Cat Stevens: Islamic Terrorist - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Rekna · 09-22-2004, 08:55 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,133095,00.html

Quote:

Official: Cat Stevens Has Possible Terror Ties
Thursday, September 23, 2004

PHOTOS

Click image to enlarge
WASHINGTON — The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens (search) is forbidden from flying into the United States because of his alleged association with possible terrorists, U.S. officials said Wednesday in explaining why a London-to-Washington flight carrying the peace activist was diverted.

The claim was disputed by the brother of the London-born singer, who changed his name to Yusuf Islam more than 25 years ago.

David Gordon (search) said his brother has condemned terrorist acts and donates money to terrorism victims. "He just wants to be an ambassador for peace," said Gordon, who lives in Princeton, N.J., and serves as Islam's business manager.

In London, Mohammad Abdul Bari, deputy general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, called the incident "a slap in the face of sanity" that will damage U.S. relations with Muslims.

"If prominent, well-known personalities are treated like this, then how can there be bridge building," said Bari, adding that Islam is a well respected member of Britain's Muslim community.

United Airlines Flight 919 was en route to Dulles International Airport (search) on Tuesday when U.S. officials reviewing the passenger list discovered Islam was aboard. The aircraft was diverted to Maine's Bangor International Airport, where federal agents met the plane and interviewed Islam.

He was placed on a plane back to London on Wednesday. Gordon said Islam's 21-year-old daughter, Maymanah, was allowed to stay in the country.

Meantime, there was confusion about how someone on the government's "no-fly list" was allowed to board a plane. Airline personnel are supposed to check passengers' names against people on the list. Anyone who matches is to be kept off flights.

United spokesman Jeff Green said the airline followed procedures in checking Islam's name, and it wasn't on the list.

"The information did not match," Green said.

Green and Homeland Security Department (search) spokesman Dennis Murphy said the airline and the government are working together to figure out what happened. It's possible Islam's name was spelled differently on the list, Homeland Security officials conceded.

Under rules imposed following the Sept. 11 attacks, once an international flight is bound for the United States, passenger information is forwarded to U.S. officials. The amount of data varies, but can include name, address, flight details, seat location, form of payment and meal preference.

U.S. authorities use the information to run a more thorough check against government watch lists. That's when authorities discovered that Islam was on the plane.

Unlike airline workers, law enforcement officers are trained to look for names that sound like those on the watch list or are spelled differently than the ones on the watch list, Homeland Security spokesman Garrison Courtney said.

The Transportation Security Administration, which is part of the Homeland Security Department, announced plans Tuesday to take over the task of checking names against watch lists before passengers get on planes. The agency is developing a computerized system that will compare passenger data with the watch lists for domestic flights only.

U.S. authorities provided few details about Islam's alleged connection to terrorism.

Homeland Security spokesman Brian Doyle would only say that the intelligence community has recently obtained information that "further heightens concern" about Islam.

"Yusuf Islam has been placed on the watch lists because of activities that could potentially be related to terrorism," Doyle said. "It's a serious matter."

A second government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. authorities think donations from Islam may have ended up helping to fund blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted for a plot to bomb New York City landmarks, and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

In July 2000, Islam was deported hours after arriving in Jerusalem. A local paper reported then that the government claimed he had delivered tens of thousands of dollars to Hamas during a visit in 1988. Islam denied ever knowingly supporting Islamic terrorists.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations at a news conference Wednesday said the deportation "sends a message to the Islamic world that even those who seek peace and condemn terror are not fit to enter the United States."

Islam, born Stephen Georgiou, took Cat Stevens as a stage name and had a string of hits in the 1960s and '70s, including "Wild World" and "Morning Has Broken." Last year he released two songs, including a re-recording of his hit "Peace Train," to express his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

He abandoned his music career in the late 1970s and changed his name after being persuaded by orthodox Muslim teachers that his lifestyle was forbidden by Islamic law.

This really annoys me. Do we need to put his music on to remember what he sang about? Why is it that we assume muslims have terror ties unless they can prove that they don't and even then we are suspicious. We should not fear all muslims. From the sound of it the government has a lot of accusations and very little proof.

Has the country reverted back to another cold war? No longer is the boogie man communism it is now Islam. We need to change this.

guthmund · 09-22-2004, 10:40 PM

This is the most stupid story I've heard all week and believe you me, that wasn't an easy list to top.

I see a lot of "think" "potentially" and "claim" littered in the above story. I would like to see more "certainly" "definately" and "did" before we start throwing Muslims off of planes and accusing them of terroristic activities.

fucking idiots.

