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No Longer Invisible: Arab and Muslim Exclusion After September 11

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No Longer Invisible: Arab and Muslim Exclusion After September 11 Memorialdisplay outside a NewYork mosque. EDWARDGRAZDA/POWERHOUSE BOOKS No Longer Invisile Arab and Muslim Exclusion Afler September 11 Luirn Crii' nlikeother ascribed and self-described "people of color" abs in Americansociety has reacheda level unparalleledin in the United States,Arabs are often hiddenunder the theirover 100-yearhistory in the US. Caucasianlabel, if not forgottenaltogether. But eleven In the seven days following September11, Arabs and monthsafter September 11, 2001, the Arab-Americanis no South Asians reported 645 "bias incidents and hate longerinvisible. Whether traveling, driving, working, walk- crimes."'According to the Council on AmericanIslamic ing througha neighborhoodor sitting in theirhomes, Ar- Relations, the post-September11 anti-Muslim backlash absin America-citizens and non-citizens-are now subject has been characterizedby a higherdegree of violence than to specialscrutiny in Americansociety. The violence, dis- in prioryears, and includesa numberof murders.2In Chi- crimination,defamation and intolerancenow facedby Ar- cago, more than 100 hate crimesagainst Arabs and Mus- lims, as well as personsmistaken for them, were reported Louise Cpinkarworksfor the Illinois Coalition fr Immigrantand Refiugee Rights and to the Chicago Commission on Human Relationsby the is a researchfellow at the Universityof Illinois-Chicago. end of December 2001. On September 12, the largest EASTREPORT 224 * FALL2002 22MIDDLE22 MIDDLEEAST REPORT 224 * FALL2002 predominantly Arab mosque in the Chicago metropoli- 60 percentof Americansfavored reducing the numberof tan area was surrounded by a mob of hundreds of angry admissionsto the US of immigrantsfrom Muslim coun- whites, some shouting "kill the Arabs," some wielding triesand an August8, 2002 Galluppoll found that a ma- weapons. Local police and concerned citizens acted to jorityof the Americanpublic said that thereare "too many" protect Muslims in the area. Suburban police encouraged immigrantsfrom Arab countries.9Possibly to push for Muslims to close the schools affiliated with the mosque deeperrestrictions in US immigrationpolicy, the anti-im- until their safety could be assured, and not to attend Fri- migrantCenter for ImmigrationStudies issued a reportin day prayers at the mosque. The schools were closed for August 2002 whose most prominent finding was that one week, but prayer at the mosque continued. An "MiddleEasterners are one of the fastest-growingimmi- Assyrian church on the north side and an Arab commu- grantgroups in America."The reportadded: "By 2000, an nity organization on the southwest side were damaged by estimated73 percentof all MiddleEastern immigrants were arson in the late fall. The rebuilt community center was Muslim."10One should note that the Center purposely again vandalized in March 2002. In the months immedi- defines the Middle East quite broadly,sweeping through ately following September, Muslim women in Chicago Islamiccountries in Asia, the Middle East and North Af- repeatedly reported having their head scarves yanked off rica, includingTurkey but excludingnon-Muslim-major- or being spit at on the street. Although the level of hate ity countriesbetween it and Bangladesh.About 40 percent crimes and attacks against Arabs, Muslims and those per- of their Middle Easternersare Arabs. ceived to be Arab or Muslim has sharply decreased since Though not all Arabsin the US areMuslims (some 1.5 the fall, vigilant media monitoring reveals that there is million areChristian), the categoriesare often fusedin the still at least one reported hate crime or attack each week media,quite often in a mannerthat openly advocates the de nationwide. Arab and Muslim concerns about profiling, factocriminalization of bothoverlapping groups. Statements intolerance and the long-term effects of discrimination that collapsedistinctions between Arabs, Muslims and Is- are increasing.3 Some blame the US government and its lamists-and call for regardingall threeas innatelysuspi- sweeping and unfocused actions in their communities for cious-are no longer the exclusivepreserve of right-wing encouraging anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiments.4 commentatorslike Daniel Pipes, but have moved into the Indeed, the greatest source of discrimination against Ar- mainstreamof conservativeand even moderateopinion. A abs and Muslims in the US today is the US government, WallStreetJournal piece entitled "Under the Circumstances, mostly the Department of Justice and the Immigration and We Must Be Waryof YoungArab Men" appeared on Octo- Naturalization Service (INS). According to a Council on ber 19, 2001. In her column, formerReagan speechwriter American-Islamic Relations report released in April, more PeggyNoonan said: than 60,000 