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Marin Independent Journal – December 13, 2006
Effigy of 'Arab' stirs uneasiness in Aan Anselmo, CA
By Tad Whitaker
An effigy of a man in Arab headdress hanging from a gallows in a San Anselmo (CA) yard has become the latest public display of politics to raise eyebrows in a town becoming known for that type of thing.
Pat La Tray, 57, built the gallows for the straw effigy - which has an American flag piercing its heart - after police asked him to take it out of a tree on town property in front of his house at 330 Greenfield Ave. He built the effigy for Halloween, but said he has decided to leave it up as a symbol of his support for troops fighting in the Iraq war and his stance against terrorism.
"It is a patriotic symbol," La Tray said. "It has nothing to do with race or religion."
Nearby resident Pilar Sinelnikoff said she doesn't care what La Tray says. The effigy offends her every time she walks by it.
"I'm appalled he calls himself an American," she said. "He's pathetic." . . .
When asked her thoughts about the effigy, Nong La Tray, who is a citizen of Thailand and moved here in 2002, said she has no problem with it. She said Muslims were oppressive in her home country.
"They're not good people," she said.
Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the Washington D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he hears about similar displays from time to time across the country and understands the frustration caused by terrorism. But, he added, there are better ways to express opposition to it that don't reinforce stereotypes against Arabs or Muslims who don't participate.
"I don't think this would promote interfaith understanding," he said.
http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_4830391
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