Miss Kelly

Steve Emerson Statement on ISB Lawsuit

Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IP) issued a statement on Tuesday this week about the Islamic Society of Boston withdrawing its lawsuit.  Steve was one of the 17 defendants sued by the ISB for defamation and conspiracy to deny freedom of religion ().   

"Earlier today, the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) dismissed its baseless defamation lawsuit against world-renowned terrorism expert, Steven Emerson, his organization -- The Investigative Project on Terrorism, and various individuals, organizations and media outlets in the Boston area. No money will change hands; Mr. Emerson will not apologize and stands behind everything he said about ISB's associations with Islamic extremists; nor is he limited in anything he may say in the future. Today's events represent a strong, stirring victory for free speech and American values and a repudiation of the tactic of misusing the judicial system to seek to stifle important and legitimate forms of expression."

"The lawsuit, initiated by the ISB in October 2005, was a clear attempt to intimidate journalists, researchers and private citizens from engaging in constitutionally protected activities, including informing the public of extremist elements in their midst. Although Mr. Emerson has been fully vindicated and will continue vigorously to unmask radical Islamist organizations and networks in the U.S. and around the world, the ISB's groundless lawsuit has demonstrated that the judicial system can be too easily misused by those seeking to intimidate and harass those who have justly criticized them. Fortunately, today's result demonstrates that those with the truth on their side should never be intimidated or cowed into silence."

Douglas Farah, who along with Emerson blogs at the Counterterrorism Blog, wrote about this development here and here, calling it "a welcome victory for freedom of expression." An excerpt:

"Like CAIR and other groups before it who have brought law suits primarily aimed at silencing their critics through legal intimidation, the ISB found that, unlike Saudi Arabia and other Wahhabist/Salafist societies, there are still some principles underlying U.S. law that make bullying more difficult, whether the name of Allah is invoked or not."

Mamacita Parejita

This little brown bird made two nests in the shrubs in front of our house, then built a third nest on top of the garage door light.  Third time's the charm, she moved into that one.  Mama LBB laid her eggs and is keeping them warm.  No little tweety-birds yet. 

MAS Claims "Victory" in ISB Lawsuit/ Mahdi Bray's Wife is Morgan Fairchild

Excusez moi?? The MAS claims "victory" when the ISB withdraws its lawsuit against the 17 Defendants?  Now there's a creative spin.  And I bet Mahdi Bray's wife is ..... ah, Morgan Fairchild, yeah, that's the ticket.  The MAS Freedom Foundation press release is chock full of misstatements and distortions.  From their press release (with my comments in italics):

"In what has been described as a major victory for religious freedom and civil rights, the Muslim American Society (MAS) and its Freedom Foundation have provided the primary leadership, support, and strategy on behalf of the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) in achieving a major victory and settling a four-year legal battle, which attempted to stop the building of the largest Islamic center on the east coast."

Wrong. It wasn't "settled," the lawsuit was withdrawn by the ISB.  No victory for you. How much did the ISB pay the MAS for that "leadership" and "strategy"?  What separates your two organizations anyway? 

"The Islamic Society of Boston’s Islamic Center, which is being constructed in the Roxbury section of Boston, had been under a multi-level campaign of negative reporting (hardly!) and disinformation (pot, ketttle, black)."

The ISB Folds, Drops its Lawsuit Against 17 Defendants

"Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead....

Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.

Ding Dong The Wicked Witch is dead!"

Maybe I'm getting carried away, but this tune went through my head when I read the press release from The David Project.  The Islamic Society of Boston has completely withdrawn its lawsuit against the Fox News, the Boston Herald, Citizens for Peace and Tolerance, The David Project, Steve Emerson, and all the other defendants.   Buh-bye!!

Bravo to all the Defendants for fiercely fighting back against this ridiculous, unfounded lawsuit.  To get up to speed on the lawsuit saga, go read Martin Solomon's article "The Silencing," featured in Pajamas Media last week.  We must continue to fight back across the country against the legal jihad strategy of Saudi-funded Islamist organizations.  NIMBY takes on a new meaning!

I'm also pleased that The David Projects public records litigation against the BRA is proceeding, no change to that. As stated in the press release, that lawsuit "forced the public disclosure of evidence regarding the below-fair-market land deal between the BRA and the ISB and the role played in that deal of BRA Deputy Director Muhammed Ali Salaam."  I looked into that one myself last week, and it sure looks like a conflict of interest to me......

