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Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2017)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
March 2017
Descendants of slaves, forerunners of justice: American Muslims must stop apologizing
March 2: The ‘American Muslim’ identity which has been under constant investigation in US media, politics and society is completely different from what American Muslims associate themselves with.The media’s ‘American Muslim’ is a suspect, a fifth column, potentially dangerous and more receptive to violence than every other collective identity in the US. While this contrasts sharply with real Islam, facts hardly matter in the age of American nationalism, predicated on cultural and religious identification and ‘alternative facts’. Caught within this brutal, baseless logic, some American Muslims no longer define themselves around their own political priorities, nor do they mobilize themselves alongside their natural allies – those who come from historically oppressed communities. Instead, they have taken to apologizing for their ‘Muslim-ness’, rather than demand an apology, justice and equality. Many Muslims find themselves, as a collective, being forced to demonstrate their humanity, defend their religion and distance themselves from every act of violence, even if only allegedly committed by a Muslim anywhere in the world.
Long before the Trump Administration’s ‘Muslim Ban’ – banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for 90 days – Muslims in the US have always, to varied degrees, been embattled, collectively demonized, racially profiled by government agencies and targeted in numerous hate-crimes by fellow Americans. In reality, hatred of Muslims goes back even before 9/11, and the US war in Iraq in 1990-91 – a hatred based solely on media fear-mongering and Hollywood stereotyping. There is also an odd ‘discovery’ by various liberal groups that American Muslims are mistreated in their own country. In truth, the cause of the ‘defenseless Muslim’ is used as a political tool, with Democrats and others attempting to undermine the actions of their Republican rivals.
The administrations of Democratic presidents, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, both had horrific legacies of violence and discrimination against Muslim countries. In a landmark study released in March 2015, the Washington-based group, Physicians for Social Responsibly, showed that the US self-styled ‘war on terror’ had killed anywhere between 1.3 million to 2 million Muslims in the first ten years since the September 11 attacks. Award-winning investigative journalist, Nafeez Ahmed, concluded that at least 4 million Muslims have been killed by the US since 1990. This excludes killings that have taken place in the last two years, or the countless civilians who perished during the US-sanctions on Iraq, starting 1991, which were enforced throughout the Clinton Administrations. Yet, all this is meant to be ignored and seen merely as the issue of an obnoxious president and that the pinnacle of the American violence against Muslims can be reduced to a 90-day travel ban on selected countries.
The colonizer, oppressor, invader is always blind to his crimes. He sees only the violent reaction – however minuscule – of the people whom he subjugates. According to the New America Foundation, alleged ‘Jihadists’ killed 94 people in the US from 2005-2015, during which time the US also killed nearly 2 million Muslims in their own countries. Yet, the government media-driven, fear-mongering, anti-Muslim and anti-Islam discourse (for which both liberals and conservatives are equally responsible) has made terrorism the leading fear among Americans, according to a major national survey i n 2016. In his book, Wretched of the Earth, one of the 20th century most powerful revolutionary voices, Frantz Fanon, wrote, “Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity.” For this generation of American Muslims, this is their moment – to discover and fulfill their mission, to define and assert who they are as the descendants of slaves, immigrants and refugees – the three main building blocs of America. [By Dr Ramzy Baroud - Counter Current]
A 13-Year-old girl sobbed while recording her immigrant father get arrested By ICE Agents
March 2: A sobbing 13-year-old girl recorded the arrest of her undocumented immigrant father in Los Angeles shortly after a school drop-off, the latest deportation-related enforcement action to receive renewed scrutiny under the Trump administration.Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez was arrested this morning for having a 2009 DUI conviction and an outstanding deportation order from 2014, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Under Obama-era directives, ICE focused mainly on criminals and those who posed a threat to public safety, however, those have changed under President Trump, who signed executive orders putting practically any immigrant living in the US illegally at risk of deportation. In the video, his daughter, Fatima Avelica, is sobbing as her father is put in a law enforcement vehicle in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. “Don’t cry mama, don’t cry. We have to be strong,” a woman, believed to be her mother, says in the background. Brenda Avelica, told KABC that her father has been in the US for 20 years and has four children, two of them adults.“It’s really hard what we’re going through,” Brenda Avelica told KABC. “I never thought we’d actually go through something like this. It’s terrible to feel and see your family being broken apart.” [BuzzFeed]
