Leonard Cohen and Yusuf Islam

[linda_lakeside]

Hi Byron,

Yes, in a nutshell and with my own lack of style, war's a bitch.

Being Canadian, we share a long history with the U.S. and we had the longest unprotected border in the world. We now have the longest and most paranoid border in the world. Not to malign the U.S., that's not my mission here. Just to punctuate a very obvious fact. Things out there are not as they should be, but what can we do but watch?

Linda.

[Susanne]

Linda, I didn't know that dolphins are considered symbols of good luck.
They are such enchanting and sensitive animals!
The Canadian dolphin jewellery must be especially beautiful!

I love all animals, and birds touch my heart whenever I hear them sing, see them fly to their not yet completed nests with little twigs in their beaks, watch them feed their children, ... just as you said, for many reasons!
That's why I painted the little bird for the intro of my website and for one of my poems.
I'm so glad you like it!!!

Love, Susanne

Nah! I don't think Leonard Cohen wants to be on the same stage as Yusuf Islam. Yusuf Islam has yet to condemn Palestinian bombers. He doesn't consider it terrorism!

Kay.

Yusuf Islam considers the Palestinian bombers ("Hamas") terrorists and condemns all kinds of terrorism and violence.

This is an excerpt from an article on Yusuf Islam's refused entry to the US, "The Daily Telegraph", October 18th, 2004:

"... It was not his first brush with immigration: he was deported from Israel in 2000 after claims that he had given money to the Palestinian group Hamas 12 years earlier, though he has always vehemently denied the claim: 'I have never knowingly supported any terrorist group, past, present or future,' he stated ..."
http://yusufislam.org.uk/dailytelegraph.htm

Yusuf's comment in "The Guardian", October 1st, 2004:

"... I am a man of peace and denounce all forms of terrorism and injustice; it is outrageous for the US authorities to suggest otherwise. I have dedicated my life to promoting peace throughout the world. It would be devastating were the charity work I do through my humanitarian relief organisation, Small Kindness, which helps countless children and families, and my work for education, to be undermined by what has happened ..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story ... 60,00.html

Press Release on his exclusion from the US, September 24th, 2004:
http://yusufislam.org.uk/pressreleasesept04.shtml

A list of international peace awards presented to Yusuf for his charitable and humanitarian work:
http://www.majicat.com/awards.htm

Love, Susanne

[kay]

uh huh. what is islam going to say? "sure, i sponsore people who blow up babies".
if leonard cohen will perform with yusuf islam, I will get rid of Leonard Cohen's CDs.

"Cat Stevens, the pop singer, is up in court in the Gaza Strip, at least in absentia.
Stevens is a convert to Islam and knowadays prefers to be known as Yusuf al-Islam. During a visit to Jerusalem last year, he was highly critical of Israel's handling of the unrest in the occupied territories. It was alleged in an Israeli military court in the Gaza Strip this week that he had gone much further and given about 4,000 Pounds (pds) to the fundamentalist Islamic movement, Hamas.

Hamas is bitterly opposed to the current peace moves of Yassir Arafat, the PLO chief, and wants to replace Israel with an Islamic state."

"IAP is presently headquartered in a nondescript strip shopping mall in Richardson, Texas. IAP has set up an elaborate publications and video operation to promote Hamas, in both Arabic and English. While the Arabic brazenly supports Hamas, IAP's English-language publications and videos -- clearly intended for non-Muslim Western audiences-- are relatively tame, refraining, for the most part, from advocating terrorism and hatred against Jews and Christians.
But not entirely. One IAP publication, called "America's Greatest Enemy: The Jew and an Unholy Alliance," has been routinely distributed at Islamist conventions. Another IAP brochure, authored by Yusef Islam, formerly known as the singer Cat Stevens before he converted to Islam, contains plain old anti-Semitism: "The Jews seem neither to respect God nor his creation. Their own holy books contain the curse of God brought upon them by their prophets on account of their disobedience to Him and mischief in the earth. We have seen the disrespect for religion displayed by those who consider themselves to be 'God's chosen people.' ... There will be no justice until all the land is given back to its rightful owners ... Only Islam can bring peace back to the Holy Land..." From his home in Great Britain, Islam/Stevens has also raised tens of thousands of dollars for Hamas, in cooperation with the British fundraising arm of Hamas, known as the Relief Fund for Lebanon and Palestine."

"News reports several years ago linked a Web site and charitable foundation he heads to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and to the "Blind Sheikh" -- Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted of involvement in a terrorist plot in New York city a decade ago."

Islam Denied Entry: Cat Stevens’ “Peace Train” of Islamic Hate Derailed

By Debbie Schlussel | Bio
debbie@politicalusa.com



A guy who wrote and performed a song called “Peace Train” could never be a terrorist, right?

Wrong.

Why was the “artist” formerly known as Cat Stevens denied entry to the U.S., yesterday?