Complete text of the press release:

"Islamic Society of Boston Drops Lawsuits Against David Project, Concerned Citizens, Boston Herald and Fox, Abandoning All Of Its Claims Without Receiving Any Payment"

"David Project to Continue Public Records Lawsuit To Force Disclosure of Evidence on Boston Redevelopment Authority-Islamic Society Land Deal"

"The David Project has announced that the Islamic Society of Boston ("ISB") and its officers have withdrawn all of their claims against all of the citizens who raised concerns about the ISB, its funding and its leadership, as well as all of their claims against the Boston Herald, Fox-TV and the various journalists whose investigative pieces about the ISB in 2003 and 2004 disclosed damaging information about the ISB and its controversial land deal with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA). The ISB and its officers have abandoned all of their claims against all of the defendants they sued 2 years ago, without payment to the ISB or to them of any money whatsoever."

"The ISB's decision to drop all of its claims against all of the 17 defendants it sued back in 2005 alleging "defamation" and accusing them of conspiring to violate its civil rights comes just months after the defendants--who included a Muslim cleric, a Christian political science professor and the Jewish daughter of Holocaust survivors, as well as Boston civic leader William Sapers and national terrorism expert Steven Emerson--had begun through their lawyers to conduct discovery into the ISB's financial records, its receipt of millions of dollars in funding from Saudi Arabian and other Middle Eastern sources, its contributions to certain organizations and the records of certain of its officers and directors. The ISB's abandonment of its lawsuits comes only weeks after two of its original Middle Eastern Trustees, Walid Fitaihi of Saudi Arabia and Ali Tobah of Egypt, suddenly resigned as Trustees just before they were required to submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts court hearing the case."

   

"Who's Afraid of Tariq Ramadan?"

A lengthy must-read on Tariq Ramadan, the supposed "modern European Muslim," over at The New Republic: 

"Tariq Ramadan is a charismatic and energetic Islamic philosopher in Europe who has become popular and influential among various circles of European Muslims during the past fifteen years--originally in Geneva, where his father founded the Islamic Center in 1961; then in Lyon, the French city closest to Switzerland, where Ramadan attracted a following of young people from North African backgrounds; then among French Muslims beyond Lyon; at the Islamic Foundation in Leicester, in Britain, where he spent a year on a fellowship; among still more scattered Muslim audiences in Western Europe, who listened to his audio recordings and packed his lecture halls, normally with the men and the women sitting demurely in their separate sections; among Muslims in various Francophone countries in Africa--and outward to the wider world........"

Whew, that's one long opening sentence.  Author Paul Berman clsoely examines Ramadan, his writings, his many ardent supporters and equally impassioned critics.  I haven't read the whole article yet, but I suspect that Berman is drawing a picture of Tariq that matches Lee Smith's assessment, that Tariq Ramadan is a "gentle jihadist."  One of the commenters wote:

"Paul Berman has written a long overdue Zolaesque attack on the hypocritical liberal left which has for too long made excuses for Islamic antisemitism, antifeminism, and anti the most basic of liberal values which they see as detrimental to Islamic culture."

Feast Day of St. Bede the Venerable

I'm not doing justice to St. Bede the Venerable (c. 672-735) in this short blog post, but at least we're remembering him:

"Bede was a spiritual student of his abbey’s founder, St Benedict Biscop, and was ordained in 702 by St John of Beverley. Both teacher and author, he wrote about history, rhetoric, mathematics, music, astronomy, poetry, grammar, philosophy, hagiography, homiletics, and Bible commentary. He gained a well-earned reputation at the time as the most learned man alive. Of all the writers in Western Europe from the time of St Gregory the Great until Saint Anselm, Bede the Venerable was arguably the most famous and influential, particularly in his home country."

More info on St. Bede here and here.  This woodcut print is from the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493). 

Bede is famous for writing The Ecclesiastical History of England, which opens with this line:

"BRITAIN, an island in the ocean, formerly called Albion, is situated between the north and west, facing, though at a considerable distance, the coasts of Germany, France, and Spain, which form the greatest part of Europe...."

He's called the Father of English History, and his extensive writings were known for careful documentation and critical assessment of source material. Bede set the standard for scholarly research.  You can still buy this book on Amazon! St. Bede was canonized and made a Doctor of the Church in 1899.

