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Muslims Should Stand Firm in Face of Indiscriminate Retaliation: U.S. Muslim Leaders
By Ayesha Ahmad
WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (IslamOnline) - As incidences of violent backlashes - due to
Tuesday's attacks in New York and Washington - spread against their
representative groups across the country, U.S. Muslim leaders said Wednesday
that the role of Muslims and Arabs within America is more important than ever.
"I think its clear that the backlash has already begun," said Salam al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). "And it was expected."
Muslim and Arab groups nationwide have reported, aside from death threats by email and phone to their own organizations, incidents of vandalism of Islamic centers and Muslim-owned businesses, threats against mosques and Islamic schools and violence directed at innocent citizens who "appear" Middle Eastern or Muslim.
Al-Marayati warned that the effects of this backlash against Muslims would be "serious, deep and long-lasting," but that Muslims and Arabs "should redouble our efforts in speaking up for justice, dealing with issues of decency, calling on the president to lead America in a direction that will serve the interests of America and not be damaging to the future of America."
"If anything, our role is more vital now than ever before," he added.
"The future of Islam in America, whether that future is more gloomy or more bright, I think these days are more pivotal in terms of which direction we're headed [than ever before]."
With news unfolding by the minute Wednesday of the FBI's identification of the Middle Eastern background of the hijackers, the strong sentiment of retaliation against the Middle East in general is spreading across the country.
A CBS News poll Wednesday found that 66% of Americans favored retaliation even if innocent people were killed, and the
Washington Post reported that more than 90% were willing to go to war, according to a Post-ABC poll.
In the wake of such sentiments, many Muslim- and Arab-Americans fear for their own safety, recalling the more than 200 reports of harassment after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recommended that Muslims who wear tradition Islamic clothing "consider staying out of public areas for the immediate future."
"I think Muslim women particularly should stay inside for a couple of days," said CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper, emphasizing a possible danger to anyone who "looks" particularly Muslim or Middle Eastern.
In addition, CAIR said the Muslim-American community should request additional police patrols in the vicinity of mosques and post mosque members as sentries at entrances and parking areas during prayer services.
Hooper said that beyond the "usual" reports of personal harassment, CAIR heard that "overnight in Alexandria, bricks were thrown through an Islamic bookstore window."
"We're checking out reports of fires at two Muslim businesses in Bethesda," he added, saying that as yet they were uncertain of the reason for those fires. He also mentioned that shots were fired at an Islamic center in Texas.
A news release by the American Muslim Council (AMC) also said that an Alexandria bookstore was destroyed, with letters containing death threats thrown through the window, and also reported on "one cab driver in Manassas, Virginia, [who] was chased and assaulted with a bottle as he tried to pick up his daughter from school."
Reports from Chicago tell of several random acts of violence against Muslims in the area, which include police invasions into their homes and businesses.
Jean AbiNader, the managing director of the Washington-based Arab American Institute - which also received a bomb threat - said that his group was continuing to hear widespread reports of harassment.
"We're hearing it from all over the country," he said, giving the example of a largely Iranian- and Arab-run taxi company in Philadelphia whose drivers were harassed by passengers for the past two days, including one whose arm was actually broken.
Stores owned by Arab-Americans in Paterson, NJ, have been closed for two days because "people have been going by and spitting at them, yelling at them," he said.
AbiNader referred to New York mayor Rudy Giuliani's speech last night, in which he said clearly that the city would offer extra protection to Arab and Muslim communities and emphasized that minority groups should not be held responsible for the attacks.
"That's [also] what we need to hear from the president, we need to hear it from members of congress, and mayors," he added, saying that the AAI would be asking Attorney General John Ashcroft to make statements encouraging fairness and restraint as well.
At 3:15 Wednesday afternoon, Giuliani gave another press conference in which he mentioned "a few, but not many" incidents of harassment against Muslims or Arabs in New York, and urged people "not to in any way take any action on their own… Nobody should attack anyone else for racial or religious reasons, or any other reason," he said.
His words echoed those of Peter Jennings on an ABC News broadcast Tuesday night, who said in response to reports of threats to an Islamic center in Miami, "We can only echo [what officials have been saying]: that anybody in the U.S. who gives vent to prejudice is… well…"
The ABC anchor ran out of words, and after a moment of silence said, "We do not blame communities for the acts of individuals. Period."
Arab and Muslim groups were to meet with Bush today, at a meeting scheduled before the attacks, but after the cancellation of the meeting, the groups came together today at the Islamic Institute in Washington to discuss these developing issues.
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