ISLAMABAD: A higher court in Islamabad yesterday heard a petition seeking a hearing over the alleged detention of Pakistani national Dr Afia Siddiqui at a US military base for the past five years.

Siddiqui, 35, who was wanted by US for alleged Al Qaeda membership, went missing five years ago with her three children in Karachi.

“There are some reports suggesting that she was kidnapped by Pakistani intelligence agencies and handed over to the Americans who illegally moved her either to their detention centre at Guantanamo or to Bagram (airbase) in Afghanistan,” said lawyer Iqbal Jaafree.

He said he had requested the Islamabad High Court to ask the Pakistani Interior Secretary and the legal consular official at the US embassy in Islamabad to produce Siddiqui.

Jaafree said he had also cited a report in the petition from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that asked Pakistani government last week to confirm her whereabouts.

Pakistani and American authorities have denied any knowledge of her whereabouts.

Pakistan, a key US ally in the US-led fight against terrorism, has been blamed by rights organizations for illegally handing over Pakistani national as well as international terror suspects to US intelligence agencies in the so-called war against terrorism.–DPA

Bagram Theater Internment Facility

The jihad doctor everyone’s forgotten; outbreak of jihadi violence in Pakistan

By Michelle Malkin

There are now five jihadi doctors implicated in the London/Glasgow car bomb attempts. The latest is a doctor in Australia. Some are expressing shock that highly educated medical professionals are accused of participating in attacks with al Qaeda’s fingerprints all over them. Those shocked experts are either profoundly blind or suffering from toddler-age attention spans. al Qaeda honcho Ayman Zawahiri is a doctor. So is former Hamas biggie Abdel Rantissi. And the woman pictured on the left? She’s Affia Siddiqui–a Pakistani who studied microbiology at MIT and did graduate work in neurology at Brandeis. The FBI has been seeking information about her whereabouts since 9/11.

Back in 2004, I noted a Newsweek report on her al Qaeda-linked activities and that of her estranged husband–also a doctor.




Documents show that while trying to trace a tangled money trail beginning with the Saudi Embassy, [terrorism] investigators soon drew startling connections between a group of Saudi nationals receiving financial support from the embassy and a 34-year-old microbiologist and MIT graduate who officials have since concluded was a U.S. operative for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

The microbiologist, Aafia Siddiqui, a mother of three young children, has since fled the country–most likely to her native Pakistan-and is now wanted for questioning by the FBI. But “suspicious-activity reports” (SARS) filed by Fleet Bank with the U.S. Treasury Department, suggest that Siddiqui and her estranged husband, Dr. Mohammed Amjad Khan, an anesthesiologist, may have been active terror plotters inside the country until as late as the summer of 2002.

The reports show that Fleet Bank investigators discovered that one account used by the Boston-area couple showed repeated debit-card purchases from stores that “specialize in high-tech military equipment and apparel,” including Black Hawk Industries in Chesapeake, Va., and Brigade Quartermasters in Georgia. (Black Hawk’s Web site, advertises grips, mounts and parts for AK-47s and other military-assault rifles as well as highly specialized combat clothing, including vests designed for bomb disposal.)

Fleet accounts associated with the couple also showed “major purchases” from U.S. airlines and hotels in Pittsburgh and North Carolina as well as an $8,000 international wire transfer on Dec. 21, 2001, to Habib Bank Ltd., a big Pakistani financial institution that has long been scrutinized by U.S. intelligence officials monitoring terrorist money flows.

NEWSWEEK first reported, in a June 23, 2003, cover story, that the FBI had identified Siddiqui and Khan as suspected Al Qaeda agents. Internal FBI documents showed that, after his capture in March 2003, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed told U.S. interrogators that Siddiqui was supposed to support “other AQ operatives as they entered the United States.” Agents also found evidence that she had rented a post-office box to help another Baltimore-based Al Qaeda contact who had been assigned by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to blow up underground gasoline-storage tanks. Bureau documents also stated that Khan, Siddiqui’s husband, had purchased body armor, night-vision goggles and a variety of military manuals that were supposed to be sent to Pakistan.

