Entrapment

[islamirama]

FBI Encouraged Me To Sleep With Muslim Women For Intel

Former FBI Informant Craig Monteilh: FBI Encouraged Me To Sleep With Muslim Women For Intel

By Rahel Gebreyes - 03/04/2015

To Muslim mosque members in the Los Angeles area, Craig Monteilh was known as Farouk al-Aziz, a French Syrian looking to reconnect to his Islamic roots. But behind the devout facade and convincing knowledge of Islam, Monteilh was spying for the FBI, which instructed him to go as far as sleeping with Muslim women to gain information.

Monteilh joined HuffPost Live to share his story and discuss how he went from a criminal to an FBI informant to a witness in a case against the Feds.

Monteilh had his own brush with the law, having served time for using fraudulent checks. His familiarity with criminals in Chino prison enticed the FBI to recruit him to root out organized crime and later seek out terrorists as part of Operation Flex.

"The FBI paid me to infiltrate mosques in Los Angeles and Orange County in Southern California, as a very broad surveillance operation to give them the personal information of Muslims," he told host Josh Zepps on Monday.

That "personal information" comprised of emails, cell phone numbers, names of known associates and where they attended mosque. Monteilh said he even placed recording devices in the offices of imams and a local Muslim Student Union. The FBI would then gather the data and share the intel with the Office of Foreign Assets Control for the purpose of thwarting potential terror attacks.

Monteilh's informant role had an intense training process, during which he learned to "pretend to be Muslim."

"The FBI trained me in the tenets of Islam, in the elementary principles of Arabic, and just to blend into the community and to slowly integrate myself as a Muslim male," he said.

The operation included even more extreme breaches of privacy, with Monteilh going as far as dating and having sex with Muslim women to extract intelligence.

"I portrayed myself as a unmarried male, although I was married," he said. "Within the Muslim community, they would help me to get a bride, so they would introduce me to single Muslim women. I would go out on dates and things like that. … [My FBI handlers] instructed me, if I was getting good intel, to allow it to go into sexual relations."

The undercover plot eventually took an ironic turn when his extreme jihadist rhetoric alienated his targets, who reported him to the FBI. In 2007, the Islamic Center of Irvine filed a restraining order against him, effectively blowing his cover.

As Monteilh remembers, very few of his targets actually used similar jihadist rhetoric. The only time he heard extremist language was after some prodding and "inciting" on his part.

"They'd follow my lead," he said.

Looking back on his undercover operation now, Monteilh said the monthly $11,200 compensation he received "clouded his judgment," making it tough for him to question the practice. Although he originally felt it was his "patriotic duty" to help the FBI operation, he had a change of heart.

"I began to be conflicted because I was spying on innocent people. They were not involved in criminal activity," he said. "They were not espousing terrorist rhetoric, but I was still spying on them and giving the FBI the information they wanted."

Monteilh has since spoken out against the FBI's controversial informant program and even planned to testify in a class action suit against the FBI. The case was dismissed because it would risk exposing "state secrets."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_6800126.html

[islamirama]

FBI Using Fake Muslim Converts or Missionaries to Entrap Muslims



Craig Monteilh says he did not balk when his FBI handlers gave him the OK to have sex with the Muslim women his undercover operation was targeting. Nor, at the time, did he shy away from recording their pillow talk.

"They said, if it would enhance the intelligence, go ahead and have sex. So I did," Monteilh told the Guardian as he described his year as a confidential FBI informant sent on a secret mission to infiltrate southern Californian mosques.

Monteilh was involved in one of the most controversial tactics: the use of "confidential informants" in so-called entrapment cases. This is when suspects carry out or plot fake terrorist "attacks" at the request or under the close supervision of an FBI undercover operation using secret informants. Often those informants have serious criminal records or are supplied with a financial motivation to net suspects.

Such actions have led Muslim civil rights groups to wonder if their communities are being unfairly targeted in a spying game that is rigged against them. Monteilh says that is exactly what happens. "The way the FBI conducts their operations, It is all about entrapment … I know the game, I know the dynamics of it. It's such a joke, a real joke. There is no real hunt. It's fixed," he said.

He was tasked with befriending Muslims and blanket recording their conversations. All this information was then fed back to the FBI who told Monteilh to act like a radical himself to lure out Islamist sympathizers.

Yet, far from succeeding, Monteilh eventually so unnerved Orange County's Muslim community that that they got a restraining order against him. In an ironic twist, they also reported Monteilh to the FBI: unaware he was in fact working undercover for the agency.

He said the FBI had two basic aims. Firstly, they aimed to uncover potential militants. Secondly, they could also use any information Monteilh discovered – like an affair or someone being gay – to turn targeted people into becoming FBI informants themselves.

None of it seemed to unnerve his FBI bosses, not even when he carried out a suggestion to begin seducing Muslim women and recording them.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201.../fbi-informant

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Comments:

Lying and spying on Muslim communities, seducing and sleeping with Muslim women, trying to make the Muslims say key words "jihad, osama, bomb, etc" to entrap them. how is this fighting terrorism? This is also why many are no longer trust converts in the community, fearing he could be another fake and a mole.

He didn't care for the Muslims nor had these morals he talks of now. He only changed his tune after he was exposed and abandoned to take the fall.

[sister_39738]

Last year in my criminology class two guest speakers from the FBI came and talked about terrorism. One of the speakers said "If you ever see a middle eastern flag or something written in Arabic, call the FBI." A heart breaking wake up call of the hate muslims have to put up with. And I had just converted to Islam not long before that. That day I promised that I would never work for the U.S government or teach a non muslim Arabic (they also said they needed more Arabic speakers).

[aflawedbeing]

...And where does this leave 'white' Muslims who need help in integrating into the community?

Key: Take everyone at face value, help them as they need. If you're weary of them, keep a buffer...You can't just ignore the fact that people are coming to Islam though, and those people do need a support group around them.
Take it from a 'white revert' here...Alienation is common, and a huge problem for reverts. Please find a way to not make that a bigger issue than it always as been.

I don't have the answers, but my God it's hard out there.

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[islamirama]

...And where does this leave 'white' Muslims who need help in integrating into the community?

Key: Take everyone at face value, help them as they need. If you're weary of them, keep a buffer...You can't just ignore the fact that people are coming to Islam though, and those people do need a support group around them.
Take it from a 'white revert' here...Alienation is common, and a huge problem for reverts. Please find a way to not make that a bigger issue than it always as been.

I don't have the answers, but my God it's hard out there.

