By Shamshad Ahmad, Ph.D.

There is intimacy, honesty, and a level of trust in "Rounded Up" that may disturb and dishearten the reader. For only an immigrant could believe in and be so seduced by the myth of America. "Rounded Up" is an immigrant’s story in which the myth collides head on with the nightmare. The hopes of those who see the United States as a beacon of light, prosperity, and freedom are caught in a web of the unseen and unexpected, and then are targeted and crushed by a post 9/11 hysteria and the FBI.

In Rounded Up, we see how easy it is easy to attack a poor, immigrant community, unskilled in the use of English, unfamiliar with the culture and its laws, isolated and marginalized by its economic status, its recent arrival in this country, its race, and a misunderstood religion often purposely and dishonestly portrayed as violent by the U.S. government.

We also see, with 9/11 as backdrop, how the U.S. government, through the auspices of the FBI, has released a reign of terror upon the Muslim community nationwide and has simultaneously denigrated the Constitution and cowed the American public into supporting their wave of intolerance, unprecedented in recent American history. Sadly, this Orwellian war on civil rights is done in the name of national security, and it is 1984 in Albany, New York, although the calendar reads 2003 and 2004.

Rounded Up is a story from the community of working-class Muslims in Albany. Two of them are persecuted by the FBI in a fabricated and dishonest “sting” conducted over two years. Appendices A and B, a summary and brief analysis of official FBI surveillance transcripts, contain the essence of the case. These repeatedly demonstrate that the two men are neither terrorists nor willing participants in any criminal activity, and that it is only by the dishonesty of the FBI and its paid informant that this tragedy occurs. That the FBI was assisted by the compliance of the court–– which apparently did not comprehend that in a country that respects the rule of law, secret evidence is unacceptable––is both incomprehensible and frightening. The immediate result is that two innocent men are falsely convicted and sentenced to fifteen years for “money laundering.” As one local journalist remarked, this case really stinks.

Fortunately, the story does not end here. An unlikely group of peace activists, lawyers, and concerned citizens have stood valiantly against this homegrown terror. The Muslim Solidarity Committee (MSC) is dedicated to keeping on until Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain are released from prison and some semblance of justice is salvaged for their families and the community. While the FBI continues to practice entrapment under the euphemisms “sting” and “preemptive prosecution” nationwide, the MSC continues to represent what is still good about America.

With atypical courage, Shamshad Ahmad––member of the MSC, a Muslim, founder and president of the Masjid As-Salam mosque––is willing to speak out in a time of extreme repression when many are cowering in the shadows. If you care about living in a country that respects the rule of law, read this book. The democracy you save may be your own.