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Real truth about Aafia siddiqui

Aafia Siddiqui. Married. Three siblings the eldest born in 1992. Profile:

• born March 1972.
• a sophomore at MIT in 1992

Received a Carroll L. Wilson Award for her research proposal, "Islamization in Pakistan and its Effects on Women." received a $1,200 fellowship through MIT's LINKS program to help clean up Cambridge elementary school playgrounds.

• graduated from MIT in 1995.
• graduate study in neuroscience at Brandeis University .She had a cource on lab biology during her masters.
• co-authored one published journal article and completed her dissertation,
• she received a doctorate in 1999 from Brandeis University

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Charges against her

Charges (2007):

• Siddiqui was an account holder at Fleet National Bank in Boston. According to documents obtained by Newsweek, in 2001, Siddiqui was making regular debit-card payments to an Islamic charity front, Benevolence International, ( A Bosnian Relef Mission) which is now banned by the UN

• On March 29, 2003 United Press International reported that the FBI purportedly believed Siddiqui may be a "fixer" for al-Qaeda, moving money to support terrorist operations. Nothing given against her.
• Siddiqui may have drawn the FBI's attention when she was named by the captured senior al-Qaida operative, as CNN reported on April 3, 2003
• According to Newsweek, FBI Agents also found evidence that she had rented a post-office box to help another Baltimore, Maryland-based individual alleged to have been an al-Qaeda contact who had been assigned by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to blow up underground gasoline-storage tanks (this charge also never tried in any court)

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence asserts that Siddiqui has ties to Guantanamo captive Ammar al-Baluchi (An allegation never with a scintilla of proof)

• But, as of April 2003, she was still merely being sought for questioning by the FBI, and was listed as such on the FBI's poster on its Web site, which stated merely that the FBI at that time had "no information indicating [Siddiqui was] connected to specific terrorist activities

• On July 6, 2007, Amnesty International mentioned Siddiqui as a possible CIA"Secret Detainee ", despite the fact she remains on the FBI's Seeking Information - Terrorism list as of the published date

On July 7, 2008 the Daily Times of Pakistan quoted Briish journalist Yvonne Ridley that a Pakistani woman had been held in solitary confinement, for years, in the Bagram Theater internment facility .Her identity remains unconfirmed. She has been nicknamed the "gray lady of Bagram".

Moazzam Begg and several other former captives have reported that a female prisoner, prisoner 650, was held in Bagram. According to The Daily Times and Adnkronos news service the former captives report she has lost her sanity, and cries all the time

Dr aafia siddiqui shows the calousness of us. The pakistanis. She is been termed as terrorist , though never tried in any court. Also some iggnorant, unscruplous the flagbearer of yellow journalism are terming her a microbug terrorist though this was not even on the chargesheet of allgation by FBI. She is a divorcee from her husband Dr amjad khan , an anesthesiologist , who was also unjustifibly persecuted and maligned in jewish media the charges against him that he bought night vision googles a high tech army equipment. Now all of us who have night vision in our cameras and stereoscope are alledgedly having the occupation of high tech sophisticated machinary. Unlike our patronized elite class , she recieved her education purely on her merit , she a graduate of MIT , studied there on scholorship, only to be sold by our prestigious ISI for 5000 dollors.

I wonder what would be the price of her three young terrorist sublings. May be 50 dollor a piece.

During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan the Soviets built a large military airfield outside Bagram. The airfield included large hangars that fell into disrepair when the Soviets were ousted.When the Americans and their local allies ousted the Taliban, American forces took possession of the former Soviet base. The Americans didn't need the volume of hangar space, so a detention facility was built inside large unused hangars. Like the first facilities built at Guantanamo's Camp X-Ray, the cells were built of wire mesh. However, only captives held in solitary confinement have a cell of their own.The other captives share larger open cells with other captives.

According to some accounts, captives were provided with shared buckets to use as toilets, and did not have access to running water. Although captives share their cells with dozens of other captives, there are also reports that they are not allowed to speak with one another, or even to look at one another.