What Muslims need to do is educate themselves. They need to educate themselves on Islam so they can be more brotherly towards reverts and help them integrate into the community. And they need to educate themselves on current events so they know what is going on in the world and within their community so they can spot the fake converts and not blindly accept every convert they meet but rather critically analyze each person on their merit. So many Muslims are being entrapped by FBI (and may be m15) and get arrested for "terrorism". This wouldn't be the case if Muslims aren't ignorant of the reality of what's happening around them. There are also over 28,000 Muslim informants (traitors) who try to entrap Muslims with their lies and propaganda. An educated Muslim wouldn't fall for them so easily.

You also make the effort bro, go be more active in the community and try to get to know others in the community. Usually it's easier to try with people in your age range.

[RockShan]

Two white men cannot be used to "alienate" or group a whole race of people into something like that, or say they all act the same way or are "moles", everyone (every race, and group), will have those that act this way when converting to another religion or to anything in that matter.

[aflawedbeing]

You also make the effort bro, go be more active in the community and try to get to know others in the community. Usually it's easier to try with people in your age range.

Would be useful advise if I was wallowing in self-pitty, the reality is though that after 10 years of being Muslim I've accepted I will be alienated on the basis that I'm a revert and learned to stop giving a care. The issue is that not every revert has the thick skin that I do.

It doesn't matter how much of an effort a revert makes, and this is something you'll never understand unless you've walked a mile in our shoes. We are constantly suspected, we are constantly questioned (and not innocent questions like 'how did you come to Islam?' try 'Well...You know most reverts go back to their old ways.') Even the fact that I'm married to a born Muslim she is often asked how she 'converted me' (I said Shahada half a damn decade before I even met her too.)

All I'm saying is don't underestimate the damage that undue scepticism like what you're promoting in this thread could do to someone's emaan. Sincere reverts already have it hard enough, they've literally rejected their old ways and in the minds of many around them (though not necessarily true) those around them for the true way of life (which is the most precious gift, don't think I'm undermining that) and an Ummah in a sorry state (hey, we are!) that will never truly take them seriously on face value. Think about that for a minute and maybe you'll get it.

Islam is a social religion, in our religion we help one another regardless of past, background, etc. So embrace that with every brother!

[Search]

:bism: (In the Name of God, the Most Beneficient, the Most Merciful)

:sl: (Peace be upon you)

While I appreciate that the motive of brother @islamirama is to warn and perhaps call for more vigilance in our communities, I'd say that brother @islamirama this is not the attitude of the believer to be suspicious of any persons once they say they have become a fellow believer. Once a person says he/she is a Muslim, we accept that person being Muslim at face value. We do not listen to the inner voice of shaitaan (satan) that may lead us astray and cause us to harm another person inadvertently; so, whenever we have a question of how we should act in a specific situation, we should seek foremost clarity in the Qur'an:

The Qur'an says (49:12), "O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would abhor it...But fear Allah: For Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful."

And we must always remember that no harm or good can come to a person without the will of Allah. Prophet :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Be mindful of God, and He will take care of you. Be mindful of Him, and you shall find Him at your side. If you ask, ask of God. If you need help, seek it from God. Know that if the whole world were to gather together in order to help you, they would not be able to help you except if God had written so. And if the whole world were to gather together in order to harm you, they would not harm you except if God had written so. The pens have been lifted, and the pages are dry.’”

So, we should remember that if we're inadvertently hurting someone with suspicion or devaluing their personhood, then that can be considered oppression and oppression of any type is entirely haram (forbidden) in Islam. We're told in Islam the following by Prophet Muhammad :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him): “He who has done a wrong that affects his brother's honour or anything else, let him ask his forgiveness today before the time (i.e., the Day of Resurrection) when he will have neither a Deenaar nor a Dirham. (On that Day), if he has done some good deeds, a portion equal to his wrongdoings will be subtracted from them; but if he has no good deeds, he will be burdened with the evil deeds of the one he had wronged in the same proportion.”

Prophet Muhammad :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim. (So) he should not oppress him, nor should he forsake him (i.e. when he is being oppressed).”

Indeed, all success is with Allah. I note that on IB I InshaAllah (God-willing) sincerely hope that all believers, regardless of whether they were born into the faith or not, are given the light of peace and are safeguarded from either becoming oppressors or victims of oppressors by their fellow believers.

:wa: (And peace be upon you)

[islamirama]

It doesn't matter how much of an effort a revert makes, and this is something you'll never understand unless you've walked a mile in our shoes. We are constantly suspected, we are constantly questioned (and not innocent questions like 'how did you come to Islam?' try 'Well...You know most reverts go back to their old ways.') Even the fact that I'm married to a born Muslim she is often asked how she 'converted me' (I said Shahada half a damn decade before I even met her too.)

We all are not going to start walking into each others shoes now. It's given that there is cultural practices and prejudice that exists in Muslim communities, as it does in other non Muslim communities. Muslims don't see a revert sticking around in the community that long so they think he went back to his ways. They also hear stories of reverts who do go back to their old ways and religion. And yes that is a fact as well. Lot of reverts do go back within their first 2 years for one reason or another. More often its the alienation from their culture and family and sometimes that plus the alienation they feel in the community. You are not only one who gets asked that, revert sisters and their husbands get the same treatment from non-Muslims, who ask 'how did he convert you' or 'she converted him because of marriage'

All I'm saying is don't underestimate the damage that undue scepticism like what you're promoting in this thread could do to someone's emaan. Sincere reverts already have it hard enough, they've literally rejected their old ways and in the minds of many around them (though not necessarily true) those around them for the true way of life (which is the most precious gift, don't think I'm undermining that) and an Ummah in a sorry state (hey, we are!) that will never truly take them seriously on face value. Think about that for a minute and maybe you'll get it.

Eman is built on knowledge and belief in the religion not social interactions. While I do see your point, at the same time we cannot just shove this under the rug and pretend these kind of fakers are not out there destroying Muslim lives and communities. As a revert you should be concerned about this as well since it makes it even harder for reverts in the community who already find it hard integrating into the community.

Islam is a social religion, in our religion we help one another regardless of past, background, etc. So embrace that with every brother!

Yes, embrace that with every brother but with a cautious mind. We already have many innocent brothers and sisters being falsely accused and locked up. No body wants that. You know how the saying goes, 'Ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'

Two white men cannot be used to "alienate" or group a whole race of people into something like that, or say they all act the same way or are "moles", everyone (every race, and group), will have those that act this way when converting to another religion or to anything in that matter.

Two men that we know of. How many do we not know of out there? I don't think any Muslim would appreciate their family member be used like this poor Muslim woman was targeted. There was another story, although I can't find the link now, of a sister named affia siddique in NY. A fake revert women was after her since college, going to msa's and being friends with her for 4 years till she finally entrapped her. That sister is now facing 30 years in prison because of that fake witch. Do you think we Muslims can afford that kind of risk ?

Yes, there are genuine good reverts out there. But cases like these are not helping them in a more cultural than Islamic communities.

