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--------------------------------------------
Sis. Safiya Bukhari, one time Black Panther
activist, passed away last month
in New York. She was a supporter of
Jamaat al-Muslimeen
and spoke at the
Jamaat's
International Symposium
in Baltimore. An
admirer of
Dr. Siddique's
books on
women's
rights,
she was always on the
frontline of the struggle. May Allah
forgive her sins and give her a place in
al-Jannah.
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Overview of the Case:
The
Wall Street Journal
Attack on American
Muslim Chaplain
By Imam Warith-Deen Umar
Who is Paul M. Barrett?
Why Was Imam Umar of New York Targeted?
What is Syndicated Columnist Cal Thomas' role in
this attack?
What is the link between
media,
politicians, and
executive government?
Where did it all start?
On Jan. 9, 2003 I received a call from. Paul M.
Barrett of the Wall Street
Journal. He introduced himself as a writer and
said he was doing an article on
Islam in prisons. Officials of the New York State
Department of Correctional
Services (NYSDOCS) referred him to me. I informed
him I was no longer an
official with the NYSDOCS and was currently
providing contractual religious services
for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. I told him I
was a retired employee for
nearly three years and referred him to the
Central Office of DOCS. He told me he
had already contacted DOCS, had talked with
officials and was given permission
by Commissioner Glenn L. Goord through the Public
Relations office head James
Flateau, to proceed with the article. He said he
was given permission to
visit and meet with Muslim Chaplains and inmates
at two state prisons. He was
given permission to take photographs inside the
prison Mosque. He assured me he
was writing a very positive article about the
history and good works of the
Muslims in American prisons. He stated that he
had met with and interviewed Imams
in the City of New York Department of Corrections
and they too referred him to
me.
Paul Barrett asked if he could interview me over
dinner and get some history
of the Islamic work we were involved in. I agreed
to meet with him. He came to
Albany on Jan. 16, 2003. We met at the Best
Western Hotel and proceeded to a
Pakistani Halaal restaurant for dinner. We
discussed my work and the history
of how we started Islamic services in the prisons
here in New York. He asked
questions about the inmate legal suits against
the state prison system that
included my name since I was the state Islamic
official for the last 15 years
before my retirement. He asked about the Shi'ite
inmates asking for services. I
told him the suits lacked merit since I always
made recommendations for
individual devotions for all inmates seeking an
opportunity to make worship and
devotion a part of their prison experience. I
also informed him that I was not a
"Sunni" Muslim or a Shi'ite. I was not a Sufi
Muslim nor did I consider myself a
follower of any sect or particular school of
thought or influence. I was and
am simply "Muslim" and a member of the worldwide
community of Muslims. I am a
student and teacher of Islamic knowledge.
I told him clearly and without ambiguity that
Allah (God) named us Muslim and
all the appellations and prefixes were man made.
I, like many Muslims today,
follow the
Qur'an
and the way of the Prophet of
Islam and I respect and follow
all of the good leaders of Islam here and abroad.
He began to question me about the current
circumstances regarding the
airplane attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon on
9-11-01.
I told him it
was unfortunate and sad that things had come to
this dire extreme in world
affairs where American citizens are harmed and
slaughtered in such numbers. I
told him it seemed to me that the terror attacks
on 9-11 were related to the
American foreign policy regarding the Muslim
world. I shifted our brief talk back
to the history of Islam in American prisons. I
told him I wrote a book on
this history and hoped to have it published in
the near future. He said he would
like to review the book and that he might be able
to help me get the book
published.
I gave him permission to review the unfinished,
unedited transcript of my
book. Over the next few days Barrett called me
regularly getting fills for the
article. He asked if he could send a photographer
to take photos for the paper
and I acceded to this. In his calls he assured me
that his editors were very
pleased with the development of the article and
that I would be pleased with the
outcome. He told me about his calls to the
Otisville Federal Prison where I
worked and his inquiries with the Warden. He said
he asked to come into the
prison and attend my services for the Muslim
inmates. I told him this was
acceptable to me and that I had discussed the
matter with the Muslim inmates and they
approved. He told me the Warden denied him. I did
meet with the warden during
one of my subsequent visits to the prison and the
Warden told me the reporter
from the Wall Street Journal was trying to trash
me and that he refused to
allow Barrett into the prison.
