Ginny’s Thoughts & Things

Link: Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/29/2005 | About 500 mourn devoted young father.

Assalamu alaikum / greetings, speaking strictly as a white person, and strictly from my own experience. many (but not all so don’t get upset at me for saying this) white people have a tendency to pretend that racism doesn’t exist! And it is something that has always annoyed / aggravated / angered me! You’ve got some people who think that the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s fixed everything, and now everything in America, as regards race relations / racism / prejudice is just peachy!

And I can’t even say I’m shocked at the blatant housing discrimination which the brother owning the Manrilla blog has faced. I mean, a part of me wants to be shocked, but then, well, I’m not. Racism / prejudice is alive and well in this country, as much as I wish it wasn’t.

And I have my moments where, though I’m about as white as you can possibly get, white people really make me angry! One thing that gets me angry, in particular is statements like “I don’t have a racist bone in my body!” But then, the same person would completely have a conniption if their daughter dated / brought home/ married a black man!

Yeah, whatever… The same people that will talk talk talk about how un-racist / un-prejudiced they are are many times the same people who will say some of the most racist / prejudicial things.

I may not like the Klan of course, but at least they’re honest. I’d take a white guy screaming, “White power!” any day over some person sitting there pretending to be the most open-minded person on the face of the planet, but yet secretly harboring racist beliefs, only for their real feelings to surface when they think it’s “safe”.

However, having said all of this, I also bristle at the assumption by some minorities that “all” white people are racist or card-carrying members of the KKK. Not all of us are racist. And I don’t think my color should be the automatic determining factor on whether someone thinks I’m a racist or not. Let my actions and my words be the final determining factor, not something like my color, which Allah gave me, and which I have no control over.

Link: The Manrilla Blog: Race In America: Reflections Of An Angry Black Man.

Assalamu alaikum / greetings… A friend of mine drew my attention to this site. I guess someone on an email group she was on, found the site and commented on how “this site is really waking me / us up” etc.

I was asked to look over the site and comment on it. Truth be told, I didn’t get past the front page. The motives of the site administrators are clear, mostly because of their view that “Islam has a way of taking countries back to the Middle Ages”, and also they note that they are”a bunch of regular Western guys from around the world who are against Muslim mass immigration”. So, to me, that should tell you something right there, and that should definitely let people know that these people definitely have an agenda.

Are there terrible things done, by Muslims, purportedly in the name of Islam, yes, but is this necessarily Islamic? No, it is not. However, what is more troubling to me is the site’s assertion that “this goes far beyond terrorism”. The thing is, Robert Spencer, Daniel Pipes, et al., would really love this site!

I know I should probably write a more thorough review. But to be honest, I dont have the stomach for it! If these people who have supposedly been “woken up” by this site have any questions / concerns, I’d definitely be happy to address them. But black people / other minorities are not asked to go to racist websites and made to defend themselves, just because some people have been “woken up”, by the propaganda spewing forth from such sites. And the same, I feel, is true with this site. I shouldn’t have to defend myself or Islam, just becuase some people have found a virulently anti-Muslim site and have been “woken up” by the supposedly troubling things they’ve seen there.

I just find it interesting that statements made about and against Muslims would never be tolerated if said statements were directed toward any other group of people.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so harsh. Maybe I should “understand”, and take the time to “explain things”, but I doubt that that would do any good. People are going to see what they are going to see. And if they are going to be bigoted against Islam, there isn’t too much that little old me can do about it. I wonder if these people have even taken the time to actually ask Muslims about Islam, and ask what they feel about terrible atrocities committed supposedly in the name of Islam.

From what I gather from what little I’ve heard regarding the reaction to this site, I’d say not. And to be honest, I don’t have the time, the energy, nor the stomach to sit through a bunch of admittedly anti-Islamic videos / articles / etc., just so I can waste my energy rebutting this site to a bunch of people who are just not going to believe me anyway.

