By Adil James, MMNS

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Dearborn–May 26–Perhaps what is most interesting about the Global Education Excellence (GEE) Alumni event, the “Alumni Association Dinner,” last Sunday afternoon at Bint Jebail in Dearborn is the very fact of its happening.  In order to make other alumni available to one another, the GEE leadership started this alumni dinner and celebration–and it is a reflection of the organization’s burgeoning nature that hundreds of enthusiastic students and faculty attended the dinner.

GEE is a growing body of charter schools, based in Ohio and Michigan, which through its graduates has already begun to make its mark in the nation’s universities, with at least one graduate has been accepted by the single most prestigious American university, Harvard–although that student (who spoke at the Alumni event) has elected to go to the University of Michigan Ann Arbor instead.

The three schools that participated in the alumni event are the only high schools in the GEE family, namely Riverside in Dearborn, Frontier in Hamtramck, and Central, in Ann Arbor.

GEE is a network of charter schools that was previously examined by The Muslim Observer in November of 2008 in the context of its local school, the Riverside Academy.

Riverside Academy is the school that once was the American Islamic Academy–an Islamic school which was associated with the Islamic Institute of Knowledge, one of Dearborn’s largest mosques.

After it suffered financial difficulties the American Islamic Academy closed its doors, and the building is now inhabited by a charter school which cannot teach religious subjects but which still is amenable to Muslim and Arab students, in that it has maintained a policy of teaching boys and girls separately, so that, in the words of Riverside principal Ramzi Saab, “so that students focus on academics.”

Central and Frontier, however, do not have separate classes for boys and girls, and this may be a reflection of the more conservative population in Dearborn as compared with Ann Arbor or even Hamtramck.

Other positive aspects of Riverside include its making the Arabic language available to students. This is a characteristic that also is carried by the other two GEE high schools, Central and Frontier.

All three high schools also have a uniform requirement, which also distinguishes them from area public schools.

Since the TMO article from November of 2008, the Riverside Academy has taken large strides, marked especially by the fantastic success of the 2010 graduate Wafa Algahmi, whose parents are of Yemeni origin, who received a stellar 35 on her ACT, and who was accepted to Harvard University.  Due to the distance, she instead has declared her intention to attend the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.

Hajja Khalida Beydoun, a guidance counselor at Riverside Academy, explained that in fact this year had been very successful for Riverside graduates, with many of them receiving scholarships from local Michigan schools.  Once again in my interview (as before a year and a half ago) she rattled off  from memory the successes of her students in a staccato style,  betraying her deep commitment to her students.

“Masha`Allah, overall 33 seniors are graduating this year.  Out of 33, 17 were dual enrolled at Henry Ford Community College, with at least 20 college credits paid for under the school.”

“Three are going to University of Michigan Dearborn, one on scholarship, one is going to ITT Technical Institute, on a scholarship, another is attending Eastern Michigan University–no scholarship there,” she says sadly. 

“One is attending Central Michigan, on a partial scholarship.”

“Our seniors received numerous scholarships per student.”

One new milestone, she explains, is that “this year five of our students, are going on a trip to Jordan.  They have to have at least a 3.5 GPA and excellent behavior.”  The trip will be in June and July, and is sponsored in part by GEE and in part by Michigan State University, which maintains an affiliate relationship with a high school in Jordan.  “That’s why they’re sponsoring it over there,” Ms. Beydoun explained.

“We have five young ladies, Muslim, with GPA’s of 3.95 or higher, dual enrolled at Henry Ford Community College,” going on the trip to Jordan, Ms. Beydoun said.
An indication of the GEE high school’s cooperation, the GEE high schools have planned their graduation ceremonies to occur without conflicting, so that people can attend more than one. 

The Alumni Association’s mission is “to establish lifelong connections between GEE Academies and its alumni for continued growth of the Academies and its alumni.”

Ms. Beydoun explained that “this [alumni dinner] was a good event for GEE, something the charter schools needed,” pointing out that other high schools have alumni promotion events.

The event itself began with a beautiful Bint Jebail dinner, followed by a welcome from Ms. Debrah Davidson and Ms. Karey Reed; Mr. Mohamad Issa, GEE Director,  gave an introduction to the Alumni Association, and there were speeches by GEE principals Dr. Luay Shalabi, Dr. Harun Rashid, Mr. Ramzi Saab.  There were speeches by graduates of three of the GEE schools, Central Academy, by Class of 2010’s Fabiha Khan and alumnus Mohamad Issa (no relation); Frontier International Academy’s 2010 grad Sumaia Rahman spoke, followed by alumnus Enas Musleh; Riverside Academy West 2010 grad Wafa Algahmi spoke, followed by her sister, alumna Amal Algahmi.  Finally there was a speech by Dr. Said Issa–Associate Director of GEE.

