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Inter Press Service – December 19, 2006
American Muslims: A people under siege
By William Fisher
NEW YORK, Dec 19, 2006 (IPS) - Five years after the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, "Islamophobia" -- intensified by the war in Iraq and government actions -- has left millions of Muslims here and in other Western countries fearful of harassment, discrimination and questionable prosecutions, and confused about their place in society.
Recent polls indicate that almost half of U.S. citizens have a negative perception of Islam and that one in four of those surveyed have "extreme" anti-Muslim views. A survey by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) found that a quarter of people here consistently believe stereotypes such as: "Muslims value life less than other people" and "The Muslim religion teaches violence and hatred."
In 2005, CAIR received 1,972 civil rights complaints, compared to 1,522 in 2004. This constitutes a 29.6 percent increase in the total number of complaints of anti-Muslim harassment, violence and discriminatory treatment from 2004. It is the highest number of Muslim civil rights complaints ever reported to CAIR.
What is the impact on Muslims and other Americans of Arab descent? One, who did not want to be named, told IPS, "It sometimes feels suffocating being in the U.S. now. We cannot turn on our TV in the evening to watch CNN or MSNBC or the other 'news stations' because of people like Glenn Beck and others who consistently spew hate, nonsense and misinformation about Islam and Arabs on primetime."
"And if we try to watch mindless drama on TV we are bombarded with shows about Middle East/Arab and Islamic terrorism -- shows like '24', 'Sleeper Cell', 'The Agency', etc. It is very difficult being an Arab/Muslim American these days." …….
Most members of that community believe that the government is -- perhaps inadvertently -- fanning the flames of bigotry by using phrases like "Islamo-Fascist" from the vocabulary it has crafted for the "global war on terror" and by actions such as high-profile press conferences announcing prosecutions that often collapse.
Samer Shehata, professor of Arab Politics at Georgetown University, probably speaks for the feeling in most of the U.S. Muslim community, "Quite simply," he told IPS, Islamophobia "produces an environment that is fundamentally at odds with what the U.S. is supposed to be about; our values for treating everyone fairly and not discriminating on the basis of skin color, race, religion, gender, etc.
"This is damaging certainly for all Americans and it is also damaging for the reputation of the U.S. overseas," he said. "One of the questions I hear the most whenever I am in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East is: how is it like now in the U.S. for Arabs? Have you been the victim of discrimination, bigotry, abuse?"
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35897
Miami Herald Letters – December 28, 2006
'I advocate the forced removal of all Muslims'
Reaction to “Muslims under siege in this country”
Re Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode's statement that Muslims are not welcome in the United States: I also believe that Muslims should not be allowed to enter this country and that they should seek their political or economic aspirations in other countries. I advocate the forced removal of all Muslims, moving toward a Muslimless society.
We should set a five-year timeline for all Muslims to leave the United States. All those hundreds of thousands of Muslim engineers, doctors, scientists, educators, business owners and other high-level professionals will undoubtedly find jobs and peace in other countries or the country of their origin.
According to U.S. Census, the Iranian community is a very educated and wealthy Muslim community in this country, so they should be fine wherever they go. Also, we would have to deport all those Muslim engineers and doctors who were airlifted to the United States from Kosovo after we bombed Serbia.
There will be no more wars to wipe out terrorists, and the entire trillion-dollar budget assigned to kill terrorists and evil doers can be diverted to improving our dilapidating infrastructure and eliminating poverty and hunger in this great country.
FRANK ZEINALI, Miami
Instead of sending Karen Hughes to improve the image of America and Americans in the Arab and Muslim world, President Bush should send her to Republican congressmen and his appointees to teach them about practicing tolerance for, not bigotry and hate against, Muslims, Islam and immigrants.
Image building should start at home.
WAJIHA AKHTAR, Miami
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16332144.htm
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