What the f*ck?!? Terror watchlist passenger...

[Guest MikeSC]

Actually, his known support of Hamas, particularly Hamas, is a major issue (lord knows Israel LOVES the guy).

                -=Mike

I know that he was refused entry to Israel 4 years ago, but not for this reason. Do you have a source?

Actually, the giving of tens of thousands to Hamas is the reason Israel expelled him.

The '70s folkie formerly known as Cat Stevens has become a voice of moderate Islam since the the Sept. 11 attacks. But Israeli officials are charging that thousands of dollars donated by the "Peace Train" songwriter for humanitarian causes in 1988 were rerouted to the terrorist group Hamas, GQ magazine reports.

 

The article by Jake Tapper claims that Stevens, who changed his name to Yusef Islam in 1977, gave the money to Mouhammad Abdel- Rahman, a son of the notorious blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

 

"We don't think this - we know it," Israeli government spokesman Daniel Seaman tells the magazine.

 

Islam also helped radical cleric Sheik Omar Bakri Muhammad get a lawyer after he was jailed for saying Britain's then-Prime Minister John Major was "a legitimate target" for assassination, the mag reports.

 

His brother, David Gordon, says Islam has distanced himself from radicals and argues "no one ever knows where the money goes" with such charities.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/sto...49p-74395c.html

-=Mike

...Can't find the link to the original GQ article, so this is the best I can give ya...

[Zorin Industries 0]

Hmm, strange no-one mentioned anything like this on the news tonight, but then again they didn't bring up the Salman Rushdie business either. Then again its very hard to judge where the money is going sometimes when you do this (as it says in the article), so maybe it is naiveity once again.

 

But thats what he said with Rushdie, so it would be hard to buy that as an excuse a second time

[Guest Anglesault]

Cat Stevens should be sent to Cuba for infliciting "Cats in the Cradle" into the world

Morning Has Broken justifies deportation

[2GOLD 0]

Cat Stevens should be sent to Cuba for infliciting "Cats in the Cradle" into the world

Morning Has Broken justifies deportation

 

"If you want to sing, sing out" justifies a caning.

[Guest MikeSC]

Cat Stevens should be sent to Cuba for infliciting "Cats in the Cradle" into the world

Morning Has Broken justifies deportation

 

"If you want to sing, sing out" justifies a caning.

Oh God, I had forgotten that God-forsaken shitheap of a piece of "music".

 

Make it go away, please!

-=Mike

[AndrewTS 0]

*Thousands* of dollars? Holy crap, that's serious!!!

[Guest INXS]

To raise a slightly more serious aspect of this story, why did the authorities wait until Cat Stevens was on board and the plane was up in the air before they decided to do anything about him? I mean, thank God this wasn't a *real* terrorist - he would have been on the plane already! So much for improved security.

 

I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry with these things so re-directing the plane and giving Mr Stevens a little grilling is fine by me.

 

Let's remember that there is NO evidence to suggest that Mr Stevens KNOWINGLY gave money to any 'dirty' charities, as in knowing they were fronts for terror groups when he donated the money.

[Zorin Industries 0]

To raise a slightly more serious aspect of this story, why did the authorities wait until Cat Stevens was on board and the plane was up in the air before they decided to do anything about him? I mean, thank God this wasn't a *real* terrorist - he would have been on the plane already! So much for improved security.

I think it was because he was leaving from thr U.K. to head to the U.S. and the British government dosen't believe the Hamas rumors. The Foreign Office is apparantly raging about what happened to Islam and saying it shouldn't have taken place, the man is well respected in the U.K. for charity work and for moderation with regards to Fundamentalism

[teke184 0]

Actually, it has to do with the airline not noticing the name the no-fly list.

 

 

The US gov't gets a copy of passenger lists for flights headed to the US within 15 minutes of departure. When they got the list for this flight, they examined it and found that Yusuf Islam or some other form of that name was on the no-fly list, which matched up with the Yusuf Islam on the flight, the former Cat Stevens.

 

(Because the Arabic alphabet is so different from the Roman alphabet, there are many different spellings for the same Arabic name. Example- Quadafi, Gaddafy, Khadafi, etc.)

[Zorin Industries 0]

That is probably it, although airport security is still quite sloppy in the U.K so human error would not be surprising

 

P.S: Does anyone know somewhere on the internet where I could see what my name looks like in Arabic? For some reason i'm a bit curious.

[Vyce 0]

*Thousands* of dollars? Holy crap, that's serious!!!