UK curbing academic free speech on Israel
March 2:The British government is helping universities across the UK suppress the right to criticize Israel over its human rights violations in Palestine, says a Jewish professor, vowing to never give in to the pressure. “They are trying to stop us talking about Palestinian rights, and about peace and we will just not shut up,” Dr. Haim Bresheeth, a Jewish academic and filmmaker, told Press TV. “Unfortunately the government has helped the universities that want to shut up free speech by accepting a definition of anti-Semitism that makes anti-Semitism any criticism of Israel,” he added. The scholar was referring to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)'s definition that was adopted by the government of Prime Minister Theresa May last year. It was based on IHRA's definition that the University of Exeter and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) cancelled an annual pro-Palestinian event, which was aimed at raising awareness about human rights violations in the occupied territories. Following the move, some 250 academics at dozens of universities across the UK penned an open letter, condemning the Tory government’s attempts to curb their right to free speech by banning criticism of Israel. The professors said in their letter that the government’s definition of anti-Semitism is too broad and can include any criticism of Israel with regards to its occupation of Palestinian lands. “The government has ‘adopted’ the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism, which can be and is being read as extending to criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights, an entirely separate issue, as prima facie evidence of anti-Semitism,” read the letter, sent to the Guardian. “This definition seeks to conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism,” the academics charged, accusing universities minister Jo Johnson of asking for the definition to be “disseminated” throughout the higher education system. [Press TV]
School in Germany bans Muslim children from prayer
March 3: A high school in Germany’s western city of Wuppertal has banned Muslim students from publicly praying in the school building, sparking a heated debate in social media. Johannes Rau all-day high school asked teachers on Feb. 16 to issue a "friendly warning" to students who perform prayers in the building, a leaked document circulated in social media has revealed. The school management said the ritual washing at the school toilets, and publicly praying in the school building are not permitted. It also urged teachers to report names of students who don’t observe the rules. The controversial ban has drawn widespread criticism in social media, but was backed by the country’s far-right party Alternative for Germany, or AfD. In a Facebook post, AfD's Wuppertal branch argued the move has demonstrated once again the failed migration policies of the old parties. Germany has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe, and a large majority of its four million Muslims are well-integrated. [World Bulletin.Net]
Hanging of young Muslim prompts calls for FBI probe
March 3: A Muslim civil rights group is calling for a federal investigation after an 18-year-old black Muslim was found hanged in the northwestern U.S. state of Washington. Ben Moussa Keita, who was set to graduate from high school, went missing last November. He was discovered in the woods by passers-by last month in the city of Lake Stevens, where the family lives. After a weeks-long search effort and no clear answers, the Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) local branch is urging the FBI to take over. "The family really wants answers," Arsalan Bukhari, head of CAIR Washington, told Anadolu Agency. "They are certainly concerned about whether this was a comprehensive investigation." Keita went missing on Nov. 26, leaving home without taking his wallet or phone. He was found on Jan. 9 by a group of young people in a wooded area very close to a residential suburban development. Father Ibrahima Keita told local reporters his son was a "very young, happy young man" with "no history of depression, anxiety, any psychological break-down at all.” "He was planning to graduate this year from Lake Stevens High School,” Keita said. “He was already in the Running Start program at Everett Community College and he was dreaming of becoming a medical doctor and work as a medical examiner. Now those dreams are over." [World Bulletin.Net]
Sikh man in Washington State says he was told, ‘Go back to your own country’ before he was shot