Rdr4evr · 09-22-2004, 11:23 PM

Dont you know ALL muslims are terrorists? /sarcasm

Mojo_PeiPei · 09-22-2004, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rekna

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,133095,00.html

This really annoys me. Do we need to put his music on to remember what he sang about? Why is it that we assume muslims have terror ties unless they can prove that they don't and even then we are suspicious. We should not fear all muslims. From the sound of it the government has a lot of accusations and very little proof.

Has the country reverted back to another cold war? No longer is the boogie man communism it is now Islam. We need to change this.

From what it sounds like the US was acting on Mossad intel., seeing as too he's had problems over in Jerusalem. You definitly run a risk of actively aiding terrorism by supporting some of those "charities".

But I guess you guys are right, how dare we. I mean giving support to terror isn't a crime. We really should take an innocent until proven guilty or until they fly a plane into a building stance when it comes to Arab Muslims who are suspected of having terrorist ties, we wouldn't want to offend anyone.

jb2000 · 09-23-2004, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mojo_PeiPei

From what it sounds like the US was acting on Mossad intel., seeing as too he's had problems over in Jerusalem. You definitly run a risk of actively aiding terrorism by supporting some of those "charities".

But I guess you guys are right, how dare we. I mean giving support to terror isn't a crime. We really should take an innocent until proven guilty or until they fly a plane into a building stance when it comes to Arab Muslims who are suspected of having terrorist ties, we wouldn't want to offend anyone.

Terrorism is a crime and should be handled as such. If a person is guilty of a crime, or conspiring to commit a crime, you arrest them, charge them, and sentence them.

If the person is a criminal, they need to be locked up. If not, then they need to share the same rights as any citizen.

Your sarcasm is noted, but duly inappropriate. The simple fact is that it is a crime to conspire to commit a crime, or knowingly provide assistance to the commission of a crime, so both of your points are errant. I don't have to wait until you hijack a plane to arrest you for conspiracy. I do have to have an actual reason though beyond conjecture to make it stick. In the meantime though, so long as I don't have enough to arrest you on, you deserve to live without restriction on your freedom.

Terrorists are criminals. To treat them any differently is insane. They are not worthy of their own classification. They are not worthy of disruption of our justice system and challenge of our legal system. They are not worthy of our self-imposed limits of freedom. Why do we grant them these mantles to wear? Why do we do the terrorists' work for us and dismantle our own freedom?

OpieCunningham · 09-23-2004, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mojo_PeiPei

But I guess you guys are right, how dare we. I mean giving support to terror isn't a crime. We really should take an innocent until proven guilty or until they fly a plane into a building stance when it comes to Arab Muslims who are suspected of having terrorist ties, we wouldn't want to offend anyone.

Next stop: internment camps.

Racial/Religious profiling will get you killed.

SecretMethod70 · 09-23-2004, 02:40 AM

w00t! It's the, uh, green scare!

(apologies if there's a different predominant color for Islam, green is just the one I see most often)

The really sad thing is there was a poll on CNN asking if he should have been let into the US and the majority of people who responded (albeit, a small majority) said no.

Ustwo · 09-23-2004, 04:55 AM

He became a nutcase who gives money to Hamas. Screw'em.

Though I'm sure his song wishing he could kill Salmon Rushdie was a big hit in some parts of the world.

Bookman · 09-23-2004, 05:59 AM

This is crap. Anonymous and undidentified government sources claim he gave money to groups linked with Hamas!?!?! What crap. First off, LEARN who created Hamas and for what reason. Furthermore this world is ph*cked..REALLY HARD. Ignorance is definetly Wisdom.

Ustwo · 09-23-2004, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookman

This is crap. Anonymous and undidentified government sources claim he gave money to groups linked with Hamas!?!?! What crap. First off, LEARN who created Hamas and for what reason. Furthermore this world is ph*cked..REALLY HARD. Ignorance is definetly Wisdom.

Yea I'm sure they deported him just because they wanted to deport a high profile person and cause a stir for fun, or maybe they have a good reason.

Bookman · 09-23-2004, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ustwo

Yea I'm sure they deported him just because they wanted to deport a high profile person and cause a stir for fun, or maybe they have a good reason.

