Letters to the Editor

Numerous letters have been written to our local papers in support of Dr. Dhafir and against the interogation of 150 predominantly Muslim families on February 26, 2003. Some of them were published, some were not. Below you will find both published and unpublished letters.

We are still waiting to recieve more letters so please check back. Also please feel free to email a letter to the editor of our local newspaper the Post Standard, make sure to type in 'Letter to the Editor' in the SUBJECT box.

Letters published March 1, 2003 in the Post Standard

YOU CAN HELP IRAQ - UNLESS YOU'RE ARAB;
AIDING IRAQ OR IRAQI PEOPLE?

To the Editor:

The three men arrested Wednesday for laundering money to Iraq were guilty of only two crimes. The first one was not having the proper paperwork and permits; the other was their heritage.

You see, they are Arabs. It's a crime to help the needy in Iraq if you are Arab. But Vice President Dick Cheney can make oil deals with Iraq, with the purpose of making millions of dollars. It is also all right for R.J. Reynolds to sell millions of cigarettes to Iraqi people. But money for the poor is a crime.

For God's sake, we are going to war with Iraq to help the people of Iraq. So why is sending money to them a crime?

Nasser Abbas, Syracuse

MUSLIMS PRESUMED GUILTY WITHOUT FACTS;
MUSLIMS ARRESTS UNSETTLE LOCAL COMMUNITY.

To the Editor:

I was very shocked to see that in our country where the justice system is based on the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, many members of the media have already decided that the men connected with the "Help the Needy" organization are guilty.

Don't these men have the same rights as the rest of us?

Anwer S. Ahmed, DeWitt NY

The Following Letters to the Editor appeared in the Post Standard on July 10,2003

SUPPORT FOR DR. RAFIL DHAFIR'S FREEDOM IS GROWING. (Editorial)

To the Editor:

While people throughout Central New York were engaging in Independence Day festivities, Judge Norman Mordue denied freedom for Dr. Rafil Dhafir, prime defendant in the high-profile Help the Needy case.

Dhafir, accused of sending charity to the people of Iraq suffering under U.S.-backed sanctions, is a respected member of our community and a highly praised oncologist serving the Rome area.

All of his assets have been seized by the federal government, including his passport. Concerned friends, family and supporters have pledged well over $1 million in collateral on Dhafir's behalf. If released on bail, Dhafir would be monitored both directly by police and by a location detection device affixed to his ankle.

Yet Mordue has denied all motions put forth in Dhafir's defense, while granting the prosecution's request exempting Dhafir from his constitutional right to a speedy trial. Having bragged about spending well over three years building the case against Dhafir, the federal prosecutor seems unprepared. Is the attorney general trying to scrounge some way to justify trying a decent man for the ridiculous "crime" of providing charity without a special license?

How can Dhafir be deemed a flight risk? If released on $1 million bail, a man of obvious Arab descent would hardly be able to evade law enforcement domestically, cross a border or board an airplane without a passport and tethered to an electronic location device.

Dhafir insists that in order to prepare a defense for the trial he is confident will exonerate him, he must be allowed access to his community. We request Judge Mordue reconsider his bail decision.

On July 7, about two dozen Central New Yorkers turned out on short notice to protest the latest ruling. While your article pointed out that most of the people who have offered collateral have been Muslim, it failed to note the majority of those who came to protest were unmistakably non-Muslim.

In fact, support for Dhafir crosses all religious and racial lines, and it continues to grow as he languishes in jail.

Brian Dominick, Jessica Azulay, Magda Bayoumi, Mohamed Khater, Tim Judson, co-founders Neighbors Supporting Neighbors, Syracuse

Denial of Bail for Dr. Rafil Dhafir

Dear Judge Mordue,

We read in today's paper that half a million residents of Hong Kong have protested the proposed imposition of security laws that would, among other things, criminalize membership in groups banned by the Chinese government. And we read that this outraged public response has already won important concessions from the legislature: among them, that people accused of "theft of state secrets" will now be able to defend themselves by arguing that they acted in the public interest. We read all this with a warm glow of pride, thinking of how the democratic values that the United States of America has long exemplified have inspired and empowered people halfway around the world. And then, with sinking hearts, we look at the Patriot Act and the Dhafir case.

