Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) on watch-list

Crazy... he's so peaceful...



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, was taken off a diverted United Air Lines flight from London to Washington after his Muslim name turned up on a "watch list" designed to keep terrorists from boarding flights, a U.S. Transportation Security Administration spokesman has said.

Islam, 56, took that name when he became a Muslim in the 1970s.

An FBI spokeswoman told CNN the singer's name was only matched to the watch list after the plane had departed.

Islam, a British citizen, was held in Bangor, Maine after Flight 919 was ordered to land there Tuesday.

He will be deported back to London on Wednesday, according to the TSA.

A government official said Islam was on the watch list because of "known associations and financial support to organizations believed to be aiding terrorism."

According to U.S. officials, he is an active supporter of Muslim charities.

One administration official said the singer had been in the United States as recently as May and was a recent addition to the list.

The rest of the passengers were screened and continued on to Washington's Dulles International Airport after Islam was taken off the flight.

"They said, Get ready to land,' and then they said 'Welcome to Bangor.' And we though they were joking," one woman passenger said.

"We had no idea we'd been diverted."

The Boeing 747 had about 280 passengers and crew on board when it took off from London's Heathrow Airport, United spokesman Jeff Green said.

Federal agents met the plane in Bangor, where it was on the ground for about four hours before being allowed to depart, Green said.

It landed at Dulles nearly six hours behind schedule.

According to a TSA spokesman, Islam made it through pre-screening by United and was given a boarding pass.

But after the flight took off, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency discovered his name was on a watch list.

The TSA was notified and requested that the plane be diverted to the nearest airport.

As Cat Stevens, Islam had a string of folk-rock hits in the 1960s and early 1970s, including "Peace Train," "Morning Has Broken" and "Wild World."

He dropped out of the music business for more than a decade after converting to Islam but returned to the recording studio periodically during the 1990s.

[DJPePe]

That's bullshit. He has nothing to do with terrorists.

[steve-o]

that is so fucked up. that would be like taking Ghandi off the plane.

i love Cat Stevens.

Originally Posted by steve-o

that is so fucked up. that would be like taking Ghandi off the plane.

i love Cat Stevens.

ditto. I was just telling my fiancee yesterday about his life and how the VH1 Behind The Music special was one of the best I had ever seen. It's sad that his religion and ability to help has made others think he's a possible threat.


Peace Train
by Cat Stevens


Now I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun

Oh I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, some day it's going to come

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

Now I've been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun

Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train
Come on now peace train
Yes, peace train holy roller

Everyone jump upon the peace train
Come on now peace train

Get your bags together, go bring your good friends too
Cause it's getting nearer, it soon will be with you

Now come and join the living, it's not so far from you
And it's getting nearer, soon it will all be true

Now I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can't we live in bliss

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

[question]

He donates to Muslim Charities. That automatically makes him a Terrorist Supporter. Oh wait, he donated to Hamas. Nevermind.

[bfp]

Originally Posted by DJPePe

That's bullshit. He has nothing to do with terrorists.

Um, he funded Hamas consistently in the past.

[DJPePe]

Originally Posted by bfp

Um, he funded Hamas consistently in the past.

So has Donald Rumsfield, what's your point?

[johnny861]

Originally Posted by DJPePe

So has Donald Rumsfield, what's your point?

He donated money to Hamas?

[DJPePe]

Nope he gave weapons to Saddam Hussein. After all, isn't Saddam Hussein a terrorist?

[DJPePe]

You are aware that no-one was ever able to prove any of the accusations that Israel made against him - nor where they able to bring any evidence to the table to support it.

Also he gave money to humanitarian charities - if there is an alleged connection between them and the bad guys it may well be he was completely un-aware of it.

It'd be a different matter if he wrote a check out to "Uncle Osama".

The real threat he represents is that he's a peace activist - and that's just unamerican.

[johnny861]

Originally Posted by DJPePe

Nope he gave weapons to Saddam Hussein. After all, isn't Saddam Hussein a terrorist?

what does giving weapons to saddam hussein have to do with donating money to hamas? You got your people all mixed up... saddam was an Iraqi dictator, hamas is a palestinian terrorist group

[matt]

you have to watch out for cat stevens. he ranks up there with the geshe kelsang gyatsu in striking terror in the masses...such a loose canon.

[hepkatmama]

i feel horrible that our govt STILL hasn't learned about racial & religious profiling

stoopid bastards

do u think that even 50% of the richy bitches at those $1000 a plate benefits actually know what the "foundation" for the evening supports?

most ppl don't realize where charitable contributions go.

my charities = ACLU & Red Cross

i wish liz dole could be president

[Big Andy]

This is a good example of what's wrong with the Patriot Act and the war on terror.


In the United States, we donate money to groups for charitable and political reasons. My mother has gone on a rampage of writing checks to various organizations that support peace and the environment. She's a regular contributer to Habitat for Humanity.


Imagine you're an american muslim, and you donate money to various organizations that you are honestly under the impression are doing charitable or legal poitical work, and then the organization ends up under investigation and terrorist links are found. Through no fault of your own, being an honest citizen, you have funded and supported terrorism, and you get pulled off of airplanes. Under the Patriot Act, your citizenship can now be stripped away and you can be arrested and held without council of a lawyer and other guaranteed American citizen rights.

xiannaix is always asking me why i oppose the patriot act, well here is a glowing example of why.

[DJPePe]

Originally Posted by johnny861

what does giving weapons to saddam hussein have to do with donating money to hamas? You got your people all mixed up... saddam was an Iraqi dictator, hamas is a palestinian terrorist group

What about the Irish Americans who openly funded the IRA? Isn't IRA also a terrorist group also?

Why don't we deport Irish Americans while we're at it?