During an interview on PBS, Chris Hogan, a former interrogator at Bagram, described the prisoner's cells in early 2002 I can't speak to what the conditions may be like now. But in my tenure, the prison population lived in an abandoned Soviet warehouse. The warehouse had a cement floor and it was a huge square-footage area. "On the floor of that, what must have been some sort of an airplane hangar, six prison cages were erected, which were divided by concertina wire ... Those prison cages had a wooden floor, a platform built above the cement floor of the hangar. Each prisoner had a bunch of blankets, a small mat, and in the back of each one of those cages was a makeshift toilet, which was a 50-gallon drum, halved with diesel fuel put in the bottom of it and a wooden kind of seat to that platform ... ...."Conduct of Combatant Status Review Tribunals

As Department of defence denied her arest ,she is even denied the so called Cobatant Status Review Tribunal. It is saddly more than 5 years since her arrest by Pakistani authorities along with her three sublings. Interior minister Fasial Saleh Hayat contacted her faimly ,confirming her arrest and mentioned her being questioned by FBI. (According to her mother. Faisal remained quiet till date)


Now, What is CSRT.
The exact location of the current CSRT hearings is unknown, but prior CSRT hearings were held in trailers in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Images of the trailers, with the white, plastic chairs the detainees sat in shackled to the floor and the large, black leather chair behind a microphone where the President sat can be found on the DoD (Department of defence website). Presence of Observers at CSRTs. The question of the presence of outside, neutral observers at the CSRTs is debated.

Murat Kurnaz, an example

Murat Kurnaz was a young Turk who was born in, and had grown up, in Germany. When captured he was close to being granted German citizenship. He was taken off a tourist bus and detained while on a trip to Pakistan. The tribunal's determination was that there was enough evidence of Kurnaz had ties to terrorism that he should be held as an enemy combatant.

Through a bureaucratic slip-up Kurnaz's file was declassifed. During the brief window when it was declassified the Washington Post was able to review all the evidence against him and publish a summary.Joyce Hens Green, a Washington jurist, had been able to review both the classified and unclassified evidence. Green found that Kurnaz's file contained something like 100 pages of documents and reports explaining that German and American investigators could find no evidence whatsoever that Kurnaz had any ties to terrorism.

Shortly before his tribunal an unsigned memo had been added to his file concluded he was an al Qaeda member. Green's comment on the memo was that it: "fails to provide significant details to support its conclusory allegations, does not reveal the sources for its information and is contradicted by other evidence in the record."

Eugene R. Fidell, a Washington-based expert in military law, said: "It suggests the procedure is a sham, If a case like that can get through, what it means is that the merest scintilla of evidence against someone would carry the day for the government, even if there's a mountain of evidence on the other side."

NEW YORK NY NEWS -- Female fugitive, Aafia Siddiqui has been arrested on charges related to her attempted murder and assault of United States officers and employees in Afghanistan. Siddiqui arrived in New York, NY, this evening and will be presented tomorrow before a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

According to the Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court: On July 17, 2008, officers of the Ghazni Province Afghanistan National Police ("ANP") observed Siddiqui outside the Ghazni governor's compound. ANP officers questioned Siddiqui, regarded her as suspicious, and searched her handbag. In it, they found numerous documents describing the creation of explosives, as well as excerpts from the "Anarchist's Arsenal" Siddiqui's papers included descriptions of various landmarks in the United States, including in New York City. Siddiqui was also in possession of substances that were sealed in bottles and glass jars.

Siddiqui, a 36-year-old Pakistani woman who previously resided in the United States, is charged in a criminal Complaint filed in the Southern District of New York with one count of attempting to kill United States officers and employees and one count of assaulting United States officers and employees. If convicted, Siddiqui faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each charge.

On July 18, 2008, a party of United States personnel, including two FBI special agents, a United States Army Warrant Officer, a United States Army Captain, and United States military interpreters, arrived at the Afghan facility where Siddiqui was being held. The personnel entered a second floor meeting room -- unaware that Siddiqui was being held there, unsecured, behind a curtain.

The Warrant Officer took a seat and placed his United States Army M-4 rifle on the floor next to the curtain. Shortly after the meeting began, the Captain heard a woman yell from the curtain and, when he turned, saw Siddiqui holding the Warrant Officer's rifle and pointing it directly at the Captain. Siddiqui said, "May the blood of [unintelligible] be directly on your [unintelligible, possibly head or hands]." The interpreter seated closest to Siddiqui lunged at her and pushed the rifle away as Siddiqui pulled the trigger. Siddiqui fired at least two shots but no one was hit. The Warrant Officer returned fire with a 9mm service pistol and fired approximately two rounds at Siddiqui's torso, hitting her at least once.

