Editing Cat Stevens (section)

====Denial of entry into the United States====
On 21 September 2004, Islam was on a [[United Airlines]] flight from London to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], travelling to a meeting with American entertainer [[Dolly Parton]], who had recorded "Peace Train" several years earlier and was planning to include another Cat Stevens song on an upcoming album.<ref name="Yentob"/> While the plane was in flight, his name was flagged as being on the [[No Fly List]]. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers alerted the United States [[Transportation Security Administration]], which then diverted his flight to [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]], Maine, where he was detained by officers from the [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Department of Homeland Security]].<ref name="washpo922">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39772-2004Sep21.html|title=Cat Stevens held after D.C. flight diverted|author=Goo, Sara Kehaulani|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=22 September 2004|access-date=6 December 2007}}</ref>

The following day, he was denied entry and flown back to the United Kingdom.<!-- please discuss on Talk before changing this wording --> A spokesman for Homeland Security claimed there were "concerns of ties he may have to potential terrorist-related activities".<ref name="washpo923">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43282-2004Sep22.html|title=Cat Stevens leaves U.S. after entry denied|author=Goo, Sara Kehaulani|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=23 September 2004 |access-date=6 December 2007}}</ref> The [[Israeli system of government|Israeli government]] had deported Islam in 2000 over allegations that he provided funding to the [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] organisation [[Hamas]],<ref name="Israel">{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5922705/israel_rejects_the_former_cat_stevens| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205111435/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5922705/israel_rejects_the_former_cat_stevens| url-status=dead| archive-date=5 December 2006|title=Israel Rejects the Former Cat Stevens|last=Dansby|first=Andrew |date=13 July 2000|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=12 October 2008}}</ref> but he denied doing so knowingly.<ref name="Gunderson">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2006-12-14-yusuf-islam_x.htm?loc=interstitialskip|title='Cat Stevens' returns to music|first=Edna|last=Gundersen|work=USA Today|date=15 December 2006|access-date=24 November 2010}}</ref> Islam stated "I have never knowingly supported or given money to Hamas".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/News/story?id=139607|title=Cat Stevens 'In the Dark' Over No-Fly List|work=ABC News 20/20|date=1 October 2004|access-date=14 July 2010}}</ref> "At the time I was reported to have done it, I didn't know such a group existed. Some people give a political interpretation to charity. We were horrified at how people were suffering in the Holy Land."<ref name="Gunderson"/>

However, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added him to a "watch list"<ref name="musical roots"/> which provoked an international controversy and led the [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|British Foreign Secretary]] [[Jack Straw]] to complain personally to the [[United States Secretary of State]] [[Colin Powell]] at the United Nations.<ref name="UN">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3682434.stm|title=Cat Stevens "shock" at US refusal|publisher=BBC|date=23 September 2004|access-date=6 December 2007}}</ref> Powell responded by stating that the watchlist was under review, adding, "I think we have that obligation to review these matters to see if we are right".<ref name="Powell">{{cite news|url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1153665,00.html|title=Powell orders review|publisher=Sky News|date=30 September 2004|access-date=6 December 2007}}</ref>

Islam believed his inclusion on a "watch list" may have simply been an error: a mistaken identification of him for a man with the same name, but different spelling. On 1 October 2004 he requested the removal of his name, "I remain bewildered by the decision of the US authorities to refuse me entry to the United States".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.entertainment-news.org/breaking/8585/yusuf-islam-wants-name-off-no-fly-list.html|title=Yusuf Islam wants name off 'no-fly' list|agency=Associated Press|date=2 October 2004|access-date=6 December 2007|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226155733/http://www.entertainment-news.org/breaking/8585/yusuf-islam-wants-name-off-no-fly-list.html|archive-date=26 December 2007}}</ref> According to his statement, the man on the list was named "Youssef Islam", indicating that Islam was not the suspected terrorism supporter.<ref name="Larry King"/> [[Romanisation of Arabic]] names can easily result in different spellings: the [[transliteration]] of [[Yusuf]] gives rise to a dozen spellings.

Two years later, in December 2006, Islam was admitted without incident into the United States for several radio concert performances and interviews to promote his new record.<ref name="Pareles">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/arts/20yusuf.html?_r=1&oref=slogin|title=Yusuf Islam Steps Back into Cat Stevens's Old Sound|author=Pareles, Jon|work=The New York Times|date=20 December 2006|access-date=6 December 2007}}</ref> He said of the incident at the time, "No reason was ever given, but being asked to repeat the spelling of my name again and again, made me think it was a fairly simple mistake of identity. Rumours which circulated after made me imagine otherwise."<ref name="Why was he turned away">{{cite web|url=http://www.yusufislam.com/faq/a083efb2edcf4c567c792d95e528149f|work=Chinese Whiskers – FAQs|title=Why was he turned away from USA?|publisher=YusufIslam.com|access-date=26 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501042131/http://www.yusufislam.com/faq/a083efb2edcf4c567c792d95e528149f/|archive-date=1 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Islam wrote a song about his 2004 exclusion from the US, titled "[[Boots and Sand]]", recorded in 2008 and featuring [[Paul McCartney]], Dolly Parton, and [[Terry Sylvester]].<ref name="Lifeline2008">{{cite web|title=Yusuf Islam Lifeline:August 2008|url=http://www.yusufislam.com/lifeline/50/112858136a274e64da8f3d0dd2ae30c7/|publisher=Yusuf Islam official website|access-date=23 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721095810/http://www.yusufislam.com/lifeline/50/112858136a274e64da8f3d0dd2ae30c7/|archive-date=21 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>