[IMC-Boston-Dispatch] Fwd: ALERT: Massachusetts Governor Suggests Wiretapping Mosques, MAS Freedom and Civil Liberties Groups Respond

[News at JamaicaPlainGazette.com]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "MAS-INFO" <newsviews at masnet.org>
> Date: September 15, 2005 6:25:47 PM EDT
> To: news at jamaicaplaingazette.com
> Subject: ALERT: Massachusetts Governor Suggests Wiretapping  
> Mosques, MAS    Freedom and Civil Liberties Groups Respond
>
>
> In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful
> September 15, 2005
>
> ALERT: MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR SUGGESTS WIRETAPPING MOSQUES, MAS  
> FREEDOM AND
> CIVIL LIBERTIES GROUPS RESPOND
> http://www.masnet.org/takeaction.asp?id=2759
>
> (WASHINGTON, DC) - Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney suggested  
> that mosques
> be wiretapped and that surveillance of foreign students in the  
> state be
> conducted in a speech to the Heritage Foundation.
>
> Romney stated, "How about people who are in settings - mosques, for
> instance - that may be teaching doctrines of hate and terror," he  
> said.
> ''Are we monitoring that? Are we wiretapping? Are we following  
> what's going
> on?"
>
> He also said, "How many individuals are coming to our state and  
> going to
> those institutions who have come from terrorist-sponsored states?",
> referring to foreign students who attend universities in  
> Massachusetts. ''Do
> we know where they are? Are we tracking them?"
>
> Tomorrow, September 16, the Boston chapter of the Muslim American  
> Society
> Freedom Foundation, and other religious and civil rights groups,  
> will hold a
> press conference at the Governors' Office in the State Capitol.
>
> Joining MAS Boston will be the following participants:
>
> - Islamic Society of Boston
> - American Civil Liberties Union
> - American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
> - Massachusetts Immigration Refugee Advocacy Coalition
>
> "Perhaps TV religious leaders who call for the illegal  
> assassination of a
> head of state might need surveillance," jibed MAS Freedom Foundation
> Executive Director Mahdi Bray. "On a more serious note, this  
> suggestion
> clearly violates the Bill of Rights and should be deeply offensive  
> to all
> persons of faith. This is political demagoguery at its worst.
>
> "Everybody knows that the Governor has presidential aspirations and  
> he is
> playing to the extreme base of the Republican Party," asserts Bray.  
> "But if
> he thinks he can raise his political fortunes on the backs of the  
> American
> Muslim Community, he is very wrong."
>
> "We are going to call upon Republican Party activists, including  
> Muslims in
> the Republican Party, and major faith leaders in the Muslim,  
> Christian and
> Jewish communities, to denounce him," said Bray.
>
> "At a time when people all across our great country and the world are
> pulling together to respond to the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe,  
> it is sad
> that he is taking divisive political cheap shots," said Bray.  
> "Before he
> seeks to politically frame himself as a Homeland security expert,  
> maybe he
> should take a refresher course on the American Constitution.
>
> "MAS Freedom will be at all of his public events, exercising our First
> Amendment right by reminding people all over the country of his  
> comments and
> ideas concerning Muslims. Let's see him get to the White House that  
> way,"
> stated Bray.
>
> If you would like to join MAS Freedom's "Romney: No Friend of the  
> Bill of
> Rights" campaign, please contact Hamza Pelletier in Boston at (617)
> 576-2121, or Mahdi Bray and MAS Freedom's National office at (202)  
> 496-1288.
>
>
> =============================================================
> The Freedom Foundation is the public affairs arm of the Muslim  
> American
> Society (MAS), a national grassroots religious, social, and  
> educational
> organization. MAS is America's largest grassroots Muslim  
> organization with
> over 50 chapters nationwide. Learn more at www.masnet.org. Support  
> our work
> at MAS Freedom Foundation. Make A Donation
> (http://www.masnet.org/donate.asp).
> ____________________________________________
>
> MAS Freedom Foundation
> 1050 17th Street NW, Suite 600
> Washington, DC  20036
> Tel.: (202) 496-1288, Fax: (202) 463-0686
> URL: http://www.masnet.org/index_publicaffairs.asp
> Email: info at masfreedomfoundation.org
>
>
>
>
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