An Aafia Update from Texas, and the ongoing saga of Amanda Knox

THE PEACE THRU JUSTICE FOUNDATION 11006 Veirs Mill Rd, STE L-15, PMB 298 Silver Spring, MD. 20902 RABI AL-AWWAL 1435 A.H. (February 1, 2014) Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace): This is coming to our readers from Irving, Texas, where I just arrived from Houston. We experienced significant difficulties in the drive toward Houston, Texas; among other challenges, Br. Hussein and I ended up being stuck in Louisiana overnight due to the highway shutdown that resulted from bad weather and road conditions. The following day the highway was reopened later than initially reported, in spite of this, however, the visit to Houston was a wonderful success (Alhamdullilah)! The Consul-General at the Pakistani Consulate was kind enough to see us after regular business hours (due to our late arrival), and we had a frank and productive discussion that lasted for a little over an hour (some of the details of which I will share later, insha’Allah). Of even greater import, however, is what took place in Houston the following day. A brother in the Houston area (Khalid Zaman) saw the release that I sent out (“The Aafia Mobilization comes to Texas - THREE DAYS ONLY”), gave me a call, and went into action. He contacted the president at Masjid El-Farouq (Masaoud Baaba) - a large and beautiful complex that serves approximately one thousand Muslims for jumuah – and he responded positively to the request to allow me a few minutes after the salat to update the community on Aafia and the campaign on her behalf. A fundraising appeal was made on behalf of a masjid project in one of the neighboring cities, and thus, by the time I delivered a roughly five minute statement the majority of the brothers had already departed the musalla; due to the sheer size of the assembly, however, a good number were still present. When I got outside, our table was surrounded by brothers and sisters who wanted more information on Aafia’s plight and an opportunity to contribute! May ALLAH (SWT) bless Brothers Khalid and Masaoud for their respective responses, and bless the brothers and sisters who responded as well. Of special note is a brother from the UK who presently resides in the US. He was deeply touched and encouraged by what he heard, and returned in the evening with his son to converse with me further. He has a friend with “Caged Prisoners,” a human rights organization in the UK, that he wants to put me in touch with – especially given our anticipated visit to the UK in the coming weeks, insha’Allah. I am now in Irving (TX), where I expect to briefly address the brothers (and some sisters, perhaps) at the Islamic Center of Irving for salatul fajrtomorrow morning (ICI has a large fajr salat, praise be to ALLAH); and I hope to be able to address the entire community tomorrow evening. I also plan to visit the Islamic Association of Tarrant County, in Fort Worth, tomorrow afternoon. Insha’Allah, in the coming days I will let our readers know how everything went. With that said, I want to turn our readers’ attention to another Aafia-related matter in the news right now. A young American woman (Amanda Knox) has been re-convicted by an Italian appeals court for her alleged involvement in the murder of another 21 year old foreign exchange student by the name of Meredith Kercher. Read one of the many news reports on this most recent development in her case; and then read what we had to say about her and Casey Anthony's case, vis-a-vis Aafia Siddiqui's, more than two years ago. Our commentary touched upon the role that race, class, politics, andreligion play in the way "justice" is often meted out in the land of liberty and justice for all!  Amanda Knox Guilty Verdict Reinstated By Italian Court : The ... www.npr.org/.../amanda-knox-guilty-verdict-reinstated-by-italian-court 2 days ago ... An Italian court has reinstated the original guilty verdict against U.S. student Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the 2007 ... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note the date that the article below was written and released.- MS THE PEACE THRU JUSTICE FOUNDATION RAMADAN 1432 A.H. (August 7, 2011) A Tale of Three Accused Women: And justice American style Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace): This is coming to our readers from the state of Alabama. On Friday I spoke at Masjid Qasim Bilal El-Amin in Montgomery (AL); last night I spoke at the Islamic Center in Hoover (AL), part of Greater Birmingham; tonight (insha'Allah) I will have a few words at the Birmingham Islamic Society in Homewood (aka, The Homewood Masjid), also part of Metropolitan Birmingham. Earlier this afternoon I did an interview by telephone with Press TV (an Iran-based network I believe), on a comparative analysis of the criminal cases involving three young women, two Americans and one Pakistani. The cases of Amanda Knox, Casey Anthony, and Dr. Aafia Siddiquireveal just how arbitrary and capricious "justice" can be in the U.S. legal system; and how conceptually flawed it can be in the collective mind of the American people (generally speaking). These three cases also reveal, in very graphic detail, the role that race, class, gender, religion and politics often play in the pursuit of  justice in the western hemisphere. Amanda Knox was prosecuted and convicted in Italy (along with her Italian lover and an African immigrant) for the brutal murder of another young female foreign exchange student. Knox received a sentence of 26 years as a result. Now via the automatic appeals process in European law (a superior process, in my humble view, to what exists in American law) and the recent decision by an appellate judge to allow an independent review of key forensic evidence that was used to convict her - because the evidence was reportedly contaminated by being mishandled by Italian investigators - Knox has a good chance of winning release in the near future. If I were a betting man, I would wage it all on my belief that Ms. Knox will be "legally" cleared and repatriated back to America sooner than later.