March 4: Kent, Washington State, police are looking for a gunman who allegedly walked onto a man’s driveway and shot him, saying “Go back to your own country.” The victim, a 39-year-old Sikh man, was working on his vehicle in his driveway in Kent’s East Hill neighborhood when he was approached by an unknown man, Kent police said, after talking with the victim. An altercation followed, with the victim saying the suspect made statements to the effect of “Go back to your own country.” The victim was shot in the arm. The victim described the shooter as a 6-foot-tall white man with a stocky build. He was wearing a mask covering the lower half of his face, the victim said. In a statement, the Sikh Coalition, a New York-based civil rights group, asked local and federal authorities to investigate the shooting as a hate crime. Jasmit Singh, a leader of the Sikh community, said Sikh men in particular have reported a rise in verbal abuse and uncomfortable encounters recently, “a kind of prejudice, a kind of xenophobia that is nothing that we’ve seen in the recent past.” Sikh Coalition Interim Program Manager Rajdeep Singh, in calling for the hate crime investigation, said in a statement: “While we appreciate the efforts of state and local officials to respond to attacks like this, we need our national leaders to make hate crime prevention a top priority. Tone matters in our political discourse, because this a matter of life or death for millions of Americans who are worried about losing loved ones to hate.” [Seattle Times]
Donald Trump rolls out Muslim Ban 2.0
March 6: President Donald Trump today issued a new Muslim ban executive order that will temporarily halt entry to the U.S. for people from six Muslim nations who are seeking new visas, though allowing those with current visas to travel freely. According to the Associated Press, Trump’s new order aims to address legal issues with the original order, which caused confusion at airports, sparked protests around the country and was ultimately blocked by federal courts. “President Donald Trump on Monday signed a new version of his controversial travel ban, aiming to withstand court challenges while still barring new visas for citizens from six Muslim-majority countries and shutting down the U.S. refugee program,” the AP said. The revised Muslim ban order leaves Iraq off the list of banned countries but still affects would-be visitors from Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Libya.” The Washington Post reported that even before the ink was dry Democrats and civil liberties groups asserted that the new order was legally tainted in the same way as the first one: It was a thinly disguised Muslim ban. That seems to portend more litigation — though how soon remains unclear. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who had successfully sued to have the ban blocked, said in a statement that the rescinding of Trump’s first ban showed it was “indefensible — legally, constitutionally and morally.” He said the state was reviewing its next legal steps and noted the president had “capitulated on numerous key provisions blocked by our lawsuit.” The Washington Post reported that even before the ink was dry Democrats and civil liberties groups asserted that the new order was legally tainted in the same way as the first one: It was a thinly disguised Muslim ban. That seems to portend more litigation — though how soon remains unclear. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who had successfully sued to have the ban blocked, said in a statement that the rescinding of Trump’s first ban showed it was “indefensible — legally, constitutionally and morally.” He said the state was reviewing its next legal steps and noted the president had “capitulated on numerous key provisions blocked by our lawsuit.” State Department, Homeland Security and Justice Department officials defended the new order as a necessary measure to improve public safety, the paper said adding: They said the countries implicated — Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Syria and Yemen — were either state sponsors of terrorism, or their territories were so compromised that they were effectively safe havens for terrorist groups. Iraq was omitted, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, because it is an “important ally in the fight to defeat ISIS,” and its leaders had agreed to implement new security measures. U.S. officials declined to specify the countries of origin of the 300 refugees now being investigated in terrorism cases, and they declined to detail those people’s current immigration status. Immigration advocacy and civil liberties groups have vowed to fight the new Muslim ban. In a statement sent to reporters following Trump's announcement, Matthew Segal, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts said, "President Trump’s original executive order stranded travelers, upended families, disrupted businesses and institutions globally, and faced many federal lawsuits. The ACLU of Massachusetts will closely monitor this new Executive Order and assess its validity." Tom Perez, Chair Democratic National Committee, described the new Muslim ban, like the last one, as unconstitutional. Perez was confident that the courts will rule against Donald Trump again soon.” [AMP Report]
Trump's election has created 'safe spaces' for Racists and White Supremacists
