One Day We’ll All Be Terrorists

One Day We’ll All Be Terrorists

Posted on Dec 28, 2009

By Chris Hedges

Syed Fahad Hashmi can tell you about the dark heart of America. He knows that our First Amendment rights have become a joke, that habeas corpus no longer exists and that we torture, not only in black sites such as those at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan or at Guantánamo Bay, but also at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Lower Manhattan. Hashmi is a U.S. citizen of Muslim descent imprisoned on two counts of providing and conspiring to provide material support and two counts of making and conspiring to make a contribution of goods or services to al-Qaida. As his case prepares for trial, his plight illustrates that the gravest threat we face is not from Islamic extremists, but the codification of draconian procedures that deny Americans basic civil liberties and due process. Hashmi would be a better person to tell you this, but he is not allowed to speak.

This corruption of our legal system, if history is any guide, will not be reserved by the state for suspected terrorists, or even Muslim Americans. In the coming turmoil and economic collapse, it will be used to silence all who are branded as disruptive or subversive. Hashmi endures what many others, who are not Muslim, will endure later. Radical activists in the environmental, globalization, anti-nuclear, sustainable agriculture and anarchist movements—who are already being placed by the state in special detention facilities with Muslims charged with terrorism—have discovered that his fate is their fate. Courageous groups have organized protests, including vigils outside the Manhattan detention facility. They can be found at www.educatorsforcivilliberties.org or www.freefahad.com. On Martin Luther King Day,  this Jan. 18 at 6 p.m. EST, protesters will hold a large vigil in front of the MCC on 150 Park Row in Lower Manhattan to call for a return of our constitutional rights. Join them if you can.

The case against Hashmi, like most of the terrorist cases launched by the Bush administration, is appallingly weak and built on flimsy circumstantial evidence. This may be the reason the state has set up parallel legal and penal codes to railroad those it charges with links to terrorism. If it were a matter of evidence, activists like Hashmi, who is accused of facilitating the delivery of socks to al-Qaida, would probably never be brought to trial.

Hashmi, who if convicted could face up to 70 years in prison, has been held in solitary confinement for more than 2½ years. Special administrative measures, known as SAMs, have been imposed by the attorney general to prevent or severely restrict communication with other prisoners, attorneys, family, the media and people outside the jail. He also is denied access to the news and other reading material. Hashmi is not allowed to attend group prayer. He is subject to 24-hour electronic monitoring and 23-hour lockdown. He must shower and go to the bathroom on camera. He can write one letter a week to a single member of his family, but he cannot use more than three pieces of paper. He has no access to fresh air and must take his one hour of daily recreation in a cage. His “proclivity for violence” is cited as the reason for these measures although he has never been charged or convicted with committing an act of violence.

“My brother was an activist,” Hashmi’s brother, Faisal, told me by phone from his home in Queens. “He spoke out on Muslim issues, especially those dealing with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. His arrest and torture have nothing to do with providing ponchos and socks to al-Qaida, as has been charged, but the manipulation of the law to suppress activists and scare the Muslim American community. My brother is an example. His treatment is meant to show Muslims what will happen to them if they speak about the plight of Muslims. We have lost every single motion to preserve my brother’s humanity and remove the special administrative measures. These measures are designed solely to break the psyche of prisoners and terrorize the Muslim community. These measures exemplify the malice towards Muslims at home and the malice towards the millions of Muslims who are considered as non-humans in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The extreme sensory deprivation used on Hashmi is a form of psychological torture, far more effective in breaking and disorienting detainees. It is torture as science. In Germany, the Gestapo broke bones while its successor, the communist East German Stasi, broke souls. We are like the Stasi. We have refined the art of psychological disintegration and drag bewildered suspects into secretive courts when they no longer have the mental and psychological capability to defend themselves.

“Hashmi’s right to a fair trial has been abridged,” said Michael Ratner, the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. “Much of the evidence in the case has been classified under CIPA, and thus Hashmi has not been allowed to review it. The prosecution only recently turned over a significant portion of evidence to the defense. Hashmi may not communicate with the news media, either directly or through his attorneys. The conditions of his detention have impacted his mental state and ability to participate in his own defense.