On Thursday Jan 30, 2003 I received a call at my
home from the Associate
Warden, Donna Hill. She told me my services would
not be needed at the prison on
Jum'ah (Friday) service the following day! When I
inquired as to why my
scheduled service was cancelled she told me I
would have to call the Warden the next
day to find out.
The following day I did indeed call the Warden.
He refused to talk with me.
Paul Barrett continued to call and e-mail me
during the days before the
release of the article to assure me that
everything was going well. On the evening
of our meeting at the hotel he requested a photo
of me to be used as a line
sketch for the front page of the Wall Street
Journal. I remember vividly his
words of encouragement and enticement. "When you
make the front page of the Wall
Street Journal, you've made it." Of course he was
talking about his byline and
his creative sensational article that would get
him rave reviews and global
journalistic recognition.
He used the hope and opportunity to publish my
book as a carrot and a guise
to maintain my cooperation. He even gave me a
copy of his book, The Good Black:
A True Story of Race in America. How ironic.
"The Good Black" is a true
account of racial discrimination in corporate
America. It ís a book about an
African American who went from the projects in
Queens, New York to Harvard Law
School to the law offices of a top "blue chip"
Chicago law firm where law partners
are paid $500,000 a year. According to Barrett's
book "The Good Black", Larry
Mungen, did what he thought was 'playing by all
the rules'. He did everything
he could to be unthreatening and 'white-like' to
fit in among whites in his
pursuit of a much-desired partnership in the
white law firm. He abandoned his
black friends and disregarded them as backers.
Still, being a good black wasn't
enough for them to accept him in their "club".
Larry Mungen hired a Black
law firm to sue his employer. His employer
responded with a powerful defense,
"the best defense money could buy", according to
the book. Mungen lost his case.
Barrett's book is very supportive of the Black
man. He wrote against bigotry
and bias and unfairness in America. His book is a
sympathetic rendering that
would make anyone think the writer is a
non-biased, non-racist friend of
minorities. Apparently Barrett's intention was
to make me feel he supported me as a
Black man also coming up from the poorest
conditions of America. The
difference? I am a Muslim after 9-11-01!
On Monday Feb. 3rd Barrett called to tell me
ABC
had requested a taped
interview with me and asked if I could hold off
on the interview until the Wall
Street Journal article was released on the coming
Wednesday. I began to suspect
there was something else going on here but I was
already on the slippery slope.
I couldn't turn this around and I couldn't stop
myself from sliding into this.
What was going to happen, was going to happen.
Barrett expressed surprise
when I told him I was denied entry to the
Otisville prison.
I asked him, "What did you say to Warden Menafee?
I think you spooked him."
I told him of my occasion at the prison when the
warden told me Paul Barrett
was trying to trash me and the warden didn't want
his prison involved in any
type of negative news. I began to recognize
Barrett's words as lies but I didn't
imagine the extent of the fabrication of what was
to come. The following
Tuesday Feb. 4, 2003 I received a faxed letter of
termination from my employment
at the Otisville Federal Prison. The reason for
my termination: "For
convenience of government."
The following day the Wall Street Journal article
was published. I had
previously agreed to the ABC interview and
traveled to New York City on Feb. 5th to
the ABC television studios. When I arrived at the
Amtrac station I purchased
The Wall Street Journal and there I was, line
sketched on the front page with
the five blazing headlines:
Captive Audience
How A Chaplain Spread Extremism To an Inmate
Flock
Radical New York Imam Chose Clerics for State
Prisons
Praise for 9/11
'Martyrs'
Saudi
Arabia's
Helping Hand
The article was devastating and sensational.
There were seven full-page
columns, one line sketch, three photos, one graph
of inmate population numbers and
one map of New York State prisons. This appeared
to be well researched and
purposefully intentional. This was not an article
to inform the public. This
was an article to influence public opinion and
affect government policy. This
was pure propaganda.
