The Family of GRF's President Waits For Any News
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The Family of GRF's President Waits For Any News |
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Posted by GLOBAL RELIEF FOUNDATION on January 28, 19102 at 20:52:21:
Haddad family waits for any news
Case grows to epitomize conflict between civil rights, security.
http://aa.mlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/stories/20020127a1015a1haddad27.frm
By ART AISNER
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Salma Al-Rushaid feels trapped in her Scio Township apartment.
Since federal agents arrested her husband, local Muslim leader Rabih
Haddad, on an immigration violation Dec. 14, information about his case
has come frustratingly slow. Any answers she gets from her lawyers and
government officials lead not to solutions but only more questions.
The bright spots in her day, other than caring for their four children,
were the daily 15-minute phone calls Haddad made from the Monroe County
Jail. Since his Jan. 11 transfer to the custody of the U.S. Marshals
Service and relocation to Chicago, where he is expected to testify before
a grand jury, the calls have been few. During their last conversation
Tuesday, Haddad told his family his phone privileges will be inconsistent
and limited to 15 minutes a month.
The overflowing bookshelves, modest artwork and other comforts of their
home don't compare to the drab surroundings Al-Rushaid envisions her
husband endures each day. But the sense of helplessness and confinement is
the same.
"I feel like a prisoner in my own home every day, waiting for the phone to
ring, waiting for some answers," she said. "There are things I don't know
happening, and I read about in the news before they even tell me."
In the meantime, Haddad's case has grown to epitomize the conflict between
balancing civil liberties and the government's quest to prevent terrorism.
Supporters of the 41-year-old immigrant from Lebanon say he is a
law-abiding, family man who is not a threat to this country.
The federal government, for its part, is saying little to nothing.
Haddad is being held without bail and all of his court proceedings are
closed at the government's request. His attorneys and hundreds of local
supporters believe his detention is tied to the ongoing Justice Department
investigation into the Global Relief Foundation, a charity he co-founded
that benefits Muslim countries around the world and is suspected of
supporting terrorists.
The Chicago-based charity was raided the same day that Haddad was arrested
at his home by INS agents. At the time, the government said there was
credible evidence that Global Relief may have sent money to al-Qaida
terrorists.
The immigration violation is the only known charge against Haddad, and he
faces hearings before a Detroit immigration judge on Feb. 19 that could
lead to his expulsion from the United States.
His family, except his American-born son Rami, 8, will face removal
hearings at a later date.
Haddad has been in and out of the United States numerous times since 1980,
and last entered the country lawfully on a tourist visa in 1998, according
to court documents submitted by his attorney, Ashraf Nubani. The visa
expired six months later. Haddad applied for permanent residency before an
April 30, 2001 deadline under a law that allowed foreign residents who are
in violation of their visas to pay a $1,000 fine to stay in the country
while their residency request is processed.
Al-Rushaid's tourist visa also expired in 1999 and residency applications
for her and three of their children were included with Haddad's.
Haddad's critics said he virtually beckoned government scrutiny by waiting
nearly two years to reapply for a visa. However, Nubani said Haddad and
thousands of others who met the April deadline believed the application
gave them legal status.
INS officials said the law generally bought people more time and is not a
shield from deportation or removal.
Rabih's Journey
Haddad is the oldest of three sons born to Lebanese Christians who owned a
clothing store in Beirut. The family split time between an apartment in
the predominantly Islamic sector of east Beirut, and a home in Hamana,
about 35 miles away in the mountains.
His youngest brother Mazen, 34, a consultant in Toronto, said they were
attuned to Western culture growing up. They attended American schools,
learned English and shared daily teas like the British. The family went to
church and the boys to Sunday school, but their progressive parents didn't
push religion.
"They felt religion should be a matter of choice when we were old enough
to make a decision, and we were not baptized deliberately for that
reason," Mazen said.
Haddad loved learning and was always the most passionate about religion in
the family, Mazen said. He recalls his brother was first struck by the
Koran at age 17 and found a truth in it he did not see in the Bible.
Though Haddad did not officially convert to Islam until he was 26 and
studying engineering in the United States, Mazen could see a difference in
his brother.
"It helped him mature and see life from a different perspective," he said.
Haddad started studying engineering at a university in Beirut, but his
parents were eager to send him abroad because of the escalating civil war
that began in 1975.