CAIR Estimate of American Muslims Off by 6 Million

One of the amusing results of the Pew Survey of American Muslims is that the Survey concludes that the estimated Muslim population in the U.S. is 2.35 million.  Whaddya know?  That's about 5.65 million fewer Muslims than the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) claim of 8 million!  CAIR's estimate grows by about 1 million per year, suggesting astronomical rates of immigration, conversion and/or baby-making.   CAIR's wildly inflated estimates of the American Muslim population has always been a pet peeve of mine (as I wrote about earlier here), and the Pew Survey exposes CAIR's malarkey.  I hope the Pew Survey results serves as a correction factor to journalists and politicians who parrot CAIR's numbers. 

The Investor's Business Daily refers to "CAIR's fuzzy math" as the "Wahhabi lobby's big lie," and correctly identifies it as an attempt by CAIR to gain political power.

God's Handwriting

Thalia daffodils, all white, slightly fragrant, arching petals.....

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting -- a wayside sacrament. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Atheist Gives $22.5 Million to NY Catholic Schools

Atheist millionaire makes largest donation to the Archdiocese of New York to fund a scholarship program, as reported in Bloomberg news:

"Philanthropist and retired hedge-fund manager Robert W. Wilson said he is giving $22.5 million to the Archdiocese of New York to fund a scholarship program for needy inner-city students attending Roman Catholic schools." 

"Wilson, 80, said in a phone interview today that although he is an atheist, he has no problem donating money to a fund linked to Catholic schools. '`Let's face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no Western civilization,'' Wilson said. '`Shunning religious organizations would be abhorrent.'  Wilson's donation is the largest the archdiocese has ever received. The money will be used to fund the Cardinal's Scholarship Program, which was started in 2005 to give disadvantaged students attending the archdiocese's inner-city schools partial or full tuition grants...."

Hat tip to Relapsed Catholic.

One in Four American Catholics Favor Bombing Abortion Clinics

Oops, sorry, I got things mixed up!  According to the recent Pew Survey, one in four young American Muslims support suicide bombing, "in some circumstances**."  If one in four Catholics said they supported bombing abortion clinics, we Americans would admit that we've got an enormous problem on our hands.  But somehow, our media is largely overlooking this particular survey result (with the exception of this Washington Times article), and are instead focusing on the more positive elements of the survey.  From the Times:

"The first nationwide survey of Muslim Americans revealed that more than a quarter of those younger than 30 say suicide bombings to defend Islam are justified, a fact that drowned out the poll's kinder, gentler findings suggesting that the community is mainstream and middle class. 'There are trouble spots,' noted Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, which conducted the survey of 1,050 adult Muslim Americans -- two-thirds of whom were foreign-born -- January to April. The results were released yesterday." 

'We should be disturbed that 26 percent of these young people support an ideology in which the ends justify the means,' said Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, chairman of the Arizona-based American Islamic Forum for Democracy.     'But the survey also found that only 40 percent of the overall American Muslim population would even admit that Arabs were behind 9/11. They're in denial, refusing to take moral responsibility, and the radicals will feed on this,' Dr. Jasser said."

Are we surprised?  There's support in many Islamic organizations, domestic and international, for suicide bombings. 

WRKO's Pundit Review Covers "The Silencing"

Martin Solomon's article "The Silencing" was the topic of discussion on last Sunday night's program on 680 AM WRKO (you can listen to the interview with Sol here).   Thanks, Papi Joe, for the kudos! 

Slight correction to something said on the show:  there have been local pols and talk show hosts who've covered the story, Boston City Councilor Jerry McDermott and WTTK host Michael Graham. McDermott is a strong critic of the BRA property transfer to the ISB and he attempted for years to hold hearings on it, without success.  Unfortuantely for Boston, McDermott is not running for re-election this fall.  Michael Graham of The Natural Truth was subpoenaed by ISB's lawyers when he discussed the ISB case on his talk show.  He famously told them to "Kiss my burqa!"   

All in all, it's true and it's shameful that more politicians haven't paid attention to this story of 1) Saudi-funded Wahabi Islam taking root in Boston, and 2) the scandalous (illegal??) role of Muhammad Ali-Salaam of the BRA in conveying city property to the ISB in exchange for chump change and Islamic proselytizing. 

