James Estrin/The New York Times
Inside the Hookah Tea Room in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Some Muslims in the neighborhood say they are wary
of talking about politics in public.
Posted on 05/27/2006 5:18:54 AM PDT by Pharmboy
James Estrin/The New York Times
Inside the Hookah Tea Room in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Some Muslims in the neighborhood say they are wary
of talking about politics in public.
It is no secret to the Muslim immigrants of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, that spies live among them.
Almost anyone can rattle off what they regard as the telltale signs of police informers: They like to talk politics. They have plenty of free time. They live in the neighborhood, but have no local relatives.
"They think we don't know, but we know who they are," said Linda Sarsour, 26, a community activist.
It is another thing for them to be officially revealed. Over the last several weeks, during the trial of a Pakistani immigrant who was convicted on Wednesday of plotting to blow up the Herald Square subway station, Muslims in Bay Ridge learned that two agents of the police had been planted in the neighborhood and were instrumental to the case.
They absorbed the testimony of an Egyptian-born police informer who had recorded the license plate numbers of worshipers at a mosque. They heard that an undercover detective, originally from Bangladesh, had been sent to Bay Ridge as a "walking camera."
The trial's revelations, and its outcome for the defendant, Shahawar Matin Siraj, have brought a bitter reckoning among Muslims in the city. Many see the police tactics unveiled in the case as proof that the authorities — both in New York and around the nation — have been aggressive, even underhanded in their approach to Muslims.
And despite the conviction of Mr. Siraj, who was found guilty on all four of the counts he faced, some Muslim leaders remain convinced that he was entrapped, including an imam who knew the informer and had found him to be suspicious.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
"It's like a police state here," said Omar Maged, 34, an assistant teacher at a public high school. "We do not feel that we are living in the most free country in the world."
Riiiiiight. We don't have the freedoms you're used to in Jordan, Gaza and Egypt. I have a solution: GO BACK TO THOSE PARADISES.
Then get out..
Anger over spies, but, Gee, not a word of anger against the muslim who was plotting to blow up their fellow citizens...telling indeed.
The result of the new immigration bill will be a movement from Pakistan to America.
Pakis will overwhelm American cities.
"said Linda Sarsour, 26, a community activist"
"community activist" = anti-American terrorist.
Why are they here?
Both the Mexicans and these Muslims need better PR advice than they're getting. Even the Times had trouble spinning this in their favor.
"It's like a police state here," said Omar Maged, 34, an assistant teacher at a public high school. "We do not feel that we are living in the most free country in the world."
We are not as free since Islamic fanatics started attacking us, in that they have been successful.
These people only hurt themselves by stressing their victimization, after the next attack they will be begging
for protection...
Then were even.
I don't trust any of them and now it seems they realise they can't trust their own either.
And it's no secret that terrorists live among them too, but THAT seems not to bother them. I wish ta h*ll they would ALL go back to their sandy paradises.
It was interesting to see this story from the Times...
The PR drive has been to claim victimization and islamaphobia for years - and it worked.
Seems like people are slowly waking up to the reality of the situation.
How many rounds can I fire before my barrel melts?
Why couldn't the reporter have asked those complaining: "What do you propose we Americans do to protect ourselves from Islamic terrorism?"
And the proper response should be...."What have you done to ensure your freedom or are you continuing to harbor terrorists amongst yourselves?"
Amen.
The-Brooklyn-muzzies-are-unhappy-here ping. Here's the assignment: How can we Americans work to make them feel more comfortable in the US? /sarcasm
Wow--that was strange--I JUST pinged you as you were posting. Great minds, etc. etc...
Say it again!!!!
By sending them back to their jihadistans, bastions of Islamic "freedom".
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