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'Some Things You Never Forget' (Muslims held 150 hostage in DC 30 years ago)
The Washington Post ^ | March 12, 2007 | Theresa Vargas

Posted on 03/12/2007 3:24:53 AM PDT by RDTF

The small scar above Marion Barry's heart has had three decades to fade, but it's still noticeable -- evidence that some things don't disappear with time.

For 39 hours in March 1977 -- before the word "terrorism" entered our daily vocabulary -- 12 gunmen paralyzed the District in a three-point siege. The group of Hanafi Muslims held about 150 people hostage in three buildings, and before they surrendered, a young reporter was killed and dozens were injured, including D.C. Council member Barry. A shotgun pellet pierced his chest, right above his heart, nearly killing him.

-snip-

The 12 gunmen had several demands. They wanted the government to hand over a group of men who had been convicted of killing seven relatives -- mostly children -- of takeover leader Hamaas Abdul Khaalis. They also demanded that the movie "Mohammad, Messenger of God" be destroyed because they considered it sacrilegious.

Most of the hostages, more than 100, were captured at the B'nai B'rith headquarters.

Rae Ehrlich, a secretary on the fourth floor of the Jewish organization's building at the time, was among those held captive.

-snip-

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: 1977; 197703; ernestmcgee; ernesttmcgee; hamaasabdulkhaalis; islam; khaalis; mcgee; muslims; religionofpeace; sunniislam; wot
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1 posted on 03/12/2007 3:24:59 AM PDT by RDTF
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To: RDTF
In 1977 my head was still in the clouds (since 1967) and I don't remember any of this.

More to research, digest and disseminate.

Thanx, RDTF

2 posted on 03/12/2007 3:32:29 AM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true.)
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To: RDTF

It's a little late in the day to blame Stockholm Syndrome for malfeasance in office.


3 posted on 03/12/2007 3:35:41 AM PDT by sono (Al Gore buys carbon offsets with Blood Diamonds)
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To: RDTF

Meanwhile, one of the Congressman from NJ (Dem) has given CAIR access to one of the rooms in the House for some meetings with Congress.


4 posted on 03/12/2007 3:40:08 AM PDT by mware (By all that you hold dear.. on this good earth... I bid you stand! Men of the West!)
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To: RDTF
On a related note....

CAIR OK'd to meet in Capitol

5 posted on 03/12/2007 3:52:35 AM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: knarf
It's fuzzy in my mind, also, but here's some background:

In 1950, Khalifa Hamaas Abdul Khaalis (Ernest T. McGee) joined the Nation of Islam in an attempt to bring the sect into line with orthodox Sunni Islam. By 1956, he had become national secretary. His efforts proved unsuccessful, so in 1958, he broke with Elijah Muhammad and founded the Al-Hanif, Hanafi, Madh-Hob Center, Islam Faith, United States of America, American Mussulmans. Based in Washington DC, the Hanafis still adhere to the basic tenets of Sunni Islam.

The Hanafi Muslims gained notoriety in 1973 when five members of the Philadelphia Nation of Islam brutally murdered seven Hanafis, including five members of Khalifa Hamaas Abdul Khaalis' immediate family. Again in 1977, the Hanafis captured national headlines when they tried to stop the screening of the movie Mohammed Messenger of God. They did this by seizing three buildings in Washington, D.C., the District Building (City Hall), the B'nai B'rith Building and the Islamic Center. They took several hostages. Several were injured and one was killed. Khalifa Hamaas Abdul Khaalis was sentenced to 21 to 120 years for his role in these seizures.

Where are Khaalis and the rest of the murderers now, I wonder?  

 

6 posted on 03/12/2007 3:56:45 AM PDT by browardchad
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To: RDTF
hand over a group of men who had been convicted of killing seven relatives -- mostly children -- of takeover leader Hamaas Abdul Khaalis.

I remember this part quite clearly.

One Muslim faction went to the home of this fellow Khaalis and killed his wife and kids. Pretty grisly.

The house was right on upper 16th St., NW, and it soon became a daily reminder of what had happened there.

The Muslims continued to live there, but they cut down ever tree and bush and flower on the property, leaving this really magnificent stone house sitting alone on the lawn with nothing else up to the fence line.

