- Title: USA: MUSLIM AMERICA - FEATURE - ONE YEAR ON SINCE SEPTEMBER 11,2001
- Date: 3rd September 2002
- Summary: (L!1) WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) SCU SOUNDBITE (English) JAMES ZOGBY SAYING: "There are a whole lot of people today that are saying John Ashcroft has gone over board and the good thing about America is the constitution always wins out in the end. We are already seeing federal court judges say you cannot hold people and not reveal their names, no you cannot hold an American and not give him an attorney." (L!1) JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) WIDE OF BUSY STREET WITH SOME SHOP SIGNS IN ARABIC/ ARAB WOMEN CROSS THE STREET SCU SOUNDBITE (English) REPORTER ASKS ARAB AMERICAN ABEL ELZOKM IF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IS BEING OVER PROTECTED, HE ANSWERS: "Well that's what I see from the media, that is what I hear from the people when they lock somebody he is in jail for a couple of months until he proves he is innocent or they feel he is okay." (L!1) WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 3, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) SCU SOUNDBITE (English) AMERICAN CITIZEN, MIA MARBURY SAYING: "You can't really fault an entire culture for a couple of guys being extreme and though someone may look a certain way or may be part of the culture doesn't mean you should be stoning them at the grocery store." SCU SOUNDBITE (English) AMERICAN CITIZEN, REGGIE ALLEN SAYING: "I basically think they should be treated as equal, you know after what happen a lot of people were on pins and needles towards those Arabs and Muslims, but each individual should be treated as an individual, so I think they were treated unfairly." (L!1) JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) TOPSHOP OF MEN PRAYING AT A MOSQUE SMV MULLAH LEADING PRAYER WIDE OF MEN PRAYING SCU SOUNDBITE (English) SA'AD TOUMA, CONGREGANT AT THE MOSQUE, SAYING: "I swear to God now there is peace more than before in America and that is good for us." SMV MEN PRAYING WIDE OF MOSQUE WITH MEN AT PRAYER
- Embargoed: 18th September 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: WASHINGTON D.C., JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY AND PORTLAND, OREGON, UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Topics: Politics,Religion
- Reuters ID: LVAAWEOY5NY7SC8IH1I7J50XL67C
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Following the September 11th attacks, many in the Muslim and Arab Americans communities feared they would no longer be regarded as loyal Americans. In the year since the attacks on America, these communities are learning to deal with their higher profile for better and for worse.
Thousands of Muslims in traditional garb gathered to meet and pray at what appears at first glance to be a community meeting in the Middle East, but the people praying are American Muslims at the annual meeting of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) held this year in Washington DC.
It was not by chance that the convention, held in the year following the September 11th attacks on the United States, was held in the nation's capital and not its usual locale in the Midwest. ISNA hoped that by meeting so close to the heart of the U.S. government, Muslim-Americans would illustrate that they too are part of the American fabric.
"As a result of September 11 there was pressure on Muslims and as we know from the media those that carried out the the terrorist act, tragedy had Muslim names so that really hurt us as Muslims and gave us a bad name," said Muhammad Nir Abdullah, the president of ISNA.
Following the attacks, many in the Muslim and Arab communities in the United States felt that they had to deal with a double trauma. First, they mourned as most Americans for the tremendous loss of life. And almost immediately following September 11th, they began to fear that they would become the victims of reprisal attacks after media reported that the men suspected of having perpetrated the attacks were from Arab/Muslim countries.
Many Arabs and Muslims visiting the United States quickly departed the country. One man at the airport just a week after the attacks held a sign that had been placed on his mosque's door that read, "Islam slaughtered my brother. Christ has cursed you and this house of Ba'al. Leave our nation. You are not welcome.'' Other Arab and Muslim Americans told rude comments and of threatening messages left on their answering machines. In one extreme case, a Sikh man was killed.
Almost immediately following the attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush scheduled numerous public events with members of America's Arab, Muslim and Sikh communities.