[Delete.]

Would be useful advise if I was wallowing in self-pitty, the reality is though that after 10 years of being Muslim I've accepted I will be alienated on the basis that I'm a revert and learned to stop giving a care. The issue is that not every revert has the thick skin that I do.

It doesn't matter how much of an effort a revert makes, and this is something you'll never understand unless you've walked a mile in our shoes. We are constantly suspected, we are constantly questioned (and not innocent questions like 'how did you come to Islam?' try 'Well...You know most reverts go back to their old ways.') Even the fact that I'm married to a born Muslim she is often asked how she 'converted me' (I said Shahada half a damn decade before I even met her too.)

All I'm saying is don't underestimate the damage that undue scepticism like what you're promoting in this thread could do to someone's emaan. Sincere reverts already have it hard enough, they've literally rejected their old ways and in the minds of many around them (though not necessarily true) those around them for the true way of life (which is the most precious gift, don't think I'm undermining that) and an Ummah in a sorry state (hey, we are!) that will never truly take them seriously on face value. Think about that for a minute and maybe you'll get it.

Islam is a social religion, in our religion we help one another regardless of past, background, etc. So embrace that with every brother!

A'salamu alaykum, brother. Well said. JazakAllahu khayr. I suppose sometimes people forget that the Sahaba radhiAllahu anhum were all "reverts", black, white, brown, they were the best humans of mankind.

[islamirama]

:bism: (In the Name of God, the Most Beneficient, the Most Merciful)

:sl: (Peace be upon you)

Once a person says he/she is a Muslim, we accept that person being Muslim at face value. We do not listen to the inner voice of shaitaan (satan) that may lead us astray and cause us to harm another person inadvertently; so, whenever we have a question of how we should act in a specific situation, we should seek foremost clarity in the Qur'an:

The Qur'an says (49:12), "O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would abhor it...But fear Allah: For Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful."

:wa:

This is not a matter of being suspicious but being cautious. Accept the person at face value and embrace him whole heartedly. Even treat him justly as your brother in Islam. No one is denying that or saying contrary to that. But at the same time do not be so blindly be friendly with anyone that you fall into a trap. We know traps are being set and Muslims are being unjustly oppressed and imprisoned.

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “A believer does not allow himself to be stung twice from one (and the same) hole.” [Bukhari]

And we must always remember that no harm or good can come to a person without the will of Allah. Prophet :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Be mindful of God, and He will take care of you. Be mindful of Him, and you shall find Him at your side. If you ask, ask of God. If you need help, seek it from God. Know that if the whole world were to gather together in order to help you, they would not be able to help you except if God had written so. And if the whole world were to gather together in order to harm you, they would not harm you except if God had written so. The pens have been lifted, and the pages are dry.’”

And at the same time we must do our part as well.

Anas (radi Allahu anhu) reported that a person asked Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam), “Should I tie my camel and have Tawakkul (trust in Allah for her protection) or should I leave her untied and have Tawakkul.” Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) replied, “Tie her and have Tawakkul.” (Hasan) [Jami At-Tirmidhi]

So, we should remember that if we're inadvertently hurting someone with suspicion or devaluing their personhood, then that can be considered oppression and oppression of any type is entirely haram (forbidden) in Islam.

And no one is promoting suspicion or oppression of another here. Bringing an important issue to attention of the community is contrary to what you suggesting. I'm merely highlighting a problem that is becoming all too common, the need for a Muslim individually and a community as a whole to be aware of and be cautious of. They should be aware of the tactics of the fakers and moles and be able to identify them should any of those are being used on them. Embrace your revert brothers/sisters whole heartily but don't be blind to the signs either. And in highlighting this issue I'm also making the reverts aware of what is going and why (suspicion in the community) of them may be on the rise and how it will be even harder to integrate now.

So I'm not going to take an apologetic stance here at the expense of the Muslim community. Everybody needs to educate themselves. Ignoring it won't make it go away.

[aflawedbeing]

We all are not going to start walking into each others shoes now. It's given that there is cultural practices and prejudice that exists in Muslim communities, as it does in other non Muslim communities. Muslims don't see a revert sticking around in the community that long so they think he went back to his ways. They also hear stories of reverts who do go back to their old ways and religion.

So a revert stops showing up and you immediately assume the worst?
Not that they could have moved house? Not that you've just missed them? Not that they commute to work and pray elsewhere most of the time?

And this is only applicable to reverts?

That says more about you than it does anyone else brother. Your superiority complex over reverts is quite shameful.
Reverts are as due to 70 excuses as any other brother/sister...Maybe straighten yourself out if you cannot afford someone even that small courtesy (obligation).

They also hear stories of reverts who do go back to their old ways and religion.

Before I came to Islam, I also heard stories about Islam promoting Muslims to blow themselves up on buses and 'take out the infidels' - but it would seem I'm of stronger mind than the people you're referring to given that I was able to identify that it was baloney instantly (when something's obviously baloney it normally is.)

Stories =/= Reality.
They float all over the place and it would be justified to be skeptical of them...But, it's not justified to be skeptical of your brothers. You've got it all screwed up here.

And yes that is a fact as well. Lot of reverts do go back within their first 2 years for one reason or another.

It's an incredibly low percentage...
It's also a fact that a lot of Muslims commit crazy haraam and some even leave Islam. Doesn't mean we look at a brother and assume 'Wow! He might leave Islam someday. I better treat him like he's lower than me just in case.'
Again, you've got it all screwed up.

You are not only one who gets asked that, revert sisters and their husbands get the same treatment from non-Muslims, who ask 'how did he convert you' or 'she converted him because of marriage'

I know I'm not the only one, I don't care that I'm not the only one.
That's not even relevant.
What's relevant is the fact that no matter how common it is, it's still not okay!

Eman is built on knowledge and belief in the religion not social interactions. While I do see your point, at the same time we cannot just shove this under the rug and pretend these kind of fakers are not out there destroying Muslim lives and communities. As a revert you should be concerned about this as well since it makes it even harder for reverts in the community who already find it hard integrating into the community.

Yes, but we also need to be surrounded by the right people and good company.
Kind of hard when everyone thinks you're a spy (not to say they;re good company in the first place...)

I'm more concerned about your mindset, to be honest. It's clearly toxic, I can only be thankful it's so extremely irrational it's very unlikely many, if any intelligent Muslims will be infected by it.

Yes, embrace that with every brother but with a cautious mind. We already have many innocent brothers and sisters being falsely accused and locked up. No body wants that. You know how the saying goes, 'Ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'

This still doesn't justify what you're promoting here.

How about you focus on curing the alienation of reverts to prevent them from becoming disillusioned with Islam? Take your own advise and apply it to something common and non-delusional!

Islamirama is a racist... I already schooled him, and now - this thread.

