On his facebook page Imam Foad Farahi writes that he is a fan of radical hate clerics Yusuf Al Qaradawi ,Tariq Al Suweidan and bin Laden protege Ahmed Deedat. He was slated for deportation and classified as a Level 3 threat. Farahi is fighting to stay in the United States and claim asylum. The Muslim American Society (MAS) The American wing of the Muslim Brotherhood is in the forefront of providing Farahi with legal aid and keeping his case in the public eye.
"It [MAS] is the de facto arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S.," said Steven Emerson, director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. "The agenda of the MAS is to ... impose Islamic law in the U.S., to undermine U.S. counterterrorism policy."
The MAS was founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamist movement created in Egypt in 1928. Radical members of the Brotherhood founded the terror group Hamas and were among the first members of Al Qaeda.
The Muslim American Society's former secretary general has acknowledged that the group was founded by the Brotherhood, and in 2004 he estimated that about half of MAS members were in the Muslim Brotherhood. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/08/rep-ellison-makes-pilgrimage-paid-group-critics-extremism/
(Not surprisingly Farahi lists MAS president Esam Omeish as his favorite politician on his facebook page).
Here is some information on the three of the clerics which Foahi claims to be a "fan" of.
"A leading Islamic cleric , al-Qaradawi also promises that eventually Islam will prevail over all other religions and a single Islamic state will rule the world.
Al-Qaradawi says some countries will fall to the armed Islamic jihad, but in others, such as the United States, victory will come through Da'awa - the teaching of Islam to non-Muslims - which will trigger Westerners to convert to Islam "in droves."
"We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through (the) sword, but through Da'awa," al-Qaradawi told members of the Muslim Arab Youth Association at the group's 1995 convention in Toledo, Ohio.
"Jihad can be with the pen and the tongue just as it can be with the sword and the spear. Islamic Jihad is not limited to military efforts only; it extends beyond this, including several means that Muslims need to utilize now more than ever."http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/001104.php
Tariq Al Suiwedan is a Kuwaiti cleric who was banned from entering the United States. At a "Young Muslims Conference" in 2000 Suweidan stated:
#
"...even if a civilization is ready to crumble (such as the West, with all the characteristics of deterioration of past fallen empires), it will NOT fall until we, the Muslims, strive to give it that last push, the last straw that will break the camel's back." http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1470
"A SA Islamic activist has forged strong ties with the Bin Laden family, receiving substantial funding from them and, in the process, meeting Osama bin Laden, the man named as prime suspect in this week's terror attacks.
Yousuf Deedat, 45, who triggered a storm when he distributed thousands of anti-Semitic handbills featuring a picture of Adolf Hitler during the World Conference Against Racism in Durban last week, said he first met Bin Laden in 1989.
Deedat and his father, Muslim scholar Ahmed Deedat, met Bin Laden on several other occasions in Saudi Arabia that year and in the 1990s while they were drumming up support for the Islamic Propagation Centre International in Durban.
"He was quiet-spoken, respectful and humble. When he met my father, he did not look him in the eye. That is the greatest honour an Arab can bestow on an elder," said Deedat.
The Deedats have had close links with the Bin Laden family since first meeting Osama's elder brother, Sheikh Bakr bin Laden, in 1986. Since then, many of the 27 Bin Laden brothers have contributed generously to the centre. Sheikh Bakr alone gave the centre $3.1-million over eight years to buy a building, print the Koran in English and Zulu, and print and distribute Islamic literature.
In appreciation, the Deedats named their building in Durban's Victoria Street after the family in 1988.
During his tenure as secretary-general of the propagation centre, the Bin Ladens reportedly paid Yousuf Deedat a monthly salary of R900 000.
Deedat said Bin Laden had invited him on a number of occasions to attend his lectures in Saudi Arabia. "He moved me to tears. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke in public, he had this magnetic effect on all who listened to him." Whether he was guilty or not, Deedat said, the US would always use him as a scapegoat". http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/365
#
While his case is pending Farahi has been waging jihad through da'wa by speaking at interfaith events like the one depicted in the article below entitled :" Imam Foad Farahi explains Faith to Christian and Jewish seniors".