Dr. Mohamad Issa, Director of GEE, began by saying that “This meeting has been 10 years in the making,” emphasizing that the whole adventure of GEE had begun on a much smaller scale.  He said “This is the start of something bigger,” and he emphasized that GEE is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.  He emphasized that GEE would be providing scholarships to graduated students and would be sponsoring more reunions and other events.

The many students and alumni who spoke seemed to agree on the common theme that they felt individually recognized at the GEE schools, and felt individually encouraged by the faculty and staff of those schools.  They recognized that perhaps the schools did not have the same resources as some public schools–nevertheless the students and alumni seemed to have genuine affection for the GEE schools.

Fabiha Khan of Central mentioned a mantra taught by Dr. Shalabi, “The choices you make today….” and the answer came from perhaps 50 current and former Central students laughing and saying loudly from their dinner chairs, “SHAPES YOUR WORLD TOMORROW!”

It appears that the choice to attend GEE schools has shaped tomorrow in a positive direction for GEE students, and perhaps for the rest of the world as well.

12-22

Secret documents revealing offer to sell nuclear warheads to South Africa cast fresh light on alliance

By Chris McGreal in Washington, guardian.co.uk

It’s the relationship that never was. Kept to the shadows, it was shielded behind secret agreements and disinformation that dressed up military cooperation as mining deals.

But when the spotlight occasionally flickered over one of the most intimate and enduring alliances of the postwar years, Israel was quick to underplay its deep military ties with apartheid South Africa as nothing more than a necessity of survival without a flicker of ideological affinity.

But as is shown by Sasha Polakow-Suransky’s book, The Unspoken Alliance, that relationship went beyond mere convenience.

For years after its birth, Israel was publicly critical of apartheid and sought to build alliances with the newly independent African states through the 1960s.

But after the 1973 Yom Kippur war, African governments increasingly came to look on the Jewish state as another colonialist power. The government in Jerusalem cast around for new allies and found one in Pretoria. For a start, South Africa was already providing the yellowcake essential for building a nuclear weapon.

By 1976, the relationship had changed so profoundly that South Africa’s prime minister, John Vorster, could not only make a visit to Jerusalem but accompany Israel’s two most important leaders, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, to the city’s Holocaust memorial to mourn the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis.

Neither Israeli appears to have been disturbed by the fact that Vorster had been an open supporter of Hitler, a member of South Africa’s fascist and violently antisemitic Ossewabrandwag and that he was interned during the war as a Nazi sympathiser.

Rabin hailed Vorster as a force for freedom and at a banquet toasted "the ideals shared by Israel and South Africa: the hopes for justice and peaceful coexistence".

A few months later, the South African government’s yearbook described the two countries having one thing in common above all else: "They are both situated in a predominantly hostile world inhabited by dark peoples."

A year earlier, Israel had offered to sell South Africa nuclear warheads.

"South Africa’s leaders yearned for a nuclear deterrent – which they believed would force the west to intervene on their behalf if Pretoria were ever seriously threatened – and the Israeli proposition put that goal within reach," Polakow-Suransky says in the book.

The deal did not go through but there was plenty of other cooperation in the development of military technology.

Alon Liel, a former Israeli ambassador to Pretoria who headed his foreign ministry’s South Africa desk in the 80s, once told the Guardian that gold-rich South Africa funded the joint military projects and Israel provided much of the technical knowledge.

"After 1976, there was a love affair between the security establishments of the two countries and their armies," he said. "We were involved in Angola as consultants to the [South African] army. You had Israeli officers there cooperating with the army. The link was very intimate."

By the late 1970s, South Africa was Israel’s single largest customer for weapons.

Polakow-Suransky establishes that the relationship was so intimate that in the mid-1970s, South Africa lifted the safeguards supposed to govern how the yellowcake was used to prevent nuclear proliferation.

In return, Israel sent South Africa 30 grams of tritium, which gives thermonuclear weapons the boost to their explosive power. The delivery was enough to build several atomic bombs, which South Africa did in the coming years.

Peres was central to the relationship. He was defence minister at the time of Vorster’s visit to Jerusalem and twice served as prime minister during the 1980s as the alliance with the apartheid government solidified.

