[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Springtime In Islamberg (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/11/2007 4:35:41 PM EDT
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"Communities" like this are being established all over the country. http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/paul-williams051107.htm Springtime in Islamberg Radical Muslim paramilitary compound flourishes in upper New York state Situated within a dense forest at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains on the outskirts of Hancock, New York, Islamberg is not an ideal place for a summer vacation unless, of course, you are an exponent of the Jihad or a fan of Osama bin Laden. The 70 acre complex is surrounded with "No trespassing" signs; the rocky terrain is infested with rattlesnakes; and the woods are home to black bears, coyotes, wolves, and a few bobcats. The entrance to the community is at the bottom of a very steep hill that is difficult to navigate even on a bright sunny day in May. The road, dubbed Muslim Lane, is unpaved and marred by deep crevices that have been created by torrential downpours. On a wintry day, few, save those with all terrain vehicles, could venture forth from the remote encampment. A sentry post has been established at the base of the hill. The sentry, at the time of this visit, is an African American dressed in Islamic garb - - a skull cap, a prayer shawl, and a loose fitting shalwat kameez. He instructs us to turn around and leave. "Our community is not open to visitors," he says. Behind the sentry and across a small stream stand dozens of inhabitants of the compound - - the men wearing skull caps and loose fitting tunics, the women in full burqa. They appear ready to deal with any unauthorized intruders. The hillside is blighted by rusty trailers that appear to be without power or running water and a number of outhouses. The scent of raw sewage is in the air. The place is even off limits to the local undertaker who says that he has delivered bodies to the complex but has never been granted entrance. "They come and take the bodies from my hearse. They won't allow me to get past the sentry post. They say that they want to prepare the bodies for burial. But I never get the bodies back. I don't know what's going on there but I don't think it's legal." On the other side of the hill where few dare to go is a tiny village replete with a make-shift learning center (dubbed the "International Quranic Open University"); a trailer converted into a Laundromat; a small, green community center; a small and rather squalid grocery store; a newly constructed majid; over forty clapboard homes; and scores of additional trailers. It is home to hundreds - - all in Islamic attire, and all African-Americans. Most drive late model SUVs with license plates from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The locals say that some work as tollbooth operators for the New York State Thruway, while others are employed at a credit card processing center that maintains confidential financial records. While buzzing with activity during the week, the place becomes a virtual hive on weekends. The guest includes arrivals from the inner cities of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and, occasionally, white-robed dignitaries in Ray-Bans from the Middle East. Venturing into the complex last summer, Douglas Hagmann, an intrepid investigator and director of the Northeast Intelligence Service, came upon a military training area at the eastern perimeter of the property. The area was equipped with ropes hanging from tall trees, wooden fences for scaling, a make-shift obstacle course, and a firing range. Hagmann said that the range appeared to have been in regular use. Islamberg is not as benign as a Buddhist monastery or a Carmelite convent. Nearly every weekend, neighbors hear sounds of gunfire. Some, including a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, have heard the bang of small explosives. None of the neighbors wished to be identified for fear of "retaliation." "We don't even dare to slow down when we drive by," one resident said. "They own the mountain and they know it and there is nothing we can do about it but move, and we can't even do that. Who wants to buy a property near that?" Islamberg's Grocery Store The complex serves to scare the bejeesus out of the local residents. "If you go there, you better wear body armor," a customer at the Circle E Diner in Hancock said. "They have armed guards and if they shoot you, nobody will find your body." At Cousins, a watering hole in nearby Deposit, a barfly, who didn't wish to be identified, said: "The place is dangerous. You can hear gunfire up there. I can't understand why the FBI won't shut it down." Islamberg is a branch of Muslims of the