NY Times: Fort Dix Jihadis Nice Religious Boys
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The old grey lady again puts on her burqa.
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(salute to readerjp)
PHILADELPHIA, May 9 — The three Duka brothers — Eljvir, Shain and Dritan — not only prayed here at the Al Aqsa Islamic Center, but also recently began repairing its roof.
The work came naturally to them, as members of a large family of ethnic Albanian immigrants who own more than a dozen roofing companies in New York and New Jersey. They fixed the roof free of charge, encouraged by their imam to do good deeds. One congregant said the men were storing up credit for “the afterlife.”
But the job remains half finished after the brothers and three other Muslim men were taken into custody this week, charged with plotting a terrorist attack against soldiers at the Fort Dix military reservation...
One day after the men were arraigned in United States District Court in Camden, a portrait is emerging of the five who face charges of conspiring to kill American military personnel, which could send them to prison for life. Much less is known about the sixth, Agron Abdullahu, 24, who the authorities say was a sniper in Kosovo but who faces lesser charges, carrying up to 10 years.
Serdar Tatar, 23, a Turkish immigrant who lives in Philadelphia, had grown so religious over the last two years that his father, Muslim Tatar, said they had become estranged. Serdar’s Russian-born wife, who is pregnant with twins, said he was so busy working that he rarely went to the mosque, but sometimes read the Koran and helped her 11-year-old son with his homework.
Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, 22, a Palestinian born in Amman, Jordan, had for the last year kept up an exhausting routine of work, sleep and prayer, according to his mother. He drove a cab at night in Philadelphia, had recently dropped out of Camden County Community College to help the family pay two mortgages and attended services occasionally at the Al-Aqsa center.
And there were the Dukas, ages 23, 26 and 28, who came to this country illegally, more than a decade ago. ...
One of Mr. Shnewer’s five sisters married Eljvir Duka and is now pregnant. On Wednesday, Lamese and Israa Shnewer, ages 12 and 14, stood in the threshold of their house in Cherry Hill, holding tabloid newspapers with their brother’s picture splashed across the front. Cars slowed down as they passed. People snapped pictures with their cellphones.
Israa pointed to a neighbor’s house and said, “They hated us to begin with.”
Wah. I wonder why everyday Americans have so much suspicion about the exotic, devout people insinuating themselves into every possible niche of our society?
Islamophobia™, I guess.
The criminal complaint filed against the suspects on Tuesday portrayed Mr. Shnewer as the leader of the group, speaking most frequently in taped conversations about tactics. But his mother, Faten Shnewer, said in an interview that the charges “made no sense.”
She said that televised images from the war in Iraq had angered him, and wondered whether, while he was watching the news, he had said something that was misinterpreted by the authorities. When the authorities searched the family’s home, they took a Koran, along with the mortgage bills and other household items, Mrs. Shnewer said.
“He’s a good boy,” she said as she stood in the doorway of a relative’s home. “I’m proud of who we are.”
Of course you are.
There are plenty of other "good boys" out there too. We probably shouldn't worry too much about that, though. After all, Bush isn't going to obsessively hate himself, and somebody has to get busy spitefully politicizing national security.
PHILADELPHIA, May 9 — The three Duka brothers — Eljvir, Shain and Dritan — not only prayed here at the Al Aqsa Islamic Center, but also recently began repairing its roof.
The work came naturally to them, as members of a large family of ethnic Albanian immigrants who own more than a dozen roofing companies in New York and New Jersey. They fixed the roof free of charge, encouraged by their imam to do good deeds. One congregant said the men were storing up credit for “the afterlife.”
But the job remains half finished after the brothers and three other Muslim men were taken into custody this week, charged with plotting a terrorist attack against soldiers at the Fort Dix military reservation...
One day after the men were arraigned in United States District Court in Camden, a portrait is emerging of the five who face charges of conspiring to kill American military personnel, which could send them to prison for life. Much less is known about the sixth, Agron Abdullahu, 24, who the authorities say was a sniper in Kosovo but who faces lesser charges, carrying up to 10 years.
Serdar Tatar, 23, a Turkish immigrant who lives in Philadelphia, had grown so religious over the last two years that his father, Muslim Tatar, said they had become estranged. Serdar’s Russian-born wife, who is pregnant with twins, said he was so busy working that he rarely went to the mosque, but sometimes read the Koran and helped her 11-year-old son with his homework.
Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, 22, a Palestinian born in Amman, Jordan, had for the last year kept up an exhausting routine of work, sleep and prayer, according to his mother. He drove a cab at night in Philadelphia, had recently dropped out of Camden County Community College to help the family pay two mortgages and attended services occasionally at the Al-Aqsa center.
And there were the Dukas, ages 23, 26 and 28, who came to this country illegally, more than a decade ago. ...
One of Mr. Shnewer’s five sisters married Eljvir Duka and is now pregnant. On Wednesday, Lamese and Israa Shnewer, ages 12 and 14, stood in the threshold of their house in Cherry Hill, holding tabloid newspapers with their brother’s picture splashed across the front. Cars slowed down as they passed. People snapped pictures with their cellphones.
Israa pointed to a neighbor’s house and said, “They hated us to begin with.”
Wah. I wonder why everyday Americans have so much suspicion about the exotic, devout people insinuating themselves into every possible niche of our society?
Islamophobia™, I guess.
The criminal complaint filed against the suspects on Tuesday portrayed Mr. Shnewer as the leader of the group, speaking most frequently in taped conversations about tactics. But his mother, Faten Shnewer, said in an interview that the charges “made no sense.”
She said that televised images from the war in Iraq had angered him, and wondered whether, while he was watching the news, he had said something that was misinterpreted by the authorities. When the authorities searched the family’s home, they took a Koran, along with the mortgage bills and other household items, Mrs. Shnewer said.
“He’s a good boy,” she said as she stood in the doorway of a relative’s home. “I’m proud of who we are.”
Of course you are.
There are plenty of other "good boys" out there too. We probably shouldn't worry too much about that, though. After all, Bush isn't going to obsessively hate himself, and somebody has to get busy spitefully politicizing national security.
posted by jillosophy at 5/10/2007 11:23:00 AM
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