Five years ago, I asked him about the morality of ties with the white regime.

"Every decision is not between two perfect situations. Every choice is between two imperfect alternatives. At that time the movement of black South Africa was with (PLO leader Yasser) Arafat against us. Actually, we didn’t have much of a choice. But we never stopped denouncing apartheid. We never agreed with it," he said

And a man like Vorster?

"I wouldn’t put him on the list of the greatest leaders of our time," said Peres.

Yet attempts by the man who is now Israel’s president to portray his country as forced in to a reluctant alliance with an ideological foe are undermined by his enthusiastic expressions of common ideals.

In 1974, Peres wrote to the South African information minister, Eschel Rhoodie, speaking of the "unshakeable foundations of our common hatred of injustice and our refusal to submit to it".

Peres was not alone. Rafael Eitan, the former Israeli military chief of staff, was among those who spoke of his sympathy for the white regime’s position. So did Ariel Sharon, the future prime minister.

In the late 80s, as international pressure on the apartheid government grew, Israel’s political leadership decided it was time to retreat. But Liel said that the security establishment balked.

"When we came to the crossroads in 86-87, in which the foreign ministry said we have to switch from white to black, the security establishment said, ‘You’re crazy, it’s suicidal’. They were saying we wouldn’t have military and aviation industries unless we had had South Africa as our main client from the mid-1970s; they saved Israel. By the way, it’s probably true," he said.

How US Weapons Grade Uranium Was Diverted to Israel

Declassified GAO report exposes fatally flawed Israel investigations

By Grant Smith

The 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is underway at UN Headquarters in New York. A working paper calls for a nuclear-free Middle East. It would require member states of the NPT to disclose in their national reports on the implementation of the resolution on the Middle East all information available to them on the nature and scope of Israeli nuclear facilities and activities, including information pertaining to previous nuclear transfers to Israel. On May 6, 2010, the Government Accountability Office (formerly known as the General Accounting Office) released the previously secret 1978 report Nuclear Diversion in the U.S. 13 Years of Contradiction and Confusion. It fills in important historic gaps about weapons-grade uranium diversions from the U.S. to Israel.

U.S. presidents have long acquiesced to strategic ambiguity a policy of neither confirming nor denying that Israel even possesses nuclear weapons. This pretext has allowed the U.S. to deliver the lions share of its foreign assistance budget to Israel, despite clear legal prohibitions imposed by the Glenn and Symington amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act. UN member countries have long suspected that the United States either turns a blind eye or actively supports the transfer of know-how, weapons-grade uranium, and dual-use technology to Israel. The 62-page General Accounting Office investigation and correspondence confirms the United States refuses to mount credible investigations that would enable warranted prosecutions of the perpetrators.

Nuclear Diversion in the U.S.? 13 Years of Contradiction and Confusion investigates the period between 1957 and 1967 when the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC) received over 22 tons of uranium-235 the key material used to fabricate nuclear weapons. NUMECs founder and president Zalman M. Shapiro was head of a local Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) chapter and a sales agent for the Defense Ministry of Israel in the U.S. In the early 1960s the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) began documenting suspicious lapses in security at NUMECs plant at Apollo, Pa. In 1965 an AEC audit found NUMEC could no longer account for over 200 pounds of highly enriched uranium. Subsequent estimates spiraled to almost 600 pounds.

The GAO was chartered by Congress to investigate four allegations about what happened to the uranium. The first was that the material was illegally diverted to Israel by NUMEC management for use in nuclear weapons. This was a result of early AEC and FBI investigations into the activities of Zalman Shapiro. The second theory the material was diverted to Israel by NUMEC management with the assistance of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) came from the CIAs silence and demonstrated lack of interest in the entire matter. The final theories explored by GAO were more general, that the material was diverted to Israel with the acquiescence of the United States Government or there has been a cover-up of the NUMEC incident by the United States Government.

GAO solicited all available information developed by the CIA, FBI, Department of Energy, and AEC, but was continually denied necessary reports and documentation by the CIA and FBI. GAO attempted to fill in gaps or outright refusals to cooperate by directly interviewing FBI special agents. The GAO also intended to make the report public, in order to respond to growing public concerns. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, who requested the inquiry, was assured six months before it was issued that only the most sensitive areas in the report would be classified. The CIA and FBI insisted that the entire report be classified at the secret level over the objections of Dingell, who said, I think it is time that the public be informed about the facts surrounding the affair and the possible diversion of bomb-grade uranium to Israel.

