Praying For Peace. Muslims saddened by September 11.

Two to three weeks after the life-altering terrorist attacks on the United States, still within the midst of images of American flags fluttering proudly across home doors, and the massive fundraising and cooperation being experienced in New York City and elsewhere, are the one or two articles describing certain incidents against Arab Americans, Muslims and those mistaken to be either or both. Certainly that implies these incidents were minor, were not insulting, shameful and at times life ending, for the victims involved. Certainly there would be have been more media coverage for such an important issue. Sadly, there are no answers to these doubting questions. Indeed these tragic incidents were reported at the same time that the American- Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the largest Arab-American group in the country declared President Bush’s discourse on matters of this kind after the attacks effective in singling out the extremists of the world as the wrongdoers and not Arabs and Muslims as a whole, as well as more general comments of a phenomenal improvement in attitude towards Arab-Americans. Which is a more accurate reflection of reality? Strangely enough in our society, both are possible.

To clarify the situation that our country is dealing with, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has provided a site that defines for those of us who are more confused some crucial terminology. Arab-Americans are those who emigrated from or can trace their origin to an Arabic-speaking country, in the Middle East. The religions they tend to practice differ widely depending on area. In some regions of the United States, Arab-Americans are mainly Catholic or Christian while in others, they are mainly Muslims, namely those who practice the religion of Islam. Therefore, not all Arab-Americans are Muslims, nor vice versa. However due to this misconception or eerily enough the lack thereof, there were more than 540 attacks reported to Amnesty International on Arab-Americans during the week following the attacks and at least 200 on Sikhs, presumably mistaken to be Muslims although Sikhism is a different religion altogether.
The number and types of incidents grows alarmingly, around the world as the weeks progress. In three different cities in the US, men who appeared to or were mistaken to be Middle-Eastern men were detained and not allowed to board their flights. Similar incidents occurred in Peru and Paraguay where Muslims or people of Middle Eastern origin were found to be detained for their possible links to terrorist organizations.

China’s released statements imply it would further increase their repression of Muslim ethnic groups as a result of the attacks. The list continues to include incidents including attempted mosque burnings, verbal abuse, vandalism and death threats.
Unfortunately for the Arab-American and Muslim population in the United States, it hasn’t been the first time they were the recipients of violent counterattacks after a national tragedy. After the Oklahoma City bombings in April of 1995, at a time when no suspects or motives had been named, CBS, with the other networks in suit, claimed the bombing had a Middle Eastern trait. This in turn propagated more than 200 physical and verbal assaults against Muslim Americans, including the burning of three Islamic mosques and community centers, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Yet, as one woman at a New York press conference pointed out, there was no racial profiling of white Christian men, upon the announcement that Timothy McVeigh was the perpetrator of the massacre.
However, despite the recent outburst of race-related incidents, something must be said for the many Arab-Americans and Muslims who reflect on the overall increase in tolerance of their culture and religion, further indicated by President Bush’s televised speech and also his visit to a Washington mosque. As a result of that speech, the president of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has noted that the hate mail, the number of reportings of physical and verbal assaults has decreased greatly. A large part of the reason for this general trend of tolerance, demographers say, is the fact that the United States in the last two decades has experienced the largest influx of non-white immigration in its history, with only 1 in 4 of the 30 million foreign-born residents being white. Consequently, Arab-Americans have become crucial voting blocs in Michigan, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and California, making it wise for the official attitude of the government towards them to be fair and tolerant.

Indeed people everywhere, perhaps more so for the racial groups targeted after the attacks, have strived to project the image of a united front, one in favor for the perseverance of America. Muslim leaders across the country are calling for fellow Muslims to donate blood to aid the victims in New York City, the Muslim Educational and Cultural Association (MECA) and the Arab Club on Cornell campus have made an effort to separate themselves from the perpetrators and stand on the side of the law- “We condemn in the strongest terms possible the vicious and cowardly acts of terrorism against innocent civilians. We join with all Americans in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators” says a website dedicated to a response to the attacks. Certainly it appears they have been successful in distinguishing themselves from the terrorists, as photos on the site show smiling interactions between the club members and the Cornell community while they raised funds for the tragedy. Perhaps the students who were being utterly ignored that day, as they stood on Ho Plaza trying to raise funds to help with the Afghanistan bombing incident was just one facet of the Cornell response.

As our government begins to attack Afghanistan, the media’s and our attention will shift towards the war we have waged and its daily consequences and away from the racial profiling that will probably continue to plague parts of America. Although it doesn’t necessarily mean that the targeted populations will become less important to the American people, it does mean that we become less aware of the continuing situation, whether it is that race relations are improving or deteriorating as our society and media see fit. It is our best bet to take facts at face value and to be constantly reading and updating before deciding on “the truth.”