Despite being shot, Siddiqui struggled with the officers when they tried to subdue her; she struck and kicked them while shouting in English that she wanted to kill Americans. After being subdued, Siddiqui temporarily lost consciousness. The agents and officers then rendered medical aid to Siddiqui.

Michael J. Garcia, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York praised the investigative work of the Joint Terrorism Task Force ("JTTF"), the Federal Bureau of Investigation and New York City Police Department. He also expressed his gratitude to the Office of International Affairs of the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of State for their assistance in the case. Mr. Garcia also thanked the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts for their assistance.

Mr. Garcia along with Mark J. Mershon, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and Raymond W. Kelly, the Police Commissioner of the City of New York, announced the arrest today. Mr. Garcia said that the investigation is continuing. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher L. Lavigne is in charge of the prosecution, and all charges and allegations contained in the Complaint are merely accusations and Aafia Siddiqui is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

It seems , the bush administration has hired a pakistan intelligence or most probally a police officer maybe a veteran SHO to make up such halarious stories i simpily cant believe the imbicility of dep of justice

The Warrant Officer took a seat and placed his United States Army M-4 rifle on the floor next to the curtain. Shortly after the meeting began, the Captain heard a woman yell from the curtain and, when he turned, saw Siddiqui holding the Warrant Officer's rifle and pointing it directly at the Captain. Siddiqui said, "May the blood of [unintelligible] be directly on your [unintelligible, possibly head or hands]." The interpreter seated closest to Siddiqui lunged at her and pushed the rifle away as Siddiqui pulled the trigger. Siddiqui fired at least two shots but no one was hit. The Warrant Officer returned fire with a 9mm service pistol and fired approximately two rounds at Siddiqui's torso, hitting her at least once.

Despite being shot, Siddiqui struggled with the officers when they tried to subdue her; she struck and kicked them while shouting in English that she wanted to kill Americans. After being subdued, Siddiqui temporarily lost consciousness. The agents and officers then rendered medical aid to Siddiqui.

Just look at the gross injustice to this poor women deprived of her 3 siblings. She is persecuted because she is of pakistani origin is being a pakistan is such a denigrating term.

The biggest mistake , the relatives of aafia especially Dr fouzia her sister is doing is trying to fet help from CIA employee Hussain Haqani and our puppet Civilian government They should communicate to human right protection groups in USA and they will get justice i strongly believe it is useless to try for stirring the conscience of the enervated and calous pakistani people.

She is here to show that we are a shameless nation....

http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/2008/07...i-prisoner-650

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOVNSD
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

Aafia Siddiqui Indicted for Attempting to Kill United States Nationals in Afghanistan and Six Additional Charges
Michael J. Garcia, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the indictment of Aafia Siddiqui on charges related to her attempted murder and assault of United States nationals and officers and employees. Siddiqui is scheduled to be arraigned on the Indictment on Thursday, September 4, 2008, at 11:30 a.m. by United States District Judge Richard M. Berman in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. According to the Indictment filed in Manhattan federal court:


On July 18, 2008, a team of United States servicemen and law enforcement officers, and others assisting them, attempted to interview Aafia Siddiqui in Ghazni, Afghanistan, where she had been detained by local police the day before. The United States interview team included, among others: three officers and employees of the United States Army; two officers and employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and two United States Army contract interpreters.


The interview of Siddiqui was to take place at an Afghan police compound in Ghazni. In a second-floor meeting room at the compound -- where Siddiqui was being held, unbeknownst to the United States interview team, unsecured, behind a curtain -- Siddiqui obtained one of the United States Army officer’s M-4 rifle and attempted to fire it, and did fire it, at another United States Army officer and other members of United States interview team. Siddiqui repeatedly stated her intent and desire to kill Americans.


Siddiqui then assaulted one of the United States Army interpreters, as he attempted to obtain the M-4 rifle from her. Siddiqui subsequently assaulted one of the FBI agents and one of the United States Army officers, as they attempted to subdue her.