March 8: Since the election of Donald Trump in November, there have been almost 1,000 reported hate crimes targeting Muslims, Arabs, African-Americans, Latinos and other people of color. In this same moment, there have been terrorist threats against Jewish synagogues and community centers as well as the vandalizing of Jewish cemeteries. These hate crimes have also resulted in physical harm and even death: An Indian immigrant was shot and killed by a white man in Kansas who reportedly told him, “Get out of my country.” Several days ago a white man shot a Sikh man in Washington state after making a similar comment. When forced by public outrage to comment on the wave of hate crimes spreading across the country, President Trump issued a weak and obligatory statement on the subject during his address to Congress last week. As with the administration’s comments about its decision not to mention the Jewish people in in the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day statement, the president’s feeble condemnation of racism and bigotry did little to satisfy his critics. As demonstrated by his rhetoric and policy proposals, and the behavior of his supporters both during the 2016 campaign and his presidency, it is clear that Donald Trump used white racism and nativism to win the White House. What is less clear, however, is whether the startling increase in hate crimes was directly inspired by Trump’s victory or whether such crimes simply reflect the social and political forces that put him in the White House? And what can nonwhites, Jews, Muslims and other marginalized groups expect during the upcoming months and years of Trump’s presidency — assuming, that is, he is not forced from office? Salon recently spoke with Heidi Beirich, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, about the election of Donald Trump, racism and ethnic intolerance, the growth of white supremacist and other hate groups in the United States, and the role of the so-called alt-right in the mainstreaming of white supremacist and white nationalist thought in America and Europe. He said: When I think about some of the things we were discussing, like global right-wing populist movements, it’s very hard to ignore the parallels to the 1930s in Europe. It’s that you can pick a vulnerable population, start attributing them as second-class citizens and end up with genocide. I’m not saying we’re anywhere near Nazi Germany. But I can’t ignore some of these patterns because of the extremists that we have in the White House, the kind of hate violence we’re having, with a president who doesn’t seem to care that much about it. These are really scary things. It has to stop. [Chauncey DeVega – Salon]
Congressman King of Iowa stirs controversy with remark supporting white nationalism
Mach 12: Representative Steve King, a Republican from Iowa who has a history of making inflammatory statements viewed by many as insensitive or outright racist, was roundly criticized on Sunday for his apparent endorsement of white nationalism. Mr. King made the remark on Twitter when he shared a story by the Voice of Europe website about the far right Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who wants to end Muslim immigration and ban the Quran and who has called Moroccan immigrants “scum.” Self proclaimed white nationalists emerged as a small but vocal group during the candidacy of Donald J. Trump, celebrating his promises to crack down on illegal immigration and ban Muslims from entering the United States, as well as heralding his presidential victory as a chance to preserve white culture. David Duke, the white nationalist and former Ku Klux Klansman who called Mr. Trump “by far the best candidate” during the campaign, celebrated Mr. King’s comments. [New York Times]
When dissent is unpatriotic:Muhammad Ali Jr. detained at airport for 2nd time in 4 weeks
March 13: Agents from the Department of Homeland Security held up the son of boxing legend Muhammad Ali at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Friday (March 10) as he was making his way to South Florida, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz reported on Twitter. Florida Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was on the same flight, posted a photo on Twitter with Ali Jr. after he was allowed to board and wrote: "On way home on DOMESTIC FLIGHT Muhammad Ali Jr. detained AGAIN ... Religiously profiling son of 'The Greatest' will not make us safe." “We’re talking about somebody who has no criminal record,” she said. “He’s an American citizen. He was doing nothing other than traveling and who happens to be a Muslim-American.” Muhammad Ali Jr. and his mother, Khalilah Camacho Ali, both born in the United States, were returning from a Black History Month event in Jamaica on Feb. 7 when they were detained and questioned at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. They said they were asked if they were Muslim and explained their relationship to the former heavyweight champion repeatedly. On Thursday, Muhammad Ali’s son and his mother headed to Washington to meet with lawmakers to discuss the issue and their experience. Ali testified before a Democratic subcommittee on Thursday about his ordeal last month when he was detained by the Department of Homeland Security for two hours in Fort Lauderdale after returning from a trip to Jamaica. “They asked me what was my religion,” Ali testified. Muhammad Ali Jr. and his mother were also calling for an end to Trump’s Muslim travel ban. Earlier this week they unveiled a campaign for religious freedom in the spirit of the boxing icon, supported by former boxers Evander Holyfield, Larry Holmes and Roberto Duran among others. They are framing the effort directly as a fight against the president, using the hashtag #AlivsTrump. [OpEd News]
U.S. Citizens now being forced to provide their social media passwords upon return to U.S.