“The prosecution’s case against Hashmi, an outspoken activist within the Muslim community, abridges his First Amendment rights and threatens the First Amendment rights of others,” Ratner added. “While Hashmi’s political and religious beliefs, speech and associations are constitutionally protected, the government has been given wide latitude by the court to use them as evidence of his frame of mind and, by extension, intent. The material support charges against him depend on criminalization of association. This could have a chilling effect on the First Amendment rights of others, particularly in activist and Muslim communities.”

Constitutionally protected statements, beliefs and associations can now become a crime. Dissidents, even those who break no laws, can be stripped of their rights and imprisoned without due process. It is the legal equivalent of preemptive war. The state can detain and prosecute people not for what they have done, or even for what they are planning to do, but for holding religious or political beliefs that the state deems seditious. The first of those targeted have been observant Muslims, but they will not be the last.

“Most of the evidence is classified,” Jeanne Theoharis, an associate professor of political science at Brooklyn College who taught Hashmi, told me, “but Hashmi is not allowed to see it. He is an American citizen. But in America you can now go to trial and all the evidence collected against you cannot be reviewed. You can spend 2½ years in solitary confinement before you are convicted of anything. There has been attention paid to extraordinary rendition, Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib with this false idea that if people are tried in the United States things will be fair. But what allowed Guantánamo to happen was the devolution of the rule of law here at home, and this is not only happening to Hashmi.”

Hashmi was, like so many of those arrested during the Bush years, briefly a poster child in the “war on terror.” He was apprehended in Britain on June 6, 2006, on a U.S. warrant. His arrest was the top story on the CBS and NBC nightly news programs, which used graphics that read “Terror Trail” and “Web of Terror.” He was held for 11 months at Belmarsh Prison in London and then became the first U.S. citizen to be extradited by Britain. The year before his arrest, Hashmi, a graduate of Brooklyn College, had completed his master’s degree in international relations at London Metropolitan University. His case has no more substance than the one against the seven men arrested on suspicion of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower, a case where, even though there were five convictions after two mistrials, an FBI deputy director acknowledged that the plan was more “aspirational rather than operational.” And it mirrors the older case of the Palestinian activist Sami Al-Arian, now under house arrest in Virginia, who has been hounded by the Justice Department although he should legally have been freed. Judge Leonie Brinkema, currently handling the Al-Arian case, in early March, questioned the U.S. attorney’s actions in Al-Arian’s plea agreement saying curtly: “I think there’s something more important here, and that’s the integrity of the Justice Department.”

The case against Hashmi revolves around the testimony of Junaid Babar, also an American citizen. Babar, in early 2004, stayed with Hashmi at his London apartment for two weeks. In his luggage, the government alleges, Babar had raincoats, ponchos and waterproof socks, which Babar later delivered to a member of al-Qaida in south Waziristan, Pakistan. It was alleged that Hashmi allowed Babar to use his cell phone to call conspirators in other terror plots.

“Hashmi grew up here, was well known here, was very outspoken, very charismatic and very political,” said Theoharis. “This is really a message being sent to American Muslims about the cost of being politically active. It is not about delivering alleged socks and ponchos and rain gear. Do you think al-Qaida can’t get socks and ponchos in Pakistan? The government is planning to introduce tapes of Hashmi’s political talks while he was at Brooklyn College at the trial. Why are we willing to let this happen? Is it because they are Muslims, and we think it will not affect us? People who care about First Amendment rights should be terrified. This is one of the crucial civil rights issues of our time. We ignore this at our own peril.”

Babar, who was arrested in 2004 and has pleaded guilty to five counts of material support for al-Qaida, also faces up to 70 years in prison. But he has agreed to serve as a government witness and has already testified for the government in terror trials in Britain and Canada. Babar will receive a reduced sentence for his services, and many speculate he will be set free after the Hashmi trial. Since there is very little evidence to link Hashmi to terrorist activity, the government will rely on Babar to prove intent. This intent will revolve around alleged conversations and statements Hashmi made in Babar’s presence. Hashmi, who was a member of the New York political group Al Muhajiroun as a student at Brooklyn College, has made provocative statements, including calling America “the biggest terrorist in the world,” but Al Muhajiroun is not defined by the government as a terrorist organization. Membership in the group is not illegal. And our complicity in acts of state terror is a historical fact.

