Assalamualeikum Enver,
May this letter reach you in the best of health and Imaan. Ameen.
This is the second mail we have received from your organization within the
past 48 hours! I was just writing you a response when this second mail came
in so InshAllah this will address your questions.
I am the owner of Jihad Unspun. I am a Canadian business woman who reverted
to Islam after 911. I am well known among business magazine publishing
circles in that country and in recent years I owned a successful web
development company. I conceived the portal as a Christian who was outraged
with the so-called "Christian" response to the events of 911. As I began
researching the events that lead up to that day, I discovered that there was
a war being waged against Islam, I discovered the truth about Palestine,
that invasion of Afghanistan was planned before 911 and many other things
that had been going on for years (while hidden from the western public) that
lead up to the events of 911.
While researching the portal I began dialoging with Muslims in order to
understand their viewpoints which I considered essential for the work I was
about to undertake. I was a well grounded Christian and never in a million
years did I expect that my own personal faith would come into play. Allah
had other plans. Soon I was debating religious matters and to make a long
story short, I came to believe that Christ could not be God which negated my
entire religion. Alhamdulilah! I was led to the right path and reverted to
Islam in April of 2002.
It has been a rocky road from the time of my conversion for both the portal
and myself personally. With attacks from Jewish vigilante groups, death
threats, hate mail, just keeping the portal up was and always is a
challenge. Because I owned my own web development company and server system
we faired better than most however eventually these groups were able to
identify our client base and I was forced to sell my server system and shut
down my development company after suffering significant financial losses. I
have paid a dear price for Islam from Day One and all Praise is due to Allah
who sustains me and this portal today.
Although it grieves me a great deal to say this, the CIA accusations stem
from Muslims, my very brothers and sisters. The first rumors were started
by Azzam Publications and Maktabah Al Ansar, both who know exactly who I am
as we have had business dealings early on. As the new kid on the block and
an experienced publisher, I had vision of a Muslim media coalition that
would strengthen Muslim publishing efforts however I learned very quickly
that not all Muslims are committed to the good of the Ummah. Further, I
stopped carrying Azzams news when I began to foster deep concerns about the
validity of their reports. If we are going to be taken seriously, the facts
must speak for themselves.
We thank Allah that today, albeit with very limited resources, JUS the
largest viewed portal in the space, with over 800,000 viewers each day.
Each time Azzam resurfaces, we go through another round of CIA accusations
as they endeavor to regain their market share. At one point we addressed the
matter publicly and appealed to them to bury the hatchet for the good of the
Ummah however that fell on deaf ears. We forgive our brothers for their
indescressions and avoid any public debate even at out own expense as this
only hurts the Ummah. The Jewish vigilante groups have a hayday with this
kind of stuff!
As the result of these rumors some Muslim viewers subsequently suspect we
are the CIA. Their reasoning troubles me greatly for it speaks to the
oppressed state of mind of some Muslims. They often say that we must be the
CIA because Muslims could never put out this caliber of portal. This is sad
indeed. They attribute this to "overblown" budgets when the reality is that
JUS operates today on a shoe string, with a small group of core brothers and
sisters who volunteer their time, effort and financial resources and who
strive to be the best that they can be as Allah commands us to do.
Our mandate is to take the truth of this war to western audiences. Our
slick format is by intentional design to speak to an audience that is used
to this caliber of presentation. Furthermore, as Muslims we gain absolutely
nothing by putting out hate filled content to the "American infidels".
Readers shut down long before they get the message from these types of
sites. We also endeavor to lift up the exploits of our Mujahideen brothers
and sisters with dignity and in a manner they are deserving of to help to
break the repressed thinking of many Muslims that the battle can not be won.
Allah promises that if we trust in him we will have victory and the
Mujahideen who go into the battle field daily in Afghanistan, Chechnya and
Iraq are visible examples of Allah's promise.
The other area they point to is that we manage to keep our portal up.
Alhamdulilah! Allah is faithful. In fact we have had five forced downs to
date however we are technically competent and content is now written in real
time to four server locations around the world so we are able to flick a
switch so to speak if necessary, InshAllah. Beyond that there are no other
assets for the patriots and vigilante groups to attack and we are left only
to concern ourselves with a small number of disbelieving Muslims, for the
moment at least.