What I’d rather do is let anyone who has questions, bring their concerns one by one, so I can hopefully answer them. And I mean serious questions, if all you want to do is further your own Islamophobic outlook, then I don’t have the time for that.

So anyway, the link is below. Comment to your heart’s content.

Link: muslimsout.org.

Assalamu alaikum / greetings… OK, I cooked today! For everyone in the house, which I don’t do that often, simply because usually someone else is cooking. Although I’m sure I could take some initiative and start cooking more.

Anyway, there are not that many Gambian dishes that I can make. No, let me rephrase that. There is * one! * Gambian dish I can make with at least some confidence. Now, I’m not sure of the exact name of the dish, though someone just yesterday told me the name of the dish might be chu or chew? Not sure of the spelling. But here is how you make it, or at least how I make it. Any Gambian readers of this blog, or anyone knowledgeable in Gambian / West African cooking feel free to chime in and add anything or correct me if I’ve done anything wrong.

OK, for the dish, you can either use chicken, beef, or fish, though I’ve always used chicken. And then you need potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, peppers, I use green peppers, and whatever other kind of vegetables you have around. I’ve seen squash and eggplant used also. You also need cooking oil, I usually use vegetable oil.

OK, chop up your chicken into bite-sized pieces, I usually use the boneless, skinless chicken breast, though I guess you can use whatever kind of chicken you would like to use. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and whatever kind of spices you want. put some oil in the bottom of a big pot. Heat up the oil, put the chicken in, but be careful not to get the oil too hot. Also, you’ll want to chop up your vegetables too, and most of the time people peel the potatoes, though I’ve made the dish without peeling the potatoes, and it’s OK either way.

Cook the chicken, and when the outside starts getting cooked / firm, put in your onions, green peppers and garlic, you can either use fresh garlic or the garlic that comes in the jar. Then, you’ll need to put in the rest of your vegetables. Now, normally, at this point you’d also put in either tomato paste and enough water to cook the vegetables, or you can do like I do, and just get a jar / can of spaghetti sauce, and put enough of it in the pot to cook the vegetables. Either way, you’ll get the same result / consistency in the end.

OK, you bring everything in the pot to a boil, but you don’t want it boiling too much, I’d say put the stove on medium heat, and let everything boil until the vegetables get cooked. You’ll want to stir everything occasionally, though, but not too much. Then, while everything is cooking, get another pot and cook as much rice as you think you’ll need to feed the amount of people you are trying to feed. The same goes for the ingredients you want to put in the dish. Cut up as much chicken and vegetables as you think you’ll need to feed everyone you’re cooking for.

Anyway, once you’re done, once everything is done cooking, then you get the plates out, put the rice on the plates, and then put the dish ontop of the rice. And that’s how you eat it!

OK, so maybe that might not be the best way of describing how to make the dish. But anyway… It’s a nice dish if you want to feed a lot of people. And everyone here at the house liked it.

Assalamu alaikum, the following quote came from someone who’d emailed me a while back regarding the house fire. He recently emailed me again to ask how I was doing. He was on a blindness-related email group that I was also on, had been a practicing Muslim for many years, yet now is not a practicing Muslim. However, now he’s begun rereading the Quran. It’s also interesting to note that when I brought up madhhabs, he said to me that he’d never heard of madhhabs, and wanted to know what they were. Anyway, I think the quotes below demonstrate part of the reasons why many new Muslims might be driven away from Islam.

As-salaam Ailaikum,
Actually, my reason for leaving Islam was because of my visit to Saudi Arabia. I was deeply disturbed about the way women were treated in that society.
I personally observed a woman being dragged out of a car and arrested simply for driving. For a woman to drive in Saudi Arabia is illegal. Also, one of
the women in our group went out into the general population without Hijab. She was raped by a couple of men. When we complained to the Saudi authorities,
we were told in essence that she brout it upon herself because she was not properly dressed. These things truly affected me and I began to question my
commitment to Islam. Interestingly, whenever a theological issue arises, my first thought is the Islamic view on it. I guess that is because I was a practicing
Muslim for over twelve years. I don’t look at your advice as an attempt to sway me one way or the other; it is very much appreciated.