Thoughtful Criticism of Abortion by Secular Columnist

Dean Barnett, Boston-area writer and blogger, has a thoughtful op-ed at the Boston Globe on abortion:

"I'm proudly Jewish, but not at all religious. Quite frankly, I'm the very picture of the Chinese food-eating secular Jew who drives some of my more devout co-religionists batty. But I'm pro-life, and adamantly so. Unlike the often erroneous stereotype of the pro-life citizen, I didn't arrive at my position as a matter of religious faith. Rather, my conclusions flow strictly from logical inquiry."

"The big moral question regarding abortion is, 'When does life begin?' ......You might expect that since I'm pro-life, I would argue that life begins at conception. Actually, that's not quite right. In answering the question of when life begins, the best I can do is say 'I don't know.' Life may begin at conception. It may begin during pregnancy. Or it may begin at childbirth. While I have a feeling that life begins at conception, I certainly can't prove it.

One of Founders of ICNE Passed Away

One of the original founders of the Islamic Center of New England (Quincy, MA) passed away on Thursday, May 17.   John Omar is the son of the late Hajj Mohamed Omar, and his family is one of the founding families, as described by Mary Lahaj at the ICNE Founders Trust website.  Curiously, the ICNE website makes no mention of the passing of one of its earliest members. Some background from Lahaj:

"The Islamic Center of New England was a long range dream of seven Lebanese Muslim families whose history began in the early 1900's when the first generation of immigrants settled in Quincy Point, Quincy, Ma. They were among the first wave of Muslim immigrants to enter America from the Middle East, in the years from about 1875 to 1912."

"The seven families in this study responsible for founding the Center are: the Ameens, the Derbes, the El-Deebs, the Abrahams, the Allies, the Hassans (two brothers, Ismael and `Abduh), and the Omars (Awad).... Mohamed Omar (Awad) arrived in 1913."

Imam Talal Eid Appointed to National Commission

Local imam makes good:

"Imam Talal Eid of Quincy will soon take on a wider national role: He’s the first Muslim cleric to be appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.  The 54-year-old Lebanon native has been picked for a two-year term on the independent, bipartisan agency, which monitors overseas conditions and makes policy recommendations to the president, State Department and Congress."

"Imam Eid will replace UCLA law professor Khalid Abou El Fadl as the Muslim representative on the 11-person commission. The commission has included a Muslim since Congress created the agency in 1998, but Imam Eid is the first religious leader to be chosen. ''This is an honor,'' he said.

And from the U.S. CIR press release:

"WASHINGTON –President George W. Bush today appointed Dr. Imam Talal Y. Eid and Leonard Leo to the United States Commission on International Religious freedom, an independent, bipartisan federal agency, and reappointed Michael Cromartie.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) appointed Dr. Don H. Argue as a Commissioner."

"....Imam Eid is Founder and Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Institute of Boston.  A native of Lebanon, he served as Imam at the Al-Nasir Mosque in Tripoli for seven years and as Imam and religious director of the Islamic Center of New England from 1983-2005.  In addition to his work at the Institute, he currently serves also as Muslim chaplain at Massachusetts General Hospital and at Brandeis University."

Congratulations and best wishes to Imam Eid!

Here's the original Act that established the U.S. Commission on International Freedom, which explains its intent and activities.  Their website is here, and their latest annual report can be found here.

Freedom of religion is one of the most important rights we enjoy in the U.S., and one which we do well to promote world-wide.  I'd like to see the U.S. Commission not only speak out against religious persecution, but also convince the President to take forceful actions (as described in Section 405) against countries that routinely violate religious freedom.   He's got plenty of countries to choose from.

ISB and BRA's Muhammad Ali-Salaam - Slight Conflict of Interest?

One of the more interesting things to come out during the discovery phase of the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) lawsuits against its critics, and the lawsuit brought by The David Project against the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), is the role of the BRA in helping the ISB acquire city property for cheap.  In particular, BRA Assistant Director Muhammed Ali-Salaam has been extremely helpful to the ISB since 1992, going on fifteen years.  I've reviewed some of the public records on the BRA case, and while I'm no lawyer, it sure looks like a textbook case of a conflict of interest to me. 

The Silencing - Pajamas Media Covers ISB Story

Front page (so to speak) at Pajamas Media today, an article by local blogger Solomonia:

The Silencing - Before CAIR and the Flying Imams…the Islamic Society of Boston had already pioneered the use of lawsuits to silence their critics and the media.

