Posted on 04/11/2005 1:53:05 PM PDT by milestogo
Muslim-Americans question border screening
From IFTIKHAR ALI
NEW YORK - Muslim-Americans pressed a senior U.S. official last week to explain why they were fingerprinted, photographed and held at the border after a religious conference in Canada, but came away with hardly any answers, according to a media report.
Daniel Sutherland, the Washington-based Department of Homeland Security civil rights official, met a group of Muslim-Americans in Amherst, New York, after complaints that more than three dozen people who attended the December conference were held without explanation for as long as six hours while trying to re-enter the United States by car.
"If you're looking for me to give you the answers A to Z on this, you're going to be dissatisfied and I know that from the beginning," Sutherland told several dozen people at a forum organized by the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
Dr. Ismael Memon, 70, described how he, his son and a third person were ushered into a waiting area, where they were made to surrender their credit cards, cell phones, watches and other belongings before being searched, questioned, fingerprinted and photographed. Some in the group were handcuffed.
"Do you have any relations with terrorist organizations?" Memon said he was asked. "Of course not," he responded. "We were treated just like criminals," Memon said through a statement read on his behalf.
Ironically, the conference was about improving relations between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Sutherland said he and others in the department "felt very uncomfortable" with Memon's and others' stories, but declined to answer when asked whether he believed individuals' civil rights were violated. "I don't have the facts in front of me," Sutherland said.
He stressed that since the incident, Customs and Border Protection officials had made policy changes to prevent a repeat of the situation. "I am confident what happened will not be a pattern," Sutherland said.
But those who were stopped wanted to know who had authorized the searches, why conference attendees were targeted, why people who had not been detained in more than 20 years of border crossings were only now stopped, and what became of their fingerprints and photographs.
"This meeting was not here for me to try to explain an incident I have no capacity to explain," said Sutherland. He said he would take the concerns back to Washington.
"He should be more prepared. He should know these answers," said Sawsan Maddah, who described being brought to tears by her six-hour ordeal. "After four months, I was expecting an answer to the main question, and that is why?" her husband, Basem Maddah, said.
Dr. Khalid Qazi, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said that despite a lack of answers, progress had been made toward a goal of working with the government to improve policies so that civil rights are not compromised in the name of homeland security.
"It was positive because we were able to lay out roadwork for the future," said Qazi, who accompanied Sutherland through a daylong series of meetings.
U.S. Attorney Michael Battle said local DHS officers had attended at least two training sessions since the incident.
Since 9/11, the spotlight on Muslims has not faded -- Muslims and Arab-Americans instead have become the focus of suspicion and interest, inviting scrutiny and curiosity. Some argue that Muslims in American society have become a feared and misunderstood "other," but others say the existing misconceptions about Muslims and Arab-Americans can be erased through education and perseverance.
Susan Akram, a professor of law at Boston University who researches civil rights and immigration law, said that stereotyping of Muslims and Arab-Americans began in the 1970s. Terrorists fit easily into the already skewed public perception.
"The American public has come to readily associate all Arabs and Muslims as 'terrorists' and 'evil-doers,'" Akram said. "These factors have successfully transformed Arabs and Muslims into an 'other,' which makes it acceptable in the public mind to single them out for discriminatory treatment and racial profiling."
The tendency to lump all Muslims into one monolith is alarming, said Ahmed Rehab, director of communications for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Chicago. It's important to remember that fewer than 20 percent of Muslims worldwide are Arab, he said.
Following Sept. 11, more than 1,200 Arab and Muslim immigrants were detained and arrested. Thousands more were interrogated, many of them U.S citizens and permanent residents.
According to the CIA World Factbook, about 20 percent of the world's population is Muslim and about 60 percent of Muslims live in Africa.
Radical versions of Islam have come to represent the religion, leading people to think that Islam is a "fundamentalist" religion, although they lack real understanding of the religion's practices and beliefs.
According to the FBI, the number of hate crime incidents reported in 2000 against Muslims was 28. In 2001 that number rose to 481.
According to a report released in 2002 by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, more than 600 Sept. 11-related hate crimes were committed against Arabs, Muslims and those perceived to be Arab or Muslim, such as Sikhs and other South Asians.