On the previous day, July 17, 2008, when Siddiqui was detained by Afghan authorities, a number of items were in her possession, including handwritten notes that referred to a "mass casualty attack" and that listed various locations in the United States, including Plum Island, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Other notes in Siddiqui’s possession referred to the construction of "dirty bombs," and discussed various ways to attack "enemies," including by destroying reconnaissance drones, using underwater bombs, and using gliders. Siddiqui also possessed a computer thumb drive that contained correspondence referring to specific "cells," "attacks" by certain "cells," and "enemies." Other documents on the thumb drive discussed recruitment and training.


Siddiqui, a 36-year-old Pakistani woman, resided in the United States from in or about 1991 until June 2002, and obtained degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University. Siddiqui returned to the United States on December 25, 2002, and departed on January 2, 2003.


Siddiqui is charged in the Indictment with: (1) one count of attempting to kill United States nationals outside the United States; (2) one count of attempting to kill United States officers and employees; (3) one count of armed assault of United States officers and employees; (4) one count of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; and (5) three counts of assault of United States officers and employees.

If convicted, Siddqiui faces a maximum sentence of: 20 years in prison on each of the attempted murder and armed assault charges; life in prison on the firearm charge; and eight years in prison on each of the remaining assault charges.


Mr. Garcia praised the investigative work of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and New York City Police Department. He also expressed his gratitude to the United States Department of State for their assistance in the case.


Mr. Garcia said that the investigation is continuing.


Assistant United States Attorney Christopher L. Lavigne is in charge of the prosecution.


The charges and allegations contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

###

08-765

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Thanks to Allah almighty who Mould me Human

[UPDATE: HEARING POSTPONED TO THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4

Protest :
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
9:30am - 110am

Location:
Magistrates Court, 5th Floor,
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
500 Pearl Street
Manhattan, NY

If you cannot go, please make lots of dua’ for the sister and her family. May Allah make this Ramadan a time for her release.

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Thanks to Allah almighty who Mould me Human

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s Case: Hearts on our Sleeves or Heads in the Sand?
A guide to charting the waters of community response by Iesa Galloway

Amad’s recent article: The Grey Lady of Bagram: Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and many of the posts it prompted clearly demonstrate how complex an issue Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s case really is.

Complexity often makes for murky waters and with all the factors surrounding this case, be assured that the path forward can be perilous.

This article is not a discussion of the case’s legal merits or its moral implications. Rather, the purpose is to explore constructive ways to respond to such issues, so that the American Muslim community is neither used for an agenda that it does not support nor relegated to an ineffective role that promotes feelings of resentment, disenfranchisement or detachment from society.

The steps are simple to understand, yet can be difficult to employ:

Separate emotional responses from core and universal principles
Tolerate different and opposing points of view
Identify effective ways to promote justice
Build lasting relationships that promote the greater good
In a case like this the feeling of clarity is often rooted in emotional and preconceived perspectives. This is because as members of the public, we do not have full access to the facts or the perspectives of the opposing parties. With the astounding accusations made by all invested in the case’s outcome, it is vitally important that as individuals we understand the basic ways that this and similar cases can be used.

For example, a xenophobe whose pre-trial commentary on Dr. Siddiqui implies or declares guilt will normally follow such a notion with broad-brush treatment of the Muslim community. They will paint American Muslims as a subversive group that silently supports the allegations. However, we do not have to look to the fringe political and social commentators to find similar propaganda. Those calling for American Muslims to disengage from social and political activism are not only the opposite-equivalent of the xenophobes; they are also helping them marginalize American Muslim voices. Both the automatic assumptions of guilt or government conspiracy reveal more about the world view and biases of the commentator than they do about the case itself.

The myriad of conflicting “facts” will continue to be used and many times, spun to support any number of agendas. For example, Al Qaeda would want the reports of abuse, along with the entire accusation of an “integrated American Muslim mother” turning operative, to be seen as validation and a recruiting tool. The U.S. Government needs to demonstrate that it is capable of safeguarding the population while at least complying with basic human rights standards. Advocacy organizations may see the case as a chance to fulfill their mission’s and thus increase their stature and ability to fund-raise. There are virtually endless combination of reasons that groups and organizations would want to get involved and more often than not they are a mix of both altruistic and opportunistic motivations.

We get motivated by this same mix of reasons as well. The stakes are high, even for us as individuals, as Americans and especially as American Muslims. We see a traveling mother and her family broken up. Her rights as a citizen suppressed. We hear different reports from our government and from the accused. As our reaction begins to formulate we normally choose either a path of complacency or discord. We should ask ourselves, are there other options? How should the American Muslim community respond?