Sol did a fantastic job recounting the ISB saga, a story with many twists and turns.  He focuses on the  ISB's "legal jihad" strategy against people who spoke up and raised questions.  Lots to digest here: Saudi funding, hateful statements made by the ISB founder and trustees, the overlap with the Muslim American Society, the long list of people sued by the ISB. It's a story of national importance that's barely covered in the Boston media.  I hope the Pajamas Media coverage brings wider attention to this unfolding story.

Perhaps the key paragraph is this:

"Neither the Boston Herald nor FOX-25 have done a hard-hitting report on the issue since the lawsuit was filed, and I have been told by more than one person, in the media and out, that they were reluctant to speak about the issue publicly in any way for fear of either being drawn into the suit or affecting the outcome. Involvement with the court system is a burdensome, unpleasant, expensive affair that most people avoid if at all possible. (This begs the question of who is paying the bills for this wide-ranging suit.)"

That's been the result of the ISB lawsuit.  That strategy works pretty slick, doesn't it?

Read the whole thing!  Great pic too (from All Things Beautiful).

 

Basyouny Nehela - ISB Imam (2 of 2)

This is a continution of a look at Imam Basyouny Nehela, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB)  (part 1 can be found here).  Although the ISB itself has come under intense scrutiny, largely due to links to radical Islamists and funding from Saudi donors and banks, their imam has not been subject to review.  In the first part, I focused on his general background and relationship to the Boston branch of the Muslim American Society (MAS).  This part will look at Nehela and the ISB's relationship to the Islamic Center of New England (ICNE), one of the oldest Muslim communities in the United States.

As described at the ICNE website and the ICNE Founder's Trust website, the ICNE was incorporated in the 1960's.  The founding families were Lebanese immigrants who arrived here in the early 1900's.  The first trained imam at the ICNE was Imam Talal Eid, who was brought to the ICNE from Lebanon via the Muslim World League (New York branch). 

Islamic Center Asks Imam Fouad ElBayly to Resign

A very good sign, I'd say.  The  board and members of the Islamic Center of Johnstown, PA has asked Imam Fouad ElBayly to resign, after he said that a death sentence was warranted for Ayaan Hirsi Ali for her apostasy (blogged about earlier here).  I believe the Center heard from many folks about that, including many Muslims. 

Hirsi Ali herself said that “This imam has been strikingly honest.”  Sheik Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, considered one of the highest authorities of Islamic law, is fully supportive of the death penalty for apostasy.   

Imam Masood - Five More Months til Deportation Hearing

Update from the Patriot Ledger of Quincy, MA on Imam Muhammed Masood's deportation hearing held yesterday (5-9-07), reported by Lane Lambert.  The Patriot Ledger is the only US newspaper which has followed this immigration/religious visa fraud case closely.  Newspapers in Pakistan and India are on top of this story because of Masood's familial connection to Hafiz Saeed, founder of Lashkar-e-Toiba (more on that earlier here). The scoop is that Masood's deportation hearing has been scheduled for October 11, 2007, five months away.  The story is not available online, so I'm reprinting it here:

BOSTON - Imam Muhammad Masood and his family must wait five more months to learn what their fate may be. Immigration Court Judge Robin Feder has scheduled an Oct. 11 deportation hearing for the former Sharon imam, his wife and their five adult children.

Their attorney, William Joyce of Duxbury, asked for a July hearing, but Oct. 11 was the earliest date that Feder could take the full day that government attorney Douglas Ligor requested.  "This case is going to be complicated," Ligor told Feder.

A full day for a deportation hearing??  Must be a number of interesting witnesses coming to testify. Gosh, even I'm starting to feel sorry for the Masoods!  Five months is a long time to hang around, on top of the previous six months since the arrest in November 2006. I guess these deportation cases take a long time.

The imam, his son Hassan and a Chelmsford imam were picked up in November 2006 as part of a multi-state sweep by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  Imam Masood had no comment after yesterday's preliminary session at the John F. Kennedy Federal Building, but Joyce was clearly frustrated about the delay.  "My client is hanging out there in the wind," Joyce said, adding that the imam has with no work permit and no way to earn a living at the Islamic Center of New England or anywhere else.

Imam Masood had been spiritual leader at the Islamic Center's Sharon mosque since 1998. He applied for a green card in 2001. The status of his wife and five of their eight children hinges on the outcome of his case. The imam's three youngest children are American-born and not affected.