Assalamu alaikum / greetings, some recent conversations with a few people regarding domestic violence and the Muslim community got me to thinking. Of course, as always, there needs to be education on domestic violence: what it is, the cycle of violence, etc. But what also needs to happen is, there really needs to be education given to imams / other people in the community who may have to handle and deal with these sorts of situations. They need to know that it’s not enough just to “talk to the brother” and get his assurances that it will never happen again. They also need to be careful and not be in a rush to send a sister back into a potentialy dangerous situation for herself and any children who may be involved, simply for the sake of saving a marriage or “keeping a brother from being tempted”.

Any members in the community who are responsible for handling family / marital disputes need to understand that incidents involving domestic violence / abuse could potentially be a life or death situation, an these situations need to be handled with extreme care!

I think what sometimes happens is that a sister leaves the home, seeks help from the community, and what happens is that someone goes and talks to the brother, the brother convinces them that everything is OK, that it was just a simple argument that got out of hand, and that everything is OK. So then the sister is told that she can, and in fact, should go back home, in order to save the marriage and keep the brother from “being tempted by haram things”. So instead of the brother being counselled on the “haramness” of his abuse of his wife, which made her leave the home in the first place, the situation seems to get turned around, and instead what seems to happen is that the sister gets lectured on how she has to “hurry up and go back home as soon as possible, to save your husband from being tempted”. So, it’s almost like it becomes the sister’s fault for leaving in the first place, like the problems of the marriage, and the goal of saving the marriage and putting things back together lies squarely on her shoulders!

Then, once the sister gets back home, then the brother is again safe to resume his abuse of her. And what is worse, he, in his own mind, may feel he may now have the sanction of the imam / community, because the imam or whoever was in charge of handling the dispute sent the sister back home. So then what happens is the sister gets chastized by the brother for “airing our marital secrets”.

What people need to understand about domestic violence / abuse is that it’s not just the physical abuse or the verbal abuse either that is so insidious. What is so insidious about domestic abuse is how it completely and utterly tears the victim down! And no matter how much said victim struggles to please the abuser, the abuser will constantly find things wrong with the victim. And it will get to the point that the victim will start to think that they are nothing!

How is that for damaging one’s iman, one’s Islam, one’s spirituality! I mean, how can one focous on subduing one’s nafs and purifying their heart, when they’re just trying not to get beaten, or trying to keep the abuser happy? I can speak from experience on this one and say that it’s extremely damaging to one’s Islam to be in a situation like this! And it’s even more damaging when one tries to handle things “Islamically”, yet in the end feels that the people that you turned to to help you, seem to have taken the abuser’s side. And then you feel just completely and utterly let down. So if you try to leave the abusive situation again, what would make one think that they could again rely on the Muslim community to help them? And this could be one thing that drives some people away from Islam. I wonder how the abuser will react on the Day of Judgement when Allah, Subhana wa Ta’ala, will call them to account for not only physically abusing and damaging someone on the outside, but destroying them mentally and spiritually as well.

And that’s what needs to be taken into account. Hopefully, as more Muslims in the US and around the world, rediscover and find their way back to traditional Islam, and as more “traditional Muslim” institutions are created and built, Inshallah, as programs are put into place to deal with domestic violence and other family / marital problems, that not only are the outward concerns of dealing with the immediate problems addressed, but the spiritual needs are addressed, not only of the abused but the abuser as well.

But the problem is, that can’t happen if you have “spiritually dead”, “everything and everyone else but us is kufr, shirk, and bida” and other similar masjids / Islamic communities. And this is just a thought… I’m not singling anyone out in particular! it’s just a thought.

Regarding myself, my faith in Islam, my following a tariqa, I feel, has done much to help me come to terms with and heal from, the abuse that I’ve suffered. And I’m not saying that if one doesn’t practice Islam the way I do, that one can’t heal from things like this. I am only speaking for myself here. I’ve found a niche which works for me. I’ve found a madhhab / tariqa / complete way of practicing Islam and implementing it in my life which works for me. And I can’t speak for anyone else here. I can only speak for myself.

