Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam flight diverted

[Cowperson]

A plane bound for Washington from London was diverted to Maine on Tuesday after passenger Yusuf Islam -- formerly known as pop singer Cat Stevens -- showed up on a U.S. watch list, federal officials said.

Upon reaching Maine, he was denied entry into the USA.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/09/21/plane.div...d.ap/index.html

Too paranoid?

Or . . .

Cat Stevens had his first big hit at 19, and had sold 40 million records a decade later. But shortly after his 1977 conversion, he distanced himself sharply from his music, publicly auctioning off his guitars (giving the proceeds to a Muslim charity) announcing that he would not sing again.

He embraced his new religion with a zeal common in converts, and signed on to many of its political trappings. In the 1980's, he supported the death sentence issued against author Salman Rushdie; during the Persian Gulf war he spoke sympathetically of his "Muslim brother", Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Most recently, he joined a campaign in Britain to maintain a ban on homosexuality in schools.

Lately, he's softened his stance:

First, he has realized that the theological stricture on music is not what he first thought upon his conversion.

"This issue of music in Islam is not as cut and dried as I was led to believe," he said. "I relied on heresy, that was perhaps my mistake." His first Islamic teachers taught that music "represents frivolity and time-wasting", but he has since come to understand that it can serve a purpose. It was the music of Bosnian Muslims, which he first heard during the war in Yugoslavia, the music of the people who had lost everything else, which first helped him to understand this.

http://www.majicat.com/yusufislam/torontoglobe.htm

Cowperson

[BlackArcher101]

Isn't this system in place meant to prevent him from getting on a plane in the first place? Nice of them to tell him he can't enter the USA after he's in it.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Anything to keep sensitive Folksinger-songwriters out of the country, I'm in favor of!

[BlackArcher101]

Originally posted by Reggie Dunlop@Sep 22 2004, 12:16 AM
Anything to keep sensitive Folksinger-songwriters out of the country, I'm in favor of!

So is he considered Emo then?

[kermitology]

Originally posted by BlackArcher101+Sep 21 2004, 10:19 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (BlackArcher101 @ Sep 21 2004, 10:19 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Reggie Dunlop@Sep 22 2004, 12:16 AM
Anything to keep sensitive Folksinger-songwriters out of the country, I'm in favor of!

So is he considered Emo then? [/b][/quote]
Folk does not automatically imply emo.. jerk.. just remember, this emo boy kicked you're sorry ass 3-1!

And really.. I'm not emo.. At least not like that video you posted..

Back to the topic..

What did Cat Stevens do to be noticed?

[Vulcan]

Big fan of Cat Stevens' music. Hope he does a succesfull comeback. I also like Arabic music, could be an influence if cuts a record.

[Lurch]

Is it just me, or is Cat Stevens accused of exercising his right to free speech? I haven't followed this at all, but what exactly is his crime that he was banned from the US? Also, what is his nationality? I guess if he is not American, it's not quite as ridiculous as it appears. However, to label him a security threat seems over the edge - I guess the Dixie Chicks are next.

[Cowperson]

Originally posted by Lurch@Sep 22 2004, 02:22 PM
Is it just me, or is Cat Stevens accused of exercising his right to free speech? I haven't followed this at all, but what exactly is his crime that he was banned from the US? Also, what is his nationality? I guess if he is not American, it's not quite as ridiculous as it appears. However, to label him a security threat seems over the edge - I guess the Dixie Chicks are next.

Even Cat Stevens wouldn't deny that he was something of a "hard" convert to Islam, a veritable hard nut, a radical.

As noted in the original post starting this thread:

He embraced his new religion with a zeal common in converts, and signed on to many of its political trappings. In the 1980's, he supported the death sentence issued against author Salman Rushdie; during the Persian Gulf war he spoke sympathetically of his "Muslim brother", Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

There might be more. Is that enough? Or not?

He is a USA citizen I believe.

Great singer. I taped a 1970's BBC performance of his a few months ago.

Cowperson

[Cowperson]

An update:

The government official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Islam was placed on a watch list (recently) after multiple intelligence sources in recent weeks indicated the peace activist may have associations with potential terrorists.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/266/wash/O...n_watch_:.shtml

Cowperson

[Reaper]

Originally posted by BlackArcher101@Sep 21 2004, 09:50 PM
Isn't this system in place meant to prevent him from getting on a plane in the first place? Nice of them to tell him he can't enter the USA after he's in it.

Here's the thing...in airports you are in a "No-Man's Land" while inside the secure areas before clearing customs. It's one of those situations similar to how foreign embassies are actually on a tiny parcel of land that belong to their home country instead of being located in another country.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally posted by BlackArcher101@Sep 22 2004, 03:50 AM
Isn't this system in place meant to prevent him from getting on a plane in the first place? Nice of them to tell him he can't enter the USA after he's in it.

Technically, you're not in the USA until you pass through those customs gates.

UAL screwed up though.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Yusuf Islam is British. He's on the list because some of the charities he has contributed to have been linked to Hamas. He may or may not have known that at the time he made the contributions (I doubt he did, as he has softened a bunch in recent years).

I'm wondering why some think his fame should eliminate him from scrutiny.

One of the great singer/songwriters of the folk era, I adore much of his music....along with Harry Chapin who was a peer of his.

However, someone with that type of creativity and intellect (his intellect is obvious) has to be blinded by something to come to the conclusion that music is a waste. He's made a ton of children's records in recent years after he realized he had been brainwashed before.

[Cowperson]

A follow-up: Cat Stevens to take legal action.

The musician, now known as Yusuf Islam, said in a statement he had "now initiated a legal process to try to find out exactly what is going on, and to take all necessary steps to undo the very serious, and wholly unfounded, injustice which I have suffered."

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/0...l.ap/index.html

Cowperson