Story by Niraj Warikoo on the government's reasons behind the raids of two Muslim charities
DETROIT FREE PRESS
Agents target charity offices
Raiders look for links to Mideast terrorism
August 7, 2007
BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Federal agents were looking for information on terrorist operations and Hizballah activity when they raided two Muslim charities last month, court records show.
The agents hauled away computers, files, money and other items from the Dearborn offices of Al-Mabarrat Charitable Organization and Goodwill Charitable Organization, two Shi'ite Muslim groups that raised money in metro Detroit.
On the same day, July 24, the U.S. Treasury Department said Goodwill was a front group for Hizballah and froze its assets, but Al-Mabarrat was not labeled, charged or placed on any terrorism list.
According to an affidavit filed with the search warrant for the raids, agents were looking for financial ties to "foreign Lebanese or Iranian affiliated charitable organizations" as well as "anti-United States or anti-Israel propaganda."
Hizballah, based in Lebanon, is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department, but some Muslims in metro Detroit see it as a legitimate group that resisted Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
Agents also raided the homes of two men on the same day as the raids. As with the charities, agents were looking for material "dealing with Hizballah, martyrdom, suicide operations, bombings or other terrorist attacks," the affidavit says.
The men were listed as Mike or Majed Safiedine of Dearborn Heights, who is president of Goodwill, according to 2005 tax records the group filed, and Ahmed Ali Ghosn of Dearborn.
From the home of Safiedine, agents seized computers, checks, an Al-Mabarrat receipt, a Goodwill memo and a portrait of the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
A woman who answered the phone at Safiedine's home said the family was not available to comment; Ghosn could not be reached.
Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said, "we're concerned about Al-Mabarrat being able to function, being allowed due process and not being tried in the court of public opinion."
He added, "Al-Mabarrat emphatically denies any connection to Hizballah."
Regarding the photo of Khomeini, Muslim leaders said that's protected under the Constitution.
"Having a picture or book related to a figure does not equal full endorsement," Walid said.
Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO at 248-351-2998 or nwarikoo@freepress.com.
Find this article by Niraj Warikoo at:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070807/NEWS05/708070390
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Story by Niraj Warikoo on Iraqi refugees arriving in Detroit.
Safety, love embrace Iraqi refugees
First wave of new arrivals in Detroit
August 2, 2007
BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Nursing a glass of whiskey between bites of fava beans, Ibrahim Dawood sat inside his new home in Sterling Heights and gazed at a quiet backyard. After years of turmoil in Turkey and Iraq, this new scene was hard to imagine.
"I can't even believe I'm here," said Dawood, 57, as his U.S. cousins gathered around him in the living room. "I want to stay and live in peace."
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That desire was shared by 13 other Iraqi natives who arrived in Detroit on Wednesday, part of the first wave of refugees that is expected to come to Michigan this year from a land racked with violence.
They were exhausted -- some spent 40 hours on their journey from Turkey -- but also relieved to find a haven in the United States.
The refugees arrive at a time of intense debate about the Iraq war and how many refugees Michigan can handle. About 2,000 may arrive in the United States by the end of September.
But on Wednesday, the focus was on family, not politics.
Dawood, his wife, and three sons teared up as they hugged their cousins after landing at Metro Airport just after 10:30 a.m.
They fled Iraq and went to Turkey in 2003, after suffering under the regime of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Two of Dawood's fingers were chopped off by police after he was once jailed in the 1980s for political reasons, he said.
"Praises to God," some family members said in Arabic as they embraced and kissed each other on the cheek.
The members of Dawood's family are Chaldean, Iraqi Catholics, who make up a sizable part of metro Detroit's Iraqi-American communities.
Many fear for their relatives inside Iraq and for those who have fled to nearby countries.
The sixth member of the group that arrived Wednesday morning was Ismail Ahmed Hamed, 25, who is Muslim and will live for now in an apartment in Dearborn.
"I feel good because I'm in the U.S. now," said Hamed.
He once studied biology at a university in Baghdad. But in 2005, Hamed fled for Turkey because he was worried about the rise of extremists groups in his native land.
"I'd like to finish my studies" in Michigan, he said. Hamed would like to be a doctor.
"It's my future -- I hope," he said.
Hamed and others were greeted at the Smith Terminal inside the airport by members of refugee and social service groups.
Lutheran Social Services of Michigan works with the federal government to help resettle refugees, and they will work with the Iraqis in coming weeks to help find them housing and jobs.
Joseph Kassab, a West Bloomfield scientist who is overseeing the refugee influx as executive director of the Chaldean Federation of America, was also at the airport, helping to coordinate the arrivals.
"It's all about family reunification," said Kassab, who works to publicize the plight of Christians inside Iraq.
A second group of refugees, eight members of one family, arrived in the afternoon. They, too, are Chaldean and will live with relatives in Sterling Heights.
