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Comment
Third anniversary of 9/11
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Today marks the third anniversary of the ghastly terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. It was a great tragedy that shook not only the entire nation but the whole world. We share the grief and sorrow of the families who lost their love ones in the terrorist attacks. Everybody is concerned about the security of the country but it is alarming that the issue is being used for gaining political mileage. Terrorist alarm system is being manipulated to create fear among people. About a terrorist alert issued by the Home Security Department, the Associated Press reported on August 12, “the Bush administration has discovered no evidence of imminent plans by terrorists to attack U.S. financial buildings, nearly two weeks after the government issued startling warnings about such possible threats, a White House official said." Time magazine published a report on August 6 entitled, Voters unmoved by terror alerts, said: The elevated terror alert last week had only limited impact on voters. Only 21% report being "very worried" about a terrorist attack in the next few months, up only 4% from those who gave the same answer before the latest alert. While a majority, 54%, believes that the Bush administration would not "use a terrorism alert for political reasons," 38% think that the alerts might be used for political reasons, with 7% undecided on this issue. Just to mention another example of politicizing the tragedy of 9/11. It was the main theme of the Republican National Convention. Opening night of the Convention didn't address domestic issues, speakers after speakers focused on 9/11.
On the second anniversary of 9/11 attacks I wrote “Two years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Muslim community in America, victim of guilt by association, remains under siege.’ This is true today. On 9 July, the FBI began a new round of interviews of members of the Arab and Muslim communities as part of the government's latest attempt to thwart terrorist attacks on US soil. The FBI and the Department of Justice has described the move as an ongoing effort to "establish contacts with community organizations and leaders in their territories", but for many in the Arab/Muslim community that outreach effort has triggered painful memories of the post-11 September 2001 security dragnet that landed hundreds of Arab and Muslim suspects in police detention, most of whom were later exonerated of any terrorist-related activities. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) received numerous complaints about coercive or intimidating tactics used by FBI agents. Such tactics have exacerbated a lingering mistrust of federal law-enforcement groups among many Arab and Muslim Americans, who feel they have been unfairly targeted based on religious beliefs and ethnicity.
The new interviews provoked heavy scrutiny from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has offered to provide free legal representation to those contacted by the FBI for information. "This dragnet technique used by the FBI is simply racial profiling and violates our most cherished fundamental freedoms," Dalia Hashad, the ACLU's Arab, Muslim and South Asian Advocate, said adding: "Casting blanket suspicion on an entire religious and ethnic community is not a productive means of protecting national security or civil liberties."
The FBI interviews come at a time when the Arab American community is also dealing with a controversial decision by the US Census Bureau to provide the Department of Homeland Security with new statistics on the Arab American population. The data, which included detailed information on the number of Arabs who live in certain zip codes, was tabulated in August 2002 and December 2003 at the request of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a division of the Homeland Security Department. The report documented US cities with more than 1000 Arab Americans residents, along with a second listing for zip code demographics on individuals with Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian, Palestinian, Moroccan, Iraqi and Lebanese heritage. Two other categories were "Arab/Arabic" and " Other Arab". Census Bureau officials have said they were legally obligated to provide the information, while CBP officials said they wanted the statistics in order to post Arabic signs in certain airports.
Meanwhile, hate crimes against American Muslims and Arabs increased by 121 percent in 2003, according to a report released on May 3, 2004 by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group. The CAIR report - the only annual study of its kind - outlined 1019 incidents and experiences of anti-Muslim violence, discrimination and harassment in 2003, the highest number of Muslim civil rights cases ever recorded by the group. The CAIR said factors contributing to the sharp increase in reported incidents included a lingering atmosphere of post-9/11 fear in America, pro-war rhetoric leading up to and following last year's invasion of Iraq, a disturbing increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric, and abuses associated with the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act.
In short, since 9-11, Muslims have borne the brunt of Americans' insecurity, hatred, and suspicion: The U.S. government has detained many Muslims on immigration charges, imprisoning them for months without access to lawyers or family; law enforcement has spied on their places of worship and community centers; assailants have burned, shot, or destroyed their mosques.
This day is of special significance for the American Muslim/Arab community which is under constant pressure to respond, among others, to official as well as media bias. The community has responded with political activism. It is now more proactive as it believes that the best way to protect its eroding civil rights is to become more active politically. Muslims believe that they have to participate in the elections, more than any other time. Muslim organizations are holding forums to introduce candidates to their community. They are also holding ballot education forums. The community is likely to have its impact on November election because of its concentration in certain states and it is motivated to vote. To whom they will vote will be a personal choice of every American Muslim voter but the most important thing is that the whole community is motivated and willing to go out and vote.
Sept. 11, 2004
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