[This prediction ended up being on point!] Casey Anthony, a young woman from Florida, was charged in the death of her own child, Caylee Anthony. Despite the damning evidence against her, Anthony was recently found not guilty of the most serious charges in the murder indictment, and convicted only for giving false information to the law enforcement officers who investigated the case. Anthony has now been released to an undisclosed location, and reportedly stands to make a fortune whenever she decides to "tell her story." Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is a Pakistani national, and committed Muslim woman, who came to the United States at the age of 18 for university study. She excelled academically at the University of Houston, MIT, and Brandeis University. She also distinguished herself as a young leader of the Muslim Students Asociation to which she belonged, and engaged in praiseworthy charitable work in the greater Boston area. Aafia would later become a person of suspicion (post 9/11), return home to Pakistan, and eventually become the target of a rendition operation (along with her three young children - ages six, four, and six months) in March of 2003. After five years of secret detention and torture, Aafia would mysteriously re-emerge in a weakened and disheveled state in Afghanistan; she would be shot and seriously injured while awaiting re-interrogation; and soon after be brought back to the United States, in 2008, to eventually stand trial (two years later) for allegedly "attempting to murder U.S. personnel" (FBI and soldiers) in Afghanistan in July 2008. While Amanda Knox and Casey Anthony (young, white, non-Muslim females) became "tabloid darlings," whose trials played out in the public sphere like reality tv dramas, the trial of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was shrouded under a cloak of near anonymity within the United States - despite the presence of a significant number of reporters in the courtroom each day of the trial. Both Knox and Anthony misled investigators (they repeated lied) during their interrogations, while Aafia was forthright from start to finish. Both Knox and Anthony initially tried to shift responsibility for the crime that they were accused of committing on to an innocent person, and both had strong circumstantial evidence against them. In Siddiqui's case both the material and circumstantial evidence were strongly in her favor; it was the government's star witnesses that perjured themselves on the witness stand during the trial (although they were never charged with perjury)!  Casey Anthony received an extreme presumption of innocence from a jury that saw a young white female who was facing the death penalty, if convicted. I predict that the presumption of innocence principle will strongly kick in, post-conviction, based on the alleged contamination of evidence, in the appeals process for Amanda Knox. [And it did, just as predicted!] And while Ms. Anthony had a fair and impartial jurist to preside over her case, Judge Belvin Perry, Aafia Siddiqui had just the opposite. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman was openly biased against Dr. Siddiqui from start to finish. Anthony's jury was sequestered in a hotel, cutoff from the outside world; while Dr. Siddiqui's should have been! Aafia's jury left the courthouse each day and were continually exposed to the highly prejudicial, government-fed local media reports that contaminated the court of public opinion; reports that were so unfair and poisonous that they made any prospect for an impartial deliberation process almost impossible. Anthony's attorneys were given a lot of latitude in their defense of their client; while Siddiqui's attorneys were hamstrung (and in the opinion of some observers, allowed themselves to be hamstrung) to such an extent, that the missing five years of her secret detention were made off limitsduring the trial! While Casey Anthony is a free woman (relatively speaking); and Amanda Knox - who has benefited from a growing defense lobby, and American press coverage that has been primarily positive - may soon be a free woman; Dr. Aafia Siddiqui (who is not accused of harming anyone!) received a sentence of 86 years on September 23, 2010, and is now being confined at a notorious institution (known as FMC Carswell) on a military base in Fort Worth, Texas. The well-known peace activist, Cindy Sheehan, made a provocative observation regarding the outcome of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui case, not long after her sentencing: "Even if Dr. Siddiqui did shoot at the Americans, reflect on this. Say this case was being tried in Pakistan under similar circumstances for an American woman named Dr. Betty Brown who was captured and repeatedly tortured and raped by the ISI. Here in the states that woman would be a hero if she shot at her captors, not demonized and taken away from her life and her children. I believe Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is a political prisoner and now the political bogey-woman for two US regimes." I couldn't agree more...and so goes the tale of three accused women. El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan It will be interesting to see what unfolds around this case in the weeks and month ahead. To be continued, insha'Allah.

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Death Sentence: 'Alarming' number of inmates dying in local US jails

 Being put in the slammer in America can be a life-threatening proposition. The most recent data from the U.S Ministry of Justice shows more than 11 thousand people died in local jails in the decade to 2011. As RT's Ameera David reports, some of those hadn't even been charged.

Palestinians Launch “Melh Al-Ard” Campaign by Reviving Ein Hijleh Village in the Jordan Valley

https://www.facebook.com/notes/popular-struggle-coordination-committee/palestinians-launch-melh-al-ard-campaign-by-reviving-ein-hijleh-village-in-the-j/784563951572701

January 31, 2014 at 5:24am

PRESS RELEASE

Palestinians Launch “Melh Al-Ard” Campaign by Reviving Ein Hijleh Village in the Jordan Valley

Hundreds of Palestinians announced today the launching of “Melh Al-Ard” (Salt of the Earth) campaign by reviving the village of Ein Hijleh in the Jordan Valley on land belonging to the Orthodox Church and St. Gerassimos monastery. The campaign is launched in refusal of Israeli policies aimed at Judaizing and annexing the Jordan Valley.

 

Campaign organizers and participants declared,

 

We, the daughters and sons of Palestine, announce today the revival of Ein Hijleh village as part of Melh Al-Ard campaign in the Jordan Valley. The action aims at refusing the political status quo, especially given futile negotiations destroying the rights of our people for liberation and claim to their land.

 

Accordingly we have decided to revive an old Palestinian Canaanite village in the Jordan Valley next to so called “Route 90” linking the Dead Sea to Bisan. The action is part of a continuous step against the Israeli occupation’s plan to take over and annex the Jordan Valley. This step is a popular act against Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people and the constant Judaization of the land.

 

From the village of Ein Hijleh, we the participants announce that we hold tight to our right to all occupied Palestinian lands. We refuse Kerry’s Plan that will establish a disfigured Palestinian state and recognizes the Israeli entity as a Jewish State. Such a state will turn Palestinians living inside lands occupied in 1948 into residents and visitors that can be deported at anytime. We affirm the unity of our people and their struggle wherever they are for our inalienable rights.

 

Ein Hijleh village is located in what is called “Area C” in the Jordan Valley, which is under threat of annexation by Israeli policies and Kerry’s plan. Therefore, we have decided to take charge and call for a national action to protect the Jordan Valley and put an end to the constant Judaization of Palestinian lands.

 

Based on our support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) we call upon our friends and international solidarity groups to stand with the demands of the Palestinian people and boycott all Israeli companies including Israeli factories and companies that work in the Jordan Valley and profit from Palestinian natural resources.  

 

For instance, we ask you to boycott Mehadrin, the largest Israeli exporter of fruits and vegetables, some of which grown in the Jordan Valley. In addition, Hadiklaim, that exports dates produced by Israeli settlers in the Jordan Valley. We also call on you to boycott both Ahava andPremier, cosmetics companies that use Dead Sea minerals to produce its products.

 

Our Palestinian village is located near Deir Hijleh or St. Gerassimos monastery, on land that is property of the Orthodox monastery. The land mainly consists of few deserted old houses and palm trees. The white soil is highly concentrated with salt, and the area is surrounded by lands taken and used by Israeli settlers. An Israeli base is separating the land from Deir Hijleh monastery which owns a property of about 1000 dunams, some of which are taken by Israeli forces for the excuse of “security reasons.”  

 

The campaign, “Melh A-lArd” (Salt of the Earth), quotes a phrase from the bible, Matthew 13:5, which says, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” The name of our village, Ein Hijleh, is based on the original Canaanite name and the water spring (Ein) present there.

 

We the sons and daughters of Ein Hijleh call upon our people to join the struggle to revive the village and protect our rights, history, culture, and land. Daughters and sons of Palestine, be the salt of this earth and stay steadfast on it.