March 13: When Buffalo, New York couple Akram Shibly and Kelly McCormick returned to the U.S. from a trip to Toronto on Jan. 1, 2017, U.S. Customs & Border Protection officers held them for two hours, took their cellphones and demanded their passwords. "It just felt like a gross violation of our rights," said Shibly, a 23-year-old filmmaker born and raised in New York. But he and McCormick complied, and their phones were searched. This is what happens when Americans endorse through their votes a policy of xenophobia that deliberately disregards our history of laws, traditions, and Constitutional principles. It is what is happening to Americans returning from trips abroad, by a newly deputized Gestapo, the U.S. Customs and Border Service clearly feeling its oats after the rabid anti-immigrant campaign and ultimate election of Donald Trump (the like-minded Border Patrol Agents and Immigration Customs and Enforcement were among the few unions endorsing him). Three days later, they returned from another trip to Canada and were stopped again by CBP. "One of the officers calls out to me and says, 'Hey, give me your phone,'" recalled Shibly. "And I said, 'No, because I already went through this.'" The officer asked a second time. Within seconds, he was surrounded: one man held his legs, another squeezed his throat from behind. A third reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. McCormick watched her boyfriend's face turn red as the officer's chokehold tightened. NBC news examined 25 cases of American citizens recently detained and abused by U.S. Customs officials. In all of these cases, newly “empowered” border agents, eager and willing to channel their latent authoritarian impulses, threatened American citizens, demanding they either hand over their cell phone passwords—or else. [Daily Kos]
Vandal breaks into Islamic Center of Tucson, destroys copies of Quran
March 13: A man broke into the Islamic Center of Tucson early this morning, March 13, ripped up copies of the Quran and scattered the pieces around the building, authorities said. The ICT said it happened around 3:30 a.m., nothing was stolen and no one was hurt. "The camera footage leads us to believe that the sole intent of this individual was to damage the center's religious property," the ICT said in a Facebook post. "Although we are disheartened by this incident, we understand that this is an isolated incident," the center wrote in a post. "The ICT has been a part of the Tucson community since the late 1980s and since then, the Tucson community has been kind, welcoming, and supportive." [Tucson News Now]
US hate crimes up 20 percent in 2016 fueled by Trump
March 14: Hate crimes in nine US metropolitan areas increased over 20 percent last year, fueled by the divisive rhetoric of US President Donald Trump during his presidential campaign and more willingness for victims to report such crimes, new research shows. Overall, there were 1,037 hate crime incidents in 2016 in the nine areas researched, a 23.3 percent increase from the previous year, Brian Levin, a leading hate crimes researcher, said yesterday. Among US cities, Washington, DC, reported the largest increase in hate crimes at 107 incidents, a 62 percent rise from 2015. New York City reported the greatest number of hate crimes at 380, a 24 percent increase. Bias crimes against Muslims, Jews and Hispanics accounted for much of the growth in hate crimes that were reported following the election of Trump on November 8, said Levin, the director of the nonpartisan Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a civil rights organization that tracks hate crimes, said last month that the number of organized anti-Muslim hate groups in the United States nearly tripled last year. The SPLC report also found that there are now more than 900 active hate groups across the US, ranging from neo-Nazi groups to racist black separatist organizations. Jewish community centers and schools in the United States have also received several waves of hoax bomb threats since the beginning of this year, prompting fears of an increase in anti-Semitism. [Press TV]
Workplace headscarf ban not discriminatory, rules top EU court
March 14: Private businesses in Europe can forbid Muslim women in their employ from wearing headscarves if the ban is part of a policy of neutrality within the company and not a sign of prejudice against a particular religion, the European Union Court of Justice said tday. Such a ban doesn't constitute what the court calls "direct discrimination." The conclusion by the highest court in the 28-nation European Union was in response to two cases brought by a Belgian and a French woman, both fired for refusing to remove their headscarves. It clarifies a long-standing question about whether bans by some countries on religious symbols, in classrooms, for example, can be extended to the workplace. The court's response fed right into the French presidential campaign, bolstering the platforms of far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a leading contender in the spring election who wants to do away with all "ostentatious" religious symbols in the name of secularism, and conservative Francois Fillon, who hailed the court's decisions. France already bans headscarves and other religious symbols in classrooms as well as face-covering veils in streets. [AFP]