There will be more Hashmis, and the Justice Department, planning for future detentions, set up in 2006 a segregated facility, the Communication Management Unit, at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind. Nearly all the inmates transferred to Terre Haute are Muslims. A second facility has been set up at Marion, Ill., where the inmates again are mostly Muslim but also include a sprinkling of animal rights and environmental activists, among them Daniel McGowan, who was charged with two arsons at logging operations in Oregon. His sentence was given “terrorism enhancements” under the Patriot Act. Amnesty International has called the Marion prison facility “inhumane.” All calls and mail—although communication customarily is off-limits to prison officials—are monitored in these two Communication Management Units. Communication among prisoners is required to be only in English. The highest-level terrorists are housed at the Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, known as Supermax, in Florence, Colo., where prisoners have almost no human interaction, physical exercise or mental stimulation, replicating the conditions for most of those held at Guantánamo. If detainees are transferred from Guantánamo to the prison in Thomson, Ill., they will find little change. They will endure Guantánamo-like conditions in colder weather.

Our descent is the familiar disease of decaying empires. The tyranny we impose on others we finally impose on ourselves. The influx of non-Muslim American activists into these facilities is another ominous development. It presages the continued dismantling of the rule of law, the widening of a system where prisoners are psychologically broken by sensory deprivation, extreme isolation and secretive kangaroo courts where suspects are sentenced on rumors and innuendo and denied the right to view the evidence against them. Dissent is no longer the duty of the engaged citizen but is becoming an act of terrorism.

Chris Hedges, whose column is published on Truthdig every Monday, spent two decades as a foreign reporter covering wars in Latin America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He has written nine books, including “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle” (2009) and “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning” (2003).

Source: Truth Dig

Switzerland: Minaret Ban Violates Rights

Switzerland: Minaret Ban Violates Rights

DECEMBER 4, 2009

(Geneva) – The recent vote in Switzerland to ban minaret construction violates the rights of observant Muslims to manifest their religion in public and reflects mounting anti-Muslim sentiment in Western Europe, Human Rights Watch said today.

On November 29, 57 percent of those voting in a national referendum endorsed a constitutional amendment to ban the future construction of minarets in Switzerland. The campaign for the yes vote, led by the Swiss People’s Party, was marked by rhetoric against Islam and Muslims. A campaign poster showed minarets appearing to launch, like missiles, off the Swiss flag behind a woman wearing the niqab (a full-face veil leaving only the eyes visible). The Swiss government, which opposed the referendum, is required by Swiss law to draft legislation to amend the Constitution in line with the popular vote.

A ban on minarets denies Muslims the right to manifest their religion and is discriminatory. The right to manifest one’s religion in public, through worship, teaching, practice, and observance, is an integral part of the right to religious freedom, guaranteed by international human rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the European Convention on Human Rights, both of which Switzerland has ratified. Both treaties also prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion.

States are permitted to limit the right to practice or display religious belief only if they can demonstrate a need to do so to protect public safety, public order, health, or morals, or the fundamental rights or freedoms of others. None of these justifications apply to the Swiss ban on minarets, Human Rights Watch said. By targeting one religion, without any legitimate justification, the ban is clearly discriminatory.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN expert on religious freedom have condemned the vote as discriminatory and a violation of the fundamental right to manifest one’s religion. The UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors compliance with the ICCPR, warned Switzerland in October that a minaret ban would violate the treaty. The ban is likely to face legal challenges in Switzerland and could eventually be examined by the European Court of Human Rights.

The vote is a deeply worrisome expression of growing intolerance toward Muslims across Europe, Human Rights Watch said. The vote has already galvanized far-right parties across Europe. The Danish People’s Party, Vlaams Belang in Belgium, Italian Northern League, and the Dutch Party for Freedom immediately praised the vote and pledged to pursue similar initiatives in their own countries.