People like this are near impossible to teach. Thus the lack of effort in my post above, for the likelihood of it actually making a difference even what I wrote probably wasn't worth my time.

[MuslimInshallah]

Assalaamu alaikum,

I have changed the title of this thread. I believe the issue of entrapment raised is an important one, but it seems that some may have misinterpreted its significance, and instead are being drawn into dissension.

Craig Monteilh, who apparently identifies as African-American, presented himself as being of mixed Middle-Eastern and European heritage looking to connect with his Islamic roots. Are we then, on the basis of this one person, to suspect all people who want to connect with their Muslim roots?

Informants can come in all shades and ethnic backgrounds. If we start judging others by their surface characteristics, then we are going to be very divided and weak as a community. And unjust. Perhaps we could instead see how we can reign in possible abuses by perhaps overzealous law enforcement personnel. In Canada recently, a judge threw out a conviction of two people of terrorism charges https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...ntrapment.html , because the judge ruled that they had been entrapped by law enforcement. Surely, supporting this sort of this legal process is much more constructive than treating one another badly on the basis of some superficial characteristics?


May Allah, the Light, Help us to be just and fair. And kind.

[islamirama]

So a revert stops showing up and you immediately assume the worst?
Not that they could have moved house? Not that you've just missed them? Not that they commute to work and pray elsewhere most of the time?

And this is only applicable to reverts?

I was trying to explain how some in the community may perceive it and possible reason for suspicion of the revert and NOT what I think.

That says more about you than it does anyone else brother. Your superiority complex over reverts is quite shameful.

NO, that says a lot about you assuming that I was stating that as my personal view. So assumption over me is quite shameful. What happened to your 70 excuses?

Before I came to Islam, I also heard stories about Islam promoting Muslims to blow themselves up on buses and 'take out the infidels' - but it would seem I'm of stronger mind than the people you're referring to given that I was able to identify that it was baloney instantly (when something's obviously baloney it normally is.)

You've got it all screwed up here.

Again, not justifying why it's done but rather what the perception in the community may be. A revert marries a Muslim born woman. They have kids down the road. Then they have a big fight. The revert says 'screw you and your religion' and he leaves her, the kids and Islam and goes back to his kuffar life. Sounds fictional like your buses being blown propaganda by the islamphobes? Well no, it is true and has happened. Not saying it a common theme but do you think born Muslim within that community will trust giving their daughter to a revert ? AGAIN not saying all reverts are like that but how are you going to change the perception of that community based on their experience?

I know you want others to walk a mile in your shoes or they'll never understand, but have you tried walking a milie in their shoes? Maybe you got it all screwed up ?

It's an incredibly low percentage...
It's also a fact that a lot of Muslims commit crazy haraam and some even leave Islam. Doesn't mean we look at a brother and assume 'Wow! He might leave Islam someday. I better treat him like he's lower than me just in case.'
Again, you've got it all screwed up.

It maybe a low percentage but nonetheless many reverts leave within the first 2 years of entering Islam for one reason or another. The difference between a born Muslim and a revert is that a born Muslim at his lowest can become a sinner and worst of sinner, doing major sins. But at end of the day he is still a Muslim and one day may return to Islam and become a good Muslim. But a revert at at his lowest leaves Islam and goes back to what he is comfortable with. Again NOT saying all reverts are like that. BUT that is the perception in some communities. If you can't comprehend that then you got it all screwed up. Don't go arguing with me, it's the community you have to deal with and their perceptions, be they based on examples/stories they heard or their own lack of trust.

I'm more concerned about your mindset, to be honest. It's clearly toxic, I can only be thankful it's so extremely irrational it's very unlikely many, if any intelligent Muslims will be infected by it.

Thanks for accusing me of a toxic mindset, irrationality infecting other intelligent Muslims. Not only you failed to offer those 70 excuses you were talking about but also failed to understand the issue on hand. Instead you decided to get all defensive as if all reverts are angels and should be accepted with open arms. You are in denial that we have fake reverts working for intelligent agencies in our midst.

This still doesn't justify what you're promoting here.

What I'm promoting here is awareness of spies and fakes among us targeting our brothers and sisters, violating their honor and taking their freedom away, ruining families and communities. What isn't justified is you blatantly ignoring the issue as if it doesn't exist and making it all about you and reverts being "oppressed" through alienation in the community.

How about you focus on curing the alienation of reverts to prevent them from becoming disillusioned with Islam? Take your own advise and apply it to something common and non-delusional!

How about you focus on that instead since you seem to be an expert at it. And I"ll continue to highlight community issues relevant to all Muslims!

People like this are near impossible to teach. Thus the lack of effort in my post above, for the likelihood of it actually making a difference even what I wrote probably wasn't worth my time.

Scimi didn't school me on anything, his hate mongering, insults , name calling and passing takfir on me got that thread deleted. Apparently you are no different, trying to teach me when you seem incapable of learning yourself. The world does not evolve around you and your revert problems, but thanks for proving again to me how anglos are self-centered. Indeed it was a waste of time and not worth communicating with you as you only want others to walk in your shoes while living in denial of real issues that do exist in the community. This thread is about fake reverts, moles and entrapment. Don't try to derail the topic. I suggest you open your own thread about revert alienation and what you should do to better integrate into the community.

[AabiruSabeel]

:salam:

I want to highlight the statement by one of our mods:

Informants can come in all shades and ethnic backgrounds. If we start judging others by their surface characteristics, then we are going to be very divided and weak as a community. And unjust. Perhaps we could instead see how we can reign in possible abuses by perhaps overzealous law enforcement personnel.

Informants and hypocrites are not new. Even during the time of the Prophet :saws:, there were a few hypocrites who just wanted to cause sedition among Muslims. Allah :swt: says about them:

Had they marched out with you, they would have added to you nothing except disorder, and they would have hurried about in your midst (spreading corruption) and sowing sedition among you - [9:47]

If good befalls you (O Muhammad SAW), it grieves them, but if a calamity overtakes you, they say: "We took our precaution beforehand," and they turn away rejoicing. [9:50]

Most notable among them was 'Abdullah bin Ubay. He even tried to cause a fight between Muhajireen and Ansar. When 'Umar :ra: asked for permission from the Prophet :saws: to have 'Abdullah bin Ubay killed, the Prophet :saws: stopped him saying people will accuse the Prophet of killing his own people.

The Prophet :saws: knew all the hypocrites living around at that time and he had informed Hudhaifah :ra: about them all. But he never fought them or excluded them from his community and from the Masjid.

At that time, some people accepted Islam only because Muslims were gaining an upper hand. Secretly, they remained loyal to their own tribes. But slowly, when they saw the beauty of Islam and their Imaan grew, they became sincere Muslims.