The CIA accusation defies logic even at its lowest levels. First, they
could not produce a quality work like JUS due to their limited understanding
of Muslims, the Quran and high caliber publishing techniques. They can't
even make a fake bin laden tape that flies with the help of Hollywood! The
CIA would never publish casualty reports that defy US government figures as
we have done nor could they ever receive funding for a project that is
unmistakably anti-American foreign policy.
Publishing a site like JUS is risky business. All the names on our site are
pen names to protect the identity and limit the risk to the individuals and
their families who work on the portal. I operate under the name Bev Kennedy
on the site. As US casualties increase in Iraq, we once again are receiving
waves of hate mail and death threats. That said, much to the disapproval of
the brothers with me, I will be publishing my story and revealing my
identity in the near future which is something I had planned from the start.
I am busy with this work now. Although the risks to my personal safety will
increase, the tide in North America at the grass roots level is changing and
I am hoping, InshAllah that my story will strike a chord with the many who
now are beginning to see through the lies and deceit that has resulted in
this horrible conflict.
I hope this clarifies this silly accusation, InshAllah. We appreciate you
contacting us to give us the opportunity to make a statement for your
record. I will forward a copy of my public statement when it is released in
the next few weeks, InshAllah. If you have any further questions, please
feel free to contact me once again. I am currently in the Middle East in an
effort to get others to participate with us and also undertaking Arabic and
Quran studies. Internet connectivity in this part of the world lacks much to
be desired so there may be some delay time in my responding.
Once again, I thank you for this opportunity. I have reviewed your website
and compliment you on a very good work. May Allah reward you for presenting
the truth of Islam. Ameen.
wa salam
Bev Kennedy JUS
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Dear Bev Kennedy:
I appreciate your lengthy response to my mail, but to set our readers minds at
ease, I must dig further. I would appreciate the phone number of Ahmed Yousef,
and the best time to call, or the phone number of a couple of your Muslim
writers.
You say that "Publishing a site like JUS is risky business. All the names on our
site are pen names to protect the identity and limit the risk to the individuals
and their families who work on the portal."
Certainly there is risk, but there are dozens of web sites that publish the sort
of stuff you have and more, and they don't use pen names. We are in the
Washington area a mile from the Pentagon, we run articles critical of our
government. My book The War on Islam should be as risky as the articles on your
site, and our site is regularly visited by intel and military agencies. But we
do not advocate violence, and we exercise our free speech rights as Americans.
I'm afraid as long as your writers hid behind pen names they will be suspect.
Perceptive readers want to know who is the author, what are his/her
qualifications.
I'm not trying to be argumentative, and would like to support worthy efforts.
But knowing a little of how our CIA operates --
http://www.twf.org/News/Y2001/0215-CIAfunds.html, we try to ascertain if we are
being fed disinformation.
It's also strange that a Google search on <"Bev Kennedy" Canada publish> yielded
this article which says pretty much what you say --
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/813959/posts?page=35, BUT there is
nothing prior to Sep 11, 2001 which is rather strange for someone "well known
among business magazine publishing circles".
Peace,
Enver Masud
--
The Wisdom Fund
www.twf.org
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Assalamualeikum Enver,
As I have made clear, I will be publishing my story on my timing. I am
afraid that you are incorrect - many jihad related sites use pen names and
this is a corporate decision I have instituted. The protection of my staff
is far more important to me than an on the record statement.
Bev Kennedy is a pen name not my professional name.
Your mail makes me curious of what your intentions really are. If my reply
did not satisfy you then I am afraid you will have to wait until I go on
public record in the near future and make your evaluation then.
wa salam and best regards,
Bev Kennedy
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Dear Bev:
I have spent my entire professional career seeking the truth. As just one
example: my op-ed in The Christian Science Monitor on Monday August 18 --
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0818/p09s01-coop.html. We were presented
allegations copied from the LibertyForum website, and I was just curious having
written an article a couple of years ago about CIA front organizations.
I look forward to your unveiling, and will gladly issue an apology if warranted.
Till then your site remains suspect for the reasons given at our site.
Peace,
Enver Masud
--
The Wisdom Fund
www.twf.org