He came to the United States on a student visa in 1980, and later
completed his master's degree in mechanical engineering at the University
of Nebraska. His brother Bassem, 39, followed three years later and still
lives in Nebraska with his family.
Mazen said the family experienced the tragedy of war and the anarchy it
brought when a cousin and his wife were kidnapped from their Beirut
apartment. Their dog was found dead days later, but family members can
only speculate what happened to the couple.
Mazen said it's hard to gauge how deeply the disappearances affected
Haddad because they were on opposite sides of world at the time. But
neither Haddad's political views nor his personal statements became
radical as a result, his brother said.
During this time Haddad also became reacquainted with Al-Rushaid, a bright
woman with seven siblings born to a wealthy Kuwaiti ambassador. The two
met in 1979 while she vacationed in Lebanon, but they did not forge a
significant relationship until he found her studying political science at
Ashland University in Ohio.
They married in 1987 and first lived in Nebraska, where she finished her
degree. They moved to Kuwait and briefly lived in Lebanon before settling
in Chicago in 1992. Al-Rushaid said she grew up in a secular environment
but always yearned for a stronger connection to her faith. She found that
in Haddad, and became a devout Muslim by the time they returned to the
United States. Both dropped their professional goals and focused on faith;
Al-Rushaid became the doting mother to their young family and Haddad
started his charity work. Their income, they say, comes from assistance
from the community and their families.
On the recommendation of friends, the couple moved in 1999 to Ann Arbor,
where Haddad immersed himself in the area's Muslim community. He
volunteered at the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor and began teaching high
school students at the Michigan Islamic Academy twice a week.
Academy Principal Carolyn Al-Qadi said Brother Rabih, as he is known to
students, designed the school's Islamic Studies curriculum that focuses on
the history of Muslim society and teachings of the Koran. His influence
and effect on the students was immediate.
"You could tell when someone is doing something they enjoy doing because
it radiates from them. The students relished his teaching," she said.
But his impact went beyond the classroom, students said.
"He wasn't like a normal teacher, he was like a speaker coming here to
talk to us and we respect him a lot," said Salim Alchurbaji, 14. "He
taught us how to take care of ourselves religiously, keep our moral
perspective."
Alchurbaji said Haddad has an open-minded approach and willingness to
accept views from people of different faiths.
Al-Qadi said Haddad's knowledge of American society and his background in
Christianity gave him the ability to interact with people of different
faiths in positive ways that he could impart to the youths.
Although the academy received $83,000 from the Global Relief charity in
2000, according the organization's Internet site, school officials say
Haddad did not specifically push the charity in class.
Haddad's teachings and writing samples, posted on religious Internet
sites, discuss tolerance and show the commonality between monotheistic
religious traditions.
Two local leaders from the Jewish and Christian faiths, who only knew
Haddad for a short while, were both willing to risk reputations and
government scrutiny by testifying as character witnesses on Haddad's
behalf at his bond hearings.
The investigation
U.S. Treasury Department officials won't comment on the case involving
Global Relief, but it is not among other charities listed by the
government as definite supporters of terrorism, such as the Texas-based
Holy Land Foundation.
It's a dubious distinction, said Global Relief spokesman Asim Ghafoor,
because the government has made general allegations that tarnish its
reputation without legitimate proof.
"They haven't said much about us," Ghafoor said. "We've been told (by
treasury officials) that there's some evidence, but not the high standard
needed like with Holy Land. It makes us question what they really have."
Ghafoor denies any wrongdoing, and Global Relief is in the initial stages
of a $125 million defamation lawsuit against news organizations that
reported the government accusations. He also said Global Relief can offer
assurances that its aid is getting to the right places.
"We have specific accounting procedures that show people are receiving
aid, and we have to document them for legal and financial obligations," he
said.
Global Relief may also be the victim of its success in Afghanistan, where
it was officially licensed by the Taliban. That association, Ghafoor said,
was merely for the benefit of the refugees but led to increased scrutiny
by U.S. officials.
"We try to get as close to the front lines as we can get, and we dealt
with who was in power at the time," he said.
Hassan Jomaa, a Kuwaiti immigrant who gained citizenship 12 years ago and
now teaches mathematics at the Michigan Islamic Academy in Ann Arbor, said
he has relatives in the Palestinian territories who benefit from basics
provided by Global Relief, such as medicine, blankets and clothing.