So this is where we stand...
You just stay there and believe what they say and I will be upset because all the incriminating evidence is never divulged or like 9-11 sold off. Whatever.
Look what is happening (always happens) to Dan Rather. A respected mainstream celebrity attepmts to make a real report or share their opinion in art or writing and BOOM...down you go.

roachboy · 09-23-2004, 06:13 AM

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/...311162,00.html

or maybe they dont.

smooth · 09-23-2004, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roachboy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/...311162,00.html

or maybe they dont.

Well, evidently doesn't read Stephen King:

Quote:

"They diverted the plane at the last moment to a place called Bangor, which I'd never heard of, and suddenly I was surrounded by FBIs who interrogated me," Mr Islam said today.

The Phenomenon · 09-23-2004, 06:40 AM

Im with Ustwo on this, maybe they DO have a good reason to kick his arse out. Just because he was once a famous musician/hippy/idiot-with-a-beard singing about peace does not mean that he can't commit crimes.

Do you know if he is buddies with Osama? No, you do not. Maybe the government has some intelligence on him that brings him under suspicion, hence the fact that they threw him out of the country.

And his music is bad enough that he could be classified as a terrorist. His music is a blight upon this world. He should be shot.

The Phenomenon · 09-23-2004, 06:43 AM

In regards to that article, how the hell is he victimised by this?

"OOOOOOOOOH poor me the US won't let me in! OH PLEASE GOD NO!!!!"

I am sure he is scarred for life.

And now there is a big bow wow over this because he is an (ex) celebrity. Thats BS as well.

Cat Stevens, or Yusuf Islam, whatever (no one cares at all by the way): STFU. Quit your whining.

roachboy · 09-23-2004, 06:50 AM

smooth--i quite liked that quote, and considered pasting it here seperately.

you know, if the americans were to equate bad pop music with terrorism, things would be easier to bear--that way, if any country band left the country, they would not be able to return. it would be a way to thin out the bluegrass scene. maybe the program directors of the major american orchestras, too--the people who inflict the same nineteenth century warhorse repertoire on all of us year after year--clearly they too should be sent packing. and the boy bands. and limp bizkit, who could be sent to that special circle of hell they so richly deserve to roast in. we could rid ourselves of green day.

seriously, cat stevens is no more a "terrorist" than you are. his "crime" might well have been that he converted to islam. or maybe it was the record of muslim children's songs he made after he converted. quite a threat to america, that.

Lebell · 09-23-2004, 07:13 AM

I'll withhold my opinion on this until I learn more.

I do find it disturbing that he supported killing an author because of something he wrote.

Rekna · 09-23-2004, 07:16 AM

If he has provable terrorist connections, they have him in custudy and can charge him with them. If he doesn't have provable connections let him go.

Pat Roberts is a bigger terrorist then this guy but I don't see him being deported.

maleficent · 09-23-2004, 07:19 AM

There's a bigger problem, and it's not Cat Stevens.

The government has a "watch list" because there are supposedly people who need watching. How in the hell could a plane take off and be in the air when they realize that someone on the watch list was on the plane.

Cat Stevens I don't see as an iminent threat, however based on this fine security measure, someone who truly needed watching would be allowed on the plane. Diverting it elsewhere doesn't do a lot of good.

powerclown · 09-23-2004, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lebell

I do find it disturbing that he supported killing an author because of something he wrote.

What's this about? Any links?
It sounded pretty ridiculous that they made such a fuss about Cat Stevens (Mr. Islam, hehe) but it sounds like theres more to it..?? He funded Hamas????

Rekna · 09-23-2004, 07:55 AM

The issue was a man wrote a book deflaming the Koran and the man was sentenced to death in Iran (i believe). Cat said he supported that (along with many other muslims). I don't see a problem here. Are you telling me that if someone came out with a book defaming the bible that there would be a lot of extreamist christians coming out against it? Hell we have christains saying they will kill homosexuals for looking at them. Just because he said he supported someone elses decision doesn't make him a terrorist.

If I were to say that I support the Iraqi's right to fight for their freedom from the occupation (even go as far as shoot at our soldiers) does that make me a terrorist?

roachboy · 09-23-2004, 08:07 AM

the question of "the satanic verses" and khomeni's fatwa is interesting--all the more so if you've actually read the book...because if you read it, you find that there is both a heretical element (involving the scribe who takes down mohammed's words changing them on the way, testing mohammed, figuring that if he was divinely inspried, he would notice the changes--you can see why this would be a problem, if you know anything about islam) and political satire directed against khomeni himself--so the reasons for the fatwa are more complicated than you might imagine.

i was appalled at the fatwa, but i would not go so far as to say that if cat stevens endorsed it in some way (on what basis i do not know--is he shi'a?) that that would make him a "terrorist"--the connection seems completely ridiculous--coming from a country made up of municipalities that ban books for so much less, of people who are quite sure about why a film like f911 is evil without having seen it, that confuse dissent with treason...