I came across a webpage, I have to find it again, which is a very anti-traditional Islam page, which basically states that the “deen intensives” are set up to “loll ignorant and unknowledgeable Muslims into their trap”. And basically accuses certain “traditional Muslim” scholars of bida, shirk, etc. And the page goes on to contend that “the mainstream Muslim organizations like CAIR / ISNA etc. have to let these deviant people speak at their functions in order to draw more people”. Ugh! I’ll have to find the page and link it here, so others can see / comment about it. I don’t think I was “lured into traditional Islam” because I was just too gullible and stupid to know any better. But anyway…

Regarding marriage, I’ve decided that I must be patient. When Allah knows that I am ready, He will send someone. And as I think about it, it has occurred to me that said “wonderful Muslim husband” could already be someone that I know or who knows me and I not even know it yet. In this matter, I have to learn patience, and learn to be content with what Allah has decreed for me. Because sometimes, you might think that you want something, but then, maybe it’s not the best thing for you.

And so my rant ends for the day. As I said, this was about a variety of things that have been going through my head lately. And now I’m off to cook! Yes, Ginny is cooking! Anyone wanna come over! Football’s still on, if you like that… And I’m talking about American football, not soccer.

Assalamu alaikum / greetings, Mashallah, what antoher wonderful post from the Mere Islam blog…

Link: Mere Islam: Islam and the Rule of Law.

Assalamu alaikum, antoher posting from Ebrima Ceesay…

My Fellow Gambians and Friends of The Gambia,

Further to my earlier posting which reveals information on the true reasons for the arrest and detention of Halifa Sallah, OJ Jallow and Hamat Bah, I am
now being urged by one of my sources to reproduce a copy of a letter which Yahya Jammeh sent to the Secretary General of the UN, Mr Kofi Annan, on September
15th 2005.

I can vouch for the integrity of this highly placed source, and have other confirmations that this letter is genuine and was indeed sent.  The full text
of the letter is reproduced below, followed my comments.

Ebrima Ceesay

________________________________________________________________________

"REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA

His Excellency Kofi Annan,

Secretary General United Nations,

New York.

                                                                                                   15th September 2005

Your Excellency,

SENEGALESE ACTS OF PROVOCATION, HOSTILITY AND AGGRESSION AGAINST THE GAMBIA

Let me begin by reminding you of the following facts: -

1.      During his trip to France as President of Senegal, President Abdoulaye Wade declared that the objective of his mission was to seek arms in order
to prepare the Senegalese armed forces against the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. This matter was taken seriously by my Government as it came as a complete
surprise and without any provocation from The Gambia. Fortunately, this request was rejected by the French Authorities. We informed all the diplomatic
missions in Banjul as well as other international institutions of this unfortunate development.

2.      Ever since that time President Wade has maintained a very aggressive and hostile attitude towards the Gambia and this is manifested in a multi-faceted
form. One such form was his attempt during 2001-2003 to recruit mercenaries from an African country to launch attacks against The Gambia under the code
name "The Gambia Project". This project was thwarted partly by the intervention of some western countries and partly by the lack of funds. This was followed
by incessant border closures, harassment of Gambian officials including cabinet ministers at Dakar International Airport and other Senegalese points of
entry. This culminated in the unprovoked attacks against Gambian football players and supporters during a football match between The Gambia and Senegal
in Dakar. That tragic event was fuelled by President Wade himself who had declared on the eve of the football match that the game was not a simple football
match but a war between the two countries. Buses from the Gambia were destroyed in addition to the many Gambians that were seriously injured. We did not
retaliate as a Government because we do not believe in violence and conflict but development and peace.