He doubts the organization funds terrorists, but will stand behind the
government if there is proof. Waiting for that proof while hundreds of
other Muslims are rounded up and detained on suspicion is increasingly
difficult.
"We should have patience, but when you're too patient, it can be mistaken
for weakness, and they'll step all over you to keep you down," Jomaa said.
Through other eyes
The week after Thanksgiving, Detroit native John Collins joined fellow
U.S. attorneys from all 50 states at a mandatory conference in Washington.
Barely two weeks into his role as the Justice Department's head of
Michigan's Eastern District, Collins said he expected the trip to be more
informational than inspirational. But a tour of the national war monuments
and the side of the Pentagon left in ruins by the suicide attack changed
that.
Attorney General John Ashcroft led the walking tour on a misty night and
talked about the freedoms and principles the country was founded upon as
they passed the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial, Collins
recalled. Ashcroft took them to the Korean and Vietnam war memorials,
reminding them that U.S. soldiers have fought for freedom across the globe
and that freedom comes at a high cost.
Collins said the gravity of the task ahead of him and his colleagues began
to sink in during the Pentagon tour the next day as Ashcroft got choked up
standing before the largest crime scene in Virginia history.
"He spoke about how this is our time, our duty to defend freedom," he
said.
Collins will not comment on Haddad's case because it's now out of his
jurisdiction. He cannot offer the family the evidence or the solace they
desire. But he does offer perspective.
He said there are more than 50 people detained across the country on
federal criminal charges in the terrorism investigation. About 500 more,
mostly Arab men, are detained on immigration charges, many as material
witnesses. The level of secrecy regarding each case varies and is made by
prosecutors and ultimately a judge.
Collins said the Justice Department will deliberately reveal as little as
possible for two main reasons: the detainee's right to privacy, and to
avoid telling the enemy who is in custody.
"However, there is nothing preventing the detained from letting their
lawyer, the media, and family know who they are," Collins said.
Mazen said his brother's phone conversations seemed unnatural and were
either scripted or at least monitored by prison officials.
Collins said that prior to Sept. 11 the Federal Bureau of Prisons allowed
officials to monitor attorneys' conversations with clients suspected of
further unlawful behavior while in jail. There are safeguards in place
preventing that information from leaving the surveillance team, and the
attorneys are told the conferences are being monitored.
He estimates there are 158,000 inmates now in federal custody, and that
prior to Sept. 11, only 16 have been subjected to that degree of
surveillance. The same 16 are the only ones listed today. Collins said he
understands the anxiety many Arab Americans feel as a result of Haddad's
case, but he believes the government's policies are proactive and
constitutional. Race and religion are not criteria for investigation, but
the Justice Department will focus on people from countries known to have
terrorist networks, he said.
Two of the 28 terrorist organizations identified by the State Department
are based in Lebanon.
"Where do you begin?" Collins asked. "Law enforcement has to prioritize,
and if the issue is terrorism and people from countries with active
terrorist presence, that's where you have to start."
What's ahead
Al-Rushaid said she will fight removal orders for her family as well her
husband, but is not encouraged by how the system has worked against them
thus far. If they have to go, it likely will be to Kuwait, Mazen said.
If Haddad is forced to leave, Mazen believes his brother will become a
target for harassment and scrutiny by the Lebanese government because
allegations of supporting terrorism assassinated his character.
"The (Lebanese) government will dictate its moves based on U.S. foreign
policy, which is not kind to those with alleged ties to terrorists. Sure,
he'll walk away free from all this, but at what cost?"
The whole issue has his parents concerned, especially his cancer-stricken
father, Mazen said. "Just as they were shocked by the World Trade Center
attacks on American soil, they are shocked to see what's happening to my
brother occur on American soil," he said.
At the academy, Al-Qadi said they will continue to give updates on
Haddad's status to students. Haddad's four children attend the school, so
there's no avoiding the issue, although she tries to balance her fears
with the positive.
"The children are getting a lesson in civics and they're living it, but
I'm afraid they're getting to feel that the United States is not the land
of freedom and equality for all," she said.
Some students said they'll have to wait and see.
"Islam teaches us to be patient in all hard times, and that everything
comes from God," said Rashad Farha, 16. "I just don't know how patient you
or I could be."
Art Aisner can be reached at aaisner@annarbornews.com or (734) 994-6823.