Posted on 09/11/2004 5:04:01 PM PDT by SittinYonder
The anniversary of Sept. 11 will be painful for Arab and Muslim-Americans - as it will be for all Americans.
After the terrorist strikes, Arab and Muslim-Americans became targets for random hate and violence. They became the latest ethnic group to be singled out in an American time of crisis.
In the 1850s, Irish immigrants were persecuted.
During World War I, German immigrants were suspect.
During World War II, Americans of Japanese backgrounds bore the brunt of that conflict.
America's legacy of nativism - the intense opposition to an internal minority because of its supposed foreign connections - reared its head again.
About 3 million Arab-Americans and 7 million Muslim-Americans live in the United States. Sept. 11 has had a negative effect on many of their lives. Some have paid a hefty price, dealing with discrimination at schools and at the workplace, and even facing senseless and brutal hate crimes that have led to injury and death.
According to government statistics, hate crimes and discriminatory acts against Arab-Americans, Muslim-Americans or those perceived to be of Middle Eastern origins in the United States rose dramatically after Sept. 11.
Some in position of influence in the media or in the religious sector fanned these acts of hatred. On Sept. 13, 2001, columnist Ann Coulter, on National Review Online, said: "We should invade Muslim countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."
Televangelist Pat Robertson called Muslims "worse than Nazis." The Rev. Jerry Falwell labeled the Prophet Muhammad a "terrorist." The Rev. Franklin Graham called Islam "a very evil and wicked religion."
Fear spread through the Arab-American and Muslim-American communities.
The USA Patriot Act diminished the rights of immigrants and allowed the government to round up people by the hundreds and keep them, in secret, from their families.
The special registration of Arab and Muslim males in America terrified communities and broke up families, as some fathers were deported on the most minor technicalities.
Fear still pervades the Muslim-American and Arab-American communities. The horrific acts of terrorism by the Sept. 11 fanatics should not impugn the patriotism of these communities.
In the wake of Sept. 11, thousands of Arab and Muslim-Americans volunteered to serve in the U.S. armed services or in law enforcement. They are protecting us. And they should be thanked, not feared or scapegoated.
Instead, some see swift militaristic action against those who may resemble our enemies as being the best solution. But attacking innocent civilians around the globe will only inflame Arabs and Muslims and create more enemies.
Three years later, we must not let fear cripple us.
CAPTION: * Elaasar is author of "Silent Victims: The Plight of Arab & Muslim Americans in Post 9/11 America." The writer wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine.
There were a few stories of muslims going down to volunteer at the rescue site, but other than that I don't know. Thousands? I mean in context of the whole country I suppose it's possible. If that's true then why did the US have such a problem finding arabic linguists? You have to learn arabic to become a muslim. Weird article.
I'd also like some evidence of this. If I were living in a foreign nation and got expelled for some reason, I am confident my wife and kids would come with me.
This is exactly the sort of whiney, woe-is-me, pitiful victim BS I do not need to read from another Muslim, especially today.
Stick a sock in it, Aladdin.
That's crap! LOL never happened and he knows it.
I think this explains why it's such a weird article. It's just disappointing to see it in my home newspaper, even if my home has turned into a liberal bastion.
Progressive :sigh:
Exactly my reaction. If it's so awful in America post 9/11 that he's got to write a book about it, then the Muslims are more than welcome to go somewhere else. As they're so fond of pointing out, there are more Muslim nations than Christian or Western nations, so they've got plenty of places to choose from. ... Like France.
I've got to admit ignorance here. I've been on FR some today, the kids had on Sponge Bob Square Pants, and I caught some of the Georgia game but other than that I've been playing baseball in the yard ... haven't seen the news or a thread here about lib anti war protesters at WTC. Tell me about this.
do they really think allah is a demon? @_@
This might ease your mind, though it didn't for a lot of people.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1213306/posts
"The idiots worship a rock in the sand also."
lol. I saw those photos of them throwing the rocks at the old "devil pillar". The fools ended up getting killed in the stampede. If i wanted to throw a rock at satan i would just find a few muslim extremists.
Love that picture, Toups. Is there a larger version of it available? I would very much like to make that my desktop wallpaper.
Please advise. Thanks!
btt
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