To the families of Israelis who were killed by Hamas bombers funded by the contributions of Stevens and others, I imagine it's pretty serious indeed.

 

Fuck him.

[Guest TheLastBoyscout]

If this was the mid 70's, Mike would be the one guy saying that the CIA really SHOULD deport John Lennon.

 

He's also missing the bigger picture that our intelligence forces cannot distinguish between CAT FUCKING STEVENS and a suspected terrorist alias.

[Guest GreatOne]

You're right it's CAT STEVENS, we shold all bow to his holiness.

 

Thank god he quit the music biz 'fore I came around--or at least had an idea in hell about it.

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

*Thousands* of dollars?  Holy crap, that's serious!!! 

To the families of Israelis who were killed by Hamas bombers funded by the contributions of Stevens and others, I imagine it's pretty serious indeed.

 

Fuck him.

It wouldn't surprise me if Cat Stevens was pretty guillable

[Lil' Bitch 0]

NEW YORK - An incident this week in which British former pop star Cat Stevens (news) was deported from the United States to London as a "no-fly" terrorist risk was caused by a spelling error.

 

Stevens, 57, gave up his successful pop career in the late 1970s, taking the name Yusuf Islam and converting to Islam.

 

He had been travelling from London to Washington on 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, according to US security officials.

 

Asa Hutchinson, the US Department of Homeland Security's under secretary for border and transportation security, refused to specify the allegations against Islam.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

"We have now initiated a legal process to try to find out exactly what is going on, and to take all necessary steps to undo the very serious, and wholly unfounded, injustice which I have suffered," he said in a statement.

 

"The amazing thing is that I was not given, and have still not been given, any explanation whatsoever as to what it is I am accused of, or why I am now deemed an apparent security threat -- let alone given an opportunity to respond to these allegations.

 

"I was simply told that the order had come from on high."

 

Credit: Yahoo.com

[2GOLD 0]

We should be honest to him.

We deported him so he can't sell another CD in the US.

 

Now if we can only deport Korn, Britney Spears and Kenny G....

[Styles 0]

NEW YORK - An incident this week in which British former pop star Cat Stevens (news) was deported from the United States to London as a "no-fly" terrorist risk was caused by a spelling error.

 

Stevens, 57, gave up his successful pop career in the late 1970s, taking the name Yusuf Islam and converting to Islam.

 

He had been travelling from London to Washington on 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, according to US security officials.

 

Asa Hutchinson, the US Department of Homeland Security's under secretary for border and transportation security, refused to specify the allegations against Islam.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

"We have now initiated a legal process to try to find out exactly what is going on, and to take all necessary steps to undo the very serious, and wholly unfounded, injustice which I have suffered," he said in a statement.

 

"The amazing thing is that I was not given, and have still not been given, any explanation whatsoever as to what it is I am accused of, or why I am now deemed an apparent security threat -- let alone given an opportunity to respond to these allegations.

 

"I was simply told that the order had come from on high."

 

Credit: Yahoo.com

CBS News stands by the validity of its sources that implicate Cat Stevens' guilt.

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

this is bad news for S. Adam Hussein

[Vanhalen 0]

Now if we can only deport Korn, Britney Spears and Kenny G....

Fuck that! We dont want them

[DerangedHermit 0]

 

Now if we can only deport Korn, Britney Spears and Kenny G....

Fuck that! We dont want them

Fine, you get them plus Fred Durst.

[Guest MikeSC]

 

Now if we can only deport Korn, Britney Spears and Kenny G....

Fuck that! We dont want them

Fine, you get them plus Fred Durst.

Wouldn't that be viewed as WMD proliferation?

-=Mike

[2GOLD 0]

 

Now if we can only deport Korn, Britney Spears and Kenny G....

Fuck that! We dont want them

Fine, you get them plus Fred Durst.

Wouldn't that be viewed as WMD proliferation?

-=Mike

 

What about Cher and Bette Milder to the UK and we'll ship Fred to Canada. Is that agreeable?

[Guest MikeSC]

 

Now if we can only deport Korn, Britney Spears and Kenny G....

Fuck that! We dont want them

Fine, you get them plus Fred Durst.

Wouldn't that be viewed as WMD proliferation?

-=Mike

 

What about Cher and Bette Milder to the UK and we'll ship Fred to Canada. Is that agreeable?

Can we just give Europe our MTV? That'd solve problems.

-=Mike

...Hell, throw in VH1. "Best Week Ever" isn't THAT great...