Lebell · 09-23-2004, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rekna

The issue was a man wrote a book deflaming the Koran and the man was sentenced to death in Iran (i believe).

Specifically, the man was Salmon Rushdie and the book was "The Satanic Verses". The Ayatolla Khomenie (sp?) issued a death edict calling for all muslims to try to kill Mr. Rushdie for his book. Mr. Rushdie was in hiding for many many years and I believe still keeps a very low profile.

Quote:

Cat said he supported that (along with many other muslims). I don't see a problem here.

You don't see a problem with this???

Quote:

Are you telling me that if someone came out with a book defaming the bible that there would be a lot of extreamist christians coming out against it? Hell we have christains saying they will kill homosexuals for looking at them.

Soooo, if someone offends someone elses religion, it is OK with you to support killing them???

(And the "Christian" who said that was Jimmy Swaggart, who has already appologized for the remark and doesn't represent most Christians anyway. Nor has he actively tried to assasinate people, unlike radical muslims.)

Quote:

Just because he said he supported someone elses decision doesn't make him a terrorist.

No, it doesn't. It makes him a supporter of murder in the name of religion.

Quote:

If I were to say that I support the Iraqi's right to fight for their freedom from the occupation (even go as far as shoot at our soldiers) does that make me a terrorist?

No, but if you acted on your statement, by giving aid to the enemy, it would make you a traitor.

Honestly, addressing just this one issue of Salmon Rushdie, it sounds to me like you're defending Islam aka Stevens because this piece of his past doesn't support your argument, which doesn't paint you in a very good light (i.e. you support murder in the name of religion when it suits you.)

Is this really what you intend?

roachboy · 09-23-2004, 08:34 AM

http://www.subir.com/rushdie.html

this is a good collection of links about salman rushdie, including the whole "rushdie affair".
but like i said above, talking about it is a whole lot more interesting if you have actually read the book.

OFKU0 · 09-23-2004, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mojo_PeiPei

From what it sounds like the US was acting on Mossad intel., seeing as too he's had problems over in Jerusalem. You definitly run a risk of actively aiding terrorism by supporting some of those "charities".

But I guess you guys are right, how dare we. I mean giving support to terror isn't a crime. We really should take an innocent until proven guilty or until they fly a plane into a building stance when it comes to Arab Muslims who are suspected of having terrorist ties, we wouldn't want to offend anyone.

If this is the same Mossad intelligence that convinced the U.S to invade Iraq by saying they had proof of WMD, then they must be right. But of course, I wouldn't want to offend anyone.

powerclown · 09-23-2004, 11:06 AM

"Cat Stevens - Islamic Terrorist" is pretty sensationalist, sarcastically so I understand. Taken in context, if the guy supported a fatwa to kill (really, to KILL?) an author of a book in publication all over the world, well all I can say is I understand that freedom of speech isn't practiced all over the world, and I can understand a lot of Muslims getting pissed off at Rushdie. (thanks for the link, rb) Seems a bit harsh to deny him entry into the US but who knows what the intelligence community knows about the guy? It's a sign of the times; this kind of stuff is probably going to happen to a lot of innocent (and some not-so-innocent) people for a while as the US is understandably on Hyper-Alert these days.

Pacifier · 09-23-2004, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Yusuf Islam publicly stated that Rushdie was indeed guilty of blasphemy against Islam, and Rushdie deserved to be killed. This led to a public outcry, and a drop in record sales. In response to this criticism, Yusuf Islam has since clarified that he believes that a death sentence can only be carried out by the authority of a court in an Islamic society, and that he is opposed to anyone taking the law into their own hands by murdering Rushdie.

[...]

On September 22, 2004, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration denied him entrance to the U.S., saying that he was registered on a watchlist. The Guardian Unlimited reported "American officials diverted a transatlantic flight 600 miles in the belief that the presence of Yusuf Islam, the charity worker and pop star formerly known as Cat Stevens, posed an imminent threat to national security... United Airlines flight 919 from London to Washington was diverted to Bangor, Maine, on Tuesday night after US customs officers told the TSA that Mr Islam was on board. Airline officials had failed to spot his name earlier."

Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse stated, "Yusuf Islam has been placed on government watch lists because of concerns of ties he may have to potential terrorist-related activities. More recently, the intelligence community has received information that further heightens this concern. Our job at Homeland Security is to act upon the information we receive through the intelligence community in order to keep those that might be of harm to national security out of our country." According to the Guardian, an unnamed U.S. government source stated concerns that Yusuf Islam had financially supported Hamas.

[...]

It should be kept in mind in this context that every Muslim who can afford it has a religious obligation to give a certain percentage of their income to charity. This is called Zakat. [1] (http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/pillars.shtml) [2] (http://www.themodernreligion.com/charity.htm) [3] (http://www.themodernreligion.com/mis..._zakat10b.html) Various very lage (though often—by Western standards—informal) financial networks exist which receive and distribute many of these contributions. [4] (http://www.zpub.com/aaa/zakat.html) (They also sometimes help calculating them. On the other hand, Muslims can also give individually, outside of such networks.) It has happened in the past that monies from such networks have been illicitly tapped and abused by illicit/terrorist organizations and this is still a concern. Some Muslims would compare this to the abuse of tax revenues, which is no less frequent in non-Muslim societies, and question whether it is reasonable to thus criminalize contributors (instead of those who misappropriate/abuse Zakat monies). Relatively affluent faithful Muslims like Yusuf Islam are frequently large contributors to the said donation networks. As of 2004, no evidence has been made public that would suggest that Yusuf Islam's alleged Hamas support (if at all existent) was anything more direct than potential abuse of Zakat funds by Hamas without Islam's knowledge or endorsement.

Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the denial of entry to internationally-respected Islamic figures "sends the disturbing message that even moderate and mainstream Muslims will now be treated like terrorists".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens

It seems that the USA becomes more and more paranoid.

cthulu23 · 09-23-2004, 02:28 PM

What I say to Cat Stevens is don't be shy. It's a wild world but we may ride on the peace train yet. Before to long we'll be back to the good old times, where tolerance was high and muslims didn't have to hide in the moonshadow. Until then, you can always go to Katmandu.

hannukah harry · 09-23-2004, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cthulu23

What I say to Cat Stevens is don't be shy. It's a wild world but we may ride on the peace train yet. Before to long we'll be back to the good old times, where tolerance was high and muslims didn't have to hide in the moonshadow. Until then, you can always go to Katmandu.

i was digging your jive until you threw in some seger for the finish. bogus.

cthulu23 · 09-23-2004, 04:13 PM

No, Cat Stevens has a song called Katmandu too. Damn, I wondered about that one!

james t kirk · 09-23-2004, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rdr4evr

Dont you know ALL muslims are terrorists? /sarcasm

No, not all muslims are terrorists,

BUT

Most terrorists are muslims.

As far as Stevens goes, I lost all respect for the man when he said that Rushdie should be killed. That's just plain loonie tunes time.

The hell with him. If the American gov't decides they don't want him in their country, last time I checked, that was their right.

guthmund · 09-23-2004, 07:35 PM

We seem to be arguing over the man instead of the situation.

There's no doubt he's taken some serious asshole-like stances. Condemning Rushdie to die and his "charity" work. The problem I have with it is that the whole thing seemed arbitrary to begin with.

Millions of people fly across, into and out of the United States everyday and of all the folks to pull off the no-fly list they pick Cat Stevens...excuse me, Yusef Islam in Bangor, then they fill the papers with innuendo about his terrorist ties and then, instead of keeping a hold of him, they deport him back to England.

If he's a terrorist (and seriously, who can say he isn't for certain) then publish some evidence to prove the fact. Give us something other than "think" "supposed" "maybe" and "potentially." If he has terrorist ties (and that's what we've been led to believe) throw them out there for the world to see. We seem to have no problem doing this to guys like Bin Laden, Al Zaqwari and Hussein. What makes Ol' Cat Stevens special?

If he does have established terrorist ties, why not keep him around for questioning a little longer. We (American Government) feels the evidence is strong enough to deport him, but not strong enough to warrant a serious interrogation. Homeland Security calls it a "very serious matter," but the interrogation Islam describes didn't seem like anything other than a groupie get together with laughs and autographs for all the infidels.

Either he's a threat, or he isn't.

How are supposed to take this no-fly list seriously and feel safe when we fly when stupid shit like this happens?

Mephisto2 · 09-23-2004, 08:12 PM

I'm surprised so many of you support this.

It was a silly mistake.

Don't the rabid (and even not-so-rabid) conservatives in the US ever admit mistakes?