MIM:Farahi is the Imam of the Shamshuddin Islamic Center in North Miami Beach which is affiliated with AMANA (The American Muslim Association of North America) run by Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout. One of the directors of the center was Gulshair Shukrijumah, the father of dirty bomber wannabe Adnan Shukrijumah and an Islamist in his own right. Shukrijumah was a character witness for Clement Hampton El who was convicted of plotting a 'Day of Terror' in New York in 1993 together with the Blind Sheik Umar Abdul Rahman.
[Zakkout's] affinity for terrorists has prompted him to host fundraisers for groups like Islamic Relief and become vice president of the Health Resource Center for Palestine- which openly solicited funds for the IAP [Islamic Association of Palestine the American wing of Hamas] on it's website. Besides hiring the father of dirty bomber wannabe Adnan Shukrijumah, Sofian also frequented mosques where terrorists worshipped such as Dar Ul Uloom in Pembroke Pines. Zakkout claims that he is a 'volunteer consultant to law enforcement' which really means he tells them that every terrorist he meets is a victim of discrimination and profiling.
In 2003 Zakkout told a journalist that:
I saw (El Shukrijumah, Padilla and Mandhai) at different times in different mosques, and I always said hello. Does that make me a terrorist?" http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/927
--------------------------
Foad Farahi's fan list on his facebook page is a Who's Who of hardcore Islamists.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Foad-Farahi/542716898
Celebrities / Public Figures Government Officials Politicians Music
* السيدة عائشة رضي الله عنها
* Mishary Rashid Al-Afasy
* Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
* Ahmed Deedat
* Tareq Al-Suwaidan
* RAJAB TAYIB ARDOGAN
* Basbakan Recep Tayyip Erdogan
* Esam Omeish
* RAJAB TAYIB ARDOGAN
* Basbakan Recep Tayyip Erdogan
* Esam Omeish
* Yusuf (aka Cat Stevens)
IMAM FOAD FARAHI Explains Faith to Christian and Jewish Seniors
By Jaweed Kaleem MIAMI, FL (MiamiHerald.com) March 28, 2009
The audience was just what you would expect in a Presbyterian church fellowship hall: mostly white and elderly. The speakers were not. Two Muslim imams, one African-American and the other Kuwaiti-born, were there to lead Islam 101.
Foad Farahi spoke first, softly and in Arabic: Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim. "We can't hear you!" interjected a woman in the audience. "I think he's saying a prayer," said a woman seated nearby.
Close enough. Farahi was sharing a common Islamic refrain: In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate. Sandwiched between sessions on Judaism and Presbyterianism, this Wednesday night class was part of a series called Religious Traditions sponsored by the University of Miami's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Osher offers low-cost classes for senior citizens on subjects including photography, memory enhancement and music appreciation. Most meet at the university's Coral Gables campus, but the institute branched out to Miami Shores last fall.
Religious Traditions, which also covers Catholics, Quakers, Hindus and Unitarians, has attracted about 30 students to each one-hour session. A $10 fee includes dinner. While most mosques and churches are open to the public and interfaith dialogue is as old as the Silk Road, the discussion of Islam was a rare exchange among people from deeply different backgrounds.
The African-American imam, Nasir Ahmed, 61, who lives in Sebastian and practices oral surgery at a Treasure Coast clinic, leads Friday prayers at the Al-Ansar mosque in Liberty City. Ahmed, who was raised Catholic and adopted a Muslim name when he converted, spoke with the fiery flare of a Sunday preacher. "No matter what you call God, the best of all names are his," he proclaimed.
Farahi, 34, a graduate student in dietetics and nutrition at Florida International University, leads prayers at Masjid Shamsuddin, a storefront mosque in North Miami Beach.
SHARED HERITAGE
Wearing glasses and a trim black beard, Farahi read English translations from a Koran and pointed out the shared heritage of Judaism and Islam. "Jews, Muslims, we believe they are brothers from different mothers, if you could say that," Farahi said, because both groups descended from Abraham. The imams took turns fielding questions. "How many times do you pray?" asked Stephen Loffredo, 56, of Miami Shores. Muslims pray five times a day, including once in the mosque on Fridays, Ahmed said as he got down on the floor to demonstrate prostration. Audience members rose from their seats and peered over each others' shoulders for a good look.