At first I wasn't aware of the impact. When I
called home my wife told me the
News
media
were at our door and waiting outside
our home. She was upset to
say the least. My children couldn't understand
what was going on. My suburban
neighbors were very concerned. My colleagues ran
for cover. My pending contracts
and volunteer works were immediately stopped. My
income was cut.
The next day, George Pataki, the Governor of New
York State came out against
me by name and had his Commissioner ban me from
all prisons in New York. He
called for an investigation. Charles Schumer, the
United States Senator from the
floor of Congress berated me by name calling me
an extreme Wahhabi. He
accused me of outrageous acts against the U.S.
government, of maintaining a history
of anti-Americanism, and pro-terrorist
radicalism. He called for all Muslim
Chaplains associated with me to be fired. The
Albany Times Union
newspaper
editorial called for the hiring of Shi'ite Muslim
Chaplains in the state prisons.
This was big news, no doubt! This showed the
link between
media,
politicians
and executive government.
I was embarrassed that I had allowed myself to be
entrapped. I was duped,
completely caught off guard. I felt betrayed. I
felt raped. My mind is the mind
of a researcher, and a student of knowledge and
my heart is the heart of a
soldier. I don't mind contention. I admittedly
join struggles for righteous
causes. But I wasn't in struggle mode. I was
peacefully retired. My sense of
justice and fair play had been violated. This was
a concocted, creative series of
lies on me, on my career work, on my fellow
employees and my family. This was a
sneak attack! These were false charges and
everyone who knew me over the years
knew the claims against me were baseless. I
called on my Lord for patience.
I was simply shocked during the early days of
this event. At first I refused
to talk to the media who were at my door. When I
arrived home from New York
City the news teams were waiting for me. They
wanted a response. I was not
prepared for this. I went on
Fox News
unprepared
for the limited time to try to
explain my side. It was a disaster. Fred Dicker
of the New York Post called for
an over-the-phone interview. Every news station
wanted their share of this
story. Donahue called and invited me on his show.
Bill O'Reilly wanted to tear me
apart on his show. Curtis and Kuby were bantering
the story back and forth on
their show. It took a whole week before I could
go on the 6 O'clock news with
a clear head to begin to fight this battle. In my
younger days I was a
co-counsel with the well-known civil rights
lawyer William M. Kunstler.
I decided to defend myself as my own lawyer in a
case of notoriety against me
during the civil rights movement of the late 60's
and early 70's. I had high
respect for the late Bill Kunstler. I last met
with him in New York City's
Greenwich Village after the trial of El Sayyid
Nosair, the accused killer of
radical Rabbi Meir Kahani, former leader of the
Jewish Defense League. Kunstler
was the mentor of Ronald Kuby who had gained
recognition as a lawyer and talk
show host in New York City. I called Ron Kuby and
he agreed to take my case pro
bono. I began to refer the media to my attorney.
Ron advised me on which media
to talk to and which ones to stay away from. He
summoned me to his offices in
NYC to get background on the case and begin our
defense strategy. Ron told me
early on that he would take my case without pay
and begin the suits but that
he would not go all the way and follow up on the
extensive needs of a case of
this magnitude. I was thankful for him being up
front with me about his
intentions. It became easy for me to switch
attorneys when I was referred to lawyer
Stanley L. Cohen by the Majlis Shurah (Islamic
Council) in New York City.
Who is Paul M. Barrett?
Paul M. Barrett holds a law degree from Harvard
University. He is the legal
editor at the Wall Street Journal. He was
nominated for the 1997 Pulitzer
Prize for reporting. He didn't win the prize and
is driven to gain recognition and
notoriety. He is author of the 1999 book The Good
Black: A True Story of
Race in America.
Paul M. Barrett is the Page One Special Projects
Editor for the Wall Street
Journal. His number one assignment for 2003:
Produce an emotionally charged
sensational article to smear Islamic workers in
America's prisons, in order to
impede, slow down or destroy the Islamic
propagation and 'recruiting' efforts in
American jails and prisons.