Katrina Gorgis, 41, of Sterling Heights crumpled in tears when she saw her sister's family walk toward her.
"I've wanted to come to this country for a long time," said Sargon Ablahad, 18, Gorgis' nephew.
In Turkey, life was rough. Ablahad and other refugee children said that they had to drop out of school to work and support their families.
It "was not easy to make rent," Ablahad said.
In coming weeks, the families will work to find jobs.
Dawood taught geography at a high school in Iraq for 26 years, and Ablahad's father was a taxi driver. Both are unsure if they can find similar jobs here, but said that they are thankful to the U.S. government for giving them a second chance.
For now, they're enjoying the love.
Dawood relaxed Wednesday afternoon in a chair at the home of his brother-in-law, Nabil Hanna, 51, of Sterling Heights.
In the corner was a festive spread of Iraqi specialties including potato fritters, scented rice heaped with chicken lamb and rows of shish kebabs.
"As you can see, everybody is happy here," Hanna said. "We're so happy to see them."
Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO at 248-351-2998 or nwarikoo@freepress
Find this article at:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070802/NEWS05/708020409/1007
Safety, love embrace Iraqi refugees
First wave of new arrivals in Detroit
August 2, 2007
BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Nursing a glass of whiskey between bites of fava beans, Ibrahim Dawood sat inside his new home in Sterling Heights and gazed at a quiet backyard. After years of turmoil in Turkey and Iraq, this new scene was hard to imagine.
"I can't even believe I'm here," said Dawood, 57, as his U.S. cousins gathered around him in the living room. "I want to stay and live in peace."
Advertisement
That desire was shared by 13 other Iraqi natives who arrived in Detroit on Wednesday, part of the first wave of refugees that is expected to come to Michigan this year from a land racked with violence.
They were exhausted -- some spent 40 hours on their journey from Turkey -- but also relieved to find a haven in the United States.
The refugees arrive at a time of intense debate about the Iraq war and how many refugees Michigan can handle. About 2,000 may arrive in the United States by the end of September.
But on Wednesday, the focus was on family, not politics.
Dawood, his wife, and three sons teared up as they hugged their cousins after landing at Metro Airport just after 10:30 a.m.
They fled Iraq and went to Turkey in 2003, after suffering under the regime of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Two of Dawood's fingers were chopped off by police after he was once jailed in the 1980s for political reasons, he said.
"Praises to God," some family members said in Arabic as they embraced and kissed each other on the cheek.
The members of Dawood's family are Chaldean, Iraqi Catholics, who make up a sizable part of metro Detroit's Iraqi-American communities.
Many fear for their relatives inside Iraq and for those who have fled to nearby countries.
The sixth member of the group that arrived Wednesday morning was Ismail Ahmed Hamed, 25, who is Muslim and will live for now in an apartment in Dearborn.
"I feel good because I'm in the U.S. now," said Hamed.
He once studied biology at a university in Baghdad. But in 2005, Hamed fled for Turkey because he was worried about the rise of extremists groups in his native land.
"I'd like to finish my studies" in Michigan, he said. Hamed would like to be a doctor.
"It's my future -- I hope," he said.
Hamed and others were greeted at the Smith Terminal inside the airport by members of refugee and social service groups.
Lutheran Social Services of Michigan works with the federal government to help resettle refugees, and they will work with the Iraqis in coming weeks to help find them housing and jobs.
Joseph Kassab, a West Bloomfield scientist who is overseeing the refugee influx as executive director of the Chaldean Federation of America, was also at the airport, helping to coordinate the arrivals.
"It's all about family reunification," said Kassab, who works to publicize the plight of Christians inside Iraq.
A second group of refugees, eight members of one family, arrived in the afternoon. They, too, are Chaldean and will live with relatives in Sterling Heights.
Katrina Gorgis, 41, of Sterling Heights crumpled in tears when she saw her sister's family walk toward her.
"I've wanted to come to this country for a long time," said Sargon Ablahad, 18, Gorgis' nephew.
In Turkey, life was rough. Ablahad and other refugee children said that they had to drop out of school to work and support their families.
It "was not easy to make rent," Ablahad said.
In coming weeks, the families will work to find jobs.
Dawood taught geography at a high school in Iraq for 26 years, and Ablahad's father was a taxi driver. Both are unsure if they can find similar jobs here, but said that they are thankful to the U.S. government for giving them a second chance.
For now, they're enjoying the love.
Dawood relaxed Wednesday afternoon in a chair at the home of his brother-in-law, Nabil Hanna, 51, of Sterling Heights.
In the corner was a festive spread of Iraqi specialties including potato fritters, scented rice heaped with chicken lamb and rows of shish kebabs.
"As you can see, everybody is happy here," Hanna said. "We're so happy to see them."
Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO at 248-351-2998 or nwarikoo@freepress
Find this article at:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070802/NEWS05/708020409/1007
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