Allah :swt: says:

The bedouins say: "We believe." Say: "You believe not but you only say, 'We have surrendered (in Islam),' for Faith has not yet entered your hearts. But if you obey Allah and His Messenger (SAW), He will not decrease anything in reward for your deeds. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [49:14]
Only those are the believers who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, and afterward doubt not but strive with their wealth and their lives for the Cause of Allah. Those! They are the truthful. [49:15]

I suggest you open your own thread about revert alienation and what you should do to better integrate into the community.

I think it is more important for us to discuss how we, as born Muslims, should accept and get new Muslims involved in our communities so that they do not feel alienated. The problem is not with the reverts, the problem is with us, born Muslims. We have failed in getting new Muslims involved with us and we have failed in teaching them all about Islam. We have failed in establishing gatherings of Imaan. This is the reason why some of them were unable to maintain their Islam in the long run.

Allah :swt: says:

And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend. [41:34]


When you speak about reverts going back to their ways in 2 years, think of the reasons why they went back? Did they see anything wrong with Muslim community? Yes. Were they not taught enough about Islam? Yes. Were they not involved in gatherings at the Masjid to increase their Iman and maintain their faith? Yes.

If the Muslim community had cared enough about them, I don't think they would ever go back to their old ways after seeing the truth of Islam.

Even in the case of informants, if those people were really taught about Islam properly, if they had really seen the beauty of Islam, they would have actually become sincere Muslims.


Shoving the problem on newbies is not going to solve the problem. They are new and they need our support. How will they ever get involved if we eye them all with suspicion?

[islamirama]

If that new friend starts calling for "violent jihad,"
he might be an informant.

What is an informant supposed to be and how are they supposed to be used?
An informant is an individual who law enforcement uses to infiltrate an existing criminal conspiracy or plot. These informants are used to fight crime.


What have informants become and how are they currently used?
Some informants operating in Muslim communities have become “agent provocateurs” — individuals used by law enforcement to entice, provoke, or lure innocent people into criminal acts. These informants are used to manufacture crimes.


Law enforcement should fight real crimes, not create fake crimes.
Informants often target vulnerable people who suffer from mental, emotional, financial or other instabilities. Impressionable young men with strong political views that differ from the current government administration are often targeted. These informants befriend someone with constitutionally-protected political grievances, and then exploit that friendship to convert grievances from tough talk to criminal acts.


People targeted by informants often have no previous plans or intentioned to commit a crime prior to meeting the informant.
“They’re creating crimes to solve crimes so they can claim a victory in the war on terror.” – Attorney Martin Stolar, who defended a victim of an FBI informant.



Why not just turn these people in to the police?
Civil liberties experts highly recommend that you never speak with law enforcement without having an attorney representing you. This is for your protection. Previous targets of informants have turned to law enforcement for help, but were turned away, ignored, and then later arrested.


What if the person is a real wannabe terrorist, not an informant?
If the person is an informant, you will need to safeguard yourself and your friends against the informant’s efforts to put you in prison. If the person is not an informant, but is a legitimate threat to the community, you will still need to safeguard yourself and your friends when reporting this information to law enforcement. In either case, you have a responsibility to report the incident to law enforcement, and you have the right to have an attorney representing you during this process.

https://www.mlfa.org/think/#.VxUJnzArK70

[muslim brother]

:salam:

I want to highlight the statement by one of our mods:



Informants and hypocrites are not new. Even during the time of the Prophet :saws:, there were a few hypocrites who just wanted to cause sedition among Muslims. Allah :swt: says about them:

Had they marched out with you, they would have added to you nothing except disorder, and they would have hurried about in your midst (spreading corruption) and sowing sedition among you - [9:47]

If good befalls you (O Muhammad SAW), it grieves them, but if a calamity overtakes you, they say: "We took our precaution beforehand," and they turn away rejoicing. [9:50]

Most notable among them was 'Abdullah bin Ubay. He even tried to cause a fight between Muhajireen and Ansar. When 'Umar :ra: asked for permission from the Prophet :saws: to have 'Abdullah bin Ubay killed, the Prophet :saws: stopped him saying people will accuse the Prophet of killing his own people.

The Prophet :saws: knew all the hypocrites living around at that time and he had informed Hudhaifah :ra: about them all. But he never fought them or excluded them from his community and from the Masjid.

At that time, some people accepted Islam only because Muslims were gaining an upper hand. Secretly, they remained loyal to their own tribes. But slowly, when they saw the beauty of Islam and their Imaan grew, they became sincere Muslims.

Allah :swt: says:

The bedouins say: "We believe." Say: "You believe not but you only say, 'We have surrendered (in Islam),' for Faith has not yet entered your hearts. But if you obey Allah and His Messenger (SAW), He will not decrease anything in reward for your deeds. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [49:14]
Only those are the believers who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, and afterward doubt not but strive with their wealth and their lives for the Cause of Allah. Those! They are the truthful. [49:15]




I think it is more important for us to discuss how we, as born Muslims, should accept and get new Muslims involved in our communities so that they do not feel alienated. The problem is not with the reverts, the problem is with us, born Muslims. We have failed in getting new Muslims involved with us and we have failed in teaching them all about Islam. We have failed in establishing gatherings of Imaan. This is the reason why some of them were unable to maintain their Islam in the long run.

Allah :swt: says:

And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend. [41:34]


When you speak about reverts going back to their ways in 2 years, think of the reasons why they went back? Did they see anything wrong with Muslim community? Yes. Were they not taught enough about Islam? Yes. Were they not involved in gatherings at the Masjid to increase their Iman and maintain their faith? Yes.

If the Muslim community had cared enough about them, I don't think they would ever go back to their old ways after seeing the truth of Islam.

Even in the case of informants, if those people were really taught about Islam properly, if they had really seen the beauty of Islam, they would have actually become sincere Muslims.


Shoving the problem on newbies is not going to solve the problem. They are new and they need our support. How will they ever get involved if we eye them all with suspicion?

:ma:

[islamirama]

NYPD Undercover "Converted" To Islam To Spy On Brooklyn College Students

2015

On the leafy Midwood campus of Brooklyn College, a lecture at the school’s Islamic Society had just ended when a woman stood up and asked to take the Shahada, the Muslim testimony of faith.


Nobody knew the woman with light skin and dark hair, who appeared to be in her twenties. In a voice that lilted up at the end of each sentence, she began professing her new beliefs. “Melike Ser” or “Mel,” was not a student and had no apparent connections to the school, but the students embraced her anyway, excited about her conversion.


This past April, four years after Mel’s public act of faith, two Queens residents, Noelle Velentzas and Asia Siddiqui, were arrested and charged with allegedly planning to build a bomb. The US Justice Department issued a release stating that the women were linked to members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State, and revealed that a Detective from the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau was heavily involved in bringing the women to justice.


