Remembering 9-11, How can I forget?

NEVER FORGET!

I remember 9-11 as if it happened yesterday. I came downstairs after awakening and turned on the TV like I always did. For some reason, the TV was muted as I saw the scenes. I was not wearing my contact lenses so I could not see with clarity but I saw the aircraft hit one of the towers. Still dozy, I assumed it was some special effects scene, which is what I told my wife as she came down. Then the sound got turned on, I put on my contacts and with a shock, I realized this was real; someone had hijacked aircraft and they were crashing them into buildings. With a sick feeling, I saw the buildings collapse, judging from the size of the towers, I assumed there must have been at least over ten thousand people killed in the collapsed buildings.

Then I learned that the hijackers were Muslims and their purpose was presumed to be “Islamic”. I cursed the people involved in the slaughter as I do to this day, May God hold them responsible and keep them in Hell for the horrors they perpetrated on innocent people!

A few people called me and asked what kind of response should Muslims make?

How can one respond, thoughts and prayers? It would be foolish to say anything that could mean that we, as Muslims, were collectively assuming any responsibility for the heartless, thoughtless, inhuman and definitely un-Islamic, actions of a few.

As the day unfolded, I realized that the decision to respond would ne with massive military resources and that Muslims would indeed, be held accountable.

In the, months and years that followed, the sympathy for the victims and their families transformed into concern for Muslims and fear for the Muslim families that were (and still are) being targeted as “terrorists” by the President, Congress and by all US agencies, most notably, the FBI. We were suspects and targets of unrelenting persecution. Within a year, under the direction of John Ashcroft, the US Attorney-General, the FBI had “detained” or jailed, over 14,000 Muslims in all jails…City, county, state and all.

I remember at one time there was a Congressional hearing in which Ashcroft admitted there was nothing material against the Muslims being held, but that he looked upon them “as pieces of a mosaic” and that some patterns will emerge from them. Nothing ever did, but most of the Muslims held, had their lives destroyed in the time they were “detained”, some for years, without charges or trials. They lost jobs, finances, their homes and in some cases, even their marriages.

There was mourning across the nation and across the world. In Muslim-majority countries, people marched in support of the victims and condemned the terrorist actions of the people. With tears in their eyes, Muslims were seen showing solidarity with the American victims.

Muslims mourning 9-11

In the US, there were efforts to compensate victims, memorials were built. It was as if Muslims did not exist as humans, Muslim survivors of the attacks were denied support in the face of the solidarity shown to other victims of 9-11. It was as if Muslims could not exist among the virtuous; only among the evil ones. Even newspaper cartoonists ignored Muslims as among the innocent. We were never recognized.

No Muslims

Radio talk shows and TV programs pivoted to focus on Muslims and Islam as the focus of all evil, even school books were re-written to show Islam and Muslims in as terrible a picture as possible. The FBI planted paid “informants” in Mosques and other Muslims communities, who were actually agents provocateurs tasked to find vulnerable, impressionable Muslims, incite and motivate them to violence so they could then be arrested by the FBI with great fanfare. A massive industry was born, with the sole goal of proving Islam and Muslims to be evil, but done disguised as “Anti-Terrorism Training”.

“Islam=Terrorism”

The nation’s Police sucked it up; there were no safe places in America to be a Muslim. Even many Churches and Synagogues got into the act, venting their hatred against Islam and Muslims by inviting self-declared “experts” on Islam AND Terrorism, to explain to their congregations why a Muslim cannot possibly be a good American. Targeting us Muslims, still remains a good source of fundraising for many of them.

Personally, I had people call me all sorts of names, “traitor” being the least of them. I was accused of being “a Sleeper-cell leader”, an “Islamist”, “Terrorist”, “Terrorist Sympathizer” and that I belonged in Gitmo. Friends turned against me, joining the accusations of being a terrorist, one threatened me with implied shooting claiming, HE was afraid for his family from me. There were other incidents where people threatened to shoot me just because I am Muslim. It became so serious that I feared someone would shoot at me while I was in the car with my kids. I was pretty sure they would miss me but I was equally certain they may injure or kill my children. I proceeded to train my 11 year-old daughter and my 7-year old son to unbuckle and fall on the van’s floor if I yelled, “Get down!”. I almost purchased a gun to protect my family then reason prevailed and I decided not to join the gun-nuts. Most Muslims went quiet, dressed more “American”, they lived in constant fear for themselves and their families, not from the local civilian, but from the agencies such as the FBI, The Police and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Not far behind them were other agencies, even the USDA (Department of Agriculture) got in on the Muslim-hunting game. For the same “crime”, Muslims were imprisoned for as many as 17 years, while non-Muslims doing even more, were praised for their heroic work.

