El Sayyid Nosair

El Sayyid Nosair
Born (1955-11-16) 16 November 1955
Port Said, Egypt
Spouse(s) Karen Mills
Children 3

El Sayyid Nosair (born 16 November 1955) is an Egyptian-born American citizen, convicted of involvement in the New York City landmark bomb plot. He was also tried for, but acquitted of, the assassination of Meir Kahane, a Jewish religious figure and right-wing Israeli politician, on November 5, 1990.

In 1994, Nosair was convicted in federal court of nine counts, including seditious conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder of a U.S. Postal Inspection Service officer, use of a firearm in the commission of a murder, use of a firearm during an attempted murder, and possession of a firearm.

Background

El Sayyid Nosair was born in 1955 in Port Said, Egypt and immigrated to the United States in 1981. He became an American citizen in 1989.[1] In the United States, Nosair worked various jobs in New Jersey and New York City.[2] Nosair was employed by the City of New York to repair the air conditioning equipment at the criminal courts building.[1]

Nosair expressed dislike for American culture and what he perceived to be rampant moral corruption. Nosair became involved with the al-Farouq Mosque in Brooklyn, which was supported by the Maktab al-Khadamat (Services Office), which was established in 1984 by Osama bin Laden and Abdullah Azzam in Peshawar, Pakistan. The purpose of the Services Office was to raise funds for the Arab mujahadeen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, as well as recruitment. Ali Mohamed, a sergeant at Fort Bragg, provided United States Army manuals and other assistance to individuals at the al-Farouq Mosque, and some members including Mahmoud Abouhalima and Nosair practiced at the Calverton Shooting Range on Long Island, many of the group wearing shirts reading "Help Each Other in Goodness and Piety...A Muslim to a Muslim is a Brick Wall" with a map of Afghanistan emblazoned in the middle.[2][3]

Assassination of Meir Kahane

In 1990, Nosair was accused of assassinating Rabbi Meir Kahane, the founder of the Jewish Defense League in the US and of the Kach party in Israel, and formerly a member of the Israeli Knesset. Kahane was killed on November 5, 1990, shortly after 9 p.m., following a speech to an audience of mostly Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn.[4] A crowd of well-wishers gathered around Kahane following the speech in the second-floor lecture hall in midtown Manhattan's Marriott East Side Hotel. Following a skirmish, Nosair was shot by Carlos Acosta, a police officer for the United States Postal Inspection Service. The two continued to exchange gunfire before Nosair was apprehended.[4] Nosair was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment of his wounds.

Trial

During legal proceedings, Nosair largely ignored the court and focused on multiple sketches he made of Princess Diana.[3]

In a verdict described by law professor Jeffrey B. Abramson as "bizarre",[5] a jury in December 1991 acquitted Nosair of Kahane's murder but convicted him of assault and possession of an illegal firearm. He was also convicted of related charges, including shooting Acosta. He was defended by William Kunstler (along with two co-counsels), who at first advised him to plead insanity.[6] When Nosair refused, the defense argued that there had been a conspiracy against Nosair, and Kahane might have been killed by one of his followers.[6] Kunstler saw the composition of the jury (which he described as being made up of "third-world people" and "people who were not yuppies or establishment types") as crucial to the verdict.[6]

The judge in the trial, Justice Alvin Schlesinger, said that the jury's acquittal of Nosair on the murder charge was "against the overwhelming weight of evidence and was devoid of common sense and logic". The judge added that he believed Nosair "conducted a rape of this country, of our Constitution and of our laws, and of people seeking to exist peacefully together." He sentenced Nosair to 7 1⁄3 to 22 years in prison, the maximum allowed.[7]

Kunstler also saw the verdict as irrational, promising to appeal Nosair's convictions.[6]

Conspiracy to free Nosair from prison

Nosair was originally sentenced to serve his time in Attica State Prison in New York. It was reported that prior to his arrest, Omar Abdul-Rahman (the "Blind Sheikh") and his followers conducted detailed surveillance of the facility and had discussed plans to use a truck bomb attack combined with an armed assault to rescue Nosair from prison.[8]