Sharon?  Some call it "Sheerunistan".  Many members of the Islamic community in Sharon (one of the oldest Islamic communities in America) maintain that their mosque was taken away from them by an outside group.  Masood was installed as imam at the Sharon center after Talal Eid was forced out.  Lane Lambert has written about that controversy (here and here).  More info on this can be found here, at the ICNE Founder's Website.   

Imam Masood is charged with visa violations that date back to July 1991. The government claims that he never left the United States as he was required to do in a student visa program in which he studied economics at Boston University from 1988 to 1991.  The government's evidence in cludes a 1992 traffic ticket in Imam Masood's name. ICE apparently will also call witnesses to place the imam in the country around that time.  The imam says he did return to his native country of Pakistan, but re-entered this country illegally in 1993 and later paid an amnesty fine. He says someone else was using his driver's license in 1992 when the ticket was issued.

A fresh wrinkle in the case came to light yesterday. The government's amended charges say the imam re turned to the United States on his "J- 1" student visa in July 1990 and was allowed to stay until July 1, 1991. Joyce confirmed Imam Masood's 1990 overseas trip, which would have been legal.  Joyce conceded it will be difficult for the imam to prove his case, if only because it may not be possible to gather witnesses and other evidence from overseas from 1991-93. "That was a long time ago, and any one who could say he was over there is in Pakistan, not the U.S.," Joyce said.

For the time being, the family is still living in its their residence on the mosque property, though they may have to leave. Since the Islamic Center board of directors removed Imam Masood from official duties the family has been supported by members of the congregation and money from recent fund-raisers in the Boston-area Muslim community. It's not clear whether Imam Masood can regain his work permit while his case is pending.

Joyce said the imam and his family will apply for political asylum if they're ordered deported, on the grounds that it would be dangerous for them to live there - partly because his brother, Hafiz Saeed, is the founder of a banned terrorist group that still holds widespread sympathy in Pakistan.  Imam Masood has denounced his brother's violence and says he has not spoken to him for a long time.

I'll repeat my previous thoughts on the tactic of applying for political asylum:

"How do you say "chutzpah" in Urdu?  That's almost a clever twist, but I suspect it won't work.  Presumably, there are ample records of family members coming and going back and forth to Pakistan over the past few years, all without incidents or attacks from Brother Hafiz."

"....Muhammed Masood said "I am not my brother" at an interfaith community meeting in January 2007, when one of the local clergy asked about Masood's relationship with Hafiz.  But for that inquiry, Masood would probably never have mentioned his infamous brother. Gee, why didn't Masood "disown" his brother any earlier than January 2007?  We heard no condemnation from Masood after the LeT's suicide bombing of the Indian Parliament in 2002 or after the Delhi market bombings in 2005?  Political asylum, my foot!"

Although Masood now states that he opposes his brother's "politics," has that always been so?  What do we know of Masood's earlier years?  Did he previously support LeT? 

I support the government's efforts here, they're doing what ICE is supposed to do, protect our borders and make sure there's not abuse of the religious visa program.  Thank you, ICE and DOJ.  Thanks also to the Patriot Ledger for following this.

I'm curious about what's going on with the other imam picked up last November, Imam Abdul Hannan of the Islamic Society of Greater Lowell, Masood's brother-in-law.  Nothing in the press about that.  And what about Mystery Man No. 4 picked up in Worcester last November?  Arghhh!!  Enquiring minds want to know!

The Daily Times of Pakistan lost no time in picking up this story too.

Basyouny Nehela - ISB Imam (1 of 2)

Amidst all the lawsuit controversies of the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB), one of its leaders, Imam Basyouney M. Nehela, has largely ecaped notice.  We know a little bit about the ISB's founder, Abdurahman Alamoudi, and about some of the ISB's trustees, including Dr. Walid Fitaihi.  We read public statements from the ISB spokesman, Jessica Masse, as well as its lawyer, Howard Cooper from Todd & Weld, LLP.  But we don't hear very much from the ISB's religious leader, Imam Nehela M. Basyouny.  Given the legal manuevrings going on with the ISB lawsuits, I thought it worthwhile to look into Basyouny's background.  I've done a little poking around, and found that the ISB's imam wears many hats indeed.  Here's the first of two parts on Nehela Basyouny: