A file photo for an Arab American detained by US police

CAIRO, September 14 (IslamOnline.net) – Defending an entire community against abhorrent racial profiling and civil rights violations, two American citizens of Arab descent could not tolerate it any longer and reported the harassment and intimidation by US law enforcement officers of fellow men to authorities.

Businessmen Ahmad R. Alam and Belal Dalati took their case to John Welter, the police chief of Anaheim, California, and told him how they felt offended and uncomfortable by the misconduct of Sgt. Chuck Knight and Officer Wayne Casey, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday, September 14.

To mention but a few examples, the pair used to jot down license plate numbers and asked to see licenses, vehicles registrations and immigration green cards of the shop owners in Anaheim shopping district known as "Little Gaza".

Knight and Casey further used to sit in a car watching the stores through binoculars from across the streets and tried in vain to pressure Arab Americans, including Aalam, to work as informants.

"It has been a very uncomfortable situation for a long time," Dalati, who was born in Syria, told the LA Times.

Alam said they are heartened that authorities are taking their concerns seriously.

He said city spokesman John Nicoletti said police had begun an internal investigation of the allegations against the two officers.

Not Isolated

It was not individual or isolated cases that were reported by Alam and Dalati, but rather it was a case of "constant harassment", according to several sources.

Other Arab Americans stood up and be counted like them and complained to senior officers in the city, as per the US paper.

"It wasn't just Alam and Dalati. There were doctors, attorneys and others [of Arab descent] who told me about the constant harassment," said City Councilman Richard Chavez, who arranged for Alam, Dalati and other merchants to meet with city officials.

Randy Hamud, an Arab American attorney in San Diego who has defended dozens of Muslims detained or arrested by federal authorities, said the officers appeared to be "profiling an entire community."

'Americans By Choice'

Alam told the LA Times that the American people have to know one thing for sure that the Arab and Muslim community is part and parcel of society and do really care.

"We are Americans, and we live in America, not Baghdad, where you expect the police to act like these guys were acting. It wasn't right," said Alam, who was born in Lebanon.

"They have to understand that Muslim Americans love this country. Where we were born was not by choice. But we became Americans by choice," added Dalati.

"But since 9/11 we don't feel like we're in America anymore. We understand that the FBI and police have to do their jobs to protect America. All we're asking is to treat us with respect and don't violate our rights."

A May report released by the US Senate Office Of Research concluded that the Muslim community in the United States has taken the brunt of the Patriot Act against terrorism and other federal powers applied in the aftermath of the 9/11 deadly attacks.

Also in May, the FBI apologized to an American Muslim lawyer for a "misidentification" that led to his arrest over the Madrid blasts. The American Muslim lawyer demanded investigations into his two-week detention, saying all his work and life were devastated.

More and more, nearly 57 percent of American Muslims polled by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) complained of having experienced bias or discrimination since the September 11 attacks and 87 percent know of a fellow Muslim who experienced discrimination.

Amnesty International said in a report released Monday, September 13, that racial profiling by US law enforcement agencies has grown over the past three years to cover one in nine Americans, mostly targeting Muslims.