Mr Mephisto

roachboy · 09-24-2004, 05:39 AM

no, mr mephisto. no they do not.

splck · 09-24-2004, 06:00 AM

paranoia folks, it'll destroy ya...

what a load of shit.

mattevil · 09-26-2004, 11:50 AM

Quote:

"Islam drew some negative attention in the late 1980s when he supported the Ayatollah Khomeini's death sentence against Salman Rushdie, author of "The Satanic Verses." Recently, though, Islam has criticized terrorist acts, including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the school seizure in Beslan, Russia, earlier this month that left more than 300 dead, nearly half of them children.

In a statement on his Web site, he wrote, "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."

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Islam issued a statement saying: "No right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: The Quran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity.""

Jesus! the guy that wrote "Peace Train" is now considered a terrorist?
He MAY have donated money to a charity that MAY have supported terrorists.
Shit, I MAY have supported terrorists when I bought a paper from Samad at the newstand this morning.

I hope they deport me someplace cool like Amsterdam.

cthulu23 · 09-26-2004, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Yusuf Islam, formerly the singer Cat Stevens, was deported from the United States because of a spelling error, with US officials confusing the former pop star with a man with a similar name who is on a "no-fly" list, Time magazine claims.

Mr Islam, 57, gave up his successful pop career in the late 1970s, and converted to Islam.

He had been travelling from London to Washington last Tuesday when his flight was diverted to Bangor, Maine, where he was detained on "national security grounds" and summarily put on a plane to London, US security officials said. Asa Hutchinson, the US Department of Homeland Security's under-secretary for border and transportation security, refused to specify the allegations against Mr Islam.

Time, in its online edition, quoted aviation sources with access to the "no-fly" list as saying there was no entry on the list under the name Yusuf Islam, but that there was a Youssouf Islam. They said that name was added to the list this northern summer.

Because Mr Islam's name is spelled Yusuf on his passport, the sources said, he was allowed to board a plane in London bound for the US.

The US Transportation Safety Administration alleges Mr Islam has links to terrorist groups, which he has denied.

Mr Islam, back in London, said he had begun legal action against US authorities.

"The amazing thing is I was not given, and have still not been given, any explanation," he said.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...?oneclick=true

Flyguy · 09-26-2004, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guthmund

This is the most stupid story I've heard all week and believe you me, that wasn't an easy list to top.

I see a lot of "think" "potentially" and "claim" littered in the above story. I would like to see more "certainly" "definately" and "did" before we start throwing Muslims off of planes and accusing them of terroristic activities.

fucking idiots.

Remember this all came from the Dept. of Homeland security and the patriot act, perpetuated by dictator bush.

pedro padilla · 09-26-2004, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ustwo

He became a nutcase who gives money to Hamas. Screw'em.

Though I'm sure his song wishing he could kill Salmon Rushdie was a big hit in some parts of the world.

man, your complete lack of understanding and/or sympathy for anyone outside of your immediate clan of intolerant skinhead mahtzo ball nazis continues to amaze me.
buddha, allah, krishna, jehovah, elvis....... none of ´em can touch you for sheer love and tolerance. peace be with you. sad, bitter, deluded, investment banking fool.

Mojo_PeiPei · 09-26-2004, 06:17 PM

You are pretty deluded yourself if you are sympathizing and/ or even trying to justify the knowing aid of assets to a terrorist organization.

09-22-2004, 10:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
guthmund big damn hero	This is the most stupid story I've heard all week and believe you me, that wasn't an easy list to top. I see a lot of "think" "potentially" and "claim" littered in the above story. I would like to see more "certainly" "definately" and "did" before we start throwing Muslims off of planes and accusing them of terroristic activities. fucking idiots. __________________ No signature. None. Seriously.

09-23-2004, 02:40 AM	#7 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	w00t! It's the, uh, green scare! (apologies if there's a different predominant color for Islam, green is just the one I see most often) The really sad thing is there was a poll on CNN asking if he should have been let into the US and the majority of people who responded (albeit, a small majority) said no. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

09-23-2004, 04:55 AM	#8 (permalink)
Ustwo Pissing in the cornflakes	He became a nutcase who gives money to Hamas. Screw'em. Though I'm sure his song wishing he could kill Salmon Rushdie was a big hit in some parts of the world. __________________ Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps. Last edited by Ustwo; 09-23-2004 at 06:07 AM..