3.      In addition President Wade and his Government harbours dangerous criminals from The Gambia including coup plotters and would-be assassins who attempted
on my life. His sole intention in harbouring these elements is to destabilize The Gambia by launching sabotage attacks on our infrastructure and strategic
economic projects and installations.

4.      President Wade and his Government were also responsible for spoiling the excellent relations that existed between The Gambia and Guinea Bissau and
between President Kumba Yalla and myself through misinformation and smear campaign. It would be recalled that I was the first to assist and give logistical
support to President Kumba Yalla during his first year in office including the financing and facilitation of his official overseas trips. Part of the misinformation
was that The Gambia’s intention was to annex Guinea Bissau and this led to President Kumba Yalla’s unfortunate declaration that he would wipe out The Gambia
within two minutes.

5.      Because of our good intentions and peace loving nature we have been ignoring these hostile campaigns but resorted only to reporting the matter to
the International Community for their information.

6.      Since 2001, President Wade has stepped up his smear campaign and misinformation that consist also in falsely reporting The Gambia to many countries
and Governments including the Government of the United States of America.

7.      Without provocation in August 2005 President Wade closed the borders between the two countries with armed soldiers in violation of several agreements
and treaties including ECOWAS Protocols, UN Charter, the WTO Agreements and the Constitutive Act of the African Union, under the pretext that The Gambia
has increased ferry crossing tariffs – a measure which falls within the sovereign rights of The Gambia. This illegal and provocative closure is still in
force as you read this letter.

8.      He has succeeded in destabilizing Guinea Bissau, after The Gambia had put an end to a bloody civil war in that country, by interfering with their
security service which led to the overthrow of President Kumba Yalla and the subsequent crises. He has been inviting senior military officers from the
Guinea Bissau Armed Forces without the knowledge of the transitional Government and giving them huge sums of money to the point that the President of the
Transitional Government of Guinea Bissau complained to ECOWAS and several Governments and international bodies about President Wade’s incessant interference
in Guinea Bissau which has now led to more than two coup attempts up to the time of the electoral process.

9.      Since the border closure, he has not only been levelling unfounded accusations against The Gambia, but he has also been using the Senegalese media
and press to spread misinformation about alleged unrest in The Gambia as a consequence of border closure which is nothing but a figment of his malicious
imagination.

10.  The latest act is the fabrication of blatant, unfounded and malicious accusations contained in a letter to the UN Secretary General dated 8th September
2005 alleging that I as the President of The Gambia have been providing arms to the PAIGC Party in Guinea Bissau and the Prime Minister of that country
in order to attack the headquarters of the Armed Forces of Guinea Bissau. He also alleged that because of the provision of these arms the PAIGC Party in
Guinea Bissau has refused to accept the results of the elections and that Mr. Malang Bekai Sagna is The Gambia’s preferred candidate.

11.  In the same letter, a copy of which is attached hereto, he asked The Secretary General of the United Nations to put pressure on me and my Government
in order to dissuade me from interfering in the internal affairs of Guinea Bissau.

12.  Your Excellency, any sane person who knows the role of The Gambia in international and African affairs will realize that these accusations constitute
nothing but cheap and ignorant smear campaign against the Government and the people of the Gambia.

13.  As the coordinator of the "friends of Guinea Bissau", The Gambia supported and called for the convening of donors’ conferences on behalf of Guinea
Bissau at the level of the UN.

14.  Let me also remind Your Excellency about the pivotal role The Gambia played in the Cassamance peace process which has been jeopardised by President
Wade’s mis-handling of the situation despite his declaration all over the world to the contrary.

15.  We hereby challenge the international community to ask President Wade and his government to provide proof of these allegations because throughout the
period leading to the elections in Guinea Bissau, The Gambia was the only country that had refused to receive any of the Bissau Guinean presidential candidates
on the basis of the principles of neutrality that we espouse. Amazingly all these parties were frequently invited to Dakar by President Wade, and this
led to a series of problems in Guinea Bissau including the recent attempted coup by Kumba Yalla and the present stand-off.

