Date: March 17, 2004
Subject: Silent no longer: Rabih Haddad's story
Dear friends
It is said "The truth will set you free." Well, my brother Rabih Haddad has been free since July from the unjust detention he suffered for 19 months under the watchful eye of US Attorney General John Ashcroft and his US Patriot Act. Free in body. Free to be reunited with his wife Salma and their four children. Free to begin to get on with his life in Lebanon, the country of his birth but not necessarily his choice of a place to live now.
But was he truly free? Was Rabih Haddad, volunteer Iman, global humanitarian, poet and teacher, free as long as his good name and the name of the Global Relief Foundation, which he co-founded in 1992, were publicly slandered by US government officials and media across the globe? Was he free knowing that his name and that of his humanitarian organization were linked--with no evidence ever being shown--to terrorists? Would YOU feel free under these circumstances?
So today is a BIG DAY in the life of Rabih Haddad and all who know, love and respect him as an exemplary human being, a man of spiritual depth, gentle compassion, and the highest of principles. For today the truth has FINALLY come out, the truth about how the US government had nothing on him but an expired visa, the truth that the US government used him--and thousands of Muslim men like him--as scapegoats in their fear-driven "War on Terrorism."
Thanks to the far-sighted courage of a Detroit weekly newspaper, The Metro Times, and the exceptional commitment of a journalist/editor, Ann Mullen, the truth about Rabih Haddad is out there for all to see. You can read her exclusive interview by going to
http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=6041
To see the headline and lead photo of Rabih standing on his balcony in Beirut, go to
This is a long article but one that is worth reading carefully. It is the first time I've seen in published in the mainstream press the nefarious schemes that masquerade as justice in post-9/11 America. This story of what happened to Rabih is just the tip of the iceberg, but it's a beginning. Hopefully the wire services will pick it up so the truth will circle the globe.
As Salma said the first time we met in that crowded immigration court waiting room on December 19, 2001, "May the truth come out." Well, thanks to Ann Mullen and the Metro Times, it finally has.
in gratitude
Patricia Lay-Dorsey
http://windchimewalker.blogspot.com