09-23-2004, 06:13 AM	#12 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/...311162,00.html or maybe they dont. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite

09-23-2004, 06:40 AM	#14 (permalink)
The Phenomenon Psycho Location: I think my horns are coming out	Im with Ustwo on this, maybe they DO have a good reason to kick his arse out. Just because he was once a famous musician/hippy/idiot-with-a-beard singing about peace does not mean that he can't commit crimes. Do you know if he is buddies with Osama? No, you do not. Maybe the government has some intelligence on him that brings him under suspicion, hence the fact that they threw him out of the country. And his music is bad enough that he could be classified as a terrorist. His music is a blight upon this world. He should be shot. __________________ Do not confuse altruism with kindness, good will or respect for the rights of others. These are not primaries, but consequences, which, in fact, altruism makes impossible. The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute, is self-sacrifice - which means: self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction - which means: the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a standard of the good.

09-22-2004, 11:23 PM	#3 (permalink)
Rdr4evr Banned	Dont you know ALL muslims are terrorists? /sarcasm

09-23-2004, 05:59 AM	#9 (permalink)
Bookman Insane	This is crap. Anonymous and undidentified government sources claim he gave money to groups linked with Hamas!?!?! What crap. First off, LEARN who created Hamas and for what reason. Furthermore this world is ph*cked..REALLY HARD. Ignorance is definetly Wisdom.

09-23-2004, 06:43 AM	#15 (permalink)
The Phenomenon Psycho Location: I think my horns are coming out	In regards to that article, how the hell is he victimised by this? "OOOOOOOOOH poor me the US won't let me in! OH PLEASE GOD NO!!!!" I am sure he is scarred for life. And now there is a big bow wow over this because he is an (ex) celebrity. Thats BS as well. Cat Stevens, or Yusuf Islam, whatever (no one cares at all by the way): STFU. Quit your whining. __________________ Do not confuse altruism with kindness, good will or respect for the rights of others. These are not primaries, but consequences, which, in fact, altruism makes impossible. The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute, is self-sacrifice - which means: self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction - which means: the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a standard of the good.

09-23-2004, 06:50 AM	#16 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	smooth--i quite liked that quote, and considered pasting it here seperately. you know, if the americans were to equate bad pop music with terrorism, things would be easier to bear--that way, if any country band left the country, they would not be able to return. it would be a way to thin out the bluegrass scene. maybe the program directors of the major american orchestras, too--the people who inflict the same nineteenth century warhorse repertoire on all of us year after year--clearly they too should be sent packing. and the boy bands. and limp bizkit, who could be sent to that special circle of hell they so richly deserve to roast in. we could rid ourselves of green day. seriously, cat stevens is no more a "terrorist" than you are. his "crime" might well have been that he converted to islam. or maybe it was the record of muslim children's songs he made after he converted. quite a threat to america, that. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite

09-23-2004, 07:13 AM	#17 (permalink)
Lebell Cracking the Whip Location: Sexymama's arms...	I'll withhold my opinion on this until I learn more. I do find it disturbing that he supported killing an author because of something he wrote. __________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU! Please Donate!

09-23-2004, 07:16 AM	#18 (permalink)
Rekna Junkie	If he has provable terrorist connections, they have him in custudy and can charge him with them. If he doesn't have provable connections let him go. Pat Roberts is a bigger terrorist then this guy but I don't see him being deported.

09-23-2004, 07:19 AM	#19 (permalink)
maleficent Junkie Moderator Emeritus Location: Chicago	There's a bigger problem, and it's not Cat Stevens. The government has a "watch list" because there are supposedly people who need watching. How in the hell could a plane take off and be in the air when they realize that someone on the watch list was on the plane. Cat Stevens I don't see as an iminent threat, however based on this fine security measure, someone who truly needed watching would be allowed on the plane. Diverting it elsewhere doesn't do a lot of good. __________________ Free your heart from hatred. Free your mind from worries. Live simply. Give more. Expect less.

09-23-2004, 07:55 AM	#21 (permalink)
Rekna Junkie	The issue was a man wrote a book deflaming the Koran and the man was sentenced to death in Iran (i believe). Cat said he supported that (along with many other muslims). I don't see a problem here. Are you telling me that if someone came out with a book defaming the bible that there would be a lot of extreamist christians coming out against it? Hell we have christains saying they will kill homosexuals for looking at them. Just because he said he supported someone elses decision doesn't make him a terrorist. If I were to say that I support the Iraqi's right to fight for their freedom from the occupation (even go as far as shoot at our soldiers) does that make me a terrorist?