"But how do women fit into your religion?" asked Rose Voyce, 70, of North Miami, who had been to a mosque in Turkey and "never saw any women in it." "The mosque is the whole earth," Ahmed replied, adding that Muslims can pray almost anywhere. Women are not required to come to the mosque, but can come and sit in a separate area, he said. "What do you do about non-observant Muslims?" asked Tom Harrington, 79, as he flipped through pages of a Koran. Don't push the religion on them, the imams agreed. "I have 15 brothers and sisters — all Christians — so I'm pretty outnumbered," Ahmed said. Afterward, several in the audience, which included Jews as well as Christians, said they had found the class enlightening.
"You can only play so much cards and see so many movies. I get quite bored," said June Newbauer, 83, a retired real estate agent who lives in North Miami. "The Middle East has been such an interest in our country with the war. It's very timely." Farahi, who often speaks to college students, said addressing an older audience in a church setting was a first for him. "People need to get together and talk and look at our similarities, especially when you live in such a diverse society," he said. "Don't worry about who is right or wrong."
RELATED CLASSES
Religious Traditions is among a handful of classes, including an overview of Middle Eastern politics and history, that Osher is offering in Miami Shores. "You can go to a university and get an academic view," said Noreen Frye, Osher director, "but it makes sense to bring clergy into contact with each other and teach people in religious environment. It's the perfect place for it." http://www.masnet.org/masnews.asp?id=5326
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http://www.masnet.org/news.asp?id=4617
MAS Freedom Concerned About Gov't Targeting of Immigrant Muslim Activists and Clergy for Voluntary Departure
Date Posted: Thursday, December 13, 2007
Foad Farahi, Imam Shamsuddin Islamic Center of North Miami Beach, Florida, since April 2001.
By Aishah Schwartz
CORRECTION: Attorney John Pratt was originally named in error; the correct name of the attorney is Ira J. Kurzban, Esq., of Kurzban, Kurzban, Weinger & Tetzeli, P.A.
WASHINGTON, DC – Dec. 12, 2007 - (MASNET) MAS Freedom (MASF) Executive Director, Mahdi Bray, will attend a hearing in the Southern District Court of Florida on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007 to monitor the deportation case of Foad Farahi vs. USA, et. al.
Farahi, 33, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on November 26, 2007 and detained at the Krome Detention Center. The arrest classified Farahi as a Level-3 threat, usually applied to those convicted of high crimes or aggravated felonies, of which Farahi has been never charged or convicted in either category. The arrest would ordinarily have been classified as a Level-1 immigration violation, a result of unrecognized pending legal matters regarding Farahi's application for asylum.
A citizen of Iran, born and raised in Kuwait, Farahi first came to the U.S. 14-years ago at the age of 18, on a Student (F-1) Visa. He completed his bachelor in chemistry at Barry University in 2002, and subsequently obtained his masters degree in Public Health from Florida International University where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate. Farahi has also worked as an Imam at Shamsuddin Islamic Center of North Miami Beach, Florida, since April 2001, and is a member of the Barry University interfaith committee.
Farahi applied for asylum (from Iran) in August of 2002 and is qualified for Withholding of Removal and Convention Against Torture (CAT) according the U.N. Geneva Convention. However, his asylum proceedings have been delayed on numerous occasions over the past few years, until October 23, 2007, when he appeared at a hearing and was asked to withdraw his petition in exchange for being granted 30-days to voluntarily leave the country or face arrest on charges of supporting terrorist groups.
Even if Farahi wanted to leave the country within the designated 30-days it is not possible. He has applied for asylum from Iran, his passport expired March 11, 2007, and there is insufficient time to renew a visa to Kuwait; to which he has no right to return, although he was born there - he does not hold Kuwaiti citizenship.
Farahi has filed two appeals with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the most recent being on November 21, 2007. ICE reportedly has denied any knowledge of Farahi's BIA appeals, however he was released from Krome Detention Center on a $15,000 bond December 4, 2007.
Attorney Ira J. Kurzban has filed an Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and/or Preliminary Injunctive Relief on Farahi's behalf, petitioning the court for a Temporary Restraining Order that would protect him from being moved to a detention center outside of the State of Florida, to grant him relief from detention pending final ruling on his removal proceedings and for his case to be re-examined due to depravation of his constitutional right of due process, and for not being offered the right to ask for Withholding of Removal and Convention Against Torture, despite known human rights violations in Iran.
The primary concern now is that the U.S. government could pressure BIA to make a quick decision (a process that typically takes months and sometimes years) in denying Farahi's appeals, the consequence being that he would be taken into immediate custody and processed for deportation to Iran.