Among the ISO members, some of whom ran in the same social circles as Velentzas and Siddiqui, the arrests set off a chain of frantic text messages, phone calls, and Facebook posts: “Mel” wasn’t “Mel.” She was an undercover cop.


Three Brooklyn College graduates who had been close to the undercover officer told Gothamist of the intimate ties she developed with Muslim students, her presence during some of the most private moments of their lives, and the fear they endured when they learned her true identity.


“I felt violated,” said Jehan, 30, who met Mel years ago in the Brooklyn College ISO prayer room. (At their request, Gothamist has used pseudonyms for all the women interviewed.)


“You trust someone, you talk to them. And they were just gathering information about your community.”


While little is known about the case against Velentzas and Siddiqui, including how and why the NYPD came to involve an undercover officer in the alleged plot, it appears that Mel made an aggressive effort to befriend and surveil law-abiding Muslims years before she ever met her alleged targets, and did so at least up until December of 2014, eight months after the de Blasio administration pledged to stop the NYPD’s blanket surveillance of innocent Muslims.
“Muslim New Yorkers are still fighting for basic human rights,” the Mayor said at a Ramadan dinner at Gracie Mansion in July of last year. “We recently shut down the Demographics Unit at NYPD, which conducted surveillance on Muslim New Yorkers. Because it’s unfair to single out people on the sole basis of their religion.”


Two individuals with close knowledge of Velentzas and Siddiqui’s case confirmed that Mel is the undercover officer identified in the criminal complaint.


Ramzi Kassem is a professor at CUNY School of Law and also directs the school’s Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) project, which provides legal advice to New Yorkers affected by counterterrorism practices.


“For an undercover to be seeded in a community for that long without a specific target raises some deeply troubling questions about the direction of policing in our city,” he said. “Casting blanket suspicion on entire communities does not square with most New Yorkers’ understanding of the police’s role in our democratic and open society.”


Jehan has lived in New York City for 25 years. “I grew up here. To have this happen because of your religion, or your political views, it's scary. You feel alienated. And you don’t feel like this is your home.”


At first, Mel seemed warm and friendly, if a bit eager. “She was very nice, very charming,” said Shereen, who studied psychology at Brooklyn College and now works as a psychotherapist. “She wanted to do everything with us.”

Mel told the ISO women that she was a recent Rutgers College graduate who had grown up in Queens. She said that she was of Turkish descent and had been born into a Muslim but non-practicing family.


The women active in Brooklyn College’s Islamic Society were diverse. They majored in women’s studies, psychology, pre-med and political science, hung out with friends, crushed on boys, and nurtured their newfound political consciousness. They were coming of age in a city scarred by 9/11, and although their Muslim identity did not define them, it shaped their everyday lives.


But they knew their behavior was being scrutinized by the authorities. After 9/11, both the NYPD and the FBI revamped their approach to terrorism investigations and began operating under a policy of preventive prosecution [PDF]. In an internal document from 2007 [PDF], the NYPD identified particular indicators of radicalization—“wearing traditional Islamic clothing,” giving up drinking or smoking, and “becoming involved in social activism.” In the NYPD’s model of measuring threats, which have since been broadly criticized, young people were a key target.


Shereen, then 25, and a close friend, Faizah, were responsible for introducing new converts like Mel to the basic tenets of Islam. One day in early April 2011, Mel asked Faizah to meet her on campus. “Faizah told me afterward that Mel asked her some strange questions, like, ‘What is all this about jihad?’” Shereen recalled. “And asking about people who do suicide bombing.”


For Shereen and Faizah, Mel’s questions were a red flag. They suspected she was digging for information on the political beliefs of ISO members, possibly even pressing them to make incriminating statements.


At the time, Brooklyn College’s ISO was known for adhering to a particularly conservative interpretation of Islam. The group was segregated on the basis of gender, and the men and women did not spend time together socially. Mel was surrounding herself with women who covered their faces and wore long robes, but she did not even wear a hijab. Her religious practices did not seem to change, at least in the initial years the women knew her, and Mel never mentioned struggling with her new dual identity, a common experience for converts of any faith.


It was as though Mel’s decision to take the shahada, and the time she spent amongst much more observant Muslim women, had no affect on her or her religious practice. Soon some ISO members began to doubt that her conversion was genuine.


Mel was also always available to attend events and social gatherings, regardless of the time of day or the day of the week. “She would mention how she works full time,” said Rumaysa, 24, “and so then it got me thinking, is she working at these events?”


In August 2011, about half a year after Mel appeared at Brooklyn College, the AP began publishing a series of Pulitzer Prize-winning articles documenting the NYPD’s spying in Muslim communities.


One month later, NYPD Confidential reported that an undercover cop had been sent to spy on Muslim students at Brooklyn College, despite a 1992 memorandum of understanding [PDF] that barred New York City police from entering CUNY campuses without permission.


After the NYPD Confidential story broke, Brooklyn College President Karen Gould denied that the administration had known about the undercover officer [PDF], and condemned “the alleged intrusion of the NYPD into campus life.”
Muslim students continued to believe they were being watched. They decided to seek legal advice to discuss their concerns about Mel. In October, Shereen and another student approached Diala Shamas, who at the time was a lawyer at the CLEAR project at CUNY Law. The organization had recently facilitated a workshop for the Brooklyn College Muslim group about informants.

"Women at Brooklyn College shared their suspicions with us," Shamas recalled. "Unfortunately, this happens a lot. CLEAR receives concerns about potential informants or undercovers, and we can rarely help definitively confirm their suspicions. We do advise people to stay away from someone who makes them feel uncomfortable."


The students also tried to do their own digging. In February 2012, Rumaysa searched online to try to find out if Melike Ser was who she said she was.


“I tried Googling any combination [of her name] that could possibly bring up even a picture of her,” she said. “But nothing showed up, absolutely nothing.”


Without a way to corroborate their suspicions, the women decided to stay silent. “We just said, no, maybe that’s just how [Mel] is,” recalled Shereen. “Maybe we’re just too paranoid.”


It was also a question of faith. Backbiting without proof is strongly frowned upon in Islam, as is shunning a convert.


Mel continued to immerse herself in the student community, attending Islamic education classes, social gatherings, and trips to museums and the aquarium.


Shereen says Mel attending at least two bridal showers for ISO women, one of which was held in a Brooklyn College event space: "Mel shows up with this huge cake that she carried on the train."


In time, she was privy to some of the most intimate moments of the women’s lives, once even attending a wedding as a bridesmaid of a fellow ISO member.


By 2014, the Brooklyn College women had graduated, but the former students still encountered Mel around the city— at NYU, John Jay College, the MAS Youth Center, the Muslim Community Center in Sunset Park, Masjid Al-Farooq on Atlantic Avenue, and the Brooklyn Islamic Center in Mapleton, where Mel was last seen on December 30 of last year. When the women saw Mel, they generally tried to avoid her.


