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September 10, 2001 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — American Muslim leaders said a raid Wednesday on a Texas Internet business was part of an
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“anti-Muslim witch hunt” promoted by a pro-Israel
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lobby in America. Early yesterday morning, more than
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80 agents from the FBI, INS, Customs Service, and
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other federal agencies raided the offices of InfoCom
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Corporation in Richardson, Texas.
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In a statement released at a news conference outside
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Infocom’s headquarters, the Muslim groups said:
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“American Muslims view yesterday’s action as just one
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of a long list of attempts by the pro-Israel lobby to
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intimidate and silence all those who wish to see
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Palestinian Muslims and Christians free themselves of
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a brutal Apartheid-like occupation. We believe the
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genesis of this raid lies not in Washington, but in
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Tel Aviv.
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“Hundreds of innocent American businesses and citizens
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are being harmed by the government’s actions. This
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incident can only serve to marginalize millions of
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American Muslims who are committed to the betterment
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of our diverse society.
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Groups represented at the news conference included
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American Muslim Council, American Muslims for
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Jerusalem, American Muslim Alliance, Council on
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American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Society of North
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America, Islamic Circle of North America, Islamic
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Association for Palestine, Muslim Alliance in North
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America, Muslim Public Affairs Council, and Muslim
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Student Association of US and Canada.
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However, the FBI later denied these allegations,
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saying the nature of the raid was due to criminal
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activity.
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Infocom hosts web sites for some 500 companies
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worldwide, and many of them are media companies based
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in Qatar.
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One of Infocom’s clients whose web site was shut down
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by the raid is Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite
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television network. Al-Jazeera, a popular and
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respected Arabic news outlet, has frequently been
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criticized by Israel for its reporting on that state’s
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brutal policies in the Occupied Territories.
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The raid came just weeks after a Wall Street Journal
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column by Steven Emerson and Daniel Pipes that called
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for just such an action by the government. They wrote:
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“. . . the federal authorities should use the tools it
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already has for closing down these Web sites and
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organizations.”
About theWHIR.com
Since 2000, The Web Host Industry Review has made a name for itself as the foremost authority of the Web hosting industry providing reliable, insightful and comprehensive news, interviews and resources to the hosting community. TheWHIR is an iNET Interactive property. For more information on iNET Interactive, visit http://www.inetinteractive.com
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