Sept. 11 "changed a lot of things for Sikh people," said Nirmal Ghuman, a Sikh student was quoted as saying. "We are a very distinct minority in America, especially because the men wear turbans and have long beards, which confuses the average American."
One of the most high-profile hate crime cases was that of Balbir Singh Sodhi, the 49-year-old Sikh owner of a gas station in Arizona who was shot and killed on Sept. 15, presumably because of his turban abd beard. Sodhi's killer, Frank Roque had spent the hours before the crime reportedly telling people at a local bar that he would "kill the ragheads responsible for Sept. 11," the report said. He was later sentenced to life in prison.
"I think the majority of Americans are reasonable people," said Rehab, CAIR's director of communications. "Education can remove ignorance or malice they might have." Many organizations began initiatives following Sept. 11 to clarify the differences between religious and political ideals.
Ghuman's gurdwara started a "huge campaign" to educate people about the differences between Sikhs and Muslims, the report said.
Kasim Arshad, a Chcago student and president of the Muslim Cultural Students Association, said McSA and other organizations began sponsoring educational events immediately following the 2001 attacks.
"(We) put on events trying to increase awareness about racial profiling and discrimination and the potential effects of Sept. 11 on the Middle Eastern, southeast Asian community," he said. "After Sept. 11, a lot of the programming was focused on clarifying terrorism and violence in Islam as well as political issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
This year, CAIR started running day-long workshops through local mosques to acquaint people with Islam through discussions and prayers. Islam was misunderstood partially because Muslims did not engage discussion in their communities, a trend that is slowly changing as Muslims are becoming more "vociferous about their religion publicly," Rehab said.
"We won't see this end, but we can minimize the harassment of Muslims in airports and in public, and we can help erase the ignorance and malice," Rehab said.
"Muslim-Americans pressed a senior U.S. official last week to explain why they were fingerprinted, photographed and held at the border after a religious conference in Canada, but came away with hardly any answers, according to a media report."
Boo-hoo, Boo-hoo...
I get fingerprinted & photographed and background checked every 18 months...don't see me crying the blues...
Suck it up and DEAL with it!
""The American public has come to readily associate all Arabs and Muslims as 'terrorists' and 'evil-doers,'" Akram said."
Now how on Earth did that ever come about? Who knew? Until major muslim organizations in the US come out and declare their allegiance to our country, it is safe to say that we must consider all muslims as potential terrorists. Islam is not compatible with our system of government nor our society of personal freedoms. Islam is not compatible with our ideal of equal rights under the law for women and minorities. Islam is not compatible with the American ideal of freedom of religion or speech. In short, islam is not compatible with America. Until islam changes, muslims must accept suspicion and doubt toward them.
"Ironically, the conference was about improving relations between Muslims and non-Muslims."
I've got one heck of an idea: Muslims stop killing non-Muslims. Those videos of people screaming "Allah Akbar!" while they gruesomely murder innocent people don't do anything for Muslims' image.
Yeah, so?
It is unfortunate but it is just the way it is going to be. Life is not fair.
Hmmm, there are almost 3,000 reasons. Would you like us to name all of them?
If they don't like it then can go back to the hellhole they came from.
next case...
Let's see, how does that compare to three times that many Americans and their guests who were brutally murdered on 9/11? 1,200 of the group from which these terrorists spawned were asked a few questions? Cry me a river.
Very interesting and short 3 pages concerning recent government approved Saudi TV here. (for those that doubt the un-PC truth)
My formatting sucks...
American-Americans question the presence of Muslims in America.
Well at least they didn't get panties put on their heads or their heads chopped off...
BFD leave the US you are subject to search and interrogation..did they have valid US passports to prove who they were?
Next time they should just sneak across like the millions of illegals and they won't have to put up with this several hours delay...
Well at least they didn't get panties put on their heads or their heads chopped off...
BFD leave the US you are subject to search and interrogation..did they have valid US passports to prove who they were?
Next time they should just sneak across like the millions of illegals and they won't have to put up with this several hours delay...
Maybe it's because ..... oh, never mind.
WWWWAAAAAAAAAA WWWWWAAAAAAAAA
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.