Blacks, Chinese, Japanese, Blacks, Jews, Muslims.. who’s next?

Welcome to America: the land of the free. The land of democracy. The land of justice.

Unless you are/ were one of the above and haven’t diluted your heritage to the point that you may have blue eyes or fair skin.

Blacks – African Americans

Starting with slavery, which (in the United States) began soon after English colonists first settled Virginia in 1607, lasted until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865.

Chinese Americans

Meanwhile, the Chinese “slave-trade” and Chinese laborer problems were brewing – and the resulting hatred for the Chinese which lasted through the early 1900’s!

Japanese Americans

Yet again and during the same period (1880’s), Japanese slaves and laborers were brought to work on sugar plantations in Hawaii. In May 1892, the first anti-Japanese movement began. In December of 1941, the first Japanese camp was established!  Source.

Blacks – African Americans – still.

Between 1955 and 1968 – (imagine: 103 years after abolishing slavery, supposedly, one would think that the Blacks status in the U.S. would have reached new heights of justice and equality)  the American Civil Rights Movement still aimed at abolishing racial discrimination.

I can’t help but interject that the USA invaded countries on the premise of establishing justice, democracy and abolishing racial discrimination in countries whose existence was not even one-third of the U.S.’s “age.”

Jews

Anti-Jewish sentiment started around the time of the American Civil War, when General Ulysses S. Grant issued an order (quickly rescinded by President Abraham Lincoln) of expulsion against Jews from the portions of Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi under his control. Until the late 1960’s, Jews were still being discriminated against!

Jews Not Allowed

Muslims

And now it’s the Muslims turn… but anti-Islamic sentiment also started early.

1865 During the American Civil War, the “scorched earth” policy of the North destroyed churches, farms schools, libraries, colleges and a great deal of other property. On the morning of April 4, when the Federal troops reached the campus of the University of Alabama with orders to destroy the university, “Andre’ Deloffre”, a modern language professor and custodian of the “Rotunda library” at the university, appealed to the commanding officer, to spare one of the finest libraries in the south. The officer, being sympathetic, sent a courier to General Croxton at his headquarters in “Tuscaloosa” asking permission to save the library, but the general’s reply was negative, so the officer reportedly said “I will save one volume as a memento of this occasion” and the volume selected was a rare copy of the Qur’an.”

Quran

More on Islamic history in the U.S. here.

Of particular interest and the reason for this post, is the shameful re-trial of the Holy Land Foundation, this year. Source

The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) — once the largest American Muslim charity — never funded violence. It simply provided food, clothes, shelter, medical supplies and education to the suffering people in Palestine and other countries.HLF: A victim of 9/11 hysteria.

On this blog, there are two posts about the Holy Land Foundation. One showed how the evidence against the organization was fabricated; the other was when a judge declared a mistrial of the same organization.   11 of the 12 jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict against the organization!

History repeated!

Something is very familiar about the HLF case, but that doesn’t make it right. Did Japanese-Americans deserve to be thrown in internment camps? Nope. Did African-Americans deserve to eat at segregated restaurants, sleep in segregated hotels or drink from segregated water fountains? Nope. Does the HLF deserve to be persecuted for feeding Palestinian orphans and widows? Again, nope.

Who should really be on trial?

For nearly half a century, Israel has occupied Palestine and denied Palestinians their basic human rights. The occupation has caused numerous horrifying outcomes such as the destruction of homes, the killing of innocent children and even the establishment of checkpoints around the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem. So we ask: If occupation obviously shatters lives, while charity builds them and charity feeds children, while occupation kills them, why is a charity organization — not occupation — paying the price?

Noor Elashi speaks to your heart

Please forward this message around:

This is Noor Elashi, the daughter of a defendant in the Holy Land Foundation Retrial. During the past three weeks, I have felt my heart shatter a few times as I witnessed prosecutors use vindictive approaches such as character assassination, fear-mongering and guilt by association as an attempt to convict my dad. Sitting in the courtroom, I’ve felt my blood boil and freeze and boil again in a few seconds time. And as I looked behind me, my eyes scanning the room in search for faces of encouragement and moral support, I found that it was mostly empty with the majority of the benches unoccupied.

My dad and these men ran the largest American Muslim charity, saving hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide. We should be tremendously proud of them. They were honorable leaders in their communities. And now, they are paying a price for sponsoring orphans, assisting widows, equipping clinics, planting trees and wiping away tears.

I know you have your jobs and schoolwork and other priorities. But what if this was your dad, your uncle, your cousin, your husband or your best friend?

Gratitude from the bottom of my heart goes out to everyone who has attended so far. I sincerely hope to see the rest of you soon.

Next week, the retrial will run from Tuesday, Oct. 14 to Friday, Oct. 17. For the following four weeks or so, the retrial will take place Mondays through Thursdays. You can come ANYTIME between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. (There’s a lunch break between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.)

To read about the case so far, visit www.freedomtogive.com

Thanks,
Noor Elashi
A Proud Daughter of Ghassan Elashi