Why Cat Stevens Expelled, Outfit Asks Bush
Washington, Sept. 24 (NNN): An Islamic civil rights and advocacy group has called on the Bush administration to explain why Yusuf Islam, alias Cat Stevens, an internationally-known Muslim peace activist and educator, was barred from entering the United States.
At a news conference in Washington, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a statement saying: ‘Yusuf Islam is perhaps one of the most widely-known and respected personalities in the Muslim world. He has a long history of promoting peace and reconciliation and condemning terrorism.
In a recent statement denouncing the massacre of more than 300 people at a school in Russian, Islam said: ‘Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Mohammed.’
‘Treating mainstream and moderate Muslims like Yusuf Islam as if they are criminals or terrorists, without bringing charges or allowing for due process, sends the message to the Islamic world that even those who seek peace and condemn terror are not fit to enter the United States.
We call on the Bush administration to explain why Yusuf Islam was barred from coming to this country and whether other internationally-respected Muslim travellers or scholars will face such treatment in the future.
‘This not the way to win the hearts and minds of Muslims worldwide.’
It is worth mentioning here that Cat Stevens, the former pop singer was removed from a plane bound for Washington from London on Tuesday when his name showed up on a US watch list. The plane was diverted to Maine’s Bangor International Airport.
A department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesman said Cat Stevens was denied admission to the United States ‘on national security grounds.’ Media reports say that Cat Stevens would be deported.
The United Airlines jet was heading to Washington when it was ordered to land in Bangor, Maine. This happened when US officials learned that the Muslim convert, now known as Yusuf Islam, was on board. His name is on an American list of those who should be denied entry to the US, but he was accidentally allowed to board the aircraft in London after airline staff failed to spot his name.
Cat Stevens, 56, and his 21-year-old daughter were escorted off the plane by FBI agents. She was later allowed to enter the US while he was put on a plane back to the UK. A spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security said he had been "detained on national security grounds".
Yusuf Islam - real name Stephen Demetre Georgiou - was brought up hating Muslims. Born in London to a Greek Cypriot father and Swedish mother, his early years were spent as a Greek Orthodox hating Turks and everything about them, including their religion. He changed his name to Cat Stevens when he embarked on his pop career, becoming one of the most popular singer/songwriters of the 1970s.
In the late 1970s, he gave up his music career and changed his name to Yusuf Islam. He later became a teacher and an advocate for his religion, founding a Muslim school in London in 1983.
Last year he released two songs, including a version of his hit Peace Train, to express opposition to the Iraq war.
Yusuf Islam was refused entry to Israel in July 2000 amid claims that his charitable donations had gone to the Islamic terror group Hamas. In a statement released by his record label at the time, he said: "I've never, ever knowingly supported any terrorist groups - past, present or future."
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