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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.”