Conflicts over mosques also do a deep disservice to the important goals of combating discrimination and encouraging integration of Europe’s newer communities, Human Rights Watch said. While in some cases there may be legitimate local dynamics and regulations to consider concerning the construction of religious buildings, the most vocal opponents often cast the issue in terms of defending Europe’s Christian heritage or preventing Islamic radicalism. By presenting Islam as a dangerous interloper, these arguments stigmatize Muslims and feed into routine discrimination against Muslims.

A major survey commissioned by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency in 14 European countries found that one in three Muslims had experienced some kind of discrimination over the past 12 months. One in 10 said they had suffered a racially motivated assault, threat, or serious harassment at least once during that time. The vast majority never reported the incidents, lacking confidence that they would get help.

All European countries, including Switzerland, should uphold their values of human rights and tolerance, Human Rights Watch said, and in particular their commitment to freedom of religion and to ending all forms of discrimination on the grounds of religion.

Source: Human Rights Watch

Better Late Than Never

I’m so sorry, but as they say better late than never, inshaAllah someone will forgive me

Eid Mubarak to you all!

I pray that you all enjoyed your day and it was full of nothing but happiness!

Take care inshaAllah!

-radf

Anna Baltzer

Last week Anna Baltzer came to my school and gave a presentation. She’s a Jewish-American Activist for Palestinians. It was very interesting and eye opening for those in the crowd who didn’t know much about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. She was also recently on The Daily Show with John Stewart, go to the link by clicking here. [Part I Part II ] The interview is also interesting, it’s interesting to see how she was cut off, what is seen online wasn’t shown on t.v. so take some time out and watch it. Baltzer is criticized by others for providing false information etc… I give her mad props for doing what she does, she’s very well educated and carries herself out very well. When she was speaking at my school, she got tough and harsh questions more from the professors than from the students. I feel that she got through to the students and made a positive impact at our school. Check out her website at: http://www.annainthemiddleeast.com/

Take care inshaAllah and amongst the crazyness keep your cool and your pride in being a muslim(ah).

-radf

Allahumma sali ala sayyidina muhammadin an-Nabbiyil ummiyi Wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salim.

Confused? Didn’t understand something? Click here!

From an Idea by Students, a Million-Dollar Charity

From an Idea by Students, a Million-Dollar Charity

By GRETCHEN MORGENSON

THE titans of Wall Street are famous for star-studded galas that raise millions of dollars for a host of good causes. And for a tiny group of high school students on Long Island, taking a page out of these financiers’ books has made their own charity, A Midwinter Night’s Dream, a million-dollar success.

The charity, which benefits Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, was founded in 2004 by 16 teenagers in Northport. The idea for the organization came after two teachers in the community, Christopher Pendergast and David Deutsch, were found to have A.L.S.

In just five years, the student-run charity has raised $1.067 million. The 2010 gala is scheduled for Jan. 7.

The organization began with a June 2004 charity basketball tournament to benefit those with the disease. The students had hoped to raise $1,000 with the event; they wound up generating $32,000.

First the students were astounded by their results. Then they were emboldened. After donating the money to Johns Hopkins University’s Robert L. Packard Center for A.L.S. Research, the students started looking for even bigger money-raising ideas.

Enter Harold J. Garrecht, president of Eastshore Partners, a brokerage and independent research firm in Hauppauge, N.Y. Mr. Garrecht, who is known as Fritz, had heard about the students’ effort from Don Strasser, a chemistry teacher at Northport High School, who acted as adviser to the charity.

Mr. Garrecht was happy to write the students a check but wanted to do something more. So he offered to show them how big-league fund-raising is done in New York. He bought a table at the 2004 gala sponsored by Wings Over Wall Street, a charity that benefits A.L.S. research, and took along eight students.

Dazzled by the show Wings put on at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, the students were determined to plan their own party. Three months later, in January 2005, the first Midwinter Night’s Dream took place — a sit-down dinner with silent auction and raffle at Oheka Castle, a mansion on Long Island built almost a century ago by the financier Otto Hermann Kahn. Some 375 people attended, and the students raised $85,000.

