yusef islam denied entry into US

[drop]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/09/22/official_cat_stevens_on_watch_ list_because_of_possible_tie_t o_terrorists/

i guess they're still pissed about his move to iran and islam

[drop]

sorry his name is yusef islam, according to boston.com

[Lady E]

its ok i edited it for you

i really like his music as cat stevens.

[drop]

the government sez he's a terrorist, 'morning has broken' always terrorized me as a child.

[Loz]

morning is broken is a classic

cat stevens rocks

[content]

i sang that song in church as wee lad...

I love teaser and the firecat but it gives me real bad memories cuz when i was younger i was in my car with my father on a road trip and we listened to thids guy talking about how easy it would be to put a deadly bacteria in an airport ventilation system and that just freaked me out but we listened to the cat stevens cd a lot on that trip so it reminds me of that

[drop]

i love cat stevens,
i was just commenting on the fact that cat as a terrorist is absurd.
or is it?

[Sheridan]

Originally posted by drop
i love cat stevens,
i was just commenting on the fact that cat as a terrorist is absurd.
or is it?

I am pretty sure he is not. the only reason he is on the government's watch list is because he has given money to islamic charities. pretty disgusting the actions of the US.

[invisibleplanet]

drop's link doesn't seem to work. i think this is the one: http://www.boston.com/dailynews/266/wash/Official_Cat_Stevens_on_watch_ :.shtml


and a follow up story just appeared:
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/266/region/Cat_Stevens_defended_by_his_br :.shtml

sorry for this c&p odyssey!

Cat Stevens defended by his brother after being detained
By Leslie Miller, Associated Press, 9/22/2004 14:25


WASHINGTON (AP) The brother of the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens strongly denied that he has any terrorist associations after he was removed from a London-to-Washington flight because he'd been placed on a government ''no-fly'' list.

A government official said on Wednesday that Stevens, who changed his name to Yusuf Islam, had recently been placed on the list after U.S. authorities received information indicating associations with potential terrorists, a government official said Wednesday.

The flight was diverted to Bangor, Maine, on Tuesday afternoon after U.S. officials who checked the passenger list learned the singer was aboard. Federal agents met United Airlines Flight 919 and interviewed Islam.

The government official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Islam was placed on a watch list after multiple intelligence sources in recent weeks indicated the peace activist may have associations with potential terrorists.

Islam's brother and business manager, David Gordon, said in a telephone interview that he could guarantee that Islam does not associate with possible terrorists.

''It's not true,'' Gordon said. ''His only work, his only mindset, is humanitarian causes. He just wants to be an ambassador for peace.''

Gordon said he spoke by phone to Islam on Wednesday night and that he was in good humor. ''He's fine. It's an unfortunate incident, but on the other hand, people are worried and they want to feel secure when they're flying.''

Airlines have access to watch lists and are supposed to screen passengers to make sure those deemed direct threats to aviation do not board planes. The official said it was unclear why United Airlines personnel allowed Islam to get on the flight in London.

A call to the airline was not immediately returned.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy said Islam was ''denied admission to the United States on national security grounds'' and was expected to be sent back to London on Wednesday.

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, who was convicted for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel.

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.

Islam has made a number of trips to the United States in recent years, including one in May for a charity event and to promote a DVD of his 1976 MajiKat tour. He donated half the royalties from his most recent boxed set to the Sept. 11 Fund to help victims of the attacks.

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 founded Islamia Primary school in London in 1983. In 1998, it became the first Muslim school in Britain to receive government support, on the same basis as Christian and other sectarian schools.

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.''

Gordon denied that he had called for Rushdie's death. ''They completely misunderstood what he said,'' he said.

Recently, Islam has criticized terrorist acts, including the Sept. 11 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.''

On the Net:

Yusuf Islam: http://www.yusufislam.org.uk/

the original title was much different, wasn't it, drop?

[darrell]

why go to the usa if he thinks it is evil

[invisibleplanet]

when/where did Cat Stevens/Yusef Islam mention that the US was evil?

[darrell]

So he doesn’t think the the killings in Arabic countries
Is the work of evil? I was going to say on an interview
With James wale but I cant back that up so will not

[drop]

sorry bout the link
thanks for fix'n it.

[drop]

Originally posted by darrell
why go to the usa if he thinks it is evil
i've read that he said something to that effect but can't really remember where. i think he said that he moved to iran because western civ was much too corrupt. if i find something i'll post it.