The GAO report lambastes the FBIs on-again off-again approach to investigating NUMEC: The FBI, which had the responsibility and authority to investigate the alleged incident, did not focus on the question of a possible nuclear diversion until May 1976 nearly 11 years later. Initially, the FBI declined DOEs request to conduct an investigation of the diversion possibility even though they are required to conduct such investigations under the Atomic Energy Act.

The FBIs initial investigation during the 1960s quickly zeroed in on NUMEC management, but FBI recommendations for action were stymied. According to the GAO, The FBI became so concerned about the security risks posed by NUMECs president that they asked DOE whether it planned to terminate his security clearance or stop the flow of materials to NUMEC. According to the FBIs liaison with GAO, the FBI recommended that NUMECs operating license be taken away. When the FBI request was ignored, it dropped the entire investigation between 1969 and 1976.

It took a direct order from President Gerald Ford in 1976 for the FBI and Department of Justice to address the diversion aspect. The renewed investigation soon led to reversals of official U.S. government positions on NUMEC. According to the GAO report, until the summer of 1977, the only publicized Government view on the NUMEC incident was that there was no evidence to indicate that a diversion of nuclear material had occurred. By February 1978, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced it had reconsidered its previous position that there had been no evidence to support diversion.

But the 11-year gap obviously hampered the effort. The GAO revealed that the DOEs nuclear materials safeguards, which before 1967 tracked the monetary value rather than the precise mass of the uranium, were seriously flawed. NUMEC claimed key records covering a period of heavy uranium loss were destroyed during a labor dispute in 1964. NUMEC paid a $1.1 million fine for 206 pounds of missing uranium in 1966, which closed the DOE case. NUMEC also hired away one of the DOEs chief on-site investigators to enhance the appearance of serious materials control and accountability. The GAO found that even by 1978 the FBI had not contacted key individuals in the affair. An FBI agent-in-charge told the GAO it did not investigate the source of funds to pay NUMECs DOE fine anticipating legal difficulties. So the GAO investigated the matter, placing its own telephone calls to Mellon Bank.

The GAO report is highly critical of the CIA: From interviews with a former CIA official and with former and current officials and staff of DOE and the FBI we concluded that the CIA did not fully cooperate with DOE or the FBI in attempting to resolve the NUMEC matter. The report is inconclusive about exactly what happened at NUMEC, but not about the agencies involved in the investigation through 1978. We believe a timely, concerted effort on the part of these three agencies would have greatly aided and possibly solved the NUMEC diversion questions, if they desired to do so.

The passage of time has removed any remaining doubts that NUMEC diverted uranium to Israel. Rafael Eitan, who visited NUMEC in 1968, was later revealed as the top Israeli spy targeting U.S. nuclear, national defense, and economic targets when his agent (U.S. Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard) was arrested spying for Israel in 1985. According to Anthony Cordesman, there is no conceivable reason for Eitan to have gone [to the Apollo plant] but for the nuclear material. CIA Tel Aviv station chief John Hadden called NUMEC an Israeli operation from the beginning, a conclusion supported by its startup financing and initial ties to Israeli intelligence. Why both the Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon administrations failed to credibly investigate NUMEC as a diversion challenge is also now obvious.

John F. Kennedys direct diplomatic pressures for U.S. inspections of Israels Dimona reactor grew throughout 1962-1963. During a Dec. 27, 1963, meeting with Foreign Minister Golda Meir, Kennedy expressed his hope that the relationship was a two-way street. Meir reassured President Kennedy that there would not be any difficulty between us on the Israeli nuclear reactor. Kennedy delivered a final ultimatum to Israel on July 5, 1963, insisting that Dimona undergo serial inspections in accord with international standards in order to verify its peaceful intent. Simultaneously, the Kennedy Justice Department was waging an intense battle behind closed doors to register and regulate Israels elite U.S. lobby, the American Zionist Council, which was bringing in funds from overseas to lobby. Kennedys assassination in November traumatized the nation and led to the complete and permanent reversal of both initiatives.