"It [MAS] is the de facto arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S.," said Steven Emerson, director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. "The agenda of the MAS is to ... impose Islamic law in the U.S., to undermine U.S. counterterrorism policy."
The MAS was founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamist movement created in Egypt in 1928. Radical members of the Brotherhood founded the terror group Hamas and were among the first members of Al Qaeda.
The Muslim American Society's former secretary general has acknowledged that the group was founded by the Brotherhood, and in 2004 he estimated that about half of MAS members were in the Muslim Brotherhood. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/08/rep-ellison-makes-pilgrimage-paid-group-critics-extremism/
(Not surprisingly Farahi lists MAS president Esam Omeish as his favorite politician on his facebook page).
Here is some information on the three of the clerics which Foahi claims to be a "fan" of.
"A leading Islamic cleric , al-Qaradawi also promises that eventually Islam will prevail over all other religions and a single Islamic state will rule the world.
Al-Qaradawi says some countries will fall to the armed Islamic jihad, but in others, such as the United States, victory will come through Da'awa - the teaching of Islam to non-Muslims - which will trigger Westerners to convert to Islam "in droves."
"We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through (the) sword, but through Da'awa," al-Qaradawi told members of the Muslim Arab Youth Association at the group's 1995 convention in Toledo, Ohio.
"Jihad can be with the pen and the tongue just as it can be with the sword and the spear. Islamic Jihad is not limited to military efforts only; it extends beyond this, including several means that Muslims need to utilize now more than ever."http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/001104.php
Tariq Al Suiwedan is a Kuwaiti cleric who was banned from entering the United States. At a "Young Muslims Conference" in 2000 Suweidan stated:
#
"...even if a civilization is ready to crumble (such as the West, with all the characteristics of deterioration of past fallen empires), it will NOT fall until we, the Muslims, strive to give it that last push, the last straw that will break the camel's back." http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1470
"A SA Islamic activist has forged strong ties with the Bin Laden family, receiving substantial funding from them and, in the process, meeting Osama bin Laden, the man named as prime suspect in this week's terror attacks.
Yousuf Deedat, 45, who triggered a storm when he distributed thousands of anti-Semitic handbills featuring a picture of Adolf Hitler during the World Conference Against Racism in Durban last week, said he first met Bin Laden in 1989.
Deedat and his father, Muslim scholar Ahmed Deedat, met Bin Laden on several other occasions in Saudi Arabia that year and in the 1990s while they were drumming up support for the Islamic Propagation Centre International in Durban.
"He was quiet-spoken, respectful and humble. When he met my father, he did not look him in the eye. That is the greatest honour an Arab can bestow on an elder," said Deedat.
The Deedats have had close links with the Bin Laden family since first meeting Osama's elder brother, Sheikh Bakr bin Laden, in 1986. Since then, many of the 27 Bin Laden brothers have contributed generously to the centre. Sheikh Bakr alone gave the centre $3.1-million over eight years to buy a building, print the Koran in English and Zulu, and print and distribute Islamic literature.
In appreciation, the Deedats named their building in Durban's Victoria Street after the family in 1988.
During his tenure as secretary-general of the propagation centre, the Bin Ladens reportedly paid Yousuf Deedat a monthly salary of R900 000.
Deedat said Bin Laden had invited him on a number of occasions to attend his lectures in Saudi Arabia. "He moved me to tears. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke in public, he had this magnetic effect on all who listened to him." Whether he was guilty or not, Deedat said, the US would always use him as a scapegoat". http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/365
#
While his case is pending Farahi has been waging jihad through da'wa by speaking at interfaith events like the one depicted in the article below entitled :" Imam Foad Farahi explains Faith to Christian and Jewish seniors".
MIM:Farahi is the Imam of the Shamshuddin Islamic Center in North Miami Beach which is affiliated with AMANA (The American Muslim Association of North America) run by Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout. One of the directors of the center was Gulshair Shukrijumah, the father of dirty bomber wannabe Adnan Shukrijumah and an Islamist in his own right. Shukrijumah was a character witness for Clement Hampton El who was convicted of plotting a 'Day of Terror' in New York in 1993 together with the Blind Sheik Umar Abdul Rahman.
