Posted on 12/18/2002 5:27:03 PM PST by ganesha
Man of the people - arrested By SANDRA TAN News Staff Reporter 12/18/2002
Mohamed T. Albanna, photographed in his Clinton Street store last July, is considered outspoken on issues crucial to Lackawanna.
Business owner Andrea Haxton saw Mohamed T. Albanna several days a week. He was her main cigarette distributor and regularly dropped off boxes at her A&E Goods store on Ridge Road and Ingham Avenue on his way home from work. "He delivers them, we pay him, chit-chat, and he goes home," the Lackawanna business owner said. "We talk about politics all the time."
Albanna came by Monday night in a particularly good mood and told her he planned to attend the Lackawanna City Council meeting that evening. Albanna is a regular fixture at the School Board and council meetings, and local officials know him by name and often have counted him a friend of good government and public education.
Principled. Committed. Responsible.
Those words just don't go with the word "arrested."
When Albanna was taken into custody Tuesday on charges of illegally transferring large sums of money to Yemen, many wondered how someone who once called America "the greatest country in the world" could be seriously considered a national threat.
"If he's involved, I find it very hard to believe," Haxton said.
She's not the only one.
Highly regarded for his willingness to speak out on behalf of children and the needs of area residents, 51-year-old Albanna has been known to plead a case for better education, better city governance and a higher quality of living.
A leader in the Muslim and Yemenite communities and a broad community activist who has spoken at countless School Board and City Council meetings, Albanna has been a bridge builder between cultures.
Those who know Albanna know him as a family man and a tenacious businessman. A leader in the Muslim and Yemenite communities, he is the vice president of the American Muslim Council's Western New York chapter. He is one of the few who has worked to break down the barrier of silence that often shrouds the Arab immigrants who have made a home in the First Ward.
Few have looked upon him with anything but respect - until now.
Believer in justice system
When the national media came to Western New York to cover the so-called "Lackawanna Six," Albanna was one of the few voices who expressed the views of the Yemenite community with clarity and conscience.
If these men are guilty, he said, they deserve to be punished. But until then, they need to be treated fairly and equitably under the American system of justice.
"I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt," Albanna said, "but I have a lot of respect for the law enforcement agencies. They have a job to do. Our community wants to cooperate in any investigation."
Tuesday night, the man who often has shared the microphone with Albanna as a spokesman for the local Muslim community met with the media to address the day's events.
"The AMC and its membership has no knowledge directly, or indirectly, of the reasons for the accusations that have been leveled against Mr. Albanna," council president Khalid J. Qazi said. "We know him as a devoted father and dedicated community activist who is respected in both (the) Muslim and greater Western New York community because of his caring and compassionate community service."
Earlier, members of the American Muslim Council's local chapter met briefly to discuss the arrest of the group's vice president.
Qazi said he hasn't seen or spoken with Albanna since Sunday; news of Albanna's arrest reached him through someone who had caught news reports Tuesday morning.
Albanna's future with the American Muslim Council hasn't been discussed, Qazi said. Albanna was elected to the post, he noted.
"Once the people see what's going on, it's still up to the people to decide," he said.
A cross-cultural practice
The practice of sending money back home is a common one - and not just for Muslims, Qazi said.
"Recent immigrants and first-generation Americans throughout history have sent . . . money back to the home country. This is not unique to Yemen."
As the events of the past few months are sorted out through the American judicial system, Qazi said the council's work will continue.
"(The) AMC will continue to work in fulfillment of its goals and objectives. We have full faith in our Constitution and believe that the due process of law will result in just resolution of these allegations," Qazi said.
A man with 18 brothers and sisters, as well as 10 children of his own, Albanna's family tree has long branches in Western New York.
He came to Buffalo in 1969 to join his family members as a worker at Bethlehem Steel.
In 1986, he opened up his own shop, Queen City Cigarettes and Candy, on Broadway in Buffalo, expanding that business into a substantial food distributorship in later years.
Even in those early days, he found his voice as head of the Yemenite Merchants Association, speaking out on issues ranging from the Persian Gulf War to the tensions between blacks and Arab deli owners.
The most significant blot on his personal record came in 1992, when fire investigators charged Albanna with setting fire to his own store to cover his debts. He was arrested on both arson and insurance fraud charges.
He was acquitted of those charges a year later, but a civil court jury unanimously decided in 1994 that his insurance company was not obligated to honor his $800,000 claim for damages.
