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2-4-2003 - FREE MIKE HAWASH NOW!

An email update from George Paine at at warblogging.com alterted me to this story.

"Eleven days ago Maher (Mike) Hawash, an American citizen and programmer for Intel Corporation, was "detained" as a "material witness" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He has so far been held without charge for eleven days."

Whoa, I thought as I read about Hawash's plight. From the site I found a continuation of the email. "Even as FBI agents slapped the handcuffs on Mr. Hawash more agents in full battle gear carrying assault rifles woke Mr. Hawash's wife, Lisa, and their three children. The FBI agents then proceeded to search their home.

Since that Thursday Mike Hawash has been held at a federal prison in Sheridan, Oregon.

Mike has not been charged with a crime and all of the evidence used against him has been sealed by a federal court at the request of the Department of Justice. He will not be judged by a jury of his peers. He as not even been accused of doing anything wrong. He is being detained based on a twisted application of the material wtiness statute, which was originally intended for use to prevent witnesses to a crime from fleeing to avoid testifying in court."

Paine's column mentioned Hawash (a naturalized Palestenian) had made donations to "the Global Relief Foundation, an organisation that has been shut down by the US Treasury Department for supporting terrorism. One of Global Relief's founders is in federal custody in Michigan after a judge ruled he was "an associate of terrorists.""

Pleas were made to contact congressmen, etc., and demand Hawash be charged or released. There were many comments made about this travesty of injustice. A few examples:

Comments: Maher (Mike) Hawash
"This is an example of exactly what is wrong with the Patriot Act and Patriot Act II. This isn't about a visitor or student of mideastern descent enrolled in a flight school, this is about a professional man with great job, a wife and three kids and who is deeply involved in his community who is being held in solitary confinement on material witness charges the merits of which cannot even be challenged because the government has had the documents sealed. If it can happen to someone like this...it can happen to you...and probably will. Still think you are living in The United States of America?

"welcome to the 4th reich, we are no longer the land of the free. this is just the begining of whats to come."

"And this, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why I am moving to Canada poste-haste..."

All this spurred me to dig deeper into this. I discovered he lived in Oregon where a downright sphincter-clenching terrorism law has been introduced and that set my mental wheels in motion.

I found the news of his arrest had been reported in the Oregonian, where Hawash has had a beef with the ultra-conservative mouthpiece associate editor David Reinhard, also a featured columnist for a Jewish publication. In fact, Hawash lashed out at him in a letter to the editor in April 2002.

April 14, 2002
The Oregonian
Journalism of mad dogs
In his April 11 column, "Welcome to the state of ... Israel," David Reinhard declares that "we in the media are supposed to be evenhanded about this conflict. We're supposed to practice moral equivalence. Hogwash."

He gives the imaginary scenario of bombs going off in Portland.

I suggest that he take it a bit closer and imagine his neighbor barging into his house, killing his child, raping his wife and daughter and declaring Reinhard's home as his. What would he do?

My mother, brother, sisters and their children have witnessed the work of the Israeli Defense Forces for the past two weeks, with a tank outside their house in Nablus pounding shells nonstop. They are terrified; the kids are terrorized. How would you feel?

This kind of journalism only justifies the means of mad dogs such as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Maher Hawash

A year later, his former boss has written a letter to the editor in Hawash's defense.

Citizen's rights trampled by FBI
03/25/03
I was shocked to read that Maher Mofied "Mike" Hawash, a friend who worked for me for many years at Intel Corp., was "detained" by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, apparently because of donations he made more than three years ago to what he believed was a completely legitimate charity ("FBI, joint terrorism agents search home in Hillsboro," March 21).

I was equally shocked that The Oregonian chose to omit from its story that Hawash is a longtime U.S. citizen. I think many of your readers would be surprised to learn that our government can detain indefinitely a U.S. citizen, especially one with a wife, three children, a job and deep roots in our community.

"Material witnesses" such as Hawash are being held in maximum-security federal prisons, despite the fact that they are charged with no crime.

Americans are taught that the Constitution protects us against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, and that our freedom and these constitutional liberties are what we are fighting for in Iraq and elsewhere, yet one of our neighbors can be taken from his home or office and held without charge for weeks or months.

It is shameful that the Oregonian chose to report this as though Hawash were a criminal, rather than as a citizen whose rights are being trampled.