Americas Inc., a tax-exempt organization formed in 1980 by Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, who refers to himself as "the sixth Sultan Ul Faqr," Gilani, has been directly linked by court documents to Jamaat ul-Fuqra or "community of the impoverished," an organization that seeks to "purify" Islam through violence. Though primarily based in Lahore, Pakistan, Jamaat ul-Fuqra has operational headquarters in New York and openly recruits through various social service organizations in the U.S., including the prison system. Members live in hamaats or compounds, such as Islamberg, where they agree to abide by the laws of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which are considered to be above local, state and federal authority. Additional hamaats have been established in Hyattsville, Maryland; Red House, Virginia; Falls Church, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; York, South Carolina; Dover, Tennessee; Buena Vista, Colorado; Talihina, Oklahoma; Tulane Country, California; Commerce, California; and Onalaska, Washington. Others are being built, including an expansive facility in Sherman, Pennsylvania. Before becoming a citizen of Islamberg or any of the other Fuqra compounds, the recruits - - primarily inner city black men who became converts in prison - - are compelled to sign an oath that reads: "I shall always hear and obey, and whenever given the command, I shall readily fight for Allah's sake." In the past, thousands of members of the U.S. branches of Jamaat ul-Fuqra traveled to Pakistan for paramilitary training, but encampments, such as Islamberg, are now capable of providing boot-camp training so raw recruits are no longer required to travel abroad amidst the increased scrutiny of post 9/11. Over the years, numerous members of Jamaat ul-Fuqra have been convicted in US courts of such crimes as conspiracy to commit murder, firebombing, gun smuggling, and workers' compensation fraud. Others remain leading suspects in criminal cases throughout the country, including ten unsolved assassinations and seventeen fire-bombings between 1979 and 1990. The criminal charges against the group and the criminal convictions are not things of the past. In 2001, a resident of a California compound was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of a sheriff's deputy; another was charged with gun-smuggling' and twenty-four members of the Red House community were convicted of firearms violations. By 2004 federal investigators uncovered evidence that linked both the DC "sniper killer" John Allen Muhammed and "Shoe Bomber" Richard Reid to the group and reports surfaced that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was captured and beheaded in the process of attempting to obtain an interview with Sheikh Gilani in Pakistan. Even though Jamaat ul-Fuqra has been involved in terror attacks and sundry criminal activities, recruited thousands of members from federal and state penal systems, and appears to be operating paramilitary facilities for militant Muslims, it remains to be placed on the official US Terror Watch List. On the contrary, it continues to operate, flourish, and expand as a legitimate nonprofit, tax-deductible charity. |
Hancock, New York, Hyattsville, Maryland; Red House, Virginia; Falls Church, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; York, South Carolina; Dover, Tennessee; Buena Vista, Colorado; Talihina, Oklahoma; Tulane Country, California; Commerce, California; and Onalaska, Washington - that's an odd mix - any ideas on what else those areas might have in common?  (ETA the one in Hancock + the "expansive facility in Sherman, Pennsylvania" being built are both pretty close to a main line RR that runs right into NYC - hmmm) |
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This isnt too far from my home, perhaps about 2 hours. Theres a bit of info if you dig around on the net. When the tsunami hit, this place was practically abandoned as its "Dr.'s" and such went overseas to help. IIRC there is a guard shack by the main entrance, along with radios, cameras and other communications equipment. One road in and out. Some 'investigator' went to the site, when it was supposedly 'abandoned' and was 'greeted' by two individuals. One who claimed to be the 'leader' or 'iman' or whatever he claimed to be. However they didnt let him stick around too long, other than in the main area where school houses were or such. They have a website, just do a search on Google for "Islamberg." You'll also find other links to locals talking about what they hear going on. I'm sure the feds/state is aware, and perhaps the location is under watch...but if its 'military in nature' I'm sure they (Islamberg residents) have various countermeasures in place to watch those watching. Who wants to go camping? 
