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Jewish and Christian clerics helping Lashkar-e-Taiba
munaeem | 08 April, 2007 05:05
Jewish and Christian leaders are helping Muhammad Masood, brother of Hafiz Saeed, founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and head of Jamaatud Dawa, ease the financial burden he is reportedly facing. The former Boston imam was arrested last year as part of an ongoing investigation into a vast visa fraud scheme.
Three weeks ago, some of them turned up to form a campaign to raise money for “humanitarian assistance” to the beleaguered imam, according to the Friday issue of the newspaper, The Jewish Advocate.
Imam Masood is the former “spiritual director” of the Islamic Centre of New England at Sharon, Massachusetts. He and his son were arrested in November 2006 along with 33 other individuals who were questioned about the immigration ploy, which allegedly helped large numbers of illegal aliens fraudulently obtain religious worker visas to enter or remain in the United States, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Imam Masood is living in a house situated over an estate of 52 acres with free gas and electricity. Daily Times has learnt that on March 24, there was a fund-raiser for him at which he collected $40,000 in Burlington, Massachusetts, from the Muslim community. Quipped one disgruntled Boston Muslim, “How much in grocery supplies does the holy family need, unless he is feeding jinns? And how can one forget that a couple of adults in Masood’s family are earning members?”
Two of the clerics, Rabbi Barry Starr and Rev Deborah Cayer, will not say how much money they have raised for Masood. They have appealed to their congregations to make tax-deductible donations to the rabbi’s discretionary fund at Temple Israel. The two consider Masood a good man and they say they are concerned about him and his family, as well as his “spiritual community”.
Masood told The Jewish Advocate that times are tough for his wife and eight children and that his inability to lead prayers is “killing” him and his community. He said he has received support from the community and he recently used the donations to buy groceries and clothing for his children, thee of whom are US citizens.
Masood and his family, according to his lawyer, William Joyce, are facing deportation. There is a hearing next week, which is a preliminary proceeding that will determine what avenues of relief are available to Masood. The case will review the denial of his 2001 application for a religious worker visa and his alleged failure to return to Pakistan in 1991, that he was required to do, having come to the US on a student visa he used to enrol at the Boston University in 1998.
Masood may have his supporters but there are also those who are critical of his actions and motives. Two bloggers, ‘Solomonia’ and ‘Miss Kelly’, have created an online petition supporting the immigration authorities. One of the bloggers said, “People are coming here illegally and circumventing the system. Who cares how nice they are. Why should they get blanket support?”
Janet Penn, who has organised interfaith support for Masood, disagrees. According to her, Masood is a “man I know to be a kind human being and as Jewish person, I feel it’s important to help someone in need”.
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