STEVEN McGEADY Northeast Portland

The original story wasn't written by Reinhold but it pretty much says the same thing as the other reports, but with a lot more detail, including the removal of several boxes from Hawash's home. This is the part that has me hmmm'ing. "The FBI issued a short statement Thursday morning saying that in an "ongoing investigation," the Joint Terrorism Task Force had executed four federal search warrants in the Hillsboro area and that the Hillsboro Police Department assisted in the searches."

It also goes into more detail about the donations. "The Oregonian interviewed Hawash by phone last November about his donations to the Global Relief Foundation. He said he made the donations after someone from Global Relief came to town to make a presentation at either the Bilal Mosque or Islamic Center of Portland. He said he couldn't recall the name of the GRF speaker."

Attempting to put some of these pieces together. I have to click into the mindset of a paranoid Oregonian with power. That's not hard, I lived there and suffered some real injustices, but nothing on this scale, but I know how that state is.

This dropped the jaw.

FBI in Oregon asks public's help
03/25/03
Charles Mathews III, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon, is asking the community to provide any information that may relate to the war effort in Iraq, to the threat of new terrorist attacks, or to hate crimes.

"There is definitely a concern that the start of conflict in Iraq will be used by some as a predicate for new attacks against Americans and by others for retaliation against those who are Muslims or of Middle Eastern descent," Mathews said. It went on about how to report suspicious people and activity, it's a chilling read and I can't believe this is happening in America. This FBI plea was issued after Hawash's arrest.

Holy shite. My jaw is now on the floor.

FBI agents interview 400 Iraqis in Oregon
03/28/03
The FBI has interviewed about 400 Iraqis in Oregon since the war began as part of a national effort to gather intelligence about Saddam Hussein's military and government as well as information about potential terrorist plots.

Charles Mathews, who heads the FBI in Oregon, said agents visited homes of people born in Iraq, told them the interviews were voluntary and asked questions about the situation in Iraq, including whether they knew people there who would be willing to talk to U.S. officials."

Something's going on in Oregon. I believe Mike Hawash was an example, a test case. If they were investigating him, and it seems obvious they were because of the donations and even the letter he wrote to the editor, they woud have found his resumé online, even though it's cached, and discovered the places he listed where he'd work. "Geographical Areas where I will accept work:
Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan,Qatar, SaudiArabia, Sudan, Syria, USA, USA:California, USA:Oregon,USA:Washington, United Arab Emirates, Yemen". Yep, I can see some overzealous FBI guy trying to make a case for Hawash's detainment. How pathetically sad.

A blogger from Oregon had this to say, "This man is an American citizen, his basic constitutional rights have been exterminated by some out of line authority. I urge everyone to contact their state reps and senators. This is totally unaccaptable in our time, in our country. I can only offer conjecture on what happened like everyone else. It makes me wonder if this guy knew the 5 Muslims( a supposed terror cell) that were arrested last year. I believe they were from Hillsboro. Or did Mike attend a peace rally and was watched, did he say something anti-Bush? This just disgusts me." Terror cell info here. A must read as it has to do with the first real challenge to the Patriot Act.

This disgusts me. Another article from Oregon, just post 9-11. "One Intel executive in Hillsboro who declined to be named said that Intel's darker-skinned employees appeared to be acutely aware of the mounting domestic tension. The executive described holding the door open for a Middle Eastern co-worker as he exited an Intel building last week.

"The guy said `thank you' to me so appreciatively, like it was the nicest thing that had happened to him in a long time," said the executive. "It appeared that he had had quite a long day.""

Wow there is so much information, so many things to put together. Was that Mike Hawash? From what I've gathered there has been an overabundance of hysterical reactions not only to 9-11 but terrorism itself and to the many Muslims in Hillsboro. Check Google for Hillsboro Oregon. You'll be amazed at what you find.

I cannot believe that things like this are happening in the country I once called home. I fear for those there with dark skin and that includes my family. Mike Hawash is perhaps the first 'upstanding citizen' example of the new laws hastily pushed through after 9-11. He won't be the last. Please visit the Free Mike Hawash website and do all you can to help him and his family. I end this sick to my stomach.

I just did one last search on "Mike Hawash" and was floored. Just check this out from Blogdex. This was also not available when I began this report. The Register is on it, and it repeats a lot of what I've said, but most definitely give it a read.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.

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