Cat Stevens Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Set Foot In This Country

23 Sep, 2004 by John Hawkins

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It has been amusing to me to watch the reaction to Cat Stevens being banned from the US. Britain isn’t happy about it, the Council On American-Islamic Relations has predictably been whining about this, and of course Stevens AKA Yusuf Islam is claiming to be totally shocked,

“Everybody knows who I am. I am no secret figure,” Islam said. “Everybody knows my campaigning for charity, for peace. There’s got to be a whole lot of explanation.”

Islam said he “absolutely” felt victimized. “But you know, for God’s sake people make mistakes,” he said. “I just hope they have made a big mistake.”

Awwwww! Poor, victimized, Cat Stevens! Why — he has nothing to do with terrorism. So does that mean he’s another victim of John Ashcroft and George Bush’s new, fascist, Amerikkka? Kurt Nimmo from ProgressiveTrail.Org certainly seems to think so…

“Yusuf, nee Cat, of course, is not an Arab—but he made a few critical mistakes: he converted to Islam and he is an outspoken peace activist. Naturally, this means Yusuf will never be able to enter the United States again.”

Well…I guess that’s case closed. Cat Stevens is totally innocent and…hey, what’s that odor? It’s sort of a weird, funky, scent…oh…I know what it is now! It’s the same thing I smell every time Michael Moore comes on TV…it’s BS!

So maybe I should do a little research and see what I can find out about Cat? Oh, here’s something that’s a little disturbing…

“When the Islamic death sentence against Salman Rushdie was pronounced, Cat Stevens told Muslim students at London’s Kingston Polytechnic, “He must be killed. The Qur’an makes it clear: if someone defames the prophet, he must die.”

But, would that be enough to get Cat banned? Probably not, but Steven’s ties to Hamas, which Debbie Schlussel discusses, are another matter…

“Cat Stevens hates Jews.

He’ll apparently ride the “Peace Train” only if there aren’t any Jews or other “infidels” anywhere near the tracks. Yes, in 1988, the singer of “Peace Train” authored an “informational pamphlet,” called “Eyewitness,” containing these peaceful words:

“The Jews seem neither to respect God nor his creation. Their own holy books contain the curse of God brought upon them by their prophets on account of their disobedience to Him and mischief in the earth. We have seen the disrespect for religion displayed by those who consider themselves to be ‘God’s chosen people.’…There will be no justice until all the land is given back to its rightful owners… Only Islam can bring peace back to the Holy Land.”

Cat Stevens’ HAMAS Buddies.

It’s not just what Islam ne Stevens wrote in the anti-Semitic pamphlet, it’s for whom he wrote it: the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a HAMAS front-group with ties to Al-Qaeda.”

And of course, the US isn’t the only country Cat Stevens isn’t welcome in. Israel kicked him out for giving money to Hamas and lookie, lookie, there’s more recent activity that hasn’t been made public yet…

“The Department of Homeland Security, set up after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, believes that the singer contributed funds to groups linked to terrorism through his charities.

Brian Doyle, a spokesman for the department, said: “Yusuf Islam was put on the watch list very recently because of his recent activities. It would be fair to say the activities occurred in the last couple of months.”

One official was quoted as saying that donations from Islam may have ended up in the hands of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind cleric jailed for his role in the bombing of the World Trade Centre in 1993.

Islam, who abandoned his musical career when he became a Muslim in the late 1970s, was expelled from Israel in July 2000 for allegedly providing financial support to the Palestinian group Hamas.”

Hey, it’s quite the coincidence that they mentioned Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman because according to the Washington Times, there was even a connection between Stevens and the “Blind Sheikh” who was behind the WTC bombing in 1993…

“News reports several years ago linked a Web site and charitable foundation he heads to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and to the “Blind Sheikh” — Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted of involvement in a terrorist plot in New York city a decade ago.”

If the terrorist watch list is keeping people like Cat Stevens out of this country, then that means it’s working EXACTLY like it’s supposed too. Maybe Stevens isn’t going to strap a bomb to his chest and run into an elementary school, but he seems to be entirely too friendly with the sort of people who think that sort of thing is A-OK.

So as far as I’m concerned, Stevens can complain all he wants and condemn terrorist attacks until he’s blue in the face, but if he’s getting in bed with terrorists like Hamas and Omar Abdel-Rahman that have American blood on their hands, then he doesn’t belong anywhere near this country.

***Update #1***: Michelle Malkin has more on why Cat Stevens isn’t welcome here in the good old US of A.