According to Avner Cohen, in 1958 Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion had arranged with Abraham Feinberg, a major Democratic fund-raiser, to secretly finance a nuclear weapons program among benedictors in America. Abraham Feinberg, who backed Harry S. Trumans successful whistle-stop election campaign, was personally succinct about his role in the U.S. political system: My path to power was cooperation in terms of what they needed campaign money. Feinberg opened doors in Congress for up and coming leaders of the Israel lobby, including AIPAC founder Isaiah L. Kenen. According to Seymour Hersh, there is no question that Feinberg enjoyed the greatest presidential access and influence in his 20 years as a Jewish fund-raiser and lobbyist with Lyndon Johnson. Documents at the Johnson Library show that even the most senior members of the National Security Council understood that any issue raised by Feinberg had to be answered. His power and role in financing Lyndon B. Johnsons election prospects temporarily quashed scrutiny of Israels nuclear weapons program in the U.S. and abroad at a critical moment.

On Oct. 14, 1964, less than three weeks before the 1964 presidential elections, Johnsons top administrative assistant Walter Jenkins was arrested in a public restroom on sexual solicitation charges. At least $250,000 Abraham Feinberg raised for Johnson was located in Jenkins office safe. Johnson phoned his trusted aides Bill Moyers and Myer Feldman with orders to move the cash, which they did with the help of a heavy briefcase. Israel would later replenish Feinbergs coffers (as it had with Zalman Shapiro through sales commissions) with multi-million dollar favors, such as major ownership in the nations Coca-Cola franchise.

In 1968 as Israel noticeably ramped up activities at the Dimona nuclear weapons facility, Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford placed a final urgent call to Johnson, Mr. President, I dont want to live in a world where the Israelis have nuclear weapons. President Johnson was abrupt before he hung up on Clifford, Dont bother me with this anymore. By the time Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meier lobbied President Nixon to redefine U.S. non-proliferation policy as ambiguity toward Israeli nuclear weapons, Israels stockpile and number of deployed weapons was steadily growing.

The report reveals why the 2010 Non-Proliferation Review Conference at the UN like the GAO isnt really capable of challenging the true drivers of Middle East nuclear proliferation. Nuclear Diversion in the U.S.? 13 Years of Contradiction and Confusion is a report so unique and noble in intent that there will probably never be another like it. While it leaves unexplored the ongoing presence, influence, and effect of Israels lobbyists working at the center of U.S. presidential administrations, for concerned Americans the GAO provides a snapshot of a moment in time before their Congress, aspiring politicians, and mid-level management of government agencies all got the memo.

In 2010 that unwritten memo reads something like this: Crimes committed in the name of Israel no matter how audacious will never be properly investigated, let alone prosecuted so dont waste your time.

Grant F. Smith is the author of the new book Spy Trade: How Israel’s Lobby Undermines America’s Economy. He is a frequent contributor to Radio France Internationale and Voice of America’s Foro Interamericano. Smith has also appeared on BBC News, CNN, and C-SPAN. He is currently director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, D.C.

12-21

Speaks of the “humbling” moment as she took her seat at the Government’s top table.

The Daily Telegraph, UK

LONDON – After gamely removing her coat at the request of photographers and hanging it on a railing, the former solicitor, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, said: “To be born as the daughter of an immigrant mill worker in a mill town in Yorkshire, to have the privilege of serving in Cabinet at such an important time in Britain’s history, I think it is terribly humbling.”

Lady Warsi’s pink shalwar kameez was in sharp contrast to the dark suits sported by most of the other, predominantly male, Cabinet members. Like many of the new ministers, she described yesterday’s meeting as “very constructive”.

“There was a great amount of goodwill around the table. There’s lots of hard work to do and some serious decisions to be taken,” she added.

Lady Warsi, 39, the former shadow minister for community cohesion, is the new chairman of the Tory Party, replacing Eric Pickles, who became local government secretary.

12-21

By Sumayyah Meehan, MMNS Middle East Correspondent

Finding foods that are halal, or meet Islamic food standards, are relatively easy to come by in the Middle East. Most restaurants have ‘halal certificates’ displayed proudly near the cash register to assure Muslim customers that the meat served is not pork based and was slaughtered according to Islamic values. The governments of most Middle Eastern countries go one step further to keep pork out of its border by completely banning pork food items, and pork byproducts in other food items.

However, the system is not foolproof and in some countries has completely broken down. One of the most problematic places for distinguishing between halal and haram food is at western-style grocery stores.

In Kuwait, for example, foodstuffs that contain pork byproducts are rampant on grocery store shelves. The most notable ingredient present is ‘gelatin’ which is a byproduct made from boiled animal skin, bones and blood. Everything from imported American breakfast cereals to dessert mixes often contain gelatin.  All it takes is a quick email to the manufacturing company to learn the animal derivative of the gelatin, with pigs being the primary source used by American manufacturers.

