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Four Moslems from Canada Visit NYC on Sep 6, 2001
Umran, Yussuf, Ismael and Faisel gathered in Cedarâs Coffee Shop one evening with little to do except for being creative and naive. They were so attached to each other, they often wondered if they were conceived at the same spark of a second. Beyond that, they really believed their genetic traits came from the same parents centuries ago. Their graduation scripts were amazing: Umran received his certificate in chemistry, while Yussuf got his in physics. Ismael scored the highest average in journalism in his graduation year. Faisal, on the other hand, became a professor of psychiatry. For nearly seven years after they graduated, they were not able to find employments to meet their qualification.... They decided to move to the big city, Toronto. .... The first thing they looked for was a single room. They could not afford to rent an apartment. ... A room was found in an old rooming house on 1256 Bay Street. The rooming house was owned by a Syrian who sympathized with the quartets and allowed them to share the single room. .... Luckily they found odd jobs shortly after they arrived in Toronto. .... Four years passed, they were still struggling and earning basic living from doing casual and part time work. On September 11, 1976, they met Salaheddine Al-Ibrahimi, a businessman who came to Canada right after the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Salaheddine earned a name for his architecture design of Public Galleries and Museums. He built an empire of reputation and wealth in Toronto. .... Salaheddine heard the quartetsâ story and was overwhelmed by their courage, patience and humbleness for accepting the fate that brought them to Canada. He was particularly impressed by the human duty they performed in Ottawa at a time when they did not have the means and resources to do so. Salaeddine quickly incorporated a community paper in the format of a tabloid and placed Ismael in charge. He advanced Yussuf, Umran and Faisel with $5,000.00 each to get settled in a decent apartment while they sought work in their fields. It took Yussuf several months before he landed a job at the University of Toronto as an assistant professor in physics. Umran was hired by Ghalibâs Medical Research Foundation as a chemistry scientist. Faisal took a post at Westmount University of Toronto as a professor of psychiatry. ... All four got married and raised a family. 35 years passed, the quartets were still living in Toronto and active in their work. On September 5, 2001, they .... decide[d] to drive to New York. They had never been to New York before. The following morning at 9:30 A.M. they left Toronto and arrived in New York six hours later. Before they were able to check in a hotel, they were apprehended by six teenagers and rubbed [sic]. They were too old to fight like they did when they lived in Ottawa. They called the local police and reported what happened. The police requested they come to the station for further details. They remained in the police station for nearly three hours, until the officer who brought them to the station informed them that they cannot leave the station until further notice. They were investigated by the New York Police Department on information retrieved from an old computer file. Their names appeared on an FBI list without much description other than, âarmless and dangerous [sic].â The quartets were baffled by the alleged accusation. They knew they did no wrong and were never involved in any criminal activities whatsoever. They were detained until September 11, 2001, and then turned over to the CIA. September 11 attack on Washington and New York complicated their case. They ended in a U.S. military prison. Many months passed, the quartets were not able to seek council or contact their families. The Canadian government was not able to obtain any news other than the U.S. military for terrorist activities detained them. Two years have passed; their names appeared on a list of 680 prisoners obtained by the Red Cross at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. military prison that was known for its harsh and inhuman condition. Quantanamo Bay Prison ranks several notches above Hitlerâs concentration camps. The quartets remain in this prison to this day without being able to seek council or contact their loved ones. Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-02-15 |
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