Maybe it has something to do with Yusuf Islam (his latest name du jour) a/k/a Stevens a/k/a Stephen Georgiou’s ties to terror groups. Or maybe it has something to do with Stevens’ obsession with spreading hate around the world.



While the world knows him as the guy who sang “Peace Train,” the real tune Stevens/Islam has been singing reeks of fatwas, anti-Semitism, HAMAS front-groups, and Al-Qaeda fundraisers.

Here are some of Mr. Peace Train’s “peaceful” activities:

Cat Stevens supports murdering critics of Islam.
Remember Salman Rushdie, Muslim author of “The Satanic Verses,” who dared criticize Islam? Remember how Iran’s late Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the vigilante murder of Rushdie? Islam/Stevens/Georgiou supported that death sentence.

In Yusuf Islam’s “Wild World”, you have the freedom to write and perform terribly annoying songs. But dare write critically about the religion of head-choppers and your head is destined for Chop-Chop Square, with Mr. Peace Train’s full support.

Cat Stevens hates Jews.
He’ll apparently ride the “Peace Train” only if there aren’t any Jews or other “infidels” anywhere near the tracks. Yes, in 1988, the singer of “Peace Train” authored an “informational pamphlet,” called “Eyewitness,” containing these peaceful words:

“The Jews seem neither to respect God nor his creation. Their own holy books contain the curse of God brought upon them by their prophets on account of their disobedience to Him and mischief in the earth. We have seen the disrespect for religion displayed by those who consider themselves to be 'God's chosen people.'...There will be no justice until all the land is given back to its rightful owners... Only Islam can bring peace back to the Holy Land.”

Cat Stevens’ HAMAS Buddies:
It’s not just what Islam ne Stevens wrote in the anti-Semitic pamphlet, it’s for whom he wrote it: the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a HAMAS front-group with ties to Al-Qaeda.

Founded with a $490,000.00 check from the personal bank account of indicted HAMAS political director of Moussa Abu Marzook, IAP distributed the HAMAS charter, official HAMAS intifada communiqués issued from Gaza, and HAMAS glory records, which are tributes to HAMAS’ "violent successes" and lists of all the infidels it murdered. IAP also produces HAMAS training and recruitment videos.


IAP's finances and board were entwined with those of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which in December 2001, the U.S. government shut down and froze the assets of, saying that it finances HAMAS. IAP is a defendant in a lawsuit filed by the parents of David Boim, an American teenager murdered by HAMAS.

In December 2001, federal authorities deported IAP leader Ghassan Dahduli on immigration violations. Dahduli's name was found in the address book of Wadih El-Hage, Osama bin Laden's former finance chief and personal secretary, who was convicted in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in east Africa.

Not surprising, Cat Stevens won’t condemn HAMAS.

Cat Stevens & Al-Qaeda:
In May 1999, Stevens/Islam was the keynote speaker at the “Second ‘United for Al-Quds Conference.’” Al-Quds is the Islamic name for Jerusalem. The conference was sponsored by the “Who’s Who” of America’s radical Muslim groups which support terror and refuse to denounce HAMAS and Hezbollah (which murdered over 300 American marines and civilians in the 1980s, while they slept).

One of the main sponsors of this conference was American Muslims for Global Peace and Justice. The group, which spearheads the Muslim boycott of Starbucks (because its CEO is Jewish), was founded and run by the late Mahboob Khan, who raised money for Al-Qaeda at the Santa Clara mosque he founded and headed. In the late ‘90s, Khan twice brought Al-Qaeda deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri, himself, into the US on a fake passport, to raise the money at the mosque. (Incredibly, Khan’s son, Suhail Khan, is a Bush political appointee and chief legal counsel to the Federal Highway Administration, where he has access to transport schedules for major weaponry and hazardous materials.)

True to form, Stevens, in his keynote speech at the conference, entitled “Jerusalem: The First and Last Scene of Faith’s Struggle” (a speech about Jihad for Jerusalem), said the Jews “were lowered to abject levels of disgrace and dishonor.”

Cat Stevens & Terrorist Cronies, Ad Nauseam:
In September 1999, Stevens delivered the five-time daily call to prayer at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) annual conference. At the event, he and NBA Star Tariq Abdul-Wahad attacked America’s freedoms.


Saudi-funded ISNA is at the forefront of promoting extremist Wahhabi Islam and owns and controls at least 27% of America’s mosques and many American Islamic schools through an ISNA subsidiary, the Islamic Trust. Stevens was invited for this honor by ISNA’s then-chief, Muzammil Siddiqi, a prominent, radical Muslim who openly supports martyrdom, jihad, and making the US a Muslim country. Siddiqi opposes Muslims serving in the U.S. military and used ISNA to raise money for HAMAS’ Political Director Marzook and the Islamic Jihad terrorist group.

