Texas Civil Rights Review

Author: mopress

  • USA Seeks Deportation of Palestinian-Texans

    email from Dallas attorney John Wheat Gibson, Jan. 10, 2007

    BICE [the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement] has announced it will deport the Suleiman family as soon as it arranges a flight. BICE is looking for the [5-year-old, American-born] twin daughters so it can fly them to Jordan with their parents and brother. BICE refuses to wait for the Board of Immigration Appeals to decide their pending motion to reopen.

    Adel Suleiman, you may recall, was recognized as a refugee by the UNHCR, and when he applied for asylum in the US, the asylum officer who interviewed him recommended approval, but was overruled by a supervisor because of a blanket policy of the Houston Asylum Office to deny all Palestinian asylum applications, regardless of the merits, since to approve them might embarrass the government of Israel. . . .

    John Wheat Gibson
    *******************

    Dear John:

    How are these sorts of messages conveyed? . . . . Also, information has been flowing quickly, so I’ve missed the fact of twin daughters. Can you say any more about who they are or why they would be difficult to locate?

    Texas Civil Rights Review

    ********************

    We all have been concentrating on the Ibrahim file. Mr. Suleiman is the diabetic in Oklahoma. BICE officer Calvin Meredith told me he is in Oklahoma County Jail, Oklahoma City. Phone (405)713-1930. Meredith is
    trying to arrange deportation. The daughters are twins, 5-years-old, United States citizens. They have been with a relative since their parents and brother were kidnapped. Mr. Suleiman has not been allowed to make a telephone call since December 20, 2006, when he called his sister-in-law in Fort Worth. So far I have received nothing but the run-around when I call
    the Oklahoma County Jail to try to set up a telephone conference with Mr. Suleiman.

    There is a signed and notarized copy of the attached affidavit in our files.

    John Wheat Gibson

  • The World is Watching

    About thirty percent of our year-end readers in 2006 were from outside the USA: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates . . . and Hollywood! Welcome one and all.
    December will go down as our busiest month yet, topping the page hits of June 2006 when we focused on Operation Jump Start. Our annual total of site visits doubled in 2006, compared to 2005 (to which we add the standard disclaimer, that the numbers are not anywhere near mass-media quantities, but then again, we don’t try to act much like mass media quality, do we?)–gm (Dec. 27-31)

  • Archive: MetroPlex Media on Ibrahim Abduction

    It is an excellent report about the abduction of the Ibrahim family presented by reporter Ken Kalthoff in Richardson, aired on the five o’clock news, December 6. Ahmad Ibrahim only has one reservation: “they say it’s an upscale neighborhood, but it’s only an apartment complex.”
    Go to NBC 5 now
    “Family Faces Deportation, Separation from Child”
    Seems to work best on Microsoft browser

    And apologies to Ken and crew from your Editor, for saying that no other reports on these abductions had been done.–gm (Dec. 29)

  • New Year Message from Ramsey Muniz

    Dear Friends:
    The words below came to Ramsey in his dreams, as do most
    of his writings. He is regaining his strength, and believes
    that his life has been renewed. Ramsey asked that I share
    the enclosed, and submit the words as shown below.–Irma Muniz


    Soy 21st Century Mexicano

    It’s so beautiful! Our ancient stone masons were the greatest
    architects! They left us a foundation upon which we are building our
    temple in Aztlan. Just being "tribe" (love, comradeship, equality), we
    are a cultured people of men and women like yourselves; we are the
    living house of the temple. We are creating an awareness in Aztlan that
    is so healthy that we are a "life force." We shall always be good
    health for one another. The information (cultural and spiritual) that I
    am submitting to you, mi raza, is giving us a clarity our builders
    possessed in the time of Aztlan. I know that one day…one morning…their
    children and we, the descendants, would also do our homework and create
    Mexicayotl (consciousness) and learn their craft and use it not only to
    rebuild the temple, but also to rebuild ourselves
    spiritually.
    We are the most exquisite living art – an art form that is
    Nahuatl. We not only sound beautiful, we are beautiful! The beauty and
    intensity of our love for one another is equal to that divine love that
    our ancient stone masons shared with our people during the dawn of our
    civilization.

    Now we are doing our homework and learning the connection
    between the stone masons of Aztlan and the free and accepted
    Mexicans of the present day, so as to understand perfectly the process
    by which our origin changed from an operative art to a speculative
    science. And so, we must attentively study and thoroughly digest these
    ancient records of our forefathers.

