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After an Islamist rampage in the Saudi town of Khobar on May 29-30 that ended in the death of twenty-two persons, survivors of that atrocity have recounted how the terrorists went to great lengths to ensure that they would kill only non-Muslims. Their actions raise a delicate but urgent issue: how might non-Muslims best protect themselves if caught in such a situation? Even as the massacre was underway, the terrorists took pains to distinguish Muslims from non-Muslims. Here are some of the survivors’ testimonies: Hazem Al-Damen, Muslim, Jordanian: two terrorists knocked on his door and asked him and others hiding whether they were “Muslims or Christians.” On hearing “Muslims,” the assailants told them to stay in the room because their purpose was to rid the country of Americans and Europeans. Abu Hashem, 45, Muslim, an Iraqi-American engineer (also called “Mike” in some accounts): The terrorists demanded his residency card, which documented his religion (Muslim) and nationality (American). That combination provoked an argument between two terrorists. “He’s an American, we should shoot him,” said one. “We don’t shoot Muslims,” replied the other. The two went back and forth until the latter decided it: “Don’t be afraid. We won’t kill Muslims, even if you are an American.” With this decision, the terrorists turned polite, even apologizing for breaking into Abu Hashem’s home, searching it, and leaving blood stains on his carpet. Abdul Salam al-Hakawati, 38, Muslim, a Lebanese corporate financial officer: He and his family hid upstairs in their house after hearing gunfire. Downstairs, they heard the terrorists break in and rummage around before one apparently noticed framed Koranic verses on the wall and announced to the others, “This is a Muslim house.” When a heavily armed terrorist came upstairs, Al-Hakawati confirmed his identity by greeting the assailant with “Assalamu ‘Alaykum,” the Muslim greeting. Nizar Hajazeen, Christian, a Jordanian software businessmen: He hid with another Jordanian in a room but they opened the door when two armed young men banged violently on it. The terrorists asked the identity of the Jordanians, Arab or Westerners. “We’re Arab,” came the response. Each was then asked, “A Christian or a Muslim?” Both claimed to be Muslims and showed a Koran as proof. Taking care to kill only non-Muslims appears to be in response to widespread Saudi criticism of Islamist terrorism directed against Muslims; Saudis seem to agree that murder is a tool suitably directed only against non-Muslims, as two quotes suggest: Abdelaziz Raikhan, a maintenance man for the Saudi security forces, responded to the suicide bombing of a police headquarters in Riyadh that killed 5 people and wounded 148 on April 21, accusing the perpetrators of being “mentally ill. … There’s not one American in this entire area. Not one! What kind of jihad is this?” Mohsen al-Awaji, a Saudi lawyer, suggests that terrorists should be encouraged by the authorities to go to the many “occupied territories that require resistance,” such as in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, and Chechnya. “If someone decides to go, we wish him luck. He’s going to die anyway, so let him die there while achieving something, not die here and kill innocents with him.” Nor is this the first time Islamists have specifically targeted infidels. In Malaysia in 2000, for example, jihadists purposefully killed two non-Muslim hostages and spared two others, both Muslims. In Pakistan in 2002, a police chief noted killers “took a good fifteen minutes in segregating the Christians and making sure that each one of their targets gets the most horrific death.” The murderers separated Christians from Muslims by requiring each hostage to recite a verse from the Koran. Those who could not were shot. In all these cases, non-Muslims facing jihadists could have saved themselves by passing as Muslims. There are several ways they could have done this. They might have greeted their potential murderers with Assalamu ‘alaykum (which, ironically, means “peace be with you”). They might have recited in Arabic the Shahada, the Islamic statement of faith. Or they might have recited in Arabic the first sura (chapter) of the Koran, the essential prayer of Islam called the Fatiha (“Opening”). In the past, such knowledge would have saved lives. It could probably do so again in the future.
That List of Islamist Organizations under U.S. Senate Scrutiny
January 14, 2004
That List of Islamist Organizations under U.S. Senate Scrutiny. The Senate Committee on Finance today released a letter its chairman and ranking member, Chuck Grassley and Max Baucus, had sent on Dec. 22, 2003, to the Internal Revenue Service. In it, they asked for a long list of specifics ("Form 990s and Form 990 PFs, including the donors list for both types; Form 1023s, the charities' applications for tax exempt status, and any and all materials from examinations, audits and other investigations, including criminal investigations") about charities, foundations and tax-exempt organizations, groups or entities that have been designated or listed by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control since September 11, 2001. It is worth noting this list of twenty-five, for it offers an authoritative guide to U.S. Islamist groups which, in the senators' words, "finance terrorism and perpetuate violence" (I have rearranged their order to make it alphabetical):
Al Haramain Foundation
Alavi Foundation
Benevolence International Foundation (BIF)
Global Relief Foundation (GRF)
Help the Needy
Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF)
Human Appeal International
Institute of Islamic and Arabic Science in America (IIASA)
International Islamic Relief Organization
International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) or Internal Relief Organization(IRO)
Islamic African Relief Agency and/or Islamic American Relief Agency
Islamic Assembly of North American
Islamic Association for Palestine
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
Islamic Foundation of America
Islamic Society of North America
Kind Hearts
Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA)
Muslim Student Association
Muslim World League
Rabita Trust
SAAR Foundation and all members and related entities
Solidarity International and/or Solidarity USA
United Association for Studies and Research (USAR)
World Assembly of Muslim Youth
The Washington Post interviewed committee staffers and outside experts and found that "the scope of this request is unusual because of its breadth and because it is part of a wide-ranging terrorism-related investigation." It also quoted one committee aide explaining the purpose of the inquiry: "We want to look into where all their money comes from. Is it from foreign embassies? Does money come from obscure individuals in the Persian Gulf? We're the only ones that can look at this."
Comment: These twenty-five groups cover a remarkable range – Iranian- and Saudi-sponsored, student and adult, charitable and academic – but the absence of certain well-known political Islamist groups is conspicuous. Here's betting its only a matter of time until their names join this list of infamy. (January 14, 2004)
Feb. 29, 2004 update: This matter could not be a very high priority for the Internal Revenue Service. Over two months have gone by since the committee's Dec. 22, 2003, letter went off, but a Reuters dispatch today indicates that the IRS "has not yet supplied" the requested information.
Oct. 13, 2004 update: The FBI today raided Islamic American Relief Agency offices in Columbia, Missouri.
Yup, I'm still watching that other thread.... and waiting... and waiting....