Albanna went ahead and rebuilt his warehouse business, this time on Clinton Street in Buffalo. He is currently the main cigarette and candy supplier to numerous mom-and-pop shops in both Lackawanna and Buffalo.
Upstanding public figure
Haxton said she hasn't known Albanna to engage in shady business practices.
"I would never deal with anyone if I thought something illegal were going on," he said.
Since the early 1990s, Albanna has generated millions of dollars in revenue, though he said his bottom-line profits are far smaller.
While his business has obviously held its own, Albanna's reputation as a parent and public figure is what people outside of the Arab community most associate with this man.
Albanna has been involved with the Democratic Party and ran a failed campaign for the Lackawanna School Board in 1997. He also has been active in the Yemen-American Benevolent Association and is vice president with the Western New York chapter of the American Muslim Council.
"He always looked for change from within," said Lackawanna School Superintendent Paul Hashem, "whether it be in terms of running for the School Board himself or supporting others on the School Board. He's never once had a personal agenda that I knew about."
Loving, concerned father
He does, however, have a vested interest in his children, seven of whom are still in school. Two attend McKinley Elementary School, three attend Lackawanna Middle School and one attends Lackawanna High School.
The youngest is a first-grader at Global Concepts Charter School in Lackawanna, where Albanna serves as a member of the School Board there.
Principal Kathy Dimitrievski said Albanna helped drum up support for the charter school within the Yemenite community when the school was preparing to open this year. He regularly contributed his perspective to board discussions, she said.
Albanna also was no stranger at Council meetings and exercised his American right to demand city improvements.
In previous Council meetings, Albanna could be heard asking for the city to clean up abandoned properties and vacant lots in the neighborhood or advocating for recreational space for the Yemenite community. At other times, he attended just to stay informed.
"We didn't always see eye to eye," said Mayor John Kuryak, "but that's what you needed in a community. I respected him. He always voiced his opinions. It was ironic he was at last night's council meeting. He was asking about snow plowing."
Now, however, Kuryak wonders if Albanna was being deceitful all along.
Newly formed suspicions
Council President Norman Polanski echoed those sentiments.
"Up to this point, I always considered him a representative of the Arab community," he said. "He always had their best interest at heart, but also things he's involved in, like the charter school."
But now, Polanski says he thinks Albanna is likely to be guilty of serious wrongdoing because otherwise the government wouldn't have targeted him.
"Somebody had to point the finger at him," he said.
Though Albanna is a U.S. citizen, Polanski said, "one wonders if it's just for appearance."
If it is, that appearance has a lot of polish.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, Albanna has made numerous comments about his desire, and the desire of the greater Muslim community, to gain acceptance by the American public at large.
When the Lackawanna Six were arrested, he said, "Anyone who doesn't feel that the United States is the greatest country in the world has no place in our community."
The greatest country in the world sent Albanna to jail on Tuesday.
News Staff Reporter Janice Habuda contributed to this article.
e-mail: stan@buffnews.com
...within Islam there is the principle of "Al Takeyya".The term means, "prevention".
This principle permits Muslims to lie at their discretion whenever they interpret that it is expedient for the influence of Islam or their personal protection and well-being.
FR Thread...9/11, What You Need To Know <snip>
Well, well. No wonder it's the fastest growing religion everywhere!
Note that arson and insurance fraud are considered a 'blot.' Doesn't their religion prohibit lying... apparently not? Its OK as long as you lie to the kafir (the dust).
Very busy Drudge has a headline that 1,000 ME types have been arrested. As you know they have been required to register. When they do and they are found to be in an illegal status the are arrested. Sleeper and support cells are taking a big hit.
from Drudge
Hundreds of Muslim Immigrants Rounded Up in California
"Islamic groups and the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said they had been swamped with calls for help."
Good luck with that guys. Hey, ever hear of the concept of obeying the laws of the country you visit? Of course not, because America to the likes of you means to grab and work the system as much as you can.
But the words terror sleeper cell member do go great with arrested.
Why didn't he assimilate? Not Yemen-American or American Muslim, just AMERICAN! Great post.
DTOM
Well, well, well... any time the press uses the term 'man of the people' it doesn't mean what we would normally think of when we use the same term. To us it means a selfless, independent, hardworking and honorable man who values freedom above security. To the libs and to the press, it usually means he takes money from others and redistributes it to those he sees fit. Let's see if that is what is going on here...
Mohamed T. Albanna, photographed in his Clinton Street store last July, is considered outspoken on issues crucial to Lackawanna.
Translation : He knows how to whine to city officials to get money for his friends.