[Loz]

I heard the James Wale interview too.

the US Government is evil for killing innocent civilians all over the world, but I'd still visit it for other reasons (friends, family, just a holiday somewhere different, etc)

[darrell]

Originally posted by Loz
I heard the James Wale interview too.

the US Government is evil for killing innocent civilians all over the world, but I'd still visit it for other reasons (friends, family, just a holiday somewhere different, etc)

i think it was something on that line but i have not
got it on tape or text so i cant quote it as fact sorry
so invisibleplanet is right to ask when/where

[mlexicon]

damn hippy

[pongoid]

Under this regime, Yusef has given money to Islaamic chritable organizations, some possibly suspected of having ties with folks that the US government deems terrorist organizations. That makes him sympathetic to their causes, thus a terrorist sympathizer, thus a terrorist himself. Giving aid and comfort to the enemy in the war on terrorism. The US government does the same thing itself, and folks in it make billions off of weapons deals, some used to kill our own people, of course that emnarassing shit will never see the light of day, (unless it's one soldier taking the fall, under threat of death for his family, etc.) but then that's just business, which is fine because it's commerce that helps make our economies run. It's ok when big business folks do it, as long as the gubment get's their cut, but when it's a guy who is trying to feed, cloth and vaccinate brown people, or yellow people, or anybody that isn't white and sympathetic/participating the clusterfuck ravaging of the world, well...they must be fuckin terrorists. Personally, I can't wait to see millions of people all shitting on the steps of the capitol, and the White House. No violence, just loads of piles of excrement as a message of how much we love, honor and respect that fuckbags that do this shit to everyone else, and call it ok, because it's in the interest of "National Security".

Ape

[Lady E]

loz + content: you know that cat stevens didnt write 'morning is broken' dont you?

its a modern (ie 1930s or so) british hymn.

[V Knid esq]

Do Lucky Jim like Cat Stevens? There's a certain similar lyricism in their songs..

[Lady E]

dunno about the jim

cris is a big fan though.

[Loz]

Originally posted by emma
loz + content: you know that cat stevens didnt write 'morning is broken' dont you?

its a modern (ie 1930s or so) british hymn.

Oh yeah, we used to sing the hymn at school.

But Cat Stevens' version is 'the' version for me, simply because of the incredibly unique vocals on it.

[Ali]

I was once violently removed from the decks at a venue in Nottingham for playing the Cat Stevens version of Morning Has Broken.

[drop]

lol that happened to me for playing 'time' by pink floyd

[invisibleplanet]

back to cat - tea for the tillerman rocks - i have the original still.

i like the song 'bitterblue' ....(that's on teaser & the firecat (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004T9W4/102-8347152-5946561?v=glance) isn't it?)
*strums geetar with a flourish*

[arar]

National states should stay away from religion of any description, therefore they should NOT fund religiously orientated schools, if people want christian or muslim schools they should pay for them...themselves, I went to a sucession of Catholic schools and think they are a really bad idea (I got beaten up for being Italian, despite the fact we were all Catholic), we have enough sectarianism in Glasgow without now increasing this by state funding more religious schools as is being proposed..

[invisibleplanet]

Originally posted by emma
loz + content: you know that cat stevens didnt write 'morning is broken' dont you?

its a modern (ie 1930s or so) british hymn.

it was the girly godly poetess eleanor farjeon (i looked in my old school hymnal for that!!)

originally by arar
National states should stay away from religion of any description, therefore they should NOT fund religiously orientated schools, if people want christian or muslim schools they should pay for them...themselves, I went to a sucession of Catholic schools and think they are a really bad idea (I got beaten up for being Italian, despite the fact we were all Catholic), we have enough sectarianism in Glasgow without now increasing this by state funding more religious schools as is being proposed..

hmm. i think religious schools ought not to be excluded from state funding.
in my opinion, state funding ought to be given to ALL schools,
because education is for ALL children, regardless of race or creed.
as far as i know, secular schools such as Steiner Schools receive no funding from the state. i feel that religion is an important part of human experience.

i'm sorry to hear of the racist attacks you were subjected to during your formative educational years, arar, but surely these attacks have nothing to do with religion, and everything to do with how those children are taught to behave in their home environment?!

sectarianism (http://www.community-relations.org.uk/resources/what_is_sectarianism/) is surely a political and social disease, born from prejudice and bigotry and cultural ignorance.

[arar]

Religious sectarianism re inforces racism, e.g chants of "I'd rather be a N*****r than a Tim" at past rangers/celtic matches...state funding should not be extended to religious schools as they offer a basic education free of charge, if people want religious for their children, they can do it themselves or arrange it otherwise..otherwise why would the state not provide schools with a curriculum based on lets say the politcal orientation of the parents, e.g. Scottish Natioanalist schools, Marxist schools etc..? No one is being excluded from education by the state by not funding religious schools..that would be a matter of choice of the parents, the comphrensive system is already under tremendous attack from a variety of directions and this is just another..I feel it is worth retaining, going to a non demoninational secondary school after a series of crappy catholic primarys probably saved my bacon..

[bitch one]

re the mentality of religious schools - they were going to merge a catholic school in glasgow with a non-religious school - the catholic teachers refused unless they had their own catholic staff room. i mean - what the fuck? do they make their tea with holy water or something?