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Daniel Pipes on his weblog discusses of the unexplained aspects of the Lodi California jihad case.
The arrest this week of five men of Pakistani origins in Lodi, California, on what are likely to be terrorism-related charges (terrorism was initially a formal part of the picture but was then retracted) has prompted extensive media coverage. The coverage has uncovered some mysteries, which I note here in the hopes of finding answers to.Hamid Hayat, 22, arrested on his return from what he admits was a jihadist camp in Pakistan, is an American citizen born in Stockton, California who attended school (though only up to the sixth grade) in the United States. That being the case, why does the Los Angeles Times write that, "Apparently unable to follow the proceedings in English, Hayat listened with the help of an Urdu translator"? Perhaps it's because Lodi contains an Urdu-speaking ghetto; an earlier article quotes one Pakistani immigrant, Raja Khan, estimating that around 80 percent of Lodi's Pakistanis are not fluent speakers of English. (In the absence of the two imams yesterday, the mosque service was held in Urdu.)
June 14, 2005 update: Johnny Griffin III, the lawyer for Hamid's father, says the Hayats didn't make some statements attributed to them in the complaint. "For one thing, there was no interpreter present, and Hamid speaks and understands very little English."
When he was arrested, Hamid Hayat, the junior-high dropout, was packing cherries. His father, Umer, sells ice cream from a truck. But his maternal grandfather, Qari Saeed ur Rehman, founded the Jamia Islamia Madrassa in 1962 (and still runs it), is a leader in the Jamiat Ulema Islam Party, and served as minister of religious affairs in the late 1980s. The family is Pakistani religious royalty – so, what are the father and son doing in California as unskilled laborers?Hamid Hayat's attorney, Wazhma Mojaddidi, explaining why his family traveled so often to Pakistan, said that it went "on one occasion to seek medical treatment for the mother." It traveled to Pakistan for medical reasons? Urdu-speaking doctors are not hard to find in northern California and they dispose of far superior facilities, so what's up?
On April 19, 2003, on the way to Pakistan, the same day Hamid and Umer Hayat were stopped at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Christiana Halsey revealed that they were found with $28,093 in cash. What is an ice-cream vendor doing with such an amount of money and why is he breaking U.S. customs regulations by taking out so much cash without declaring it?
And, speaking of money and travel, here is something curious about the Farooqia Islamic Center: the 2003 tax return of this apparently Islamist institution (it hosted the likes of Siraj Wahaj and links to the Islamic Society of North America and the Saudi Ministry of Religious Affairs) shows operating expenses of $57,544 in 2003, of which over one third, or $20,625, was spent on travel. Wonder why.
Posted by Rebecca at June 19, 2005 5:44 PM
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Very Islamophobic questions.
But seriously, all roads of the Jihad seem to lead to Pakistan. Almost every Jihadi story has a Pakistan link. Every terrorist arrested in the West spent time in Pakistan, even if they are not Pakistani.
Posted by: Zico![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 19, 2005 6:11 PM
I read that the Pakistani community in Lodi dated back to the 1930's. That statement is curious in and of itself since Pakistan did not exist until 1948. I also read, on this blog a few days ago, that the 3rd and 4th generation Lodi Muslims did not appreciate the interference of the radical Muslims moving into the community and that the "old guard" was organizing a protest of CAIR for supporting the father and son GOOD HUMOR duo. That would merit major headlines if that happened. I agree with Dr. Pipes. Even if GOOD HUMOR, Jr. only went to the sixth grade, it seems his scanty education and casual exposure with the "townies" over the years would have made him proficient in English. It is a strange story to be sure.
Posted by: maryrose at June 19, 2005 6:21 PM
Another possibility: Are authorities sure that Hayat, Jr. is really who he says he is? Can anyone outside the Muslim community identify him as the grade school drop out? Was there a switch back in Pakistan? Could this non-English speaking American-born illiterate actually be a well-trained, recently arrived jihadist waiting for his orders?
Posted by: maryrose at June 19, 2005 6:31 PM
They all need to go!
Posted by: Carolyn2 at June 19, 2005 7:04 PM
Maryrose.
I posted the 3&4 generation info a couple of days ago. Got it from one of the Lodi newspapers. The 'old guard' are actually protesting against the two Imams. As it turns out, some of the earliest arrivals were in the 20's. The paper probably ment either Muslims, or people from present day Pakistan.
I, too, wondered about Good Humor, Jr.'s true identity. One of the Lodi paper's had a picture of him in the local mosque just after 9/11. He's probably who he says he is, but how about all the other players?
Is the ice cream duo running an immigration scam? Lot's of trips. Out of the way community. Not too assimilated? Some switching? Slender guys traveling in women's garb? This could be really interesting.
Or, not.
Posted by: PRCS at June 19, 2005 9:12 PM
Good luck to the South Asian-American "Old Guard" protesting CAIR.
There's not a bit of mystery surrounding Good Humor Jr.'s weakness in English. It happens whenever the prosecutor starts asking questions that are a little too pointed, and it gives the accused an opportunity to stall for a little time. People from Southeastern China do it; so I'm sure others do it as well.
Posted by: Kepha at June 20, 2005 12:31 AM
Kepha.
Good point. And funny.
However, for a guy born in Stockton, there's some weakness in that argument.
Assuming he's the same guy.
Posted by: PRCS at June 20, 2005 12:39 AM
testing
Posted by: Kepha at June 20, 2005 6:26 AM
PRCS: I really wasn't trying to be funny. I've actually seen it while translating for lawyers. Yes, if you have more than one language, wrok as a translator. It's fun dealing with lawyers and calling them "my clients".
On the other hand, this case intrigues me much. It looks as if there's a long-established Islamic community where people have long been at least somewhat at home in the USA which is showing a serious division between "old-timers" and "newcomers" over terror-linked imams.
Posted by: Kepha at June 20, 2005 6:32 AM
I worked in court for many years, and it's a well known dodge to claim to need an interpreter so that you can claim at some point that your interrogation and in this case confession was illegal because you didn't understand English well enough to understand the proceedings.
Posted by: PJ at June 20, 2005 1:13 PM
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