How can it be that the civil protections of people living under an American government should be inferior to those of people living under the rule of the Communist Chinese?

Can it be that when we exported our values we left nothing for ourselves, at home? What is it, exactly, that this country stands for today?

Help the Needy sent humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq. That was unquestionably in the public interest: now the US government is being called upon by the entire world to do exactly the same thing. It has admitted the necessity, and the responsibility, for such aid. I would venture that the only difference between the two institutions in this regard is that Help the Needy probably delivered better assistance to ordinary Iraqis than the current administration has managed to provide so far.

Doing the right thing without a license" seems a pretty pathetic excuse for a crime. Is a person who commits it so dangerous that he can't be allowed out on the streets?

Yes, I know, there is the strong possibility that Dr. Dhafir has also fudged his Medicaid reports. I'm shocked, shocked. I bet if the bloodhounds sniff around long enough, they might find a couple of jaywalking incidents, too. The guy is definitely a menace to society.

Judge Mordue, think of how all this looks to the rest of the state, to the rest of the world, to history. Think about how you'll likely look at it yourself in another couple of years.

Then please reconsider--and be proud to be an American. We'll gladly join you.

Sincerely,

(Ms.) Rabia Terri Harris, Coordinator Muslim Peace Fellowship
A condensed version of the above letter was published.

Dear Judge Mordue:

The repeated denial of bail to Dr. Rafil Dhafir, coming on the heels of the intimidation of the Muslim community in Syracuse, is an affront to the civil liberties our government is supposed to be defending in its "war on terrorism." If we deny basic rights in the name of defending those rights, we have surrendered the heritage we proclaim.

Richard Deats,Fellowship of Reconciliation

The Honorable Norman Mordue
U.S. District Court Judge

Dear Judge Mordue:

Grace and Peace to you. I am joining many others who question the manner in which another human being, Dr. Rafil Dhafir, is receiving justice in the recent denial of bail. His case is murky, involving charges of evading federal income tax payments and suspected Medicaid fraud, matters that are not to be taken lightly. However, he has yet to be proven guilty and it has been a hallmark of the code of justice in this country that individuals are presumed innocent until found otherwise. He also has a considerable record of community service in the Syracuse-Manlius area where he resides. I do not presume to be more knowledgeable of the law than you; my experience as a lifelong citizen of this country, however, is that individuals who pose no immediate threat to society are given the benefit of the doubt and are allowed to be released on bail. The fact that Dr. Dhafir was sending money through his charity, Help The Needy, to Iraq and that his arrest came amidst a wide-spread investigation of the Muslim community is telling. It appears that the political climate, rather than the actual charges under investigation, have influenced his plight. In light of the current administration's war on terrorism and subsequent movement toward curbing of civil liberties in the name of national security, I am concerned that Dr. Dhafir is being treated in a manner disturbingly similar to the treatment of Japanese Americans earlier in our history -- treatment that the nation now admits was unjust. Please do not lend your name to the list of those who must later regret their actions. Please show mercy and compassion to a man who perhaps is not perfect -- no human being ever is -- but who has given much of his life to saving the lives of others. Please do not let the disease of bias masquerade as concern for safety. Please do not let fear overcome our sense of fairness. It is difficult times such as these that test the courage of our steadfast convictions. May we be strong enough to truly stand for liberty and justice for all.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Angela Boatright, Spring Valley NY Episcopal Priest;
Member: Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Fellowship of Reconciliation
A condensed version of the above letter was published.

To the Editor:

Dr. Rafil Dhafir has been incarcerated for four months for helping send food and money to helpless children in Iraq. Dhafir is a highly respected and loved member of the Muslim community in Syracuse. He has strong ties to the community and he will not flee if granted bail

Omar Abdel-Razzaq, North Syracuse

To the Editor:

Dr. Rafil Dhafir is a respected Muslim oncologist who has lived in this community for more than 20 years. He has been incarcerated for helping the Iraqi people by giving them food and medicine. I thought the job of government was to find and prosecute murderers, rapists, thieves and drug dealers. If the man is a Muslim, he can be arrested for helping to save lives.