    The Mexican codices are essential to our studies. We must
    acquire them because we know that they refer historically to the
    regeneration of our lives! Nosotros somos la fuerza de vida nueva de
    "los masons de una vez – en un tiempo de Aztlan." We must learn how to
    rebuild ourselves step by step – degree by degree. We must not reject
    the signs. Every keystone they placed in the center of every arch shall
    "spiritually" secure firmness
    and stability in our lives. Every cornerstone they laid with
    impressive ceremonies were done in our honor; and since
    the cornerstone is the stone which lies at the corner of the foundation
    of an edifice.

    We are the living permanence and durability of the cornerstone of Aztlan – well-formed, true and everlasting.

    Mexi (me-sheek) is the master builder of souls, and in
    Torquemada’s Monarquia Indiana we learn that Mexi gave us his name,
    proclaiming us to be materially worthy of the spiritual building of
    eternal life – fitted as living stones for that house not made with
    hands -eternal in Tamoanchan.

    Tezcatlipoca, Mexi’s archangel, is the chief corner-stone and in
    Mexicayotl (la masoneria Mexicano) symbolism, the "chief
    cornerstone" signifies a true Mexican. Tezcatlipoca is our
    "mirror of destiny," the mirror of understanding and the imagination.

    No soy Latino/Americano
    No soy Mexicano/Americano
    No soy Chicano
    No soy Hispanico/Latino
    Soy 21st Century Mexicano!!!
    Watch me rise!!!

    This is me…this is my life…this is my destiny!!!

    Ramsey "Tezcatlipoca" Muniz

    Note: Received via email from Irma Muniz, Dec. 31, 2005

  • Levin vs Moses on 'Critical Mass'

    Here’s a clip from Mark Levin’s argument posted at the Texaminer.

    “Thus,

    Gates’ new policy is entirely consistent with the Supreme Court’s rulings. In the University of

    Michigan Law School case, the Law School defined “critical mass” in lower court proceedings as at

    least ten percent combined black and Hispanic students. Texas A&M currently exceeds this threshold,

    with 11 percent of its students being either black or Hispanic. While many wish this number were

    higher, it is unclear whether A&M can resort to racial preferences under the Michigan decisions because

    it has already achieved a “critical mass” using colorblind policies.” [Mark Levin texaminer.com

    1/7/2004]

    But Levin is wrong in fact and in principle. (see more below) Levin seems

    to have overlooked the following sentence from Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s majority opinion in

    Grutter vs. Bollinger [p. 3 (c)]:

    “Enrolling a “critical mass” of minority students

    simply to assure some specified percentage of a particular group merely because of its race or ethnic

    origin would be patently unconstitutional.”

    Justice O’Connor goes on to

    aruge:

    “But the Law School defines its critical mass concept by reference to the

    substantial, important, and laudable educational benefits that diversity
    is designed to produce,

    including cross-racial understanding and the breaking down of racial stereotypes. The Law School’s

    claim is further bolstered by numerous expert studies and reports showing that such diversity promotes

    learning outcomes and better prepares students for an increasingly diverse workforce, for society, and

    for the legal profession. Major American businesses have made clear that the skills needed in today’s

    increasingly global marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse people,

    cultures, ideas, and viewpoints. High-ranking retired officers and civilian military leaders assert

    that a highly qualified, racially diverse officer corps is essential to national security. Moreover,

    because universities, and in particular, law schools, represent the training ground for a large number

    of the Nation’s leaders, Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U. S. 629, 634, the path to leadership must be visibly

    open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity. Thus, the Law School has a

    compelling interest in attaining a diverse student body. 15–21.

    Note: Fortune 500

    Companies filed briefs in defense of affirmative action before the Supreme Court.

    So we

    are pleased that Mr. Levin has pointed us in the direction of “critical mass” because, if the term is

    to be used according to contemporary constitutional standards, it requires an intelligent discussion of

    the educational value of diversity at the College Station campus. This discussion is so far not in

    evidence.

    But furthermore, Levin ignores also the historical situation of Texas higher

    education, which is now pursuing desegregation under federal supervision.

    Levin is wrong

    about “critical mass” and he fails to consider “de-segregation”. But he’s popular with the

    conservative crowd, which I am tempted to call reactionary and

    racist.