Cat Stevens' HAMAS Buddies, II:
Stevens was the featured main speaker at a Virginia fundraiser for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on November 11, 1996.

Former FBI counterterrorism chief Oliver “Buck” Revell calls CAIR a HAMAS front group. CAIR got its seed money from IAP (and therefore, from HAMAS), as well as its founder/executive director, Nihad Awad, who was an IAP employee. Awad, an avowed HAMAS supporter, compared Hezbollah to Patrick Henry and the founding fathers. After the 9/11 attacks, CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper refused to specifically denounce Bin Laden. CAIR designated the conviction of the “blind cleric,” Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing as a hate-crime. Like IAP and ISNA, CAIR strongly supports HAMAS and Hezbollah and receives significant Saudi funding. Its spokesman, Hooper, and Board Chairman, Omar Ahmad, support making the United States into a Muslim country.

Now CAIR is returning the favor -- whining about Stevens’ refused U.S. entry, just like they kvetch over every deported terror supporter.

Cat Stevens' Map of Hate:
Cat Stevens' map of the world looks just like Al-Qaeda’s, HAMAS’, and Islamic Jihad’s map of the world. His website’s map lists every country – EXCEPT, there’s no Israel. Instead, there’s a new country, called “Holyland” in its place. (Click on the blank map on Cat Stevens’ personal website to reveal the hidden state names on his “revised” planet). Hmmmm . . . . Let me guess: the new Prime Minister of “Holyland” is name Abu-something or other. Stevens calls this new map, “small kindness.”

Cat Stevens' Favorite Radical Cleric:
Then, there’s Cat Stevens’ favorite radical Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, whom he met with less than a month after the 9/11 attacks. Yusuf, with whom Stevens is close, was under investigation at the time for this speech two days before the attacks: “This country is facing a terrible fate. ... This country stands condemned. It stands condemned like Europe stood condemned because of what it did — and lest people forget that Europe suffered two world wars after conquering the Muslim lands.” Unfortunately, President Bush invited him to the White House, where he was when FBI agents knocked on his California door.

At a 1995 ISNA conference, Yusuf delivered this speech: “The Jews would have us believe that God has this bias to this little small tribe in the Middle of the Sinai desert and all the rest of humanity is just rubbish. I mean that this is the basic doctrine of the Jewish religion and that's why it is a most racist religion."

Clearly, Cat Stevens is not your garden-variety has-been ‘70s pop singer. Nope. He’s your garden-variety has-been ‘70s pop singer turned Muslim turned Islamo-fascist.

“They have hijacked my religion,” Stevens told Britain’s “The Independent,” after 9/11. But, it sounds like he’s hijacked his religion. Or, maybe, it has hijacked him.

Fortunately, the Department of Homeland Security is deporting Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam on a “Peace Train” back to where he slithered from.

Now, if only they would send his radical Muslim friends in America along with a one-way ticket.

[Andrew McGeever]

"Music is part of God's Universe"
This was the title of an extensive article/interview with Yusuf Islam in today's Guardian (March 29th).
Two British newspapers (The Sunday Times and the Sun) were forced last month to pay substantial damages for wrongly insinuating that Yusuf supported terrorist groups. Both newspapers apologised, yet he awaits an apology from the U.S. government for deporting him from Washington when he intended to go to Nashville to discuss "musical ideas".
The Guardian article contains snippets such as "Shortly after 9/11 , he sang an acapella version of Peace Train by video link to the charity concert in New York for the victims. It was the first time he had performed a Cat Stevens song in public in almost a quarter of a century."

Andrew.

[Byron]

I wrote a lengthy response to Kay's cut and paste posting. I deleted it all because I thought I'd be wasting my time.
My thanks to Andrew for not cutting and pasting, but giving us a reference point for us to read for ouselves.
But I fear that we may be p*ssing in the wind as far as some contributers are concerned.
Thank you Andrew.

[Andrew McGeever]

Dear Byron et al,
The last paragraph of the article reads:
When asked if we'll ever see him again in concert, he buries his head in his hands in mock horror. "There are people waving cheque books. But my wife wouldn't allow that," he says. "She loves my songs but she doesn't want to see me going down that road." And yet , he says:"There are a lot of good causes out there to sing for. And if Indian Ocean does well, perhaps people will remember my voice and what I was able to do with it."
Check out http://www.yusufislam.org.uk
All the proceeds go to orphaned children in Indonesia's Aceh province.
With respect,
Andrew.

[Tchocolatl]

I care and I appreciate a lot, I would have like to bring these posts here myself, and I think Andrew is doing all of a good job!

All this arrest in the plane thing is like the patriotic fries thing. A big stupidity that was created by fear (which is the contrary of Love).

Now that US seems to have come back from this non-sense and are acting otherwise, may the blind followers of their politics, please stop it also. This is a wish. They say they came true. Who knows?