The chronicles of individual attacks and humiliations to Muslims are so many that it would take books to write them. But this should suffice for now.

Today, on the 20^th anniversary of 9-11, it is time to rip off the collective scab of the pain of the attacks and feel it afresh; that is the patriotic thing to do. In the meantime, one might assume that targeting of Muslims, the persecutions and the hate-industry would have finished by now, sadly, not so. Bush Jr, opened the gates and lit the fires of Islamophobic hate, making it a Across America, Anti-Semitism has been declared a hate-crime, racism against Blacks has been declared a crime but Muslims have to beg to get the Police or the FBI to recognize violence against Muslims as such. Islamophobia has yet to be even defined; it is met by an indulgent shrug.

In my own country, agencies and administration still consider me to be “The other”.

Today in America, it is a mark of patriotism to target Muslims, Obama did not move the needle down. Trump actively fueled it, generating active hate towards Blacks, Muslims and everyone from, as he termed it, “Shithole countries”. Biden has yet to show any signs that he recognizes the threat to Muslims.

Brainwashing and Blind Patriotism

I was having an online conversation with a US ex-soldier recently. It began with Billy Graham’s death and rapidly went down the chute to the invasion of Iraq and slaughters of Muslims in many of our “War!”-front countries. I held Billy Graham responsible for supporting genocidal wars and for supporting his son Franklin in spite of Franklin’s open hostility towards Muslims and Islam…genocidal hostility, I would add.

 

I could not help but notice his fierce defense of the Iraq Invasion (Billy G was a supporter of all wars) so I remarked that it is understandable for him to have such a stand because he had been brainwashed during training that Iraq invasion was an existential war and the Iraqis were Evil incarnate.

 

Such an attitude is not peculiar to US soldiers alone, the entire American population that supported the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, had been programmed into believing they were defending “our way of life”, that “The enemy” will stop at nothing, “They” will kill us all and will not rest until America has been destroyed and turned into a “Sharia state”.

There are still millions of Americans who believe “The enemy” is still out there, waiting to destroy “our way of life”. Those millions of people are still looking at Muslims in America as “Sleeper-Cells” waiting for the secret order from some unknown Grand Controller, to rise and kill all “Unbelievers”.

 

The power of brainwashing is deep and very long-lasting.

Trumps’ Speech on Afghanistan…and Pakistan

Yes, Donald Trump, the President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of its overwhelming military decided to give a speech on Afghanistan. I would give it zero points for a well thought-out plan and full points for high rhetoric, bluster, fake bravado and other brave-appearing but meaningless, sounds.

Let’s take a closer look…

• “Love for America requires love for all of its people. When we open our hearts to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice, no place for bigotry, and no tolerance for hate.”

Unless of course, we talk about MUSLIMS who do not deserve any protections against prejudice, bigotry or, hate. Note that most naïve Muslims are still sitting out there waiting and hoping that Trump will condemn the bombing of the Mosque in Bloomington, Minnesota; they have a long wait in front of them.

The 9-11 Tragedy

Yes, we are almost on September 11, 2016. For those who may not be aware, this is the 15th anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy where about 3000 people were killed in suicide attacks on America. Yes, this is the day that comes every year, when America gets to rip its collective scab off the wound so it can relive the pain and bleed again and this is a day for grief.

Too many people cannot distinguish between feeling grief and feeling the need to hate and kill.

Should Muslims Vote?

I have heard many a Muslim scholar and Imam telling their listeners not to vote and I have disagreed with them every time.

Until now…

As I see it, here is the problem Muslims face in every US (or other?) election; our votes do not count. To be sure, they count as far as the politicians are concerned because they understand how razor-thin margins can make the difference between an electoral victory or defeat.

• Senator Al Franken from (MN) won his first election by a mere 7 votes and two recounts.
• Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) won her first election by 2900 votes after spending over $10 million of her own money; big egos require big spending!
• Ex-Gov Christine Gregoire won her first election by 129 recounted votes.
• And the greatest tragedy of all, King George The Worst (GW) won his first election by a microscopic 600 Floridian votes…incidentally, where Muslims gave him their greatest support and money..

