My personal hope that the new administration would at least lessen the continuing attacks on Arab and Muslim communities in the name of the War on Terror-- died yesterday. It died with the conviction of 5 poor young African American men convicted of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower. In reality the "plot" was initiated by an FBI agent who posed as a member of al-Qaeda and offered these impoverished men $50,000 in exchange for stating Oaths of loyaty to Al -Qaeda. The agent provided a plan and purchased explosives, guns, boots, a video camera and a van. Prior to this the young men had none of this; instead they had an old warehouse where they offered martial arts classes and other services to their community and practiced their Moorish Science related religion. This conviction marks not merely a continuation of such attacks on Arab and Muslim communities but marks the expansion of this program to African American communities and organizations.
Juror who believed the men were innocent dismissed
Yesterdays conviction came at the end of the third attempt to convince a jury of these men's guilt. The previous two trials ended in mistrials due to hung juries. The issue turned on whether these men would have had access to any of the necessary materials and financial assets; any interest swearing allegiance to al Qaeda ; any thought of bombing the Sears Tower; or any ability to even plan much less carry out an attack; were it not for the active instigation, planning and offer of financial reward from the FBI agent.
Their Moorish science related church was committed to the improvement of conditions in the extremely poor community of Liberty City Florida. The idea of pledging alliance was suggested by the FBI in return for $50,000 a van and boots. According to UPI.COM The 6th defendant, Naudimar Herrera who was acquitted said
"We were really about helping the community," Herrera said. "It wasn't until this informant came into the picture that things changed. All we wanted from him was money. It was a like a dangling carrot."
http://www.upi.com/...
During deliberations in the third attempt to convict these men one black woman juror who believed the men were innocent was dismissed as being "disruptive" to deliberations.
The Miami Herald reports:
A juror at odds with 11 others deciding the fate of six men charged in a Miami terrorism conspiracy said Monday she isn't willing to deliberate further because the other jurors are making her sick to her stomach.
''I'm really unwilling because I'm making myself very ill,'' testified Juror No. 4, who didn't show up for deliberations early Monday because of a ``stomach virus.''
''I'm not agreeing with what some of the other jurors are saying and they're holding that against me,'' she said outside the other jurors' presence. ``To me, all the negativity is directed at me.''
Another juror, a white non-Hispanic woman, said: ``She made a statement that we could sit there for years and we weren't going to change her mind.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/...
Defense lawyers request for a third mistrial was denied.
The Unique Significance of The Liberty Six Case
We must ask why these young African American men were convicted under laws that until now were constructed with Arab and Muslim communities in mind . Yes, since 2001 we have become accustomed to the FBI's use of informants to select targets for these stings based on an ideology which is critical of US government practices at home and/or abroad. We fully expect that our progressive organizations , our communities, our Mosques and our churches will be infiltrated by provocateurs who will engage and or encourage illegal acts in an effort to convince members to participate. .
But these men are not Arabs and their Moorish Science related religion is only peripherally connected to Islam. This carefully constructed sting operation has opened the door to further frame ups and prosecutions in the black community and posses a direct threat to all who organize against these repressive practices.
As Arab and Islamic people in the United States we have been fearful. Since 2001 our lives have been turned upside down and even those older generations who once hoped to be accepted into the fold of "white" American Citizenship have joined younger generations of Arab Americans in identifying clearly with oppressed peoples. Yet our "identification" has fallen short of any sort of solidarity or even serious consideration and discussion of relations between African and Arab peoples in the US.
In part, this lack has been a result of legitimate fear as our friends and family have been arrested and deported and our communities and religious institutions hounded by government agents intent on weeding out the "terrorists" among us. Our support for our Palestinian, Lebanese and Iraqi brothers and sisters has even further criminalized our community in the eyes of the government. Those who teach at colleges have found our tenure and jobs dependent upon our silence about these brutal attacks. Our student organizations have been brought to a near standstill as material support for Palestinian people's basic needs has been labeled the crime of providing material support to terrorists. We now find ourselves as primary targets for racial profiling and hate crimes with a regularity and consistency that is new for our community. Of course none of this is new in the black community.
We have found that we cannot count on white progressives and leftists to act with us to change our situation. We have no expectation that many White Americans will understand the reality of our post-2001 lives. Among those who who do understand few will take the risks involved in consistent support for us against these attacks.
But what about us? How do we understand our role when the casualties of the Domestic war on terror expand to the black community?
One thing is clear-- this conviction sets a precedent for future cases. It's avid pursuit by the government despite two mistrials and a near third mistrial signals that we are about to enter not a time of a lessening of persecution but an expansion of this program and its targets. We can continue to hope that the new Administration will call off this war against our people--A hope contradicted by all the evidence in front of us.
It has been easy for some of us to disassociate and distance ourselves from the struggles of the black community; it has been easy for us to become more isolated and nationalistic; it has been easy for others of us to work even harder at self protecting by trying desperately to fit into white American society. The conviction of the Liberty City 5 confronts us with the reality that these options are based on a false hope and faulty analysis of the situation.
The conviction of the Liberty 5 calls out to us to re-examine these false hopes
The Liberty five invites us to begin to forge alliances that will enable real resistance should the situation, or rather when the situation, escalates.
Perhaps it is time for a new hope. A hope that comes from the belief that change will come, as it always has, when we are willing to look beyond our own community and immediate needs towards our genuine long terms interests in a just country and a just world.
Overturning this verdict is the obvious place to start