This simple answer is that there will be no American Muslim community response. There will be responses from American Muslims and American Muslim groups. On the surface this fact can appear as disunity or a weakness, but in reality it can be a very sophisticated and appropriate strength. As the case and the surrounding factors are complex, our diversity mandates that our responses will be as well. However, a complex mix of responses and a coherent set of responses are two vastly different things.

Currently we have several categories of responses on record, none of which show a real grassroots position or a sound approach for the greater good:

Muslim advocacy organizations that championed cases in the past have responded by remaining unengaged. Often the cases they previously supported have become classic examples of winning a battle, while delivering results that clearly lacked real forward progress.Take for example, the designation of being an “unindicted co-conspirator.” Few in the general public will consider the fact that this designation is strategic in a case against an indicted entity. They will likely overlook the fact that the label is nearly impossible to challenge and that the practice of publicly revealing entities named as unindicted co-conspirators is frowned on because an entity is considered innocent until proven guilty. Several well-established Muslim leaders and organizations have found that being publicly labeled an unindicted co-conspirator is difficult, if not impossible to completely recover from.
Some Muslim leaders have commented on the case. There statements fall in one of three categories: a) assuming guilt of Dr. Siddiqui, b) assuming her innocence or c) a wait and see position, which implies trust in the system and should be intended to inspire trust from our fellow countrymen.
To affect positive outcomes for America, its position and role on the world stage, the American Muslim community and the case itself, we need to embrace a few strategies.

One is separating complex and emotional issues into their core components. In this case the major issues are: human rights, justice, legal prosecution of individuals suspected of engaging in or supporting terrorism, and community support for a mother and family going through a horrible ordeal.

As we all know, American Muslims are a small, but growing minority within America, with estimates ranging from 1% to 2.5% of the total population. This fact screams for the need of building alliances. If we, as a community, can mentally separate human rights principles from the legal case, we would then have a host of potential allies. We can identify and work with groups that oppose torture, stand up for due process, and stand against the deterioration of other constitutional rights. This allows us to build broad-based coalitions that are hard to attack. When a cross segment of Americans stand together, it affirms the validity of the cause. When a minority group stands alone it is seen as a special interest.

By isolating the human rights aspect of the case, and by working to improve America’s image on human rights, you are actually opposing terrorist recruitment efforts and therefore part of an effective solution; not part of the problem.

Separating the issue of Justice is only accomplished by acknowledging that this is a case that needs to be played out in court. That means supporting the process of the trial itself; even though the outcome may be different than what is desired. This is perhaps the most difficult issue for many people. However, the simple reality is that the trial will take place. However, a fair trial is the best case scenario for all Americas. To help assure this, groups have traditionally established and supported legal defense funds. This is among the strongest ways that American Muslims can demonstrate that we are both a concerned and engaged member of society. It proves that we can advocate for justice in a just way. These funds can allow for outcomes to be appealed and even for legal teams to sue for damages! This serves as another example to the world of how we are empowered by our government, with real avenues to challenge injustices.

The last and perhaps most emotionally needed strategy is direct support for the human factor. Charities can be set up for individuals and families. Letters of support can boost morale. Public support, like courtroom sit-ins and petitions all demonstrate solidarity and can have a tremendous effect. These actions can rally organizations and move public opinion. However, good intentions are not good enough. Individual and public action, if done in manner inconsistent from the legal defense’s strategy, can actually do harm to a case.

Today as the grassroots responses are forming, it is essential that we remember the need to create lasting relationships with others who share our universal values. As individuals and as a community we have to find opportunities to build relationships, relationships with non-Muslims that are truly win-win. Obviously, these relationships have to be maintained and reciprocated; otherwise what we really end up doing is to burn bridges.

While we each consider Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s case, it should be stated very clearly that conspiratorial and anti-American rhetoric, withdrawal from society and other deconstructive responses, all serve to separate us from our potential allies. Those responses will empower both the anti-Islamic xenophobes along with their counterparts, the terrorists.

Remember that every God-fearing human being can agree on justice and humane treatment; let those ideals be the cornerstone of our responses

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Thanks to Allah almighty who Mould me Human