Issa Abughoush, Mattydale Ny

To the Editor:

Denied bail, Dr. Rafil Dhafir has not been able to exercise his constitutional right to make the best case possible in his own defense. The Muslim community is too terrified to speak in his behalf or assist him - that cold February morning when 150 families were inappropriately interrogated in conjunction with the raid upon Help the Needy is too frightful a memory.

Madis Senner, Syracuse

To the Editor:

I am confused. On the one hand, we learn that Dr. Rafil Dhafir is a generous, selfless, hard-working community man. On the other, the authorities want to paint the doctor in a light that taints his character, integrity and honor.

No one can deceive the thousands of our community members, Muslims and non-Muslims, for more than 20 years and make us believe what you accuse Dhafir of. Incarcerating Dhafir all this while, when killers, rapists, drug dealers and other such people roam the streets on bail, leads me to hold grave doubts about the fairness of our justice system. Dhafir is not a threat to society or a flight risk. Why not free him and give him a chance to defend himself?

Ahmad Hamad, Syracuse

IF BAIL WERE JUST $1 HE WOULD STILL FEEL OBLIGED

To the Editor:

Dr. Rafil Dhafir has been denied bail for fear that he will abscond

The Muslim community and non-Muslim sympathizers have raised in excess of $1 million in money, property and other assets toward his bail. We feel extremely confident that he would not become a renegade from justice. I have known Dhafir for 23 years. If the bail were only $1, he would feel an obligation to his creator and the Muslim community and the non-Muslim supporters to appear in court.

I hope bail soon will be granted, giving him greater leverage to help himself in his defense.

DHAFIR DESERVES A MEDAL INSTEAD OF INCARCERATION

To the Editor:

When a person moves from his country of birth and adopts America as his own, does that automatically break ties to relatives and friends?

If years after his arrival in the United States, the country is declared an "axis of evil," do all the people in that country become less than human, not deserving assistance?

I believe that Dr. Rafil Dhafir's charity was a worthy cause, helping people in an Iraq devastated by sanctions. While a majority of people just stood and watched, Dhafir decided to do something.

If we see ourselves to be guided by moral principles, we need to award Dhafir a medal of honor instead of sending him to prison.

Husna Hamza Syracuse

The Capture: First Thoughts
Saddam's cash stash rekindles a local concern

To the Editor:

What a great surprise it was to wake up Sunday morning and learn that Saddam Hussein had been captured. I hope this will be a milestone on the road to the recovery of the people of Iraq.

It was interesting that Hussein had $750,000 with him. Was this part of the "Food for Oil" funds that the United Nations allowed to be sent to Iraq? During the years of sanctions, the United States accused Saddam of taking the money that was to be used for medical supplies and food and using it for personal purposes. When Gen. Tommy Franks visited one of Saddam's palaces, he commented that it was part of the "oil for palace" program.

For the past few years there have been pictures on the news of starving Iraqi children and Iraqi children dying in the hospitals for lack of basic medical care. It seems that like me, the majority of Americans were distressed by this while watching it - and then forgot about it.

Dr. Rafil Dhafir did not turn his back on the starving and ill children of Iraq. He is an oncologist who treated Central New Yorkers with cancer. Apparently, when he sees a problem, he takes action. When Dhafir realized there was a need for medical services in rural New York state, he helped start a medical center in Camden. It appears that when he realized children were dying in Iraq, he started a charity to get aid to them and not to Saddam.

Last February, Dr. Dhafir and others were arrested by the federal government for violating the sanctions that govern supplying aid to Iraq. Dr. Dhafir is still in prison, awaiting trial. Although his passport and assets have been taken away, he is still considered a flight risk, and is to be imprisoned until his trial.

It would be a wonderful gift to the people of Iraq if Saddam's $750,000 were used to help the starving and the ill of their country, as was originally intended. It would be a wonderful gift for the people of the United States, especially us in Central New York, if Dr. Dhafir were released to care for our terminally ill while awaiting trial.