individuals have been affected by government actions of discrimination, interrogation, raids, arrests, de- In the past month I have evolved ... to watchful potential warrior. And I that is on with much and tentions and institutional closures. Secrecy,due process vio- gather going pretty everyone else, unlawfulness and abuse of are I'm glad of it. I was relieved at the story of the plane passengersa lations, arbitrariness, power few weeks who refused to board if some the terms used to describe the Bush administration's ago Mideastern-looking among guys were allowed to board. post-September 11 activities by, among others, Human Rights Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Re- Noonan's"watchful potential warrior" has providedthe porters' Committee for Freedom of the Press and the US FBI with thousandsof tips about suspicious-actingArabs Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.5 thathave proved baseless, nonetheless subjecting Arab fami- lies to intrusivehome andwork visits by governmentagents. "WatchfulPotential Warriors" The specialhandling of Arabsat airportssimply because of theirnames or looksreveals just how widelyand unguidedly Public opinion polls continue to show widespread support the net in the terroristsearch is being cast. for special treatment of Arabs in America. A poll conducted Islam has come under vehementattack. Critics of the September 14 and 15 found respondents evenly divided NationalEducation Association's "September 11 Remem- over whether all Arabs in the US, including American citi- bered"website, featuring lesson plans for teachers,say the zens, should be required to carry special identity cards.6 topics covered"miss the mark."Schoolchildren should be Two late September Gallup polls found that a majority of warnedthat the root of the problemis in Islamicteaching, Americans favored profiling of Arabs, including those who accordingto WilliamLind, terrorismexpert and conserva- are American citizens, and subjecting them to special se- tive spokesperson.Right-wing Christian activists in North curity checks before boarding planes.7 A December 2001 Carolinahave filed a lawsuitto barthe Universityof North poll by the Institute for Public Affairs at the University of Carolinafrom assigning an interpretivework on the Quran Illinois found that some 70 percent of Illinois residents by an Americanscholar to enteringfreshmen. A recently were willing to sacrifice their civil rights to fight terrorism, releasedbooklet authoredby evangelistsFranklin Graham and more than one quarterof respondents said Arab-Ameri- and JerryVines, entitled WhyIslam is a Threatto America cans should surrender more rights than others.8 A March and theWest, argues that Muslims "should be encouragedto 5, 2002 CNN/Gallup/ USA Todaypoll found that nearly leave.They area fifth columnin this country."" 23 MIDDLEEAST REPORT 224 ?* FALL2002 23 Historyof Exclusion Wa_Ai0t 9 . .it Many Arab-Americans view the post-September 11 scru- tiny, denigration and harassment of Arabs living in and seeking to enter the US as something not altogether new. Over the past 35 years, a series of US government actions taken against Arab communities, particularly against lead- JOUR ers and activists, has aimed to stifle the Arab voice in American civil society. For years after the 1967 Arab-Is- raeli war, the FBI spied on Arab-Americans and their or- ganizations as part of Operation Boulder. Families, PALl friends, neighbors and employers of Arab individuals were interviewed by FBI agents; profiles of community activ- ists were developed. The intimidation resulting from these Siu efforts discouraged Arab-Americans from participating in lawful, organized community-building activities just when the media its anti-Arab In 1987, seven A QUARTERLY ON PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS began steady pitch. Palestinian activists and a Kenyan-the famous Los An- AND THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT geles Eight-were arrested on charges of being "alien ter- rorists" in the service of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. failed Rashid I. Khalidi (After repeated attempts to win this case, the US is now to Towarda Clear PalestinianStrategy government seeking retry it-and deport the eight-under the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, which shift the burden of Eyad El Sarraj proof onto the The same the Los Times Suicide Bombers:Dignity, Despair, and defendant.) year, Angeles uncovered an INS-FBI Plan to detain Ar- the Need for Hope Contingency abs in America en massein a camp in Oakdale, Louisiana. in Narratives of Siege: Eye-Witness Testimo- In the 1990s, Muslim activists Chicago were arrested nies from Jenin, Bethlehem, and Nablus and had their assets seized despite the absence of crimi- nal charges. Other actions have included repeated INS Sylvie Mansour attempts to deport Palestinian activists who were natu- Jenin: Assessing
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