Business owner Andrea Haxton saw Mohamed T. Albanna several days a week. He was her main cigarette distributor and regularly dropped off boxes at her A&E Goods store on Ridge Road and Ingham Avenue on his way home from work. "He delivers them, we pay him, chit-chat, and he goes home,"
Translation : he deals cigarettes, the Democratic Party's favorite item to use in buying the votes of the smoking-addicted poor, and an item frequently smuggled for profit because people seek to obtain cigarettes even at exorbitant costs.
...the Lackawanna business owner said. "We talk about politics all the time."
Yeah, but you didn't hear him say anything suspicious because you're a democrat too and the ideological faults and character flaws inherent in liberals are strikingly similar to those found in supporters of terrorism.
Albanna came by Monday night in a particularly good mood and told her he planned to attend the Lackawanna City Council meeting that evening.
Translation : Albanna needs to extort more taxpayer's money.
Albanna is a regular fixture at the School Board and council meetings, and local officials know him by name and often have counted him a friend of good government and public education.
Translation : He has never seen a tax increase he didn't support.
Principled. Committed. Responsible.
Translation : Mean spirited. Arrogant. Condescending. Greedy. Exploitive. Liberal.
Those words just don't go with the word "arrested."
Oh, they do if you know the language and can translate...
When Albanna was taken into custody Tuesday on charges of illegally transferring large sums of money to Yemen, many wondered how someone who once called America "the greatest country in the world" could be seriously considered a national threat.
Clinton calls America the greatest country in the world. So does Arafat, for that matter. If you translate their words it means "I can rip you off because you are the greatest source of gullible good-natured suckers the world has ever known."
"If he's involved, I find it very hard to believe," Haxton said.
Please tell me she's not on the school board. Has anybody audited Haxton yet?
She's not the only one.
Not in Lackawana's democratic party, anyway!
Highly regarded for his willingness to speak out on behalf of children and the needs of area residents, 51-year-old Albanna has been known to plead a case for better education, better city governance and a higher quality of living.
Translation : He's a thief and he will steal you blind using the coercive power of the government to take what you earn and give much of it to lazy parasitic residents of the community.
A leader in the Muslim and Yemenite communities and a broad community activist who has spoken at countless School Board and City Council meetings, Albanna has been a bridge builder between cultures.
Oh, I bet he is. But there is nothing particularly honorable in being a 'broad community activist' - even bin Laden himself is a'broad community activist. So was Adolf and Stalin and Castro and so on...let me guess what his subject matter usually was: something about making the schools more 'multicultural, more sensitive to Muslim needs, more PC, etc? Did he complain about traditional American things, perhaps?'
Those who know Albanna know him as a family man and a tenacious businessman.
Translation : his wife squeezes out lots of kids and he's adept at getting small business loans even while accumulating debt?
A leader in the Muslim and Yemenite communities, he is the vice president of the American Muslim Council's Western New York chapter.
Translation : he wants to institute Sharia law in America one day, and will scream racism if anyone dare opposes it.
He is one of the few who has worked to break down the barrier of silence that often shrouds the Arab immigrants who have made a home in the First Ward.
Translation : He gets out the Arab vote for the Democratic Party and can gather a crowd of Muslims to intimidate any opposition to local Democrat candidates.
Few have looked upon him with anything but respect - until now.
Not so long as he brings in the votes on those tax issues.
Believer in justice system
Translation : Knows the ACLU and a lawyer would bail him out if he was Osama bin Laden himself.
When the national media came to Western New York to cover the so-called "Lackawanna Six," Albanna was one of the few voices who expressed the views of the Yemenite community with clarity and conscience.
Translation : He was loud and can yell in English.
If these men are guilty, he said, they deserve to be punished. But until then, they need to be treated fairly and equitably under the American system of justice.
Translation : We will protest loudly and maybe riot if they are convicted.
"I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt," Albanna said, "but I have a lot of respect for the law enforcement agencies. They have a job to do. Our community wants to cooperate in any investigation."
Translation : Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Tuesday night, the man who often has shared the microphone with Albanna as a spokesman for the local Muslim community met with the media to address the day's events.
Translation : Prepare for incoming BS.
"The AMC and its membership has no knowledge directly, or indirectly, of the reasons for the accusations that have been leveled against Mr. Albanna," council president Khalid J. Qazi said. "We know him as a devoted father and dedicated community activist who is respected in both (the) Muslim and greater Western New York community because of his caring and compassionate community service."
Translation : Deny, deny, deny. Pay no attention to this large community behind the curtain.