Andrea Deans Pulaski

Letters sent but not published

To the Editor:

As Jews, we are aware of the many similarities between Judaism and Islam. Our traditional languages, dietary laws, and theologies have much in common. "Kosher" food rules are extremely similar to the Islamic "Halal" practice. Jews say "Shalom Alechem," Muslims say "Salaam Aleikum," and we both mean "Peace Unto You." Indeed Jews have fared better under Muslim rule than we have under Christian rule for the bulk of our shared history. Our Jewish history is filled with being singled out, often persecuted, because we are of a different religion and culture. Thus, we are dismayed, along with many fellow citizens, to see our Muslim neighbors targeted in this community. Early on the morning of February 26 of this year, 150 Muslim families in our community received surprise interrogations from police officers. Simultaneously, Dr. Rafil Dhafir, Ayman Jarwan and Osameh Al Wahaidy were arrested for their affiliation with the charity Help the Needy. Their crime: supplying humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq. The merits of the case cannot be argued here, but we are aware that many other groups, including Central New Yorkers, have similarly violated the US sanctions against humanitarian aid to Iraq without being arrested, or as in the case of Dr. Dhafir, held in jail without bail. For the past four decades, thousands of people from the US have provided humanitarian aid to Cuba despite the US blockade without the consequences suffered by the Syracuse Muslim community. At least one person lost his job without having been convicted of a crime and another lost access to his livelihood through prolonged incarceration without trial on the charges he was arrested for, charity for the people of Iraq. Muslim communities throughout the United States have been targeted in similar fashion. This came in the wake of the ultra-patriotic reaction after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Some in our government wish to brand anyone who does not fully comply with US government policies as a suspected traitor, much as in the McCarthy era of the 1950s. As members of the Jewish community of Syracuse, New York, we condemn the targeting of persons of a particular religion or background. As a historically-targeted people we feel deeply the dangers of such practices by governments and feel a responsibility to raise our voices. We urge the immediate release of Dr. Dhafir on a reasonable bail, and a speedy and fair trial.

Signers

Carole Resnick, Syracuse
Jim Brule, Fayetteville
R.A. Cooper, Liverpool
John Burdick, Syracuse
Diana Cramer, Syracuse
Shirley Novak, Syracuse
Ron Ehrenreich, Syracuse
Richard Weiskopf, Syracuse
Mara Sapon-Shevin, Syracuse
Mayer Shevin, Syracuse
Andy Mager, Syracuse
elana levy, Syracuse
Brent Bleier, Syracuse
Sam Feld, Syracuse
Jane Feld, Syracuse
Rae Kramer, Syracuse
Robert Sarason, Syracuse

To the Editor,

Dr. Rafil Dahfir, a Manlius oncologist with a practice in Rome, New York was arrested about five months ago on charges of illegally sending money to Iraq.

We believe that Americans who violated sanctions against Iraq knew that hundreds of Iraqui children died every day due to the bureaucratic red tape, unnecessary delays and inexcusable errors of Government officials in the U.S., the U.N. Security Council and Iraq.

Denis Halliday, Hons Von Sponek and Jutta Burghart U.N. Humanitarian Coordinators resigned their positions calling the sanctions, "genocide."

Members of Congress, Mr. Conyers, Bonior, Clay, Jefferson, Ms. Velazques, McKinney, Jackson-Lee, Slaughter and Baldwin, sponsored the bill H R 742 to change the misguided sanctions against Iraq that Rep Bonior called, "infanticide."

According to a Post standard report 6-20-03, Assistant District Attorney Michael Olmstead argued in court June 19th that "there were 1,000 legal organizations shipping goods to Iraq. We never heard of such legal organizations other than the Food for Oil Program which was part of the U.S. led policy of Economic Sanctions that resulted in the suffering, malnutrition and deaths of over a million infants and children in Iraq. Given the suffering and death of so many innocents, we as members in Pax Christi and St. Andrew's Justice and Peace Committee, Syracuse continually opposed these sanctions as a crime against humanity.