For the less savvy non-label-reading Muslims in the Middle East it can often be hard to detect which foods are halal and which ones are not, especially when the consumer does not read English well. What’s even more troubling is that a series of American, and even European, countries have tried to mask the ingredients of the products that they export to the Middle East. On many products, the ingredients list does not even contain words but rather a series of “E” codes. On a typical box of imported cereal a consumer might find some of the ingredients to be “E420” or “E460” which are Sorbitol and Cellulose, respectively.

There have been several cases in Kuwait where pork has not been the problem, but rather alcohol has been found to be an ingredient in an imported food item. Salad dressing and prepared mustard sauces are notorious for containing either red or white wine. Other unexpected places that alcohol has turned up on a product label have been in prepared pasta sauces and even some readymade desserts. The assumption that ‘halal rules’ in most Muslim countries is exactly just that, only an assumption. Buyers in the region must be aware shoppers when adhering to a halal diet.

And in some Middle Eastern countries, especially the ones who cater to foreigners for the big tourism bucks, pork is a welcome guest on some store shelves. In both Oman and the UAE, pork meat can be found in a scant few western-themed supermarkets right alongside halal meats. However, finding pork can be somewhat like looking for a needle in a haystack as there is not a viable market for “the other white meat.”

12-21

Editor’s note:  The TMO Foundation conducted a scholarship essay contest and TMO is now printing the essays of some of the entrants to the contest.

This is the essay of a $500 scholarship winner, by Suleiman Salem, on the subject “The Valor of the Pen.” He received a $500 scholarship.

By Suleiman Salem

Terror. Violence. Hatred.

These are the first words that cross an average American’s mind when he hears the word “Islam.” It has been almost ten years since the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. The status of Muslims in the West took an immediate twist since then. The world’s focus on Islam, extremism, and violence has surpassed that on any other political topic. At any given moment, if an individual in the West flips through random media channels, he is bound to find one anchor speaking about a particular incident involving an “Islamic Extremist” who killed innocent people. What have Muslims done since 9/11 to relay the correct image of Islam to the West? Where are the voices of Muslim speakers, politicians, scholars, and journalists?

Despite the fact that many Muslims are actively speaking out against terrorism and violence, scores of Americans are not adequately informed about the proper teachings of Islam. For every Muslim journalist who speaks out and condemns religious extremism, ten or so fanatics tarnish the image. This excessive ideology creates a serious issue for Muslims living in the United States. Our goal is to continue giving the correct impression of Islam to Non-Muslims, yet we are challenged. There is a lack of information in Western media given to portray Islam according to its true teachings. Media has always been and will continue to be the most prominent tool in relaying information to people.

After careful consideration, I have decided to pursue the path of journalism and media for two main reasons. The first is that this is something I have an interest in; conveying the true message of Islam gives me tranquility. The second reason is that the Muslim journalists are the poets that the Arabs were 1400 years ago in Makkah, now the capital of Saudi Arabia. These poets conveyed messages to the people and their word was dominant and mighty. In other words, they were the media of their time. The media of the twenty-first century is what influences mankind. Media barons proofread, edit, and publish based on what the people want to hear.

In order to impact an entire nation, the media must all be presented in a similar manner. If enough news stations vocalize ideological incidents consistently, then psychologically, people’s minds will become accustomed to that. Most of them will not question such “reliable” and daily sources. Similarly, if enough Muslim journalists cover the news and present it to national residents on a constant or near-constant basis, then their word will be heard and more Americans will contemplate on the global matters being discussed all the time. People do not stereotype by nature, nor are they born prejudiced. These traits develop and in the twenty-first century, they are at their climax. Muslim journalists (as well as Non-Muslim ones) who are combatting the distorted image of Islam with an accurate one need more assistance and need to be heard better.

I want to be a journalist to help these few activists change the way Islam is perceived by the West, especially America, through advanced methods, such as the television. Other than television, one of the most influential ways to send a message to the world is through the Internet. Since 9th grade, when I began and completed the memorization of the Holy Quran, I took an interest in my religion beyond parental expectations. I opened YouTube channels for Muslims and Non-Muslims; I joined forums, took Islamic Studies courses, and became active in my community. I began leading the prayers at the mosque and giving Friday sermons. But I realized that Internet aside, there was a key reason that Americans weren’t completely informed of Islam. That key is the English language.

