| THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016). |
|---|
His 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 Stevens. 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. 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." 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 (news - web sites). 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." Recently, though, 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." ___ |
All it reminded me of was my dad's many stories of Cat Stevens. My dad swears that Cat Stevens is by far the biggest asshole he's ever met. He worked in a recording studio in the mid to late 70's and early 80's. He worked with a lot of people. A lot of famous people and a lot of one hit wonders nobody has ever heard of. But he vowed that Cat Stevens was the worst human being he's ever had the misfortune to be around, and the few weeks he had to work with him were among the most uncomfortable of his life. I was then treated to a half hour rant about Cat Stevens, his child-like hissy fits and his near constant bitching. When my dad ran out of steam, i asked my mom if she remembered anything about Cat Stevens and she went on a little rant of her own (she was a huge fan at the time and went to the studio to watch). When she got home that night, (she said) she took all her Cat Stevens albums and threw them the fuck out. My dad is a pretty cool guy, but i guess Cat Stevens just had this affect on him. (i love this story, BTW) |
Ex-singer Cat Stevens to take legal action against US LONDON (AFP) - Singer-songwriter and peace activist Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, is to begin legal action against US authorities to find out why he was deported from the United States as a terrorist risk, he said. Cat Stevens: Deportation Was A Mistake (Reuters) Passenger Cat Stevens Gets Plane Diverted (AP) "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," the ex-singer said in a statement. Islam, 57, who gave up his hugely successful pop career in the late 1970s when he became a Muslim, arrived back in London on Thursday after being swiftly removed from the United States. He had been travelling to Washington on Tuesday when his flight was diverted to Bangor, Maine where he was detained on "national security grounds", according to US security officials. Asa Hutchinson, the US Department of Homeland Security's under secretary for border and transportation security, refused to say what allegations had been made against Islam, but stressed the action was taken due to "a connection to some type of terrorist activity". Islam was denied entry to Israel in 2000 over suspicions that he had given money to the radical Palestinian group Hamas, but has consistently condemned terrorism and denied supporting it. In his statement, Islam described his deportation as a "dark episode". "Never would I believe that such a thing could happen in the land of the free - unfortunately, it did," he said. |
fuck you cat stevens. |
|
|
|