Yusuf Islam's Plane Diverted

[NaSra]

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/09/21/plane...d.ap/index.html


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...1/ny13209220146


Flight diverted after Cat Stevens found on watch list


Wednesday, September 22, 2004 Posted: 0218 GMT (1018 HKT)


Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, addresses those gathered at the annual meeting of the Islamic Society of North America in 2003.


WASHINGTON (AP) -- A plane bound for Washington from London was diverted to Maine on Tuesday after passenger Yusuf Islam -- formerly known as pop singer Cat Stevens -- showed up on a U.S. watch list, federal officials said.


United Airlines Flight 919 had already taken off from London en route to Dulles International Airport when the match was made between the passenger and the watch list, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration.


The plane was met by federal agents at Maine's Bangor International Airport around 3 p.m. ET, Melendez said.


Federal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the individual as Islam.


One official said Islam, 56, was identified by the Advanced Passenger Information System, which requires airlines to send passenger information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's National Targeting Center.


TSA was then contacted and requested that the plane land at the nearest airport, the official said.


"He was interviewed and denied admission to the United States on national security grounds," said Homeland Security spokesman Dennis Murphy. He said the man would be put on the first available flight out of the country Wednesday.


Islam, who was 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 '70s 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. He later became a teacher and an advocate for his religion, founding a Muslim school in London in 1983.


Islam recently condemned the school seizure by militants 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."

[Anyabwile]

"He was interviewed and denied admission to the United States on national security grounds," said Homeland Security spokesman Dennis Murphy.

I don't understand, what national security grounds? I've been trying to follow the story but i'm lost as to why he was denied admission, can someone explain more to me. What was the reason he was denied admission, what did he do.

[SisterJennifer]

At a news conference today in Washington, D.C., the Council on


American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a statement that read in part:


"Treating mainstream and moderate Muslims like Yusuf Islam as if they are


criminals or terrorists, without bringing charges or allowing for due


process, sends the message to the Islamic world that even those who seek


peace and condemn terror are not fit to enter the United States. We call on


the Bush administration to explain why Yusuf Islam was barred from coming


to this country and whether other internationally-respected Muslim


travelers or scholars will face such treatment in the future. This not the


way to win the hearts and minds of Muslims worldwide."


The Washington-based group also renewed its request for an explanation as


to why the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked the visa of


an Islamic scholar who was due to begin teaching at the University of Notre


Dame. In July, DHS officials revoked a visa previously granted to Professor


Tariq Ramadan, a well-known Islamic scholar who is often described as a


"moderate." A statement issued at that time by Notre Dame


said: "Professor Ramadan is a distinguished scholar and a voice for


moderation in the Muslim world.We know of no reason his entry should be


prevented."

[Muslimah]

as salam alykom


I am here for totally a different reason. O Jennifer we did miss u finally u r here.


Insh a Allah all is well.

[SisterJennifer]

Alhumdulilah, I am doing well, and I hope everything is going well for all my sisters and brothers here also.

[NaSra]

I don't understand, what national security grounds? I've been trying to follow the story but i'm lost as to why he was denied admission, can someone explain more to me. What was the reason he was denied admission, what did he do.

http://www.yusufislam.org.uk/charity.htm


Yusuf Islam gives charity to muslims in need (view the site for more detail), Obviously It's a crime to help Muslim these days... qualifies one as a terrorist.


It doesn't matter if your moderate, jihadi, Pacifist or whatever... there is a conspiracy against all Muslims now.


I also heard that Br Yusuf islam supported the fatwa against salman rushdie.


Alhamdulilah that he's back to his home and safe. These kafirs are showing us everyday more and more that "terrorist" is just another word for "muslim". All it takes to be a terrorist is to be a muslim, and your a threat to everyone, even if you are the most peace-loving decent muslim like Yusuf.


If they call Yusuf islam a terrorist then what does that make us all?


what a world.....

[Muslimah]

It makes all of us a bunch of terrorists Intuition.


See things are getting clearer now, Alhamdulelah, the whole issue is Islam itself. They are so threatened. Alhamdulelah, no matter how Muslim governments condemn and express. We might as well just dont repsond to any acts that are claimed to be done by Muslims. hope people are getting the picture now.


It is all a huge act, dont u all see???


And SisterJennifer Alhamdulelah u r all fine. we are fine too, just missing your participation here.....

[AbuMubarak]

no muslimah


its not that the rest of us are terrorists, its that the real terrorists are those from the UN


muslims havent invaded anyone's country, nor have they dropped bombs, removed leaders, or any of that


muslims are looked at as terrorists as part of a worldwide rejection of islam


how do they reject islam? they are not going to say, we have studied islam and we disagree


they are going to paint muslims as evil and dangerous, when in essence, muslims havent even begun to fight


so its not that we are all usamahs or zaraqawis, these are men who have tried to fight back the advances of the kuffar into the lands and hearts of the muslims (and Allah knows best)


its that the real terrorists are those that have attacked islam

[Muslimah]

I was just being sarcastic AbuMubarak. And that is what I meant by even with the massive condemnation every Muslim gov is COMPELLED to make in response to every act. I d repeat act. Nothing is real, it is all act. But yet again it is just part of Quran and sunnah what is happening around us.


May Allah protect us against the harder times

[Peace in Ireland]

muslims havent invaded anyone's country

Just to get it out of the way... Ottoman Empire.


But on to Yusef Isla, I read that one of the MANY charities he donated to is under suspicion of funnling money to real terrorist organizations. So that charity ought to be investigated, obviously. However, it's completely INSANE to arrest somebody because they gave money to a charity! That's like if I gave some one on the street a dollar, they spent it at a corner store, and the owner used to to by a gun which he killed sombody with. Plus, it's CAT STEVENS. Why is the U.S. wasting it's money tracking donw has-been folk singers in mid-flight instead of finding Osama Bin Laden?


The whole ordeal is wack. But that just shows you where the Republicans are. Off in la la land where Cat Stevens is our biggest national security threat.


And to whoever said this is a "conspiracy against Islam" I'd agree with you. However, it's not special by any means. America has always launched conspiracies against groups it didn't like at certain times. Communists, Italians, Japanese, etc. Just look at the McCarthy hearings. Anyway, I'm gonna go listen to "Wild World."