That’s how crucial votes can be for those fighting elections.

So why shouldn’t Muslims vote?

Because politically, we do not exist.

Ultra-Patriot or Fascist?

It is a thin line separating an ultra-Patriot from a Fascist, so thin in fact, that it can easily be invisible.

Consider that when America first went into the post-9/11 “War!” to bring the shining light of Democracy to the darkness of “Islamic Terrorism”, we watched, fascinated by our high-tech prowess that could render mountains into piles of rubble, without a single boot on the ground. Those of us who protested that we had no business being there in the first place were deemed traitors because we did not support the troops; our Administration had deftly turned the continuation of this “War! into supporting or betraying our men and women in uniform.

Shredding the Constitution; America’s Muslim Problem

We are at a point in our history where killing an American by Presidential order, without Due Process of the law, without charges or trial, fails to even elicit a yawn from the American people. It should come as no shock to people that this has happened and is still on the table as desirable and lawful…AND that the targets of such action are Muslims.

It is one thing for someone, US citizen or not, to be killed in the heat of a battle, where gunfire is being exchanged. But to have a US citizen…to have anybody… killed by Presidential fiat, flies in the face of the US constitution and every law of the land, it is nothing less than murder.

How? Why?…Muslim Woman Beaten to Death in California

“Another innocent person killed by a Crazy”…at least, that is what most uninvolved people will think as they move on to their daily chores and pursuits.

Muslims in America on the other hand, will see the brutal killing of this Iraqi Muslim woman in California, as one more piece of convincing evidence that America IS gearing up to a genocidal state of mind, towards Muslims.

No, thankfully, not ALL Americans are filled with hate and fear towards Muslims, but it does not take ALL members of any group, to ignite the fires of hate-driven violence, it only takes a small, loud percentage, abetted by the silence of the large majority who don’t want to upset the routines of their lives, by getting involved.

No, not ALL Republicans are such monsters, not ALL Tea-Party members are filled with this hate towards Islam and Muslims and not ALL Democrats support such hate. But certainly ALL Republicans, ALL Tea Partiers and ALL Democrats, are guilty of at least being default supporters because of their silence.

And ALL Americans are involved in this hate-machine because

Muslim & American; The Two Faces of the West

Sometimes, I think God has a macabre sense of humor. He allows us to firmly place ourselves in a self-righteous position and then deftly pulls the rug away from under us by presenting  an entirely contrary situation.

Take the case of the mass-murderer in Afghanistan.

On Sunday, March 11, 2012, the soldier slaughtered 4 Afghan men, 3 women and 9 children, dragged their bodies into one place and set them on fire. Then he calmly walked back to his base and surrendered saying, “I did it”.  For the next FIVE days, all we were allowed to know about his identity was that he is a Staff Sergeant from Joint Base Lewis McCord (JBLM) in Tacoma Washington. The military said they were keeping his identity quiet in order to protect his family.

Killing Afghans, ‘Pakis’, Iraqis, Somalis…WHY???!!!

Updated March 13, 2012…

When the news of a US soldier going out to kill Afghans, first broke, American media were focusing on TWO deaths even as they also reported that the Afghanis were saying about 17 had been killed. Almost immediately other diffusers and excuses began to pour forth, giving “News Coverage” a new meaning.

The New York Times can STILL not bring itself to report the 16 murders without offering some softening words; in the headline, the US soldier is said to kill civilians even as NYT goes on to describe what the soldier (from our Puget Sound area) did:

New York Times: “U.S. Sergeant Is Said to Kill 16 Civilians in Afghanistan”

• “…the soldier, who had walked more than a mile from his base, tried door after door, eventually breaking in to kill within three separate houses. The man gathered 11 bodies, including those of 4 girls younger than 6, and set fire to them, villagers said.”

As if to justify the murders or at least, to minimize the tragedy, Super-Patriot, Angry-Bird John McCain shamelessly shifted the focus to 9-11 instead of offering even a few grudging words of regret or sympathy.

“We should not forget that the attacks on the United States of America originated in Afghanistan,” Senator John McCain told CNN. Inferring of course, that a few deaths of the unwashed, here or there, should not be a cause for concern.