“We pretty much tried to mimic the Wings Over Wall Street event,” Mr. Strasser said. “We did a student presentation, a raffle room, an auction, and we got over 40 restaurants to donate food. The students wrote the press releases, designed the invitations and compiled the spreadsheets for donor addresses. They cold-called companies to see if they would donate an item or take out a journal ad. They seated the guests and served the food.”

Gary Melius, the owner of Oheka Castle, gave the students a significant discount on the rent for the evening.

Although they were happy with their event, the students said they recognized the need to expand beyond the Northport area. So Mr. Garrecht trained them to raise money using the cold-calling skills familiar to every Wall Street salesman. Sitting at desks in his office during the summer, the students learn how to “ask for the order,” in Wall Street parlance.

“I provided them with names, I showed them my experience and let them learn from it, hoping some of that might stick,” Mr. Garrecht said. “It’s a little bit about marketing, a little about learning how to be comfortable with yourself.”

First the callers pursued good prospects for donations, known in the business as “warm leads.” Then they turned to cold calling.

The students quickly learned how to take rejection. “It was nerve-racking being 17 and trying to talk to corporations,” said Christopher Lynch, 22, one of the founders of A Midwinter Night’s Dream and its co-director. “We got hung up on a lot, but we kept in mind all the time that what we were doing was going to make a difference.”

As the students smiled and dialed, the contributions began to roll in. “There is nothing like the face of a kid who just got a commitment for $25,000 over the phone,” Mr. Strasser said.

This year’s gala, on Jan. 8, generated $345,000 from 1,500 corporate and individual sponsors. The charity had surpassed a milestone, $1 million in donations.

Earlier this year, the group was approached by officials at Stony Brook University, who said that two of its scientists were interested in working on A.L.S., but needed equipment. The students decided to endow a laboratory at the university, committing $125,000 over three years.

Last June, the AMND Cryopreservation Lab opened at Stony Brook University Medical Center; it is used by scientists researching A.L.S., cancer and Parkinson’s Disease who need a place to store frozen samples for future work.

Just 40 students, all age 15 to 17, run the charity. With new students cycling into A Midwinter Night’s Dream when older ones graduate, fresh ideas are a constant, Mr. Strasser said. Some founders, like Mr. Lynch, have graduated from college and sit on the charity’s advisory board.

THOSE who want to join have to pass muster. “There is an application procedure, and we have the alumni as the interview panel,” Mr. Strasser said. “Because it was their vision, the kids from the first year come back and interview the sophomores and juniors.”

The students work year round on the charity, putting on multiple events to benefit A.L.S. research. In 2006, they began an A.L.S. Research Program through which labs at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins and Stony Brook invite Northport High School students to participate in A.L.S. research during the summer.

Then there is the charity’s patient services program, under which students visit five A.L.S. patients a month, giving them a chance to meet some of the people they are working for.

Last summer, one patient they had been visiting for four years died. “It is challenging to take 50 students to a funeral,” Mr. Strasser said. “But the life expectancy for someone with A.L.S. is three to five years, so these students know the clock is ticking.”

Giving so much of their time to the charity produces unexpected benefits, the students said. After working for the group, some find a calling in scientific research, while others pursue communications, marketing or event planning.

Kate Macina, an 18-year-old freshman at New York University, worked for A Midwinter Night’s Dream for three years in high school. She spent the summer of 2008 helping A.L.S. researchers at Columbia University and became interested in a career in the sciences.

The Midwinter Night’s Dream experience has also spread across the country. Some graduates of the high school raise money for A.L.S. at their colleges. And in 2007, the students were asked to address the National Honor Society convention, inspiring other teenagers to start their own groups.

Blair Ingraham, 17, a senior at the high school, has worked for A Midwinter Night’s Dream for two and a half years. “When we visit A.L.S. patients in our area, just to see what they go through every day, it makes me look at my life in a totally different perspective,” she said. “It’s definitely the most amazing thing I have ever been involved in.”

Source: The New York Times

“Make Peace”!