16.  We also challenge the UN, The African Union and ECOWAS to prevail upon Senegal to provide proof of these allegations which now constitute a more dangerous
development in an already volatile situation. This indeed is one step too far, and is over stretching the Gambia’s patience and peaceful nature. For five
years, we have managed to cope with this incessant hostility, provocation and aggression from President Wade. The latest letter cited above, a copy of
which is attached hereto, is just unacceptable and stretches The Gambia’s tolerance and peaceful nature beyond its limit, and we will be obliged to take
any measure we deem fit to defend our integrity, sovereignty, national interest and international image.

17.  Since President Wade has declared war against the Gambia from the beginning of his assumption of power, we have no choice but to defend ourselves by
any means necessary and we should not be blamed for any eventual consequences.

18.  We do hope that we will not be pushed further because any further provocations from Senegal will lead to dire consequences for Senegal and the entire
sub-region.

19.  We equally hope that all decent people the world over realise how tolerant and patience The Gambia has been to date despite incessant provocation and
hostilities from a country that has benefited immensely from the Gambia’s rapid socio-economic and infrastructural development by over US$100 million from
1994 to date.

20.  Despite all these provocations and hostilities from The President and the Government of Senegal, The Gambia is playing host to over 750,000 Senegalese
nationals. These Senegalese nationals were the first among other West African citizens to benefit from exemption of the alien certificate and tax – a measure
that constitute a big economic sacrifice for The Gambian Treasury since 1995.

21.  Despite all these provocations and hostilities for the President and Government of Senegal, Senegalese living in the Gambia have not been subjected
to any form of hostile treatment from the Government of The Gambia. We invite anybody in doubt to send a fact finding mission to the Gambia.

22.  We do hope that the International Community will intervene to put an end to this dangerously escalating situation. The Gambia remains committed to
peace on the continent and in the world as demonstrated by the country’s contributions of peace keeping troops to several conflicts zones including Liberia,
Cote d’Ivoire, East Timor, Eritrea/Ethiopia, Haiti and most recently in the Darfur Region of the Sudan just to name a few.

Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration and fraternal esteem.

Yahya A.J.J Jammeh

President of the Republic of The Gambia."

____________________________________________________________________________

Dear Readers,

It is very obvious from this letter how threatened Yahya Jammeh is feeling by our Senegalese neighbours.  He will stop at nothing to discredit President
Wade and his government, and to put himself in a good light in the eyes of the international community.

I have received a faxed copy of a letter which President Wade sent to Kofi Annan on September 8th 2005, but the copy was indecipherable and I am awaiting
the arrival of a legible copy before forwarding it to our readers.  This letter is the one to which Yahya refers in point 10 of his letter to Kofi Annan.

Jammeh’s hysterical written attack against the Senegalese President and people as witnessed in the 22 points of the letter,  reveals Yahya as a megalomaniac
intent on destroying the good relations between our two countries.  The threats contained within the letter such as "we will be obliged to take any measure
we deem fit to defend our integrity, sovereignty, national interest and international image" are empty ones.  The consequences for The Gambia of sustained
enmity against Senegal will be dire, and not as Jammeh writes "any further provocations from Senegal will lead to dire consequences for Senegal and the
entire sub-region".  In all truthfulness, how much of a threat can our tiny nation pose to our neighbour, Senegal ?  Who is kidding who ?

We have had ample evidence over the years of Jammeh’s support of the Casamance rebels and of his ill-advised interference in African affairs.  Jammeh is
actually the creator of problems in Africa, and not the peace-loving solution finder he likes to call himself.

You, like me, will laugh out loud as you read point 19 of the letter, in which Jammeh talks of "The Gambia’s rapid socio-economic and infrastructural development
from 1994 to date."  How does Yahya possibly convince himself that our country is a rapidly developing one ? Let him step into the shoes of an ordinary
Gambian and learn the realities of life in modern-day Gambia:  let him struggle to house, feed and clothe his family, educate his children, provide health
care when necessary, afford petrol or taxi fares, have electricity and water sufficient for his needs,  look after himself in old age.  He would know how
poorly developed our little nation actually is, and how every year it becomes more and more of a struggle for ordinary citizens to lead a peaceful and
satisfying life.