Earlier, members of the American Muslim Council's local chapter met briefly to discuss the arrest of the group's vice president.
Translation : Let's meet and practice our lines so we can get our stories straight.
Qazi said he hasn't seen or spoken with Albanna since Sunday; news of Albanna's arrest reached him through someone who had caught news reports Tuesday morning.
Translation : Pay no attention to the Qazi behind the curtain...
Albanna's future with the American Muslim Council hasn't been discussed, Qazi said. Albanna was elected to the post, he noted. "Once the people see what's going on, it's still up to the people to decide," he said.
Translation : We still haven't got ahold of the ACLU and aren't sure what to do.
A cross-cultural practice : The practice of sending money back home is a common one - and not just for Muslims, Qazi said.
Translation "Everybody does it."
"Recent immigrants and first-generation Americans throughout history have sent . . . money back to the home country. This is not unique to Yemen."
Translation: Pay no attention to that keyword illegally transferring ...
As the events of the past few months are sorted out through the American judicial system, Qazi said the council's work will continue.
Translation : You can't stop us- we will one day impose Sharia Law and raise taxes on Jews and Christians... and Tommy Daschle will help us do it becuase it is a Democrat's wet dream.
"(The) AMC will continue to work in fulfillment of its goals and objectives. We have full faith in our Constitution and believe that the due process of law will result in just resolution of these allegations," Qazi said.
Note : It all depends on what the meaning of 'our Constitution' is.
A man with 18 brothers and sisters, as well as 10 children of his own, Albanna's family tree has long branches in Western New York.
Translation : His family can really reap a lot of social services, welfare payments, and small business and student grants and loans.
He came to Buffalo in 1969 to join his family members as a worker at Bethlehem Steel.
OK, so he was a union thug. Now what did the other 18 brothers and sisters do?
In 1986, he opened up his own shop, Queen City Cigarettes and Candy, on Broadway in Buffalo, expanding that business into a substantial food distributorship in later years.
Why yes, cigarettes and candy are a winnig combination - both meant for dependent personalities who can't help themselves.
Even in those early days, he found his voice as head of the Yemenite Merchants Association, speaking out on issues ranging from the Persian Gulf War to the tensions between blacks and Arab deli owners.
Funny how the reporter fails to address just what he said about the Persian Gulf War. He's Yemeni but did he have an Iraqi-Baathist-like interest in saving Hussein's butt? Tensions between blacks and Arab deli owners? Is he the Trent Lott of the Arab deli world or did he get the two sides to see eye to eye by giving them a third enemy to focus on, like some hapless independent candidate?
The most significant blot on his personal record came in 1992, when fire investigators charged Albanna with setting fire to his own store to cover his debts. He was arrested on both arson and insurance fraud charges.
Translation : He got off on a technicality or because he has friends with pull in the DNC.
Note : Why would they think they had enough on him to charge him with torching his own place? Those debts? What debts?
He was acquitted of those charges a year later, but a civil court jury unanimously decided in 1994 that his insurance company was not obligated to honor his $800,000 claim for damages.
Bingo. Translation : One jury got him off - wanna bet on the composition of the jury? But it wasn't because anyone seriously thought he was innocent- at least not in the civil court trial- different jury? This is odd - if he wasn't guilty, how did the insurance company get a break?
Albanna went ahead and rebuilt his warehouse business, this time on Clinton Street in Buffalo. He is currently the main cigarette and candy supplier to numerous mom-and-pop shops in both Lackawanna and Buffalo.
He was in debt, yet managed to rebuild his business and defend himself in court too. Impressive...
Upstanding public figure : Haxton said she hasn't known Albanna to engage in shady business practices. "I would never deal with anyone if I thought something illegal were going on," he said.
Is Haxton a she or a he?
Since the early 1990s, Albanna has generated millions of dollars in revenue, though he said his bottom-line profits are far smaller.
Translation : Either Albanna filed fraudulent income tax returns, or he ofset his profits by deducting his alleged losses in a fire he may have set himself, and also deducted expenses on restarting the business- some of which probably wouldn't pass by an auditor either.
While his business has obviously held its own, Albanna's reputation as a parent and public figure is what people outside of the Arab community most associate with this man.
Translation : Democrats stick together. They can stand the smell.
Albanna has been involved with the Democratic Party and ran a failed campaign for the Lackawanna School Board in 1997.
Translation : He's a rat, but not neccessarily the biggest rat around.
Not bad for a guy who had to rebuild his buisiness- he has time to run for public office or does he just need the extra income?
