LIBERATION FOR ALL

Since Sept. 11, Muslim Americans have been confronting the new reality of violence, intimidation and government intervention in our religious affairs. On Dec. 29, the Islamic Center in Columbus, Ohio, was viciously vandalized, causing $100,000 worth of damage. Worshippers who arrived to perform their prayers in the morning discovered that vandals had ransacked the facilities the night before. Pipes had been ripped from the walls and sinks had been plugged, causing extensive flooding to the three-story building. Holes were drilled in the floors, prayer rugs were ruined and copies of the Holy Koran were shredded and thrown across the waterlogged floor, according to the New York Times. This was a brutal assault devised to intimidate and terrify a community. Two weeks earlier, vandals broke the windows of the Islamic Center in Contra Costa, Calif., while community members prayed inside, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Since Sept. 11, there have been more than 1,700 reported incidents of discrimination and violence against Muslim, Arab, South Asian and Sikh Americans, according to the Chronicle. These are indeed difficult times to practice Islam freely. Since Sept. 11, the government has seized the assets of the three largest Muslim charities, accusing them of financing terrorism. Charity is a religiously mandated obligation in Islam, and for years, Muslims in the United States have established charities to help in collecting and dispensing funds to the neediest around the world. None of these accused charities, however, has received due process of law, and by freezing their assets, the government has put them out of business before proving them guilty of anything. If they have any evidence, let them produce it. Otherwise, the government should release the charities' assets and apologize to them. Instead, the government insists on using blanket secrecy to prosecute these cases, claiming that the evidence must remain classified. This violates one of the most basic tenets of the American judicial process: the right to confront the evidence against you. Sadly, these tactics have been expanded to individuals involved with these charities, as well. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has detained Imam Rabih Haddad, a highly respected Michigan man who helped found Global Relief Foundation, one of these accused charities. If Haddad supported terrorism, then why does the U.S. government seek to deport him instead of prosecuting him criminally? Now we need the trust of our government. By shutting down the largest Muslim charities in this country without due process of law, the government -- the very institution that should guarantee our rights -- is instead infringing on the right of Muslims to practice our faith openly. One of this country's most cherished principles is the free exercise of religion. Let's not abandon that freedom to fear and prejudice. Moustafa Bayoumi is a professor in the English department at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and co-editor of "The Edward Said Reader" (Vintage, 2000).

According to the Houston Chronicle, a newspaper not noted for its willingness to cross swords with the Bush clan, Bush said in an interview last week, "He [Enron CEO Kenneth Lay] was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994, [a]nd she did name him the head of the Governor's Business Council, and I decided to leave him in place just for the sake of continuity. And that's when I first got to know Ken and worked with Ken, and he supported my candidacy." It�s such a great story that it�s rather a pity that Bush just plain lied. The fact of the matter is that while Kenneth Lay, and Enron, did donate to Ann Richards�Ecampaign, by a huge margin they donated much more to Bush�s campaign. Lay himself said, in the same Kronk article, " I was very close to George W. and had a lot of respect for him, had watched him over the years, particularly with reference to dealing with his father when his father was in the White House and some of the things he did to work for his father, and so (I) did support him..." In fact, Lay spent at least one night in the Lincoln bedroom while Daddy was president, and of course, they had a lot of common interests, being both big noises in the energy industry. According to the Chronicle article, in the 1994 campaign, "Texans for Public Justice ... said Richards received $12,500 from Enron sources during the 1994 election cycle. But contributions from Enron's political committee and executives totaled $146,500 for Bush, including $47,500 directly from Lay and his wife, Linda." Again according to the Houston Chronicle, the White House stuck to this lie, claiming that some of Enron�s donations occurred during the primaries, which they think apparently shouldn�t count as campaign donations. Never mind that Bush ran unopposed in the primaries. By: Bryan Zepp Jamieson

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush personally asked Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle Tuesday to limit the congressional investigation into the events of September 11, congressional and White House sources told CNN. The request was made at a private meeting with congressional leaders Tuesday morning. Sources said Bush initiated the conversation.He asked that only the House and Senate intelligence committees look into the potential breakdowns among federal agencies that could have allowed the terrorist attacks to occur, rather than a broader inquiry that some lawmakers have proposed, the sources said Tuesday's discussion followed a rare call to Daschle from Vice President Dick Cheney last Friday to make the same request. "The vice president expressed the concern that a review of what happened on September 11 would take resources and personnel away from the effort in the war on terrorism," Daschle told reporters. But, Daschle said, he has not agreed to limit the investigation. "I acknowledged that concern, and it is for that reason that the Intelligence Committee is going to begin this effort, trying to limit the scope and the overall review of what happened," said Daschle, D-South Dakota. "But clearly, I think the American people are entitled to know what happened and why," he said. Cheney met last week in the Capitol with the chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees and, according to a spokesman for Senate Intelligence Chairman Bob Graham, D-Florida, "agreed to cooperate with their effort." The heads of both intelligence committees have been meeting to map out a way to hold a bipartisan House-Senate investigation and hearings. They were discussing how the inquiry would proceed, including what would be made public, what would remain classified, and how broad the probe would be. Graham's spokesman said the committees will review intelligence matters only. "How ill prepared were we and why? We are looking towards the possibility of addressing systemic problems through legislation," said spokesman Paul Anderson. "We do not meet our responsibilities to the American people if we do not take an honest look at the federal government and all of its agencies and let the country know what went wrong," Torricelli said. "The best assurance that there's not another terrorist attack on the United States is not simply to hire more federal agents or spend more money. It's to take an honest look at what went wrong. Who or what failed? There's an explanation owed to the American people," he said. "We will take a look at the allocation of resources. Ten thousand federal agents -- where were they? How many assets were used, and what signals were missed?" a Democratic senator told CNN.