 

MEDIA CONTACT: Diana Alzeer, 0592400300 or 0525339054

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Mission Statement of the Pelican Bay Human Rights Movement First Amendment Campaign

picture from google 

January 31, 2014
http://sfbayview.com/2014/mission-statement-of-the-pelican-bay-human-rights-movement-first-amendment-campaign/

by Kijana Tashiri Askari, Baridi Yero, Abdul Olugbala Shakur, Kamau Askari, Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa, Sondai Kamdibe

We, the captive class of New Afrikan Black Revolutionaries at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, Calif., are confronted with a dilemma by having our mail and our revolutionary reading materials stolen or confiscated by fascist vigilantes under the spurious premise that we are promoting or involved in gang activity related to the Black Guerilla Family (BGF). These tactics are largely designed to target, attack, sabotage and neutralize the many initiatives, proposals, books, pamphlets and projects that we have developed for purposes of empowering, informing and rebuilding our communities with positive ideas of nation building.

Hence, this negative contradiction has made it necessary for us New Afrikans to formulate the Pelican Bay Human Rights Movement First Amendment Campaign for purposes of not only combating this contradiction, but to also protect and defend against the litany of human rights abuses that all oppressed people are confronted with. Thus we need the immediate support of all demographics from every community to get involved so that we can press forward with this objective.

For those who are unaware, in January and February of 2006, our captors created a “Communications Management Unit” (CMU) within the short corridor of the D-Facility Security Housing Unit (SHU) in housing units D1-D4. The institution and application of this CMU is illegal and arbitrary for the following principal reasons: 1) It was never promulgated through the Administrative Procedures Act for purposes of reclassifying the prisoners who have been designated to be housed in the CMU; 2) the staff assigned to operate the CMU is poorly trained with no concrete training in constitutional law, in particular from the standpoint of how our First Amendment freedoms of speech, expression and association are guaranteed to us in spite of our captive status; and 3) staff have no diversity training, knowledge or understanding of the many cultures, races and nationalities of individuals who now find themselves housed in the CMU.

This truth is particularly made evident as it relates to the captive class of New Afrikan Black revolutionaries, as there is not a single Black officer assigned to the Institutional Gang Investigators (IGI) Unit, which is largely responsible for trampling upon our human rights to free speech, expression and association.

The standing reason given for the implementation of the CMU in the SHU at the U.S. colony of Pelican Bay was your atypical sensationalized story of “the need to control, neutralize and negate unlawful criminal activities by alleged prison gang members.” But there is a distinct absence of any mechanisms in place that would deter our captors from violating our human rights.

We are well aware of the fact that where there is a void, by not having any qualitative oversight or control over any typical operation, the propensity for totalitarian control – abuse of power – becomes the primary focus of its operative existence. The Bernie Madoff Ponzi schemes are a prime example of this truth. Hence, the urgent need for the First Amendment Campaign, which will operate under the social principles of communal-cooperative work – Ujima-Ujamaa – via the construct of New Afrikan dialectical materialism.

Objectives of the First Amendment Campaign

The First Amendment Campaign will be centralized and compartmentalized into various teams in order to scientifically aid the strategic and cohesive preparation of effective responses as we struggle towards helping those whose human rights are being abused. The campaign’s primary function will be to serve as an “oversight committee” as it relates to responding to any and all potential First Amendment constitutional violations, as predicated upon the concrete material facts presented to our subsidiary teams focusing on investigation, research, propaganda and community relations and community defense. Through these teams the oversight committee will serve as the “brain trust” by coordinating the logistics for appropriate action regarding actual First Amendment constitutional violations.

The investigative team’s primary responsibility will be to identify the potential First Amendment constitutional violations and gather all related material facts, data and evidence for purposes of processing it to the oversight committee.

The research team’s primary responsibility will be to research the potential First Amendment constitutional violations for purposes of determining their degree and extent. All relevant findings will be forwarded to the oversight committee for assessing constitutional standing.

The propaganda and community relations team’s primary responsibility will be to maintain communication with the public regarding the importance of prisoners’ First Amendment constitutional freedoms of speech, expression and association and how we still maintain these human rights in spite of our captive status, yet our oppressors are depriving us of them for arbitrary and unjust reasons.

This team will also be responsible for updating the community on any active legal cases being fought in the courts and any current First Amendment human rights abuses being perpetrated by our captors. This entails creating viable working relationships and technology infrastructure in our communities, using, for example, public radio, the internet, newspapers, magazines and the state Legislature.

The community defense teams will operate upon the final synthesis reached by the oversight committee by putting into social practice the material interpretation of its conclusion concerning the First Amendment violation and/or human rights abuse that the people are being subjected to, as it is our duty to ensure the people that we’re here to serve them by defending and protecting their human rights. The personnel of the community defense teams will consist of human rights activists, volunteers and recruits who are attorneys, paralegals and those with some type of knowledge about prisoners and prison history and conditions.