Next they installed high-powered halogen lamps, so the entire property was lit-up like like a baseball stadium from sundown to sunup, every night, for years.

Finally - and this also went on for several years - they had one or two guards on patrol on the property 7x24x365. Usually the guards were dressed in normal Western clothes, but often enough in some kind of Arab getup with robes, etc.

But no matter what, the guards always carried 3-foot long scimitars thrust into the belt. There was no DC ordinance preventing anyone from carrying a sword on their own property, so that's what they did.

I'm pretty clear on the details because I commuted to work on that route off-and-on for years. There was a stoplight at the intersection, so frequently you'd be stopped directly in front of the house watching Mr Guard doing his duties.

it was a wierd time in DC.

7 posted on 03/12/2007 4:00:21 AM PDT by angkor
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To: angkor

Is this film "moHAMed: messenger from allah" any good? I never heard of it. I think I would like to watch it since it ticked them off.


8 posted on 03/12/2007 4:05:31 AM PDT by Kewlhand`tek (When you take things in backwards, everything comes out backwards.---Savage)
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To: RDTF

I had no idea this happened.

Course I was born in April '77.


9 posted on 03/12/2007 4:07:45 AM PDT by OXENinFLA
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To: angkor

Don't you mean a 7.62X39 or a 7.62x54?


10 posted on 03/12/2007 4:11:14 AM PDT by riverrunner
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To: RDTF

Bump For Later


11 posted on 03/12/2007 4:11:42 AM PDT by gridlock (On January 20, 2009, Fred Dalton Thompson will be sworn in as President of the United States.)
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To: browardchad

Khalis family members were murdered by Nation of Islam thugs.

Khalis had dared to criticize Elijah Muhammad and the NOI as charlatans.

Khalis led some of his Hanafi people in this hostage taking-murder spree as revenge for the authorities not going after all the perps who killed his children and grandchildren, among other family members.

I'll give Khalis this much. Top Nation of Islam leaders may have been behind the hit and did not get punished because political leaders then didn't have the cohones to do a full investigation of Elijah Muhammad and his top deputies like Louis Farrakhan.

It doesn't justify the horrible acts Khalis committed, but it shows the kid glove treatment given to the Nation of Islam by the media and government over the last 50 years.

A link to TV coverage of this event 30 years ago at

http://www.wusa9.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=56571


12 posted on 03/12/2007 4:13:18 AM PDT by Nextrush ( Chris Matthews Band: "I get high....I get high.....I get high.....McCain......")
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To: RDTF
Those people were not "Terrorists" they were freedom fighters.
13 posted on 03/12/2007 4:16:09 AM PDT by TYVets (God so loved the world he didn't send a committee)
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To: RDTF

What a story. I don't remember a thing about it, although I guess that's becaause I was living in a fairly remote place at the time and didn't have a TV. It's amazing how long the Muslims have been at this, even in the US. And of course they took most of their hostages at Bnai Brith.


14 posted on 03/12/2007 4:18:03 AM PDT by livius
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To: browardchad

He is currently serving a sentence of 41 to 120 years


15 posted on 03/12/2007 4:19:27 AM PDT by libbybelle (coffee is for closers)
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To: RDTF

I don't remember this. Thanks for posting the thread.


16 posted on 03/12/2007 4:46:46 AM PDT by syriacus (We have a pro-life president. I would not have bet on that 15 years ago. Thank you, GWB.)
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To: syriacus
Someone may already have posted a link to this...Diary of a Mad Saloon Owner: March 9[excerpt]
At the time I was the night assignment editor for the NBC News network bureau on Nebraska Avenue. It was, of course, a national story, too

17 posted on 03/12/2007 4:54:09 AM PDT by syriacus (We have a pro-life president. I would not have bet on that 15 years ago. Thank you, GWB.)
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To: syriacus

bttt


18 posted on 03/12/2007 4:58:37 AM PDT by ConservativeMan55
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To: RDTF

save


19 posted on 03/12/2007 5:37:21 AM PDT by Eagles6 (Dig deeper, more ammo.)
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To: knarf

Didn't Clinton pardon these people?

nick


20 posted on 03/12/2007 5:53:54 AM PDT by nikos1121 (Thank you again Jimmy Carter.)
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