[Zakkout's] affinity for terrorists has prompted him to host fundraisers for groups like Islamic Relief and become vice president of the Health Resource Center for Palestine- which openly solicited funds for the IAP [Islamic Association of Palestine the American wing of Hamas] on it's website. Besides hiring the father of dirty bomber wannabe Adnan Shukrijumah, Sofian also frequented mosques where terrorists worshipped such as Dar Ul Uloom in Pembroke Pines. Zakkout claims that he is a 'volunteer consultant to law enforcement' which really means he tells them that every terrorist he meets is a victim of discrimination and profiling.
In 2003 Zakkout told a journalist that:
I saw (El Shukrijumah, Padilla and Mandhai) at different times in different mosques, and I always said hello. Does that make me a terrorist?" http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/927
--------------------------
Foad Farahi's fan list on his facebook page is a Who's Who of hardcore Islamists.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Foad-Farahi/542716898
Celebrities / Public Figures Government Officials Politicians Music
* السيدة عائشة رضي الله عنها
* Mishary Rashid Al-Afasy
* Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
* Ahmed Deedat
* Tareq Al-Suwaidan
* RAJAB TAYIB ARDOGAN
* Basbakan Recep Tayyip Erdogan
* Esam Omeish
* RAJAB TAYIB ARDOGAN
* Basbakan Recep Tayyip Erdogan
* Esam Omeish
* Yusuf (aka Cat Stevens)
IMAM FOAD FARAHI Explains Faith to Christian and Jewish Seniors
By Jaweed Kaleem MIAMI, FL (MiamiHerald.com) March 28, 2009
The audience was just what you would expect in a Presbyterian church fellowship hall: mostly white and elderly. The speakers were not. Two Muslim imams, one African-American and the other Kuwaiti-born, were there to lead Islam 101.
Foad Farahi spoke first, softly and in Arabic: Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim. "We can't hear you!" interjected a woman in the audience. "I think he's saying a prayer," said a woman seated nearby.
Close enough. Farahi was sharing a common Islamic refrain: In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate. Sandwiched between sessions on Judaism and Presbyterianism, this Wednesday night class was part of a series called Religious Traditions sponsored by the University of Miami's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Osher offers low-cost classes for senior citizens on subjects including photography, memory enhancement and music appreciation. Most meet at the university's Coral Gables campus, but the institute branched out to Miami Shores last fall.
Religious Traditions, which also covers Catholics, Quakers, Hindus and Unitarians, has attracted about 30 students to each one-hour session. A $10 fee includes dinner. While most mosques and churches are open to the public and interfaith dialogue is as old as the Silk Road, the discussion of Islam was a rare exchange among people from deeply different backgrounds.
The African-American imam, Nasir Ahmed, 61, who lives in Sebastian and practices oral surgery at a Treasure Coast clinic, leads Friday prayers at the Al-Ansar mosque in Liberty City. Ahmed, who was raised Catholic and adopted a Muslim name when he converted, spoke with the fiery flare of a Sunday preacher. "No matter what you call God, the best of all names are his," he proclaimed.
Farahi, 34, a graduate student in dietetics and nutrition at Florida International University, leads prayers at Masjid Shamsuddin, a storefront mosque in North Miami Beach.
SHARED HERITAGE
Wearing glasses and a trim black beard, Farahi read English translations from a Koran and pointed out the shared heritage of Judaism and Islam. "Jews, Muslims, we believe they are brothers from different mothers, if you could say that," Farahi said, because both groups descended from Abraham. The imams took turns fielding questions. "How many times do you pray?" asked Stephen Loffredo, 56, of Miami Shores. Muslims pray five times a day, including once in the mosque on Fridays, Ahmed said as he got down on the floor to demonstrate prostration. Audience members rose from their seats and peered over each others' shoulders for a good look.
"But how do women fit into your religion?" asked Rose Voyce, 70, of North Miami, who had been to a mosque in Turkey and "never saw any women in it." "The mosque is the whole earth," Ahmed replied, adding that Muslims can pray almost anywhere. Women are not required to come to the mosque, but can come and sit in a separate area, he said. "What do you do about non-observant Muslims?" asked Tom Harrington, 79, as he flipped through pages of a Koran. Don't push the religion on them, the imams agreed. "I have 15 brothers and sisters — all Christians — so I'm pretty outnumbered," Ahmed said. Afterward, several in the audience, which included Jews as well as Christians, said they had found the class enlightening.