At an event at the Muslim Community Center in Washington DC, a week after the attacks, Bush spoke out against bigotry and called for tolerance.
"I've been told that some fear to leave. Some don't want to go shopping for their families. Some don't want to go about their ordinary daily routines because by wearing cover they're afraid they'll be intimidated. That should not and that will not stand in America," Bush said.
Speaking from his office in Washington DC, James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute, said that both ordinary Americans and leaders of government exhibited overwhelming kindness and concern for Arab and Muslim Americans.
"If this had happened any place else the situation would have been worse. I've said that to myself, my community and the country. It became almost a measure of American patriotism to defend Arab and Muslim Americans. The TV ads, the comments, the campaigns to snuff out hate crime, I don't think any where else in the world has the instinct to respond that way and that is the extraordinary part of America," Zogby said.
Many of the participants at the ISNA conference said they too were surprised and relieved by the support they received from their non-Muslim friends following September 11th.
"The initial response I had was fear, oh no I am a Muslim what is going to happen how are they going to treat me.
Everyone where I work knows I am Muslim, but by the grace of Allah nothing has happened to me. I have actually had an outpouring of people making sure I am okay, checking that I am safe and that no harm has been done to me and that no one has harassed me and things like that," said Shabnem Khan.
Ayman Sa'ad a medical student in Washington DC, said that he too feared that he would no longer be treated fairly.
"I'd have to say the people that I am closest to including my colleagues have treated me differently but in a positive fashion as opposed to a negative fashion. It seems the people who are well informed who know the issues who anticipated a backlash against the Muslim community are the most sensitive to the special needs Muslims will require going through this rough time," said Sa'ad.
But while most said they have been treated kindly by their fellow Americans, some people at the ISNA conference expressed their concern at some of the measures taken by the government to identify profile people who it perceives as potentially dangerous. Maren Shawesh said she is willing to accept some inconveniences as long as she does not permanently become a second class citizen.
"We have talked about it in my family but if this is how people feel that we will secure the US more by racial profiling and what have you, than certainly we have nothing to hide. Although it does upset and frustrate I am willing to cooperate so long as my civil liberties aren't entirely abolished," she said.
But Zogby said that he along with many other people not from the Arab or Muslim communities are concerned by some of the actions taken by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft which limit the civil rights of Americans suspected of being involved with actions that threaten national security.
"There are a whole lot of people today that are saying John Ashcroft has gone over board and the good thing about America is the constitution always wins out in the end. We are already seeing federal court judges say you cannot hold people and not reveal their names, no you cannot hold an American and not give him an attorney," he said.
Not far from the place where the World Trade Center once stood, in Jersey City, New Jersey, the former home of the Egyptian cleric, Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, convicted of involvement with the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, Arab-Americans have tried to go about their normal daily life in a year that has been anything but normal for most Americas. Abel Elzokm, an immigrant from Egypt said that he has not been treated any differently since September 11th, but that he is concerned by media reports about the imprisonment of Arab and Muslim Americans.
"Well that's what I see from the media, that is what I hear from the people when they lock somebody he is in jail for a couple of months until he proves he is innocent or they feel he is okay," said Elzokm.
Americans not from the Middle East and outside the Islamic faith also appear to also be concerned that the civil rights of all Americans be protected. "You can't really fault an entire culture for a couple of guys being extreme and though someone may look a certain way or may be part of the culture doesn't mean you should be stoning them at the grocery store," said Mia Marbury who works in Washington DC.
Reggie Allen also from the nation's capital agreed, "I basically think they should be treated as equal, you know after what happen a lot of people were on pins and needles towards those Arabs and Muslims, but each individual should be treated as an individual, so I think they were treated unfairly."
Back in Jersey City, speaking from his local mosque, Sa'ad Touma said he believes that September 11th has helped to unite all Americans including those of the Islamic persuasion or of Arab decent. "I swear to God now there is peace more than before in America and that is good for us," he said.
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