Why? The Answers: America is in a war with
certain factions of the Muslim
world. The Muslim population in free America is
2%. The Muslim population in
American prisons is 20%! The prison Muslim
population is almost totally made up
of converts to Islam. The overwhelming majority
is African American with some
Hispanic inmates. Government officials view
prisoners as radical individuals.
Government officials fear the potential for
radical Muslims re-entering
society from prison. The New York State
Department of Correctional Services prison
system has the most advanced and most successful
Islamic services program. New
York State has more Muslim Chaplains than any ten
states together and more
Muslim inmates and a higher rate of conversion to
Islam. Imam Umar is viewed as
a pioneer in this work and mainly responsible for
this high level of
development in New York.
How was Barrett to accomplish this task? The
Answer: Find "The Man On The
White Horse". Corporate leaders, political heads
and motivational speakers know
the concept of the man on the white horse. They
say in every successful
organization or social system there is an
influential leader. There is one who is
more dedicated, motivated and passionate about
the development of the operation.
The one person whose intensity of mind and
purpose makes him the mover, whose
energy and electricity makes him outstanding in
his field of endeavor. Find
the one with the vision to shape the building of
the system at hand. He will be
the 24 hour man. He will be the one who eats and
sleeps and breathes the work
at hand. Find him, get his confidence and then
discredit him. Invalidate him
and invalidate his work history. If you are
successful you can halt the
progress of the operation and possibly demolish
it by undermining those who continue
to be a part of it. This is the thinking of
counter-revolution. This is
psychological warfare. Sometimes it works,
sometimes it doesn't. Today critical
scrutiny and attention is paid to Muslim
Chaplains around America and Muslim
inmates are strictly incapacitated.
This was Paul M. Barrett's assignment from the
Wall Street Journal. When he
inquired, he was told "the man on the white
horse" retired nearly three years
ago and was only partially active and somewhat
involved in Islamic propagation
and social work. Paul M. Barrett sought out Imam
Warith Deen Umar.
Where did it all start?
We need to go back to July 2002 to find the
seminal development of the
concern and propaganda against Islam in American
jails and prisons. It was Cal
Thomas, writer, syndicated columnist and After
Hours host for Fox News, who wrote
an article. His column laid the foundation for
the movement against the growing
influence of the religion of Islam in American
prisons. His article is
presented as such:
Cal Thomas | Terrorist recruiting
Scouting American prisons
The article begins, "The mail brings a letter
from a self-identified African
American prison inmate (several of the same type
have arrived since Sept. 11).
He predicts Islam will take over the world and
America's days are numbered.
This man is one of many converts to radical Islam
under a program indirectly
funded by Saudi Arabian money."
Thomas goes on to make serious erroneous claims
that Muslim organizations
here are "up to no good". He makes the
unsubstantiated points that "radical
Islamic clerics, trained by Saudi Arabia, are
converting large numbers of African
American inmates not only to their religion, but
to their political objectives,
including virulent anti-Americanism." The article
uses the so-called
legitimacy of the Christian clergy to "report"
the findings of Prison Fellowship
Chairman, Chuck Colson. Thomas says, "Mr. Colson
thinks such inmates could serve
the radicals as terrorists once they are
released, murdering their own
countrymen in a kind of 'payback' for perceived
injustices done to them by white
America." Cal Thomas calls for Wardens to issue
guidelines that bar Muslim clergy
from prisons by labeling them "radical
Islamists". He says, "While the
government is at it, a serious investigation
should be conducted into the proliferation
of Islamic front groups in this country." This
article is a perfect example
of how to use innuendo, insinuation, covert
suggestion and outright lies to
initiate fear and provide a foundation for
acceptance of future government
policy and social direction. Thomas ends his
article with the reality that "This is
war." It should be frightening to American
citizens that media, government
and politicians appear to hold to the idea that
"all's fair in love and war."
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2003-09-10 Wed 19:09ct