Terror conspiracy conviction

Nosair was still serving time in state prison when he was convicted as part of the federal trial of the "Blind Sheik" Omar Abdel-Rahman. Both received life sentences without parole for a terror conspiracy, in Nosair's case life plus 15 years' imprisonment.[9] It was ruled that Kahane's death was part of the total "seditious conspiracy."[10] Nosair is serving his sentence at the United States Penitentiary, Marion, a federal prison in Illinois.[11]

In 2002, Eleanor Hill, director of the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating intelligence failures prior to the Attacks of September 11, 2001, reported that Osama Bin Laden helped pay for Nosair's legal defense for his trial for the assassination of Meir Kahane. Hill wrote that during that trial the FBI learned that one of Nosair's relatives "traveled to Saudi Arabia to obtain money to pay for Nosair's defense" and that "he received funds from a wealthy Saudi - Osama Bin Laden." Ron Kuby, one of Nosair's lawyers in the 1991 state case, later stated that a cousin of Nosair's paid for some of the legal expenses with money he said was raised by "family and friends." Kuby said they "never got any checks signed Osama Bin Laden." He claimed "We just barely got paid. We barely covered expenses."[12]

Possible accomplices in Kahane assassination

In August 2010, the Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post, referencing the August issue of Playboy, claimed that Nosair had two partners and that his original target was Israeli military figure and future Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon. The article states: "He added that on the night he shot Kahane dead, he was accompanied by two co-conspirators to the Marriot Hotel in Manhattan where Kahane was speaking – one of whom was also carrying a gun. The men, Bilal al-Kaisi of Jordan and Mohammed A. Salameh, a Palestinian illegal alien later involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, have never been charged for their part in the slaying."[13]

Family

Nosair married Karen Mills, a native of Pittsburgh who changed her name to Khadijah when she left Roman Catholicism for Islam, in 1982. The couple bore two sons and raised a daughter from Khadijah's previous marriage. One of Nosair's sons, born Abdulaziz El Sayyid Nosair, changed his name to Zak Ebrahim,[14] and now works as a peace activist. He released his first book, The Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice through Simon & Schuster in September 2014.[15][16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Alleged Assassin Shot by New York Policeman". Jerusalem Post. 1990-11-07.
  2. 1 2 Benjamin, Daniel and Steven Simon (2003). The Age of Sacred Terror. Random House. pp. 4–6.
  3. 1 2 Benjamin, Daniel & Steven Simon. "The Age of Sacred Terror", 2002
  4. 1 2 Specter, Michael (1990-11-06). "Jewish Leader Kahane Slain in New York". Washington Post.
  5. ↑ Abramson, Jeffrey B. (2000). We, the Jury: The Jury System and the Ideal of Democracy. Harvard University Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-674-00430-6. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Jury Selection Seen As Crucial to Verdict, The New York Times, 23 December 1991
  7. ↑ Judge Gives Maximum Term in Kahane Case, The New York Times, 30 January 1992
  8. ↑ The Destruction of Sarposa by Fred Burton and Scott Stewart, Strategic Forecasting (Stratfor) June 18, 2008 (retrieved on October 1, 2008).
  9. ↑ MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base Archived January 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ "Defense: Juror 'bias' in terror verdicts". CNN. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  11. ↑ "El Sayyid Nosair." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on February 17, 2011.
  12. ↑ Bin Laden Bankrolled Kahane Killer Defense by Greg B. Smith, New York Daily News, October 9th 2002 (retrieved on October 1, 2008).
  13. ↑ "'Sharon was Kahane killer's target'". Jpost.com. August 15, 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  14. ↑ "Zak Ebrahim – Choosing the Path of Peace". peaceissexy.net. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  15. ↑ Sam Levine. (2014-09-21). "Here's How A Terrorist's Son Became A Peace Activist". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  16. ↑ Cahalan, Susannah (August 31, 2014). "My dad, the terrorist: 1993 WTC jihadist's son reveals painful past". nypost.com. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
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