In Point 9 of the letter, Yahya talks of President Wade as "using Senegalese media and press to spread misinformation about alleged unrest in The Gambia
as a consequence of border closure which is nothing but a figment of his malicious imagination".  Yahya forgets that he is the one who is fomenting unrest
in The Gambia, and the recent arrest and detention of opposition leaders like Halifa Sallah, OJ Jallow and Hamat Bah is proof incontrovertible of this.
It is Yahya himself who has stirred up decent and law abiding citizens against his murderous regime:  it is he who has made himself a millionaire at public
expense:  it is he who leads a brutal secret police force, the NIA:  it is he who has seen assault and murder committed against critics of his miserable
regime.  Let Yahya Jammeh fool himself no longer:  let him recognise his own part in the fermentation of unrest in The Gambia, and let him be ashamed of
his folly.

I urge Yahya Jammeh to inform the Gambian people about the coup-plotters and would-be assassins who are being harboured by Senegal (in Point 3 of his letter):
which elements of our infrastructure and strategic economic projects and installations have been damaged by these elements, and when ?  It would appear
that Yahya is suffering badly from a persecution complex of the worst acute type.  Those Gambians who have fled The Gambia have done so in fear of their
lives at the hands of Yahya’s thugs, and there is not one shred of evidence to support Yahya’s claims.

My fellow Gambians, I urge you to copy Yahya’s letter to Kofi Annan and send it across the world and especially to your family and friends in The Gambia.
They deserve to know what Jammeh is saying in their name, and the lies and threats he is making which put all Gambians at risk.

Ebrima Ceesay,

Birmingham, UK

BETTY McCOLLUM

4TH DISTRICT, MINNESOTA

COMMITTEE ON

EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE

1029 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING

WASHINGTON, DC 20515

(202) 225-6631

FAX: (202) 225-1968

COMMITTEE ON

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

www.house.gov/mccollu m

165 WESTERNAVENUENORTH

SUITE17

ST. PAUL,MN 55102

16511224-9191

FAX:(651) 224-3056

UNITED STATES

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November
22,2005

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street, NW

Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Rice:

It has been reported in the media and confirmed by the State Department that on November,

15, 2005, Gambian government authorities arrested three opposition political leaders - Hon.

Halifah Sallah, Mr. Hamat Bah, and Mr. Omar Jallow. This unfortunate event casts the

appearance of an attempt by the Republic of the Gambia to silence legitimate democratic voices

of the political opposition.

Last week, I sent a letter to the Ambassador of the Republic of the Gambia expressing my

concern over the arrests of these three political leaders, and I have included a copy of this letter

for you. Our country profoundly values democracy and the opportunity for people around the

world to pursue freedom and self-determination. I am
very concerned that the arrest of the

leaders of the political opposition by the Gambian government sends a signal that next year’s

scheduled elections are in danger of not being free or fair. I urge you to send a clear and.

unambiguous message to the Gambian government and hold them accountable for the safety

and well-being of the three leaders, as well as to secure their release as soon as possible.

In July
2005, I had the opportunity to meet with the Hon. Halifa Sallah, the Minority Leader of

the Parliament, in my Minnesota congressional office. He expressed to me his desire to work

with his fellow citizens of the Gambia to engage in an open, democratic process leading to free

and fair elections. This noble goal has my strong support and I would greatly appreciate all

efforts by the Department of State and the U.S. mission in the Gambia to reinforce this message

as well as our concern for the well-being of these political leaders.

Madame Secretary, thank you for your efforts and please keep my office informed of any

developments in this situation.

SinCereIY’1J
If/!~ ~’Ollum

~%df Congress

BM:cw

PRINTED
ON RECYCLED PAPER

Assalamu alaikum, from Juan Cole’s blog…

Link: Informed Comment.