusuf Islam is one of the better known and more widely respected members of the Islamic community. He's a well known peace activist. I don't doubt that he's been entirely good intentioned and sincere in his charity work, and in his opposition to terrorism.
Yusuf Islam on the Beslam school seige:
"The fact that the hostage takers were reportedly Muslim makes it difficult for some to avoid the conclusion that the religion of Islam must be the cause of this demented act, however, perceptions like that are maintained only if the majority of right minded believers stand back and say and do nothing. In reality, the whole masquerade being played out is purely political without any reference to spiritual truth: one thing is for sure, this action had as much connection with Islam as those innocent children had to do with the ferocious battle for Chechnya.
The religious premise of the oft-repeated accusation disappears when you look closer at the facts: how opposed to the teachings of Islam this kind of act is...
...Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The concept that Islam allows the taking of one person's life in exchange for another person's sin is absolutely warped..."
On the September 11 terrorist attacks:
"...it must be stated that no right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: The Qur'an equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity. We pray for the families of all those who lost their lives in this unthinkable act of violence as well as all those injured; I hope to reflect the feelings of all Muslims and people around the world whose sympathies go out to the victims of this sorrowful moment."
If this "war on terror" is to achieve any good, surely the Muslim community must not be made to feel vilified? Here's some of the reaction to Yusuf Islam being deported:
"The United States is shutting down its house, building walls around itself," said Anas Altikriti, spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain. "It seems that the US officials would rather show that the untrue and distorted images of Islam and Muslims persist in the minds of its own citizens"
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, issued a statement at a news conference in Washington, D.C. and said:
"Treating mainstream and moderate Muslims like Yusuf Islam as if they are criminals or terrorists, without bringing charges or allowing for due process, sends message to the Islamic world that even those who seek peace and condemn terror are not fit to enter the United States... This is not the way to win the hearts and minds of Muslims worldwide."
The Muslim Council of Britain's deputy general secretary, Mohammad Abdul Bari said, "It is a slap in the face of sanity. If prominent, well-known personalities are treated like this, then how can there be bridge building?"
I'm mentioning all of this because it's achieved a fair bit of press and is likely to bring the manner in which this "war on terror" is being handled to the forefront of people's attention. I've seen the negative effects of fear and how it's helped to produce seemingly ill-thought out and dangerous legislation in my own country, Australia. If certain injustices are to be avoided and innocent members of our communities are not made to feel vilified, I think that it's very important that our decision makers and people in our general communities continuously re-examine their perceptions of the people behind terrorist activities.
posted by Gene at 2:48 pm
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