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Are these sanctuary cities? Don't ask don't tell immigration types? Just wondering also. |
I've wondered this since I first read about these rural Islamic retreats at the Gates of Vienna blog (link) a while back. Jamaat ul-Fuqra in Virginia is the subject they've focused on. And that's just it. The best I can figure, they're in remote areas simply for the isolation. Which is fine in and of itself if they're there for peaceful purposes... ...But I'm not convinced every one of their little outposts is there for peaceful purposes. |
Why have two (Hancock NY & Sherman PA) in such close proximity? Article says they have a pretty good spread at the former, but are building something larger at the latter. Still think there has to be a common thread - maybe something with the local politicians or businesses? Ideas? |
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Late-night bump... For anyone local to any of these places: Hancock, NY; Hyattsville, Maryland; Red House, Virginia; Falls Church, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; York, South Carolina; Dover, Tennessee; Buena Vista, Colorado; Talihina, Oklahoma; Tulane Country, California; Commerce, California; Onalaska, Washington; Sherman, Pennsylvania. Are you aware of these facilities? Who bought them? (and who sold them) County assessment records can often provide scoop... any other info on the comings & goings and so on? It bothers me to even have to ask questions like that - one would hope that TPTB would have the places under a microscope, but these days who knows anymore...  |
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The main point is that the evidence indicates that these people are organizing, preparing, and training. Gunfire and explosions heard from their property in NY state??? New York, of all places. You'd think that the state would be very interested. After all, I've heard they have some pretty strict laws when it comes to such things. The knowledge of these places and what they seem to be doing just tells me that it's important for US to be prepared. I won't go looking for a fight, but I'm determined to put up a heck of a defense. |
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The Hancock NY one is 2 miles from a NYC water reservoir. Link |
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Black Muslims recruited in PRISON. Big surprise there. It would seem that a predominantly FELON ridden group with GUNS would attract the attention of our LEO's. Oh wait, they're not white seperatists or fundamentalist Christians so it's okay  Oh, and BRING IT BITCH!!! (I live about an hour from Dover, TN) |
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My laws trump their laws, if needs be. When there is a well known nest of actual, deliberate, hardcore criminals, openly flaunting the law, the feds can be awfully hard to find. However, if you attempt to organize a defence against people like that......watch the fuck out. |
SC place... www.foxcarolina.com/Global/story.asp?S=4560518 Neighbors like that would creep me out. |
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People overlook our own Muslims when thinking terrorist, and that WILL be fatal! Converts to a religeon are always it's most ardent zealots, combine that with the fact most Aerican Muslims originated their faith in prisons and other facilities and already hate society for punishing them for their acts and bam you got an instant Jihaddi just add brainwashing. This is not a bash, all american muslims are not that ardent, however i work in a Juvenile Facitlity dealing with offenders of diffrent backrounds mostly drugs. We do interventions, I'm not talking about talking to them some of these get heated and end in physical restraints. After Muslim client gets mad more often than not they threaten staff with statements such as "You wait when all the muslim brothers unite you will die like every other infidel oppressor!" and things of that sort. You could dismiss it as idle gum flapping but it's not, we hear it more and more often since 9-11. Then you have the quiet type who just practice their religeon in peace and want to be left alone, they usually outright state to staff what they think of the Zealots and try to moderte the zealots to no avail. This is because there are two types of Muslims in facitlites, ones who practice the faith and it's a personal thing, and the Nation of Islam, who actually delusde themselves into thinking they are accepted by Islam as a whole when in reality they are the laughing stock of Imams all over the world. Do not fatally underestimate the power of the enemy within, they are recruiting fast in prisons and institutions through intimidation and peer pressure. They have their conversion spiel down to an exact science to make their religeon sound the most reasonable of any and the most accurate of any. Real smooth operators they could have a career convincing eskimos they need ice water. I'm not bashing mind you just offering real life daily observations on the islamic brothers and their view of everybody else and the world. |
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Heres a link to an excellent .pdf report on Islamberg - property assessments, interviews, maps, etc. : www.homelandsecurityus.com/specialreports?page=1 |
EXCELLENT post Fireguy. I couldn't agree more. One (of many) disturbing things I read in a book I've mentioned on Arfcom more than a few times (called "Holy War on the Home Front" by Harvey Kushner - BUY IT) was that the Islamic prison "chaplains" are all "sanctioned" by some Islamic group that has ties to extremism. Not only that, but these "chaplains" are not supervised by prison officials and they operate independently of the prison system. Tell me that's not a ripe opportunity for induction into extremist activities... |
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There is another one in Virginia if I remember correctly and it is close to a nuke plant... gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2005/10/jamaat-ul-fuqra-in-virginia-part-1.html It's a few hours West of me |