Make peace — mom’s dying wish to rebel leader son

By GODFREY OLUKYA KAMPALA, Uganda -

The mother of one of Africa’s most notorious rebel leaders relayed one last wish for her son before her death Wednesday, according to a nurse at her deathbed: Make peace. Norah Anek, 86, the mother of Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, died after a long illness, said nurse Betty Akello, who was with her when she died. Her son heads the infamous Lord’s Resistance Army, which has waged one of Africa’s longest and most brutal rebellions, in northern Uganda. “Moments before dying she said, ‘Tell Joseph Kony to make peace,’” Anek said, according to Akello. Kony has led the cult-like LRA for two decades. The rebel group that has been blamed for tens of thousands of murders, mutilations and kidnapping children for use as soldiers and sex slaves. The government of Uganda has been looking after Kony’s mother for the last 10 years as a way to induce him to stop fighting. Anek, who sometimes is called Norah Oting, was a religious woman who never wanted her son to fight, said William Okello, a community leader. She believed her son was possessed with evil spirits, he said. Anek told The Associated Press in a 2007 interview that her son was “costing us peace in northern Uganda.” In 2006, the government asked Anek to take part in negotiations at Garamba National Park in Congo to persuade Kony to sign a peace agreement with Uganda. Kony had suggested that a meeting with his mother would persuade him to take part in the talks. She went to the park, but the rebel group did not sign an agreement. Two years later at his remote hideaway on the Congo-Sudan border, Kony stood up a fleet of sweating diplomats who waited for him for three days in the mosquito-infested jungle. Kony’s armed group has waged a rebellion that has drawn in northern Uganda, eastern Congo and southern Sudan. Kony, who says he is fighting to rule Uganda based on the Ten Commandments, is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33858865/ns/world_news/

Yankees Win the World Series!!!!!!

World Champions in the BronXXVII

NEW YORK — The final out nestled softly in Mark Teixeira’s glove, and as his teammates rushed the field in ecstasy, the first baseman had to look down — first to make sure the ball was still there, then to believe this: the Yankees have won the World Series.

It was the dream that the franchise had waited nine years to fulfill, and as the players clustered to celebrate the perfect ending to the inaugural season at Yankee Stadium, they can finally — and forever — claim that the 27th championship is theirs.

“You realize how difficult it is to get here,” Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. “I never lost sight of the fact that it’s very difficult to get to the World Series, let alone to win one. You realize and remember how hard it is.”

With Mariano Rivera inducing Shane Victorino to hit an easy ground ball to second base for the 27th and final out, the Yankees’ mission statement was complete on Wednesday, frozen in the history books with a 7-3 victory over the Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series.

“This is what the Steinbrenner family has strived for, year after year — to deliver to the city of New York,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “To be able to deliver this to the Boss, the stadium that he created and the atmosphere around here, it’s very gratifying to all of us.”

In what may have been their final games in pinstripes, Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs and Andy Pettitte stepped up on three days’ rest to green-light what promises to be a raucous celebration parade down the Canyon of Heroes on Friday starting at 11 a.m. ET.

“This is what you set out to do when you go to Spring Training,” Pettitte said. “It’s a great feeling to be able to accomplish with the rest of the team. This is what you play for.”

With old foe Pedro Martinez standing in the way of the end to a nine-year title drought, Matsui starred on the biggest stage of his career, belting a two-run homer and drilling a two-run single off the Phillies right-hander to provide Pettitte, the old workhorse, with a cushy advantage.

“My first and foremost goal when I joined the Yankees was to win the world championship,” Matsui said. “Certainly, it’s been a long road and a very difficult journey. I’m just happy that after all these years, we were able to win and reach the goal that I had come here for.”

Once a fresh face of the dynasty, Pettitte tugged the bill of his cap low over flecks of gray hair and prayed that his left arm could deliver the World Series rings with one more night to remember — this start on short rest, an equation that has given him mixed results over the years.

Pettitte needn’t have worried, attacking the Phillies’ lineup and holding the National League champions to three runs over 5 2/3 innings, earning every decibel of a standing ovation from the crowd of 50,035 as he jogged off the field.

“My command wasn’t real good, but I was able to get through it and make some pitches when I had to,” Pettitte said. “I’m just very thankful for that.”