Turkey says ruling to 'strengthen anti-Muslim trend'
Turkey attacked the ruling by the EU's top court, saying it would intensify anti-Muslim sentiment. "The European Court of Justice decision on the headscarf today will only strengthen anti-Muslim and xenophobic trends," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a tweet "Quo vadis Europa? (Where is Europe going?)", he added. Turkey last month said it was lifting a historic ban on female officers wearing the Islamic headscarf in the country's officially secular armed forces, the last institution where the wearing of the garment was forbidden. [AFP]
Federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland block Trump's Muslim Ban.2
March 17: Federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland have blocked President Donald Trump's Muslim Ban 2.0. In their ruling both judges cited Trump's statements about Muslims during the presidential campaign. A federal judge in Hawaii Wednesday (March 15) ordered a temporary restraining order nationwide, hours before it was set to go into effect on Thursday. Another federal judge in Maryland Thursday morning specifically blocked the 90-day ban on immigration for citizens of six Muslim countries. A federal judge in Washington State is also in the process of evaluating challenges to the new travel ban, but may defer ruling in light of the nationwide ruling in Hawaii, CNN said. Trump decried Hawaii Judge ruling during a rally Wednesday night in Nashville, introducing his statement as "the bad, the sad news," the CNN reported. "The order he blocked was a watered-down version of the first one," Trump said, as the crowd booed the news."This is, in the opinion of many, an unprecedented judicial overreach," he added, before pledging to take the issue to the Supreme Court if necessary. The Justice Department said it will defend the new travel ban, the CNN reported. "The Department of Justice strongly disagrees with the federal district court's ruling, which is flawed both in reasoning and in scope. The President's Executive Order falls squarely within his lawful authority in seeking to protect our Nation's security, and the Department will continue to defend this Executive Order in the courts," DOJ said in a statement Wednesday night.
In a 43-page ruling, US District Court Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii concluded that the new executive order failed to pass legal muster at this stage and the state had established "a strong likelihood of success" on their claims of religious discrimination. "The illogic of the Government's contentions is palpable. The notion that one can demonstrate animus toward any group of people only by targeting all of them at once is fundamentally flawed," Watson wrote. "Equally flawed is the notion that the Executive Order cannot be found to have targeted Islam because it applies to all individuals in the six referenced countries," Watson added. "It is undisputed, using the primary source upon which the Government itself relies, that these six countries have overwhelmingly Muslim populations that range from 90.7% to 99.8%."
The case in Maryland was brought by three organizations and six people, claiming the order affected their work or prevented their family members from the affected countries from getting visas to enter the United States. Chuang blocked only the provision of the new order affecting the issuance of visas to those from the six affected countries. He said those suing had “not provided a sufficient basis” for him to declare the other sections invalid. In Hawaii, U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson went further, also suspending the portion of the order that affected refugees. Chuang wrote that he “should not, and will not, second-guess the conclusion that national security interests would be served by the travel ban,” but if the national security rationale was secondary to an attempt to disfavor a particular religion, he had no choice but to block the executive order. “In this highly unique case,” he wrote, “the record provides strong indications that the national security purpose is not the primary purpose for the travel ban.” [AMP Report]
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