Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, once instructed his followers with the following piece of wisdom. He said, “Help your brother whether he is oppressed or an oppressor.” To which his companions replied, “We understand what you mean by going to the help of a brother who is oppressed, but how shall we help a brother who is an oppressor?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, replied, "By restraining him from oppressing others."
My name is Kemal Ian Benouis. I am an American of Berber-Arab-Scottish-English descent. I am a West Point graduate from the class of 1986, Company F-2. I am a former United States Army Officer having served my tour of duty in the Aviation branch of the Army in the US and in Panama, where I participated as a Blackhawk Helicopter pilot and staff officer in Operation Just Cause. I am an attorney. Lastly, I am a Muslim having been raised by a Muslim father and a Christian mother. I attended and was confirmed in the Methodist church as a youth and converted to Islam after leaving the military. My wife is Christian.
Chaplain James Yee is a fellow West Point alumnus from the class of 1990, Company F-2. He is an American of Chinese descent. He also served his country performing his tour of duty as a United States Army Officer in the Air Defense Artillery Corps in the US, Germany and in the Middle East. He is a Muslim, having been raised up in the Lutheran church as a youth and converting to Islam while in the military. He volunteered to reenter the United States Army as a Captain and one of its first Muslim Chaplains (the first from West Point) after studying Islam in Syria. He was initially assigned to Ft. Lewis, Washington, and then last November the Army sent him to Guantanamo to minister to Muslim prisoners.
The rest, as they say, is history. He was subsequently arrested while under investigation for espionage, which is a crime punishable by death. He spent 76 days in a maximum security prison where he wore manacles cuffed to his hands and feet. He was not able to perform his five daily prayers correctly because they refused to tell him the direction of Mecca and the time of day.
Now he is out of jail having been released on his own recognizance and is currently serving at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Yet his ordeal is not over. The US Army immediately upon his release charged him with adultery and pornography, adding to the other previous charges of mishandling of classified material and making a false official statement. If court-martialed and convicted on all charges, Chaplain James Yee could face up to 13 years in prison.
Chaplain James Yee’s top notch legal team is continuing to fight hard to have all of the charges dropped. However he has already accrued over $100,000 in legal fees. These costs continue to accumulate. The US Army refuses to allow Chaplain James Yee to actively raise or solicit funds to cover his own legal expenses. I call on each and every one of you my fellow Americans, of whatever religious persuasion or not, veteran or not, to come to the aid of your brother and fellow human being Chaplain James Yee and help him from being oppressed.
You can go to our web site (www.justiceforyee.com) and make a PayPal donation by credit card directly to his legal defense fund or you can find the address to mail a check to his legal defense fund. Additionally from the web site you can find information on how to speak out against our brothers in the military and government who are oppressing Chaplain James Yee by continuing this unnecessary and unwarranted prosecution.
I learned at West Point that the definition of duty is choosing the harder right over the easier wrong. It is easy with all of the injustice that exists in the world to think that making one small effort to right a wrong does not make a difference. To the contrary, it is the only thing that has ever made a difference. Jesus, peace be upon him, taught us through the story of the Good Samaritan that we shouldn’t let our religious or ethnic differences prevent us from helping someone in need.
Not only is it our responsibility to help our oppressed brother, but we must do so for our own sakes. Just because one might not currently be a member of a minority ethnic or religious group in this country does not mean that one will never be in danger.
Martin Niemoller said of Hitler’s Germany, “In Germany they came first for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me- and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
I leave you with the quote from Edmund Burke that my mother signs off all of her email with - “The only thing necessary for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.”
Peace be unto you,
Kemal Ian Benouis
Executive Director
JusticeForYee.com