Yassin Aref is a Kurd from Iraq. He was a resident of Albany, New York. He was unfairly accused of supporting terrorists and sent to a special prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. The purpose of this site is to tell you who Yassin Aref really is and his interesting story; his struggle as a Kurd in Iraq, how he survived the Anfal genocide, his struggle for freedom, his journey to America with his family; and above all, how he ended up in prison. To learn of his story and about the Kurdish struggle for rights and liberty, Yassin wrote for you his life's story, Son of Mountains.
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Read more about unjustly prosecuted Muslims at Project SALAM
Support and Legal Advocacy for Muslims
A new book about the Aref-Hossain “sting” case in Albany, New York has just been published.
Rounded Up: Artificial Terrorists and Muslim Entrapment After 9/11, by Dr. Shamshad Ahmad, president of the Masjid As-Salam mosque in Albany and the 2007 recipient of the Jim Perry Progressive Leadership Award from Citizen Action of the Capital District, is now available nationwide. Rounded Up is the only comprehensive account of the Albany case available, and there is only one other book on the market about a domestic terrorism case itself. Rounded Up is an important contribution to the new body of literature about the government’s preemptive prosecution of Muslims in America. To order and to read more about the book, click here.
Ideology
Since a worried Plato
announced to the world
that his teacher was facing execution,
it turned into a kind of law:
free thinkers
must always sacrifice
and need to be ready to go.
History is very clear:
the true scientists
the real philosophers
do not know fear.
There are countless examples
when they were thrown into jail
or hanged in the public square.
Continue reading Ideology, 09/20/2016
Opposite
Abul Qasm al Shabi
once said:
"Oh my heart,
you are the source
of all my pains."
But mine
are all coming
from my head!
Napoleon
declared to the world
he was not afraid
of a hundred people
carrying guns
but he was scared
of one person
armed with a pen.
Continue reading Opposite, 09/20/2016
Coexistence
Like Qanie*
prison to me
is a school.
I am content
living free
behind these walls.
Like Mandela** and Apo***
after decades
of life and self-reflection,
after decades
of thinking and meditating,
after decades
of reading and studying theories,
Continue reading Coexistence, 09/20/2016
Flower
It has been said
that roses are red
because they are
the martyr's blood
Everywhere in my country
I see my peshmerga's friends,
our fallen soldiers,
in the eyes of flowers.
Continue reading Flower, 09/20/2016
The Real World
In this lonely land of prison,
in the darkness of my cell,
in complete and total isolation,
I started thinking and thinking
I dug deeper and deeper
I went farther and farther
until I reached the Real World
full of justice
full of peace
full of joy
Continue reading The Real World, 09/20/2016
Steady
Continue reading Steady, 09/20/2016
See You Soon
to Kak N
Which tears
are bloody and bitter
like those shaded in separation?
Continue reading See You Soon, 04/12/2016
Blood
They asked me
what's going on in my country
I said
blood!
They asked me
about the highest paying job
in the Middle East
I told them
shedding blood!
Continue reading Blood, 04/12/2016
Flying to Rumi's World: Soul's Journey
for Sean
Even though life is fortune
yet it is full of misfortune
that is why we’ve ended up here,
behind these prison walls
Continue reading Flying to Rumi's World: Soul's Journey, 01/17/2016
Shake the World
I believe in the power of silence
because I saw Charlie Chaplin,
without uttering a word
and in a very comedic way,
send his message to the world.
I believe in peaceful revolution
because of Dr. King's dream.
Without carrying a gun
he climbed to the top of the mountain
and brought justice to his nation.
Continue reading Shake the World, 07/06/2015
Recognize Kurdistan as a Nation
http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Recognize-Kurdistan-as-a-nation-5810380.php
Continue reading Recognize Kurdistan as a Nation, 10/08/2014
Peace Is the Way, a response to a supporter about war
September 21, 2014
Continue reading Peace Is the Way, a response to a supporter about war , 09/22/2014
Wireless Communication
When there's no freedom
be careful of noise-makers!
Close your eyes,
connect your soul,
explain your feelings
with a whisper.
I am not a mystic
and this is not a mystery
I do not send a signal
I never used a cipher
Continue reading Wireless Communication, 07/27/2014
Freedom
You are born free.
Don't live like a slave
and don't die like cattle.
Yes, you are free
say whatever you want
but don't utter the truth
and don't criticize authority
Continue reading Freedom, 07/27/2014
Know Yourself
If you want to know yourself
don't look in a mirror
that's only your picture
instead
look back at your life
and see
what is your legacy.
If you want to know the time
don't look at a clock
that's only a number
instead
look forward
to see how far you are
from reaching your dreams.
Continue reading Know Yourself, 02/05/2014
Long Walk to Freedom
dedicated to Nelson Mandela
Madiba
son of Africa
who rose high
and became
the Sun of the entire world.
Continue reading Long Walk to Freedom, 01/04/2014
Honesty
dedicated to Carl Strock
Dear Carl,
What you did
every journalist should do
you asked
a "forbidden question"
you examined
your "given information"
you doubted
the authority's narration
you spoke
for an accused person.
Be proud and stand tall,
this is victory, not a "fall"
Continue reading Honesty, 10/30/2013
One Percent
When I went to the computer room to check my e-mail, I was carrying an old newspaper with me. There I found an e-mail from my friend, Lynne, asking me to write something for you so she could read it on my behalf. I came back to my cell thinking about what I should write. When I opened my newspaper, I saw a comic picture of President Bush with two big ears and Mr. Cheney with a scowling face––which captured my attention. The caption read, "Cheney got the heart transplant, but Bush is still on the waiting list for a brain." Maybe this sounds funny to you, but it was deep and really sad to me, because this brainless and heartless man misled this nation and ruined this country for eight years.
Continue reading One Percent, 09/20/2013
Coming Back
Like a grain of a spike of wheat
when they splashed me
I waited for rain
then I grew again
and made a pile of seeds.
Like the seed of a narcissus
when they cut my stature
I waited for spring
then I came out again
and turned our land into a garden.
Continue reading Coming Back, 07/15/2013
Pain and Me
The first time I met pain
it was in the womb of my mother
since then we are like twins
who have come to life together.
It's a mystery
why pain enjoys my company
despite what may I say or do
pain has patience and will not leave me!
Continue reading Pain and Me, 05/19/2013
Welcome Democracy Now! Listeners
Read “Dead Life in a Political Prison” as mentioned in the broadcast
Read about Dr. Rafil Dhafir, the Muslim Solidarity
Committee and more information about the CMU-
"Little Guantanamo" on the Links page here
Read more about the CMU Prisons
“Little Guantanamo”–Secretive ‘CMU’ Prisons Designed to Restrict Communication of
Jailed Muslims and Activists With Outside World
Broadcast on Democracy Now! April 17, 2009
Photos sent by Arif Gull, a friend of Yassin's of
Hashazini and Kurdistan.
Me
by Yassin ArefThis is me
Wherever I am
I carry a pen in my pocket
and book in my hand
Tons of new ideas are in my mind
My heart full of love and caring
Looking forward hopefully
For justice, peace and a better life
For us all and the coming generation.
Searching for an answer to the question
“What exactly does it mean
that we are human beings?"
Quote from Pastor Martin Niemöller
In Germany they first came for the Communists, but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then the 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.
from Bartlett's Familiar Quotations