Descending the dugout steps while acknowledging the roar, Pettitte and those behind him in relief allowed Girardi to make the easiest decision he has had all postseason — put the ball in the right hand of Rivera, the best closer history has ever known, and wait to celebrate.

“Game over,” Jeter said. “He’s human. He’s going to give up some runs here and there. But a four-run lead? C’mon, man. We could have gone and played another nine innings.”

“I can’t be happier than I am right now with this special team that we have,” Rivera said. “We worked hard for this one. It’s a beautiful thing.”

The on-field exultation would not have been possible without Matsui, who played in the 2003 World Series after coming over from Japan and saw the franchise fall into a dry postseason patch, wondering if he would have the opportunity to feel the exhilaration of a New York championship.

Matsui put the Yankees back on top with a hard-fought at-bat against Martinez in the second inning, belting the eighth pitch for a high, arcing drive that landed in the second deck of the right-field grandstands — the third home run of this World Series for the Series MVP.

“Matty has been a clutch player ever since I met him,” Girardi said. “Again, he was just clutch. We missed him dearly last year. It just shows you the determination and heart.”

The homer was a crushing early blow against Martinez, who was loudly serenaded with ringing chants of “Who’s Your Daddy?” — a leftover from 2004, when Martinez eventually got the last laugh. Not this time, as Matsui struck in the fourth with a bullet liner that brought home Jeter and Johnny Damon.

Teixeira touched Chad Durbin for a run-scoring single in the fifth inning, and Matsui blasted the capping blow later in the inning, a two-run double off lefty J.A. Happ. The six RBIs from Matsui tied a Major League record set by Bobby Richardson in Game 3 of the 1960 World Series.

More importantly, it put the champagne on ice in anticipation of the Yankees’ 11th postseason win after 103 in the regular season, leaving them as the last team standing and uncorking a raucous, loud celebration at Yankee Stadium and throughout the five boroughs of New York City.

“This is the top — winning a championship for the New York Yankees, I just feel so blessed,” Teixeira said. “It’s such a blessing to be a part of this group.”

It was a journey that began when the Yankees steamrolled the Twins in the American League Division Series. New York then emerged victorious in a hard-fought AL Championship Series to topple the nemesis Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim before meeting the NL’s best in the 105th Fall Classic.

Philadelphia presented a challenge, especially after ace Cliff Lee handcuffed the Bombers’ potent lineup in the first World Series game played at the new Yankee Stadium, but the Yankees won three straight before losing Game 5, providing the opportunity to celebrate the championship at home.

“It takes a lot to be here,” catcher Jorge Posada said. “We were spoiled in the 1990s and 2000, so to be back and win it is really special.”

To hear the Yankees talking about the anticipation driving them, this push was for the “core four,” as Jeter, Pettitte, Posada and Rivera returned to their glorious youth, partying like it was 2000 all over again and acquiring a fifth ring for the thumb — 3,296 days after the last one.

“This is what you dream of as a kid,” Jeter said. “It doesn’t get any bigger than this. You’ve got to enjoy it when the spotlight is on.”

It was the wish of those who have put in their time without having the opportunity to taste the sweetness of that stage, like Matsui and Alex Rodriguez, who played major parts in powering the Yankees here after coming to New York years earlier and being rebuffed time and time again.

“I’ve been humbled — I’ve been through a lot,” Rodriguez said. “And I can’t be happier with the way the Steinbrenner family, the coaches and players and the city of New York has supported me.”

And above all else, it was for principal owner George M. Steinbrenner, whose declining health has been no secret and who watched the first two games of the World Series from his box seats at Yankee Stadium before taking in this victory via television from his Tampa, Fla., home.

“I thank God for this and Mr. George,” Rivera said. “I had hoped he was here, but he’s not. But I’m grateful that I work for him. Definitely, this one was special. I think we have accomplished something great.”

A certain urgency was embedded in the Yankees’ actions during the offseason, as they doled out $423.5 million to acquire the top three free agents on the market, fitting ace CC Sabathia, right-hander A.J. Burnett and Teixeira for pinstripes and incorporating them into a clubhouse that meshed wonderfully.

The biggest statement was the five-word slogan affixed to the franchise postseason run — “Win It For The Boss.”