During the time of these sanctions, members of our community participated in several peace missions to Iraq. On each occasion we collected medical supplies and educational materials to give directly to the suffering innocents of this country. While this action might appear to be against the letter of the law, we believe that the moral law of compassion for our suffering brothers and sisters in Iraq, takes precedence.

We are not sure of all the particulars for which Dr. Dahfir has been charged. However, we are convinced that he felt the same predicament between the letter of the law and compassion. His widespread support by family, friends, peers, Muslim community and others, offers clear evidence of his deep roots in our local community. We join with this support community to demand Dr. Dahfir's constitutional right for bail.

Incarcerated without bail since last February, the constitutional right for Dr. Dahfir to participate most fully in his own defense, has been denied. The seriousness of the charges requires he be freed, given the opportunity to talk more in depth with his own witnesses, obtain documents and help establish the truth of his own defense.

Furthermore, being held without bail gives the appearance of a decision that is politically driven. Therefore, we urge our Federal Court to set bail for Dr. Dahfir, recognizing that he is innocent until proven guilty. Such a decision would serve the purposes of America's democracy and guarantee of freedoms, which all of us strive to uphold.

Pax Christi members: Frank Woolever, Rose Mannara, Martin Lawlor, Fran Lawlor, Mary Cosgrove, Dick Keough, Bill Cuddy, Jeanne DeSocio, Jim and Terry Deegan, Madis Senner.

St. Andrews's Justice and Peace Committee: Sr. Bergan, Jane Hugo, Dave Chisholm, John Murray, Kathleen Rumpf and Cathy Gregory.

Syracuse Post Standard
Clinton Square 13201

To Editor:

Judge Norman Mordue’s constant refusal to grant bail to Dr Rafil Dhafir, a person of admirable character who is esteemed by friends, neighbors and medical patients, is an example of how the unconstitutional Patriot Act and the daily “selling of fear” among our people, adversely effects our minds and hearts, our judgments and concern for others. I don’t know Judge Mordue; he may be a very honest and fine judge. Yet, his decision suggests a fear of an innocent honorable man. Perhaps unconsciously, a “patriotic fear” is beginning to blind? I would gladly join the hundreds of people who have willingly raised $1.2 million dollars for Dr Dhafir’s bail, but why does our judicial realm still deny his rights??

Submitted by: Rev Theodore C Sizing
Retired Director of Social Action Ministry, Diocese of Syracuse

To: Editors, Post Standard

RE: Dr. Dhafir-denial of bail-unequal justice

I have watched the progress of Dr. Dhafir's case over the past several months with increased alarm. Dr. Dhafir was jailed on charges related to sending what he claimed to be humanitarian aid to Iraq without registering with the U.S. government.

He has been denied bail several times. According to the US Code, the judge has the option of denying bail when the defendant has a high probability of not appearing for trail or will endanger the safely of any other person or the community. Bail, if granted, can also be revoked if the defendant has interfered with or threatened witnesses or has otherwise violated the conditions of release. I do not see this man fitting into any of these categories. In fact, he is a valuable, productive citizen.

The list of charges has also grown. This is great for the prosecution who is able to build the case with the full force and resources of the government. Not so for the defendant who is unable to do much in jail. Remember, he is presumed innocent until proven guilty. This is guaranteed to "us" by the Constitution. It is in itself unethical if not illegal to remove a productive and valuable person from his community and keep him imprisoned on unproven charges.

There is a great danger in giving unequal justice. We have seen the result of this in societies that we have condemned such as Nazi Germany, the former Soviet Union and other police states. Equal protection of the law is a very valuable constitutional right. Let's not lose it to fear.

It appears that Dr. Dhafir is essentially being used as an example to others. The model of intimidation does work. It is very true that people who would otherwise speak out against his treatment do not because they are afraid of being targeted and losing their civil rights as well. The Patriot Act allows domestic spying, secret searches, wiretaps without showing probable cause, monitoring of your email and what books you borrow from the library or purchase from a store. This greatly diminishes our constitutional rights. It seems that what America seeks to protect is being rapidly lost.

Lorraine Mavins, Syracuse, NY