Praise be to God, I was raised learning multiple languages until secondary education, when knowledge became my responsibility. I realized throughout those high school years that the most vital key to bringing Islam to non-Muslim friends was proper translation and communication of everyday Muslim rituals, actions, and teachings. My English improved greatly over a few years and I completed my first novel at the age of 14. My poetry was published after winning a school-wide competition in an internationally-sold book. Later that year, I became the student President and ran the school’s newsletter, The Spectator. It was my job to find ideas for each week’s print of 100 newsletters, as well as to actually edit and finalize all articles. This helped strengthen my language as well as develop my sense of free writing. At this point, English became my preferred language.

Without proper language, there is no proper communication. Without proper communication, there is misunderstanding and distortion. I strongly believe the most effective means of countering Islamophobia is with powerful, direct language that attacks the core of inaccuracies.

Meanwhile, more Muslim youth entering the fields of journalism, communications, and English should be trained by experienced journalists and commentators. There simply are not enough opportunities for youth, especially Muslim youth, to be trained and brought into the playing field. Doing so will give future generations of Muslims a stronger grasp on how to direct the news properly while maintaining a constant resource of anti-Islamophobia.

Furthermore, Muslim media such as The Muslim Observer, one of the best (if not the best) news sources, need to reach out to youth in order to build that future generation that will help keep Muslims in America debating actively all open discussions and policies. As you very well know, the pen is mightier than the sword. The might of the pen, the spoken word, are what influence the masses.

To win a war, you do not need to kill your enemies; you need to convince them with the power of eloquence and truth. I personally would love to work for a Muslim media network; being active, debating, and spreading the accurate teachings of Islam gives me pleasure. However, at the moment, I’m completely immersed with other matters.

I am now attending university full-time while trying to balance a life of part-time work, community events, web-based discussions about religion, and seeking knowledge. I’m currently intending to pursue a degree in Journalism or English, with a minor in Psychology or Computer Science. At 19 years old, I have completed more than two years towards my degree and initially intended to finish in early 2011. Unfortunately, my father’s business was robbed and this tightened my school budget, as well as my time. I now have to work double the hours to help the family with bills and even then it isn’t enough. But all praise is due to God, who blessed us in the first place with all that we had. I will still attempt to take a few courses in the next few years, when I am given a chance to pay for a course or two. Any and all funds from sources such as scholarships and side business will help me immensely, and I will always be grateful for that. Being helped at a time of need is a feeling that can never be forgotten; similarly, the valor of the pen in a world of swords shall never be forgotten.

12-21

Dow theorist Richard Russell says to sell everything.

By Joe Weisenthal

Richard Russell, the famous writer of the Dow Theory Letters, has a chilling line in today’s note:

Do your friends a favor. Tell them to “batten down the hatches” because there’s a HARD RAIN coming. Tell them to get out of debt and sell anything they can sell (and don’t need) in order to get liquid. Tell them that Richard Russell says that by the end of this year they won’t recognize the country. They’ll retort, “How the dickens does Russell know — who told him?” Tell them the stock market told him.

That’s pretty intense!

Update: By popular demand, here’s more on what he sees in the market. The gist is that the markets recent gyrations are telling him that the economy is in trouble:

And I ask myself, “Am I seeing things? The April 26 high for the Dow was 11205.03. The Dow is selling as write at 10557 down 648 points from its April high. If business is even better than expected, then why is the Dow down over 600 points? And why, if there were 674 new highs on the NYSE on April 26, were there only 20 new highs on Friday, May 14? And if my PTI was 6133 on April 26, why is it down 17 points since its April high?

The fact is that I’ve been seeing deterioration in the stock market ever since early-April, and this in the face of improving business news. The D-J Industrial Average is composed of 30 internationally known top-quality blue-chip stocks. These are 30 of “America’s biggest companies.” If Barron’s is so bullish on the future of America’s biggest companies, then why isn’t the Dow advancing to new highs?

Clearly something is wrong. But what could it be? Much as I love Barron’s, I trust the stock market more. If I read the stock market correctly, it’s telling me that there is a surprise ahead. And that surprise will be a reversal to the downside for the economy, plus a collection of other troubles ahead.

About Dow Theory — First, we saw the recent April highs in the Averages. Then we saw a plunge in both Averages to their May 7 lows –Industrials to 10380.43, Transports to 4298.12, next a short rally. If ahead, the two Averages turn down and violate their May 7 lows, that would be the clincher. Such action would signal the certain resumption of the primary bear market.