09-23-2004, 08:07 AM	#22 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	the question of "the satanic verses" and khomeni's fatwa is interesting--all the more so if you've actually read the book...because if you read it, you find that there is both a heretical element (involving the scribe who takes down mohammed's words changing them on the way, testing mohammed, figuring that if he was divinely inspried, he would notice the changes--you can see why this would be a problem, if you know anything about islam) and political satire directed against khomeni himself--so the reasons for the fatwa are more complicated than you might imagine. i was appalled at the fatwa, but i would not go so far as to say that if cat stevens endorsed it in some way (on what basis i do not know--is he shi'a?) that that would make him a "terrorist"--the connection seems completely ridiculous--coming from a country made up of municipalities that ban books for so much less, of people who are quite sure about why a film like f911 is evil without having seen it, that confuse dissent with treason... __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 09-23-2004 at 08:26 AM..

09-23-2004, 08:34 AM	#24 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	http://www.subir.com/rushdie.html this is a good collection of links about salman rushdie, including the whole "rushdie affair". but like i said above, talking about it is a whole lot more interesting if you have actually read the book. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite

09-23-2004, 11:06 AM	#26 (permalink)
powerclown Junkie Location: Detroit, MI	"Cat Stevens - Islamic Terrorist" is pretty sensationalist, sarcastically so I understand. Taken in context, if the guy supported a fatwa to kill (really, to KILL?) an author of a book in publication all over the world, well all I can say is I understand that freedom of speech isn't practiced all over the world, and I can understand a lot of Muslims getting pissed off at Rushdie. (thanks for the link, rb) Seems a bit harsh to deny him entry into the US but who knows what the intelligence community knows about the guy? It's a sign of the times; this kind of stuff is probably going to happen to a lot of innocent (and some not-so-innocent) people for a while as the US is understandably on Hyper-Alert these days.

09-23-2004, 02:28 PM	#28 (permalink)
cthulu23 Banned	What I say to Cat Stevens is don't be shy. It's a wild world but we may ride on the peace train yet. Before to long we'll be back to the good old times, where tolerance was high and muslims didn't have to hide in the moonshadow. Until then, you can always go to Katmandu.

09-23-2004, 04:13 PM	#30 (permalink)
cthulu23 Banned	No, Cat Stevens has a song called Katmandu too. Damn, I wondered about that one!

09-23-2004, 07:35 PM	#32 (permalink)
guthmund big damn hero	We seem to be arguing over the man instead of the situation. There's no doubt he's taken some serious asshole-like stances. Condemning Rushdie to die and his "charity" work. The problem I have with it is that the whole thing seemed arbitrary to begin with. Millions of people fly across, into and out of the United States everyday and of all the folks to pull off the no-fly list they pick Cat Stevens...excuse me, Yusef Islam in Bangor, then they fill the papers with innuendo about his terrorist ties and then, instead of keeping a hold of him, they deport him back to England. If he's a terrorist (and seriously, who can say he isn't for certain) then publish some evidence to prove the fact. Give us something other than "think" "supposed" "maybe" and "potentially." If he has terrorist ties (and that's what we've been led to believe) throw them out there for the world to see. We seem to have no problem doing this to guys like Bin Laden, Al Zaqwari and Hussein. What makes Ol' Cat Stevens special? If he does have established terrorist ties, why not keep him around for questioning a little longer. We (American Government) feels the evidence is strong enough to deport him, but not strong enough to warrant a serious interrogation. Homeland Security calls it a "very serious matter," but the interrogation Islam describes didn't seem like anything other than a groupie get together with laughs and autographs for all the infidels. Either he's a threat, or he isn't. How are supposed to take this no-fly list seriously and feel safe when we fly when stupid shit like this happens? __________________ No signature. None. Seriously.

09-23-2004, 08:12 PM	#33 (permalink)
Mephisto2 Junkie	I'm surprised so many of you support this. It was a silly mistake. Don't the rabid (and even not-so-rabid) conservatives in the US ever admit mistakes? Mr Mephisto

09-24-2004, 05:39 AM	#34 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	no, mr mephisto. no they do not. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite

09-24-2004, 06:00 AM	#35 (permalink)
splck it's jam Location: Lowerainland BC	paranoia folks, it'll destroy ya... what a load of shit. __________________ nice line eh?

09-26-2004, 06:17 PM	#40 (permalink)
Mojo_PeiPei Kiss of Death Location: Perpetual wind and sorrow	You are pretty deluded yourself if you are sympathizing and/ or even trying to justify the knowing aid of assets to a terrorist organization. __________________ To win a war you must serve no master but your ambition.