Those within the Yankees family thirsted to present Steinbrenner with the opportunity to savor one more moment, and with Girardi wearing the uniform No. 27 as a daily reminder of the job expectation, they finally have.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Source: New York Yankees!

Take care inshaAllah!

wooooo Yankeeesssss!!!!

-radf

Allahumma sali ala sayyidina muhammadin an-Nabbiyil ummiyi Wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salim.

Confused? Didn’t understand something? Click here!

Don’t Worry

“Do not say: O Allah, I have worries. Say: O worries, I have Allah.”

Such Beautiful Love

A friend of mine shared this with me today, it’s so beautiful mashaAllah. Take some time out and reflect on it:

♫ “Once the Prophet (saw) was traveling and he had ‘Aisha (r.a.) with him. She happened to loose her necklace, and because of that the Prophet (saw) stopped the entire caravan and sent people to look for it – because he knew how much that necklace meant to his wife.”

SubhanAllah, look at how we interact with each other today. We fight, bicker, snap and have o patience with each other. This was the Prophet of Allah  and subhanAllah look at how he was acting, look at how we act today, ya rubb….

May Allah make us interact with each other nicely and have more compassion towards one another.

-radf

Allahumma sali ala sayyidina muhammadin an-Nabbiyil ummiyi Wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salim.

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“My worth is defined by the beauty of my soul, my heart, my moral character”

SubhanAllah! This is such a beautiful article, please take out some time and read it. It’s full of such wisdom and beautifully written:

Growing up, you read me the Ugly Duckling. And for years I believed that was me. For so long you taught me I was nothing more than a bad copy of the standard (men).

I couldn’t run as fast or lift as much. I didn’t make the same money and I cried too often. I grew up in a man’s world where I didn’t belong.

And when I couldn’t be him, I wanted only to please him. I put on your make-up and wore your short skirts. I gave my life, my body, my dignity, for the cause of being pretty. I knew that no matter what I did, I was worthy only to the degree that I could please and be beautiful for my master. And so I spent my life on the cover of Cosmo and gave my body for you to sell.

I was a slave, but you taught me I was free. I was your object, but you swore it was success. You taught me that my purpose in life was to be on display, to attract, and be beautiful for men. You had me believe that my body was created to market your cars. And you raised me to think I was an ugly duckling. But you lied.

Islam tells me, I’m a swan. I’m different – it’s meant to be that way. And my body, my soul, was created for something more.

God says in the Qur’an, “O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.” (49:13)

So I am honored. But it is not by my relationship to men. My value as a woman is not measured by the size of my waist or the number of men who like me. My worth as a human being is measured on a higher scale: a scale of righteousness and piety. And my purpose in life – despite what the fashion magazines say – is something more sublime than just looking good for men.

And so God tells me to cover myself, to hide my beauty and to tell the world that I’m not here to please men with my body; I’m here to please God. God elevates the dignity of a woman’s body by commanding that it be respected and covered, shown only to the deserving – only to the man I marry.

So to those who wish to ‘liberate’ me, I have only one thing to say: “Thanks, but no thanks.”

I’m not here to be on display. And my body is not for public consumption. I will not be reduced to an object, or a pair of legs to sell shoes. I’m a soul, a mind, a servant of God. My worth is defined by the beauty of my soul, my heart, my moral character. So, I won’t worship your beauty standards, and I don’t submit to your fashion sense. My submission is to something higher.

With my veil I put my faith on display – rather than my beauty. My value as a human is defined by my relationship with God, not by my looks. I cover the irrelevant. And when you look at me, you don’t see a body. You view me only for what I am: a servant of my Creator.

You see, as a Muslim woman, I’ve been liberated from a silent kind of bondage. I don’t answer to the slaves of God on earth. I answer to their King.

Source: Suhaib Webb

Sorry for the lack of posts, inshaAllah I will try to keep up, I’ve juss been busy with everything from school to work and life itself. InshaAllah Allah is happy with all of us.

Keep everyone in your du’as!

-radf

Allahumma sali ala sayyidina muhammadin an-Nabbiyil ummiyi Wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salim.

Confused? Didn’t understand something? Click here!