this lady is cuckoo for cocoa puffs....!
Posted on 11/12/2003 3:26:02 PM PST by TheMole
THE Sydney woman who in September wed al-Qaeda operative and alleged terrorist Willie Brigitte after converting to Islam had been part of a Jewish gay group just 18 months earlier.
Melanie Brown was photographed on the edge of a float in the 2002 Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, wearing long lace-up Doc Martens.
The float called "Twice Blessed" was built by Dayenu, a support group for Sydney's Jewish gays and lesbians.
The Daily Telegraph understands Ms Brown became part of Dayenu in 2000 and then worked to build its floats in both 2001 and 2002. A former member of Dayenu last night said that he and others in the group could not recall seeing her with a lesbian partner.
Ms Brown is believed to have told members of Dayenu her Jewish heritage came from her mother, who had come to Australia from Romania.
She also said she had been to Israel with the Australian army.
Ms Brown is said to have formed strong bonds within the group but had a falling out over an anti-abortion e-mail that she sent to other members some time last year.
"It upset a lot of people. Many people wrote back, voicing their anger. Then she left Dayenu," the former member told The Daily Telegraph last night.
"I ran into her again in February this year. She looked exactly the same."
She asked whether Dayenu was entering a float in the Mardi Gras and said that she had left the army.
Six months later, Ms Brown is believed to have converted to Islam, changed her name to Khadija and married Willie Brigitte in a Lakemba prayer hall after just five dates.
"I thought she was a Jewish lesbian. Now I find out she's Islamic and married to Willie Brigitte," the stunned former Dayenu member said last night.
This incarnation is yet another stage in the life story of Ms Brown, a Hurstville girl who went to an Anglican school and dreamt of being an army general.
She was awarded gold through the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme in 1995 and went on to fulfil her military ambitions too.
The Daily Telegraph has revealed Ms Brown worked as an assessor with the NSW Squadron Air Training Group, later joining the army and serving as a peacekeeper in East Timor, where she developed an interest in Islam.
The latest revelations from Ms Brown's past emerged as close family members said news of her conversion to Islam and marriage to Brigitte - now being interrogated in a French prison - came as a surprise.
"This has come as a complete shock to the family, her paternal cousin said yesterday. "Nobody in the family knows anything about it."
ASIO confirmed Ms Brown had no knowledge of Brigitte's alleged plans.
This report appears on news.com.au.
this lady is cuckoo for cocoa puffs....!
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