Just a few months later, Velentzas and Siddiqui were arrested. The NYPD and FBI were broadly praised for their apparent success in foiling a homegrown terrorist plot. In an interview on FOX's “The Kelly File,” New York Congressman Peter King called on Americans to “wake up and realize that we have to put political correctness aside … there are … too many people like this across the country.”


“These were two very, very dangerous individuals, these two women,” King said.


Four propane gas tanks, as well as instructions for how to turn them into explosive devices, are said to have been found in Siddiqui’s home, and according to the criminal complaint, the two women had in-depth conversations with the undercover officer about their violent aspirations.


The complaint details how the women read up on and took notes on various different ways to build bombs, and browsed Home Depot for potential ingredients. Velentzas allegedly openly praised the 9/11 attacks and had a photograph of Bin Laden as the background on her phone; Asia Siddiqui, meanwhile, was supposedly “close” with Samir Khan, the Pakistani-American editor of al-Qaeda's English-language Inspire magazine.


“The way to read an indictment like the one in this case, is with a great deal of skepticism,” says attorney Gideon Orion Oliver.


Oliver was co-counsel for Ahmed Ferhani, who was also prosecuted for terrorism after an NYPD undercover sting. In December 2012, Ferhani pled guilty to five-terrorism related offenses and one hate crime charge, and is currently serving ten years in prison.


According to Oliver, in the Ferhani case and many others, the undercover officers develop “really profound and predatory” relationships with their targets, building emotionally intimate and even familial ties over the course of many months or years.


“The government and the undercover officers have significant roles in manufacturing what they then characterize as the defendants’ plots,” he said.


The case of the Newburgh Four—one of the most commonly cited examples of "entrapment" in the War on Terror—underscores the manipulative tactics sometimes used by informants and undercover cops to secure arrests. David Williams, one of the Newburgh Four co-defendants, said the FBI informant promised him the money he needed to pay for his younger brother’s liver transplant if Williams participated in the plot.


Jose Pimentel was accused to trying to build a pipe bomb in 2011, and repeatedly smoked marijuana with his government informant, who was with him “virtually every step of the plot.” The federal government, citing Pimentel's mental state (he had allegedly tried to circumcise himself) and the NYPD undercover's involvement declined to pursue charges against Pimentel.


According to a 2014 Human Rights Watch report that documented patterns of rights violations in terrorism prosecutions, “the government—often acting through informants—is actively involved in developing [terrorism plots], persuading and sometimes pressuring the target to participate, and providing the resources to carry it out.”


In Velentzas and Siddiqui’s case, the undercover officer established a friendship with at least one of the women as early as 2013, according to the criminal complaint.


The two women are not alleged to have been in the process of planning a specific attack, and according to the criminal complaint, Velentzas repeatedly stated she would not want to harm any “regular” people, instead targeting police or military personnel.


The NYPD undercover allegedly observed Velentzas pull a knife from her bra to demonstrate to Siddiqui how to stab people, then remarked, “Why can’t be [sic] some real bad *****es?”


Velentzas later said, according to the complaint, “if [the government] was to put all the information about the three of us together, we legitimately, to these people, look like a cell.”


At one point, the complaint states that the undercover officer downloaded and printed out The Anarchist Cookbook for the two women, even bookmarking the section that outlined how to build fertilizer bombs.


Within a few days of the arrests, Shereen and other Brooklyn College graduates—who said they ran the same social circles as Velentzas and Siddiqui but did not know them personally—learned the name of the officer in the case and realized their longstanding suspicions about Mel were correct.


Neither Velentzas nor Siddiqui attended Brooklyn College. None of the women interviewed knew how or when the pair had met Mel.

A protective order in place since July prohibits the defendants’ legal team from releasing the officer's assumed name. The protective order also covers any discovery in the case, which may leave the public in the dark about the undercover’s role in the alleged offenses and her apparent infiltration of Muslim communities. Lawyers for Velentzas and Siddiqui declined to comment for this story, citing "the existing protective order and other constraints."


For Shereen, finding out induced a kind of trauma, and it changed her. “For three days I couldn’t eat, sleep,” Shereen told Gothamist. “I covered all the cameras on my phone.”


Mel appeared at Brooklyn College before the extent of the NYPD’s surveillance of Muslims was revealed, and remained a constant presence at least until the beginning of this year—so the revelations about her identity also suggest that little has changed on the ground when it comes to the policing of Muslim communities, despite promises by the new administration to the contrary.



A 2011 Mother Jones investigation established that in addition to the undercover police or FBI officers assigned to infiltrate Muslim communities, there are about 15,000 FBI informants planted around the US, many of whom have the same task. In some sense, what makes the experiences of the Brooklyn College students most unusual is not that they were spied on, but that they found out about it—that their paranoia was warranted.


“There are a few of us who trust each other, and that’s good that we have each other—some don’t even have that,” said Shereen. “But in the back of all our minds, there’s always that suspicion, that either, you are [a spy], or you think I’m one.


“We’re acting like criminals, even though we haven’t done anything.”

http://gothamist.com/2015/10/29/nypd...r_brooklyn.php

[kritikvernunft]

Last year in my criminology class two guest speakers from the FBI came and talked about terrorism. One of the speakers said "If you ever see a middle eastern flag or something written in Arabic, call the FBI." A heart breaking wake up call of the hate muslims have to put up with. And I had just converted to Islam not long before that. That day I promised that I would never work for the U.S government or teach a non muslim Arabic (they also said they needed more Arabic speakers).

You can also denounce particular anti-Islamic people who are not waving a middle eastern flag and are not writing anything in Arabic, for allegedly planning to do so.
Seriously, working for the US Government could be also be a great opportunity to denounce colleagues to people waving a middle eastern flag or writing something in Arabic!
I really love the game of denunciation. It is truly my favourite one. When will somebody finally hire me for that job? ;-)

[muslim brother]

So a revert stops showing up and you immediately assume the worst?
Not that they could have moved house? Not that you've just missed them? Not that they commute to work and pray elsewhere most of the time?

And this is only applicable to reverts?

That says more about you than it does anyone else brother. Your superiority complex over reverts is quite shameful.
Reverts are as due to 70 excuses as any other brother/sister...Maybe straighten yourself out if you cannot afford someone even that small courtesy (obligation).

Before I came to Islam, I also heard stories about Islam promoting Muslims to blow themselves up on buses and 'take out the infidels' - but it would seem I'm of stronger mind than the people you're referring to given that I was able to identify that it was baloney instantly (when something's obviously baloney it normally is.)