He also has been active in the Yemen-American Benevolent Association and is vice president with the Western New York chapter of the American Muslim Council.
The guy likes to keep his connections going- is he also a member of the local chamber of commerce and other nonarab groups or is he strictly focused on Muslim activist groups? If he was just keeping tabs for business purposes (networking) presumably he would belong to BOTH kinds of groups to broaden his contacts. But if he needs arab connections more than business contacts, then there could be something fishy here. Then it is not business which drives him so much as muslim activism.
"He always looked for change from within," said Lackawanna School Superintendent Paul Hashem, "whether it be in terms of running for the School Board himself or supporting others on the School Board. He's never once had a personal agenda that I knew about."
That's not change from within, you dolt. That's just wanting control. Change from within is doing something voluntarily using your own resources to get it done. Officials only get things done by using other people's resources.
Loving, concerned father : He does, however, have a vested interest in his children, seven of whom are still in school. Two attend McKinley Elementary School, three attend Lackawanna Middle School and one attends Lackawanna High School.
All in public schools, meaning, they consume more of other people's money for their education than their father contributes to their education. Groan. If he had focused on his kids instead of on politics they could have been in private school.
The youngest is a first-grader at Global Concepts Charter School in Lackawanna, where Albanna serves as a member of the School Board there.
Wow, for a businessman he sure doesn't spend much time on business. "GLOBAL CONCEPTS?" Must be a worthless school with twisted priorities to have a silly name like that.
Principal Kathy Dimitrievski said Albanna helped drum up support for the charter school within the Yemenite community when the school was preparing to open this year. He regularly contributed his perspective to board discussions, she said.
Translation : He helped the Democratic Party increase taxes, IOW, rape the taxpayers of the whole area, to build a primarily Yemeni dominated school in the Yemeni part of town.
Albanna also was no stranger at Council meetings and exercised his American right to demand city improvements.
Translation : He demanded other people's money.
Demanding city improvements is an American right, eh?
In previous Council meetings, Albanna could be heard asking for the city to clean up abandoned properties and vacant lots in the neighborhood or advocating for recreational space for the Yemenite community. At other times, he attended just to stay informed.
Translation : Albanna is a moocher, demanding other people's money to pay for his projects and ideas. He could get his firends together in all of his 'Yemeni and Arab civic groups' and they could all clean up abandoned properties in their own communities, not having to wait for city approval or funds, and thus do the right thing, independently. But no... he is a parasite. And evidently, his community is similarly inclined to exploit others and steal other people's hard-earned money rather than clean up their own part of town.
"We didn't always see eye to eye," said Mayor John Kuryak, "but that's what you needed in a community. I respected him. He always voiced his opinions. It was ironic he was at last night's council meeting. He was asking about snow plowing."
Translation : I don't like him and I think he is trouble, but I dare not say it for fear his community will raise hell. He was asking for yet more money to be taken from even more people and given to his community.
Now, however, Kuryak wonders if Albanna was being deceitful all along.
Note : You knew he was a Democrat when you put him in your pocket...
Newly formed suspicions : Council President Norman Polanski echoed those sentiments. "Up to this point, I always considered him a representative of the Arab community," he said. "He always had their best interest at heart, but also things he's involved in, like the charter school."
Translation : I always knew he was out for himself and his own group, and he didn't give a rat's behind about the city as a whole.
But now, Polanski says he thinks Albanna is likely to be guilty of serious wrongdoing because otherwise the government wouldn't have targeted him. "Somebody had to point the finger at him," he said.
Kind of a dumb reason to assume someone's guilty, don't you think? What, are you a Democrat, too?
Though Albanna is a U.S. citizen, Polanski said, "one wonders if it's just for appearance."
Come on, Polanski, tell us what really clued you in...
If it is, that appearance has a lot of polish.
Translation : But he's a democrat? How can this be?
Since Sept. 11, 2001, Albanna has made numerous comments about his desire, and the desire of the greater Muslim community, to gain acceptance by the American public at large.
Translation : Albanna desires to force people to accept third world behavior and repression of women and non muslims as normal, and wants the rest of the country to not offend him in any way, even if it means that everyone else must give up their culture, and American culture in particular.
When the Lackawanna Six were arrested, he said, "Anyone who doesn't feel that the United States is the greatest country in the world has no place in our community." The greatest country in the world sent Albanna to jail on Tuesday.
Translation : Reporter is not interested in investigating those illegal money transactions but only wants to make people sympathetic to a fellow democrat- and probably, fellow muslim.
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