Just as for years I asked, cajoled, insisted, threatened, demanded, that my subscribers buy gold, I am now insisting, demanding, begging my subscribers to get OUT of stocks (including C and BYD, but not including golds) and get into cash or gold (bullion if possible). If the two Averages violate their May 7 lows, I see a major crash as the outcome. Pul – leeze, get out of stocks now, and I don’t give a damn whether you have paper losses or paper profits!

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Bloomfield–May 15–The CIOM reached out to non-Muslims across Southeast Michigan with open houses in more than 10 mosques.

At Bloomfield, approximately 100 to 150 non-Muslim guests came to visit, according to Dr. Fadi Demashkieh.  “The morning was better,” he explained, because there had been a movie in the morning and a presentation and question and answer session which featured the predictable questions usually asked by non-Muslims, jihad, and women in Islam.

“Their impression was very positive,” he explained.

Edie Broida, of WISDOM, an interfaith women’s group, said that she was “overwhelmed with the beauty and excitement here today–I learned so much.”

Rasha Massarani, who volunteered at the event on behalf of the Muslim Unity Center, compared the event to previous years, saying that “it wasn’t bad this year… [the visitors] were not comfortable when they came but they were comfortable when they left–that is our main goal.”

The CIOM’s Chairman Ghalib Begg expressed a lot of satisfaction with the event, especially because of the recognition by Governor Granholm of CIOM’s efforts to reach out to non-Muslims through the event. 

“12 mosques are participating,” he said.

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By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Hamady N’Diaye just completed his senior season as the starting center for the Rutgers University basketball team. To top off that accomplishment, he was named the Big East Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. And, as he prepares for the National Basketball Association draft next month, he can reflect on the long road that brought him to this pinnacle.

N’Diaye was born and raised in Dakar, Senagal. Like much of the youth there he primarily played soccer growing up. But as he grew taller, he was drawn to basketball. Finally, at the age of 17, he left his family and friends and went overseas to a preparatory school in New Jersey. He was finally joined by a couple of his childhood friends from Dakar, and the three of them relocated to a prep school in Florida. However, the facilities there were so meager that there were not enough beds, and not even enough money for food for the kids. The situation was so bad that Hamady and his friends escaped, literally in the middle of the night, and rejoined their old coach from Dakar at a preparatory school in California. That is where Hamady and his friends blossomed on the basketball court, becoming top college prospects, and Hamady ended up back in New Jersey at Rutgers University.

N’Diaye has worked hard at his craft. “This kid in my 28 years, I’ve not seen a kid develop and come as far as he has…” his coach Fred Hill told the New Jersey Newsroom.  But his hard work has not been limited to the basketball court. Having come to this country without knowing English, he spent up to 10 hours a week at Rutgers working with tutors on honing his reading and writing of English. He even became a communications major. The gregarious N’Diaye, known simply as “H” by his friends, has become one of the most popular people, not only on the team but on campus as a whole. Perhaps this helped to fill the void of not seeing his family since he left Senegal. But that finally changed when his mother was able to come to the U.S. and see him play for the first time at the team’s final home game this past March.

Now, the 7 foot tall Hamady prepares for his next challenge, the National Basketball Association. He is currently projected as a second round pick by most experts. But that is just a foot in the door. With his work ethic, and enduring spirit, that will be all he needs, inshallah, to continue his success.

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By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

The American football career of Gibran Hamdan has now taken a new direction: North. Hamdan, the product of a Pakistani mother and Palestinian father, signed with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts this past March to play quarterback. He originally played quarterback at Indiana University before being drafted by the Washington Redskins in 2003. He was been a part of several National Football League organizations over the years, most recently the Buffalo Bills, before signing with the Argos.

Gibran Latif Hamdan was born in San Diego, California, but his family moved to Kuwait when he was three years old. The family subsequently moved back to the United States when he was 10, during the invasion of Kuwait, eventually settling in Maryland. Hamdan began his competitive athletic career in northern Virginia before being recruited by Indiana University, where he played not only football but baseball as well.

Gibran’s new coach already has some kind words for his new quarterback. Argonauts head coach Jim Barker told The Canadian Press, “From a skills standpoint, he’s got a strong arm, he has a real good presence in the pocket…But what I like best about him is he has a humbleness about the CFL, and he understands that it’s a different game, he has a respect for it. So he’s come in with a much different attitude about things than a lot of other guys coming from the NFL have. That has been very impressive to me.” Hamdan turned down opportunities to continue as a backup or practice squad player with other National Football Teams in order to get an opportunity to be a starter in the CFL this summer. So, inshallah, this may finally be Gibran’s time to shine.

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