Stories =/= Reality.
They float all over the place and it would be justified to be skeptical of them...But, it's not justified to be skeptical of your brothers. You've got it all screwed up here.

It's an incredibly low percentage...
It's also a fact that a lot of Muslims commit crazy haraam and some even leave Islam. Doesn't mean we look at a brother and assume 'Wow! He might leave Islam someday. I better treat him like he's lower than me just in case.'
Again, you've got it all screwed up.

I know I'm not the only one, I don't care that I'm not the only one.
That's not even relevant.
What's relevant is the fact that no matter how common it is, it's still not okay!

Yes, but we also need to be surrounded by the right people and good company.
Kind of hard when everyone thinks you're a spy (not to say they;re good company in the first place...)

I'm more concerned about your mindset, to be honest. It's clearly toxic, I can only be thankful it's so extremely irrational it's very unlikely many, if any intelligent Muslims will be infected by it.

This still doesn't justify what you're promoting here.

How about you focus on curing the alienation of reverts to prevent them from becoming disillusioned with Islam? Take your own advise and apply it to something common and non-delusional!

People like this are near impossible to teach. Thus the lack of effort in my post above, for the likelihood of it actually making a difference even what I wrote probably wasn't worth my time.

excellent brother

isa a.s. said i can bring back the dead by allahs will but i cannot cure the ignorant.
this in al ghazallis dear beloved son
ignorants,haters and narrow minded muslims are our test.

[sister_39738]

You can also denounce particular anti-Islamic people who are not waving a middle eastern flag and are not writing anything in Arabic, for allegedly planning to do so.
Seriously, working for the US Government could be also be a great opportunity to denounce colleagues to people waving a middle eastern flag or writing something in Arabic!
I really love the game of denunciation. It is truly my favourite one. When will somebody finally hire me for that job? ;-)

I don't believe you are using that word correctly but in regards to working for the government that will never happen. The U.S government has a long history of mistreating Muslims and certainly would not use any knowledge of Arabic I might acquire to help the government pursue their anti-islamic rhetoric.

[kritikvernunft]

The U.S government has a long history of mistreating Muslims and certainly would not use any knowledge of Arabic I might acquire to help the government pursue their anti-islamic rhetoric.

The problem is that you must keep your enemies as close as possible to you, and keep a watchful eye on them. Otherwise, you will never know in time what they are up to. That is why the US government uses infiltration all the time, but in fact, they are so much easier to infiltrate than the other way around.

[islamirama]

MUSLIM STUDENTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST FBI INFORMANT PLAN EXPOSED BY THE INTERCEPT



10/2016

WHEN IN LAST week’s presidential debate Donald Trump suggested that Muslims in the United States should “report when they see something going on,” he sparked a satirical backlash on Twitter mocking the idea that every Muslim has some secret knowledge of terrorism.


But the FBI has also aggressively sought terrorism leads from Muslim Americans; a presentation published by The Intercept last month suggested looking for informants in mosques and Muslim student associations, and that disclosure has prompted its own pushback. Several student leaders contacted us to decry the bureau’s invasion of spaces where young Muslims thought they could just be themselves.


Nabintou Doumbia, a sophomore at Wayne State University in Detroit, described her MSA as “a place where you hang out and feel comfortable, see friends, have real, raw discussions about anything, including controversial things, say, feminism, or very serious discussions about spirituality and your relationship to God.”


“You work so hard to build that trust, to have people open up in a space,” said Doumbia. The effect of government surveillance, she said, was that “you start to notice very subtle things, like being careful with the words that you use, and you notice your Muslim peers doing the same thing. There are times I’m not speaking, because I’m worried about how it might be heard.”


The presentation, which was prepared for the FBI’s Directorate of Intelligence, instructed agents on how to cultivate informants among Yemeni communities, with an emphasis on identifying “younger, more devout sources.”


The presentation stated, “Since we’re looking for young people re-engaging with their Islamic faith, the local MSA is a great place to start.” It also suggested looking on Facebook “to find individuals who are dramatically increasing their levels of piety.”


But by contemplating the targeting of MSAs, the FBI undermined a prized refuge for a group of students facing unique pressures.


“You have all the normal stress of college, from academics, from being away from home and family,” said Maheen Ahmed, a recent graduate of UC Davis who was president of her MSA. “And then on top of that, because you’re Muslim, you always have to be on your guard, who you are hanging out with, who you’re talking politics with.”


Although the presentation, which is undated, appears to have been prepared in 2010 or 2011, Muslim student leaders interviewed by The Intercept said that it adds to a long list of revelations of undue scrutiny of Muslim communities.


The idea that the FBI may be recruiting informants in student groups brought back unpleasant memories for Ibaad Sadiq, who was president of the MSA at Rutgers University, in New Jersey, when it came out that the NYPD had deployed undercover officers in MSAs around New York and New England, and had a safe house near campus from which to monitor Rutgers students.


“There was such a chilling effect,” said Sadiq. “There was a lot of talk of people just suspecting random people who they thought might be spying on them, a lot of worry in the community. People’s parents told them to stop going to MSA. We had to go through a lot to regain trust.”


The NYPD disbanded the “Demographics Unit” responsible for widespread surveillance of Muslim communities, including student groups, in early 2014, admitting that it had never generated a lead. Despite the unit’s closure, the NYPD apparently hasn’t ceased using undercover operations on campuses; Gothamist reported last year on the case of an undercover cop who was active in Brooklyn student groups until at least sometime in 2015.


Maheen Ahmed, who is now on the board of MSA National, said that her community had still been reeling from learning of Craig Monteilh, an FBI informant who trawled mosques in Southern California and then went public about it. She said awareness that law enforcement might be watching made many Muslim students she encountered as a regional organizer reluctant to get involved in political or advocacy work.


Ahmed, Sadiq, and Doumbia each highlighted their frustration with a thread running between comments like Trump’s at the debate, government “countering violent extremism” initiatives aimed at Muslim communities, and this FBI presentation.


“It’s like people think that Muslims are all privy to who the terrorists are among us, like it’s some secret we’re keeping,” said Sadiq.


“When you have people like Trump saying we need the Muslims to report things,” said Doumbia, “you sit with it, and you sit with yourself, and you think: Is that all my country thinks I’m good for?”

https://theintercept.com/2016/10/17/...the-intercept/

[kritikvernunft]

MUSLIM STUDENTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST FBI INFORMANT PLAN EXPOSED BY THE INTERCEPT

Every valid strategy must seek to force Donald Trump to build his wall and racially profile the population in order to extract illegal hispanic immigrants. Do not allow him to prioritize his Islam policies. He must have no reason to propose anti-Islam measures first. My computations say that the illegal and even legal hispanics will seek to exterminate his white policemen. It is not hard to do that. They will just single them out. *******