All of the teams will be responsible for identifying material resources and establishing contacts with people who are willing and able to assist in the advancement of the First Amendment Campaign through financial donations, organizing community fundraisers, internet searches, media outreach and volunteering their time.

The success of the campaign will largely depend upon the pool of human rights activists and volunteer recruits who will be willing to struggle in harmony with us New Afrikan Black revolutionaries – who have the desire, commitment and courage to see humanity advanced through defending and protecting the human rights of all oppressed people. There is hardly a single community or family not impacted by these First Amendment abuses in light of the ominous proliferation of slave kamps (prisons) that has led to the removal – kidnapping – of many from the oppressed communities.

Current litigation needs support

Efforts are still being made by Kijana Tashiri Askari to obtain a permanent injunction to negate this fascism in the legal case of Harrison v. D.E. Milligan, et al., No. C-09-4665-51(PR). Brother Kijana is also currently challenging the arbitrary bans on the Swahili language and George Jackson’s book “Blood in My Eye” in the legal case of Harrison v. S. Burris, et al., No. C-13-2506-JST (PR). We encourage the community to send letters of support to the court to voice your outrage on what literally amounts to “cultural terrorism” that the captive class of New Afrikans is being subjected to.

Please write to Judge Susan Illston, U.S. Northern District Court, 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102, regarding the case of Harrison v. D.E. Milligan, C-09-4665-51, and Judge Jon S. Tigar, U.S. Northern District Court, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102, regarding the case of Harrison v. S. Burris, C-13-2506-JST.

One aim! One goal! One purpose!

Send our brothers some love and light:

• Kijana Tashiri Askari (s/n Marcus Harrison), H-54077, PBSP SHU D3-122, P.O. Box 7500, Crescent City, CA 95531, www.myspace.com./dare2struggle, e-mailtashiri@gmail.com;
• Baridi Yero (s/n James Williamson), D-34288, PBSP SHU D4-107, P.O. Box 7500, Crescent City, CA 95531;
• Abdul Olugbala Shakur (s/n James Harvey), D-48884, PBSP SHU D1-119, P.O. Box 7500, Crescent City, CA 95531;
• Kamau Askari (s/n Ralph Taylor), D-03780, PBSP SHU D3-102, P.O. Box 7500,Crescent City, CA 95531;
• Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa (s/n Ronnie Dewberry), C-35671, PBSP SHU D1-117, P.O. Box 7500, Crescent City, CA 95531;
• Sondai Kamdibe (s/n Randal Ellis), C-68764, PBSP SHU D1-223, P.O. Box 7500, Crescent City, CA 95531.

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anonymous - UK family justice

 A message to David Cameron and Sir James Munby:

Greetings citizens of the world. We are anonymous.

Government of the United Kingdom, it has come to our attention that you are routinely abusing the children of the country in corrupt Family Courts.
This is your first and only warning!

It is not acceptable for children to be taken from their parents and sold into adoption by social services.

It is not acceptable for a child to have their mother or father taken from them.

It is not acceptable for family laws to be abused in favour of one parent over the other.

It is not acceptable for your corrupt system to support a £43 billion industry.

Our children are not for sale, and you cannot have them.

David Cameron, this message is aimed directly at you. You have the power to intervene and undo some of the damage that this, and previous, governments have done to the children of our country.

You are required to immediately re-introduce the term 'assumption of shared parenting' into your government's children and families bill. As a parent who has suffered loss, you understand the pain that parents experience when they cannot see their child.

Furthermore, you are required to recognise early day motion 2 1 0 in the Houses of Parliament for immediate discussion.

You are also required to stop payments made to social services for the placement of a child with an adoptive family. If you continue to allow your government to sell our children in this way, you will be found guilty of human trafficking on an industrial scale. You will be punished!

Sir James Munby, this is a message for you.

You have begun the process of removing the secrecy of the family courts and we recognize this. However, you are responsible for the judges that work in your family court system and, therefore, you are also guilty of their crimes, unless you immediately address them.

You are required to send your judges a message.

You must tell them that they will, from now on, do everything they can to keep a child with its parents.

You must tell them that they must do everything to ensure that a child has a relationship with both parents.

You must tell them that they must do their duty correctly and they must not continue to support the corrupt government services and parents who wish to abuse the children.

You have all been warned.

Failure to save the children of this country will be treated as an act of child abuse and you will be found guilty. You will not receive further warning.

Your enemy is now the parents of this country. We will protect our children and the children of our children.

We are grandparents.
We are mothers.
We are fathers.
We are anonymous.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us.