Gary Fitleberg, September 23, 2004

Cat Stevens caught the bug of Arab/Islamist fever. Ever since it has affected his heart mind, and soul. Now supporting terrorism is his ultimate goal.

Once the fever and madness was from the fans who loved his music. Now it comes from the man who made the music and has the fever and madness of extremist fanatical fundamentalism.

The singer, formerly known as Cat Stevens, is forbidden from flying into the United States because of his alleged association with possible terrorists, U.S. officials said Wednesday in explaining why a London-to-Washington flight carrying the peace activist was diverted. The singer is signing the tune of terror.

This has shocked a lot of his fans internationally who were surprisingly unaware of the singer’s support of terrorism, most notably Hamas, for many years. Israel has had him on a watch list for many years and he has been forbidden to enter its borders for some time.

United Airlines Flight 919 was en route to Dulles International Airport on Tuesday when U.S. officials reviewing the passenger list discovered Islam was aboard. The aircraft was diverted to Maine's Bangor International Airport, where federal agents met the plane and interviewed Islam.

He was placed on a plane back to London on Wednesday. Gordon said Islam's 21-year-old daughter, Maymanah, was allowed to stay in the country.

Meantime, there was confusion about how someone on the government's "no-fly list" was allowed to board a plane. Airline personnel are supposed to check passengers' names against people on the list. Anyone who matches is to be kept off flights.

A no fly zone for someone who thinks in the ozone.

United spokesman Jeff Green said the airline followed procedures in checking Islam's name, and it wasn't on the list.

There must be a whole lot of Islam on the lists.

"The information did not match," Green said. Green and Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy said the airline and the government are working together to figure out what happened. It's possible Islam's name was spelled differently on the list, Homeland Security officials conceded.

Gotta watch those terrorists and those typos. Their supporters included. Carefully. Very carefully.

Under rules imposed following the Sept. 11 attacks, once an international flight is bound for the United States, passenger information is forwarded to U.S. officials. The amount of data varies, but can include name, address, flight details, seat location, form of payment and meal preference.

U.S. authorities use the information to run a more thorough check against government watch lists. That's when authorities discovered that Islam was on the plane.

Unlike airline workers, law enforcement officers are trained to look for names that sound like those on the watch list or are spelled differently than the ones on the watch list, Homeland Security spokesman Garrison Courtney said.

A second government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. authorities think donations from Islam may have ended up helping to fund blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted for a plot to bomb New York City landmarks, and Hamas, an Arab "Palestinian" group finally considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

In July 2000, Islam was deported hours after arriving in Jerusalem. A local paper reported then that the government claimed he had delivered tens of thousands of dollars to Hamas during a visit in 1988. Islam denied ever knowingly supporting Islamic terrorists.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations at a news conference Wednesday said the deportation "sends a message to the Islamic world that even those who seek peace and condemn terror are not fit to enter the United States."

We can surely trust the word of the Council of American-Islamic Relations as a source of those who seek peace.

Islam, born Stephen Georgiou, took Cat Stevens as a stage name and had a string of hits in the 1960s and '70s, including "Wild World" and "Morning Has Broken." Last year he released two songs, including a re-recording of his hit "Peace Train," to express his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

I can't wait to hear a more honest appropriate song "Terror Campaign" due out when the Arabs/Islamists honestly seek peace and do not hijack the religion of Islam.

"Wild World" might be a great title for a song about the Arab/Islamist controlled and dominated corrupt dictatorships, ruthless repressive regimes and tyrannies that make up the neighborhood in the Middle East.

Cat Stevens, now known as Islam, abandoned his music career in the late 1970s and changed his name after being persuaded by orthodox Muslim teachers that his lifestyle was forbidden by Islamic law.

Can one separate the man from his music? This is not the first time one has had to carefully consider the music versus the musician. One can recall the controversy of Richard Wagner and concert performances in Israel. That's another story!

Islam was left out in the cold with a cold heart. Got fever?

Gary Fitleberg is a Political Analyst specializing in International Relations with emphasis on Middle East affairs.

Copyright © 2004 Gary Fitleberg