"You can only play so much cards and see so many movies. I get quite bored," said June Newbauer, 83, a retired real estate agent who lives in North Miami. "The Middle East has been such an interest in our country with the war. It's very timely." Farahi, who often speaks to college students, said addressing an older audience in a church setting was a first for him. "People need to get together and talk and look at our similarities, especially when you live in such a diverse society," he said. "Don't worry about who is right or wrong."
RELATED CLASSES
Religious Traditions is among a handful of classes, including an overview of Middle Eastern politics and history, that Osher is offering in Miami Shores. "You can go to a university and get an academic view," said Noreen Frye, Osher director, "but it makes sense to bring clergy into contact with each other and teach people in religious environment. It's the perfect place for it." http://www.masnet.org/masnews.asp?id=5326
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.masnet.org/news.asp?id=4617
MAS Freedom Concerned About Gov't Targeting of Immigrant Muslim Activists and Clergy for Voluntary Departure
Date Posted: Thursday, December 13, 2007
Foad Farahi, Imam Shamsuddin Islamic Center of North Miami Beach, Florida, since April 2001.
By Aishah Schwartz
CORRECTION: Attorney John Pratt was originally named in error; the correct name of the attorney is Ira J. Kurzban, Esq., of Kurzban, Kurzban, Weinger & Tetzeli, P.A.
WASHINGTON, DC – Dec. 12, 2007 - (MASNET) MAS Freedom (MASF) Executive Director, Mahdi Bray, will attend a hearing in the Southern District Court of Florida on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007 to monitor the deportation case of Foad Farahi vs. USA, et. al.
Farahi, 33, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on November 26, 2007 and detained at the Krome Detention Center. The arrest classified Farahi as a Level-3 threat, usually applied to those convicted of high crimes or aggravated felonies, of which Farahi has been never charged or convicted in either category. The arrest would ordinarily have been classified as a Level-1 immigration violation, a result of unrecognized pending legal matters regarding Farahi's application for asylum.
A citizen of Iran, born and raised in Kuwait, Farahi first came to the U.S. 14-years ago at the age of 18, on a Student (F-1) Visa. He completed his bachelor in chemistry at Barry University in 2002, and subsequently obtained his masters degree in Public Health from Florida International University where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate. Farahi has also worked as an Imam at Shamsuddin Islamic Center of North Miami Beach, Florida, since April 2001, and is a member of the Barry University interfaith committee.
Farahi applied for asylum (from Iran) in August of 2002 and is qualified for Withholding of Removal and Convention Against Torture (CAT) according the U.N. Geneva Convention. However, his asylum proceedings have been delayed on numerous occasions over the past few years, until October 23, 2007, when he appeared at a hearing and was asked to withdraw his petition in exchange for being granted 30-days to voluntarily leave the country or face arrest on charges of supporting terrorist groups.
Even if Farahi wanted to leave the country within the designated 30-days it is not possible. He has applied for asylum from Iran, his passport expired March 11, 2007, and there is insufficient time to renew a visa to Kuwait; to which he has no right to return, although he was born there - he does not hold Kuwaiti citizenship.
Farahi has filed two appeals with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the most recent being on November 21, 2007. ICE reportedly has denied any knowledge of Farahi's BIA appeals, however he was released from Krome Detention Center on a $15,000 bond December 4, 2007.
Attorney Ira J. Kurzban has filed an Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and/or Preliminary Injunctive Relief on Farahi's behalf, petitioning the court for a Temporary Restraining Order that would protect him from being moved to a detention center outside of the State of Florida, to grant him relief from detention pending final ruling on his removal proceedings and for his case to be re-examined due to depravation of his constitutional right of due process, and for not being offered the right to ask for Withholding of Removal and Convention Against Torture, despite known human rights violations in Iran.
The primary concern now is that the U.S. government could pressure BIA to make a quick decision (a process that typically takes months and sometimes years) in denying Farahi's appeals, the consequence being that he would be taken into immediate custody and processed for deportation to Iran.
On Tuesday, January 19, ISNA Secretary General Safaa Zarzour attended, along with many other dignitaries and public officials, the State of the State Address given by Governor Mitch Daniels to a joint session of the Indiana House and Senate.
Safaa Zarzour is the Administrative Coordinator for the Village of Bridgeview, Illinois. He is also the principal of Zarzour Law Offices, LLC. Mr. Zarzour focuses his law practice in the areas of Local Government, and Non-Profit Law.