"9-11 Backlash Against Arabs Continues", Aref Assaf, Op-Ed article in the
Sunday Daily Record, September 7, 2003.
As we commemorate the two year anniversary of the 9-11 attack on the Word Trade
Center , our Arab and Muslim communities remains most affected by negative
backlashes and pervasive discrimination. The violation of our country’s
sovereignty brought about severely undermined to our sense of supremacy, and our
disproved our immunity from attacks on our soil. I will forever remember that
fateful morning because I was supposed to be near the vicinity of the Trade
Center for a business meeting but fate has it that our bus was delayed by half
an hour. If there was a divine intervention that I am still alive, I am
thankful. But what is rarely told is that among the victims of the attacks were
hundreds of Arabs and Muslims who perished in the rubble. Our community feels
doubly victimized: first by the tragic loss of our fellow citizens and more so
by the acts of murder, discrimination and maltreatment our people endured after
the attack. Suddenly an entire community of over 8 million people became
suspect, vilified and its loyalty questioned simply because 19 people, none of
whom a US citizen, but who spoke Arabic, committed an unspeakable crime.
Our organization, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC),
recently compiled a comprehensive hate crimes report. The suffering and bitter
legacy of 9/11 lived on. “In spite of numerous expressions of support for the
community from public figures and thousands of private citizens, Arab-Americans
remain exceptionally vulnerable to hate crimes, discrimination and extreme
vilification by prominent persons," said the report. It added that the civil
rights and liberties of Arab-Americans had suffered severely. Arab-Americans
remain “exceptionally vulnerable to hate crimes, discrimination and extreme
vilification ..."
Our community still faces two types of discrimination: one based on
stereotyping, the other promoted by the US government and justified by its war
on terrorism. Our findings point to a persistent pattern involving the practice
of hate crimes, employment discrimination and a wave of new self-appointed Arab
or Muslim experts permeating the airwaves, media, and schools. Victims of this
discrimination need not be Arab or Muslim: they just need to look Arab or
Muslim, whatever that image is. Since 11 September 2001, there has been a 1700%
increase in reported hate crimes against Arabs and Muslims in the US .
Fortunately, here in New Jersey , such acts were far below the national average.
Governor McGreevey and his entire administration reached out to our community
offering assurances, assistance and pronouncements which made it clear that all
citizens are to be treated fairly and that acts of bigotry would not be
tolerated. Acts of kindness, expressions of concern and interfaith meetings
flourished throughout the State.
But the most far reaching impact on our daily lives has been committed by our
own US government which has instituted a series of policies aimed at cracking
down on Arab immigrants and terrorism suspects. Just 45 days after the September
11 attacks, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act. The USA PATRIOT Act stands for
"Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism." It was enacted by Congress virtually without
significant debate, without detailed committee reports, without a conference
committee, and with little floor commentary. It passed the House on October 24,
2001 by a vote of 357 to 66, and passed the Senate the next day, October 25,
2002 , by a vote of 98 to 1. It was signed into law by President Bush the
following day, October 26, and is now the law of the land.
Many parts of this sweeping legislation take away checks on law enforcement and
threaten the very rights and freedoms that we so cherish. For example, without a
warrant and without probable cause, the FBI now has the power to access your
most private medical records, your library records, and your student records.
And most frighteningly, the FBI can prevent anyone from telling you it was done.
The Department of Justice under the control of Attorney General Ashcroft, is
currently drafting legislation designed as a sequel to the first PATRIOT.
Proposed changes would include allowing the government to spy on First
Amendment-protected activities such as peaceful protests or gatherings.
In addition, the act would terminate court-approved limits on police spying,
which were initially put in place to prevent McCarthy-style law enforcement
persecution based on political or religious affiliation. Moreover, the new act
would greatly curtail personal privacy by removing checks on government power.
It would permit, without any connection to anti-terrorism measures, sensitive
personal information about U.S. citizens to be shared with local and state law
enforcement. In addition, the government could gain secret access to credit
reports without consent and without judicial process. Additionally, the new bill
would increase government secrecy while diminishing public accountability. It
would authorize secret imprisonments in immigration and other cases, such as
those involving material witness warrants, where the detained person is not
criminally charged. The act would allow for the sampling and cataloguing of
innocent Americans' genetic information without court order and without consent.
And, incredibly, the act would shelter federal agents engaged in illegal
surveillance without a court order from criminal prosecution if they are
following orders of high Executive Branch officials.
Recently, ADC joined other civil rights organizations in filing the first legal
challenge to the USA PATRIOT Act, taking aim at a section of the controversial
law that vastly expands the power of FBI agents to secretly obtain records and
personal belongings of innocent people in the United States , including citizens
and permanent residents.
Unquestionably, the FBI has increased its targeting of Arabs and Muslims. There
is no doubt that the main victims of the new rules will be members of this
community who came to this country seeking freedom and equality and who by and
large are law-abiding and productive citizens. It is a traumatic period for our
people. I should know for I was twice interviewed by FBI simply because I was an
American citizen of Arab descent. Racial profiling has become the law of the
land. While I was never charged of anything, their uninvited and unprovoked
violation of my rights, left me forever feeling bitter that my rights were
trampled on and that my ethnicity and not my deeds will be the judge of my
character and good citizenship. I do not recall the FBI interviewing every Irish
Catholic after Timothy McVeigh blew up the Federal Building in Omaha , Nebraska
in 1995. Expanding the unchecked powers of the FBI authority to monitor the
activities of innocent people is an invitation to abuse, a waste of resources,
and is certainly not making any of us any safer here at home or abroad. Most
troubling is that most of these powers do little to increase the ability of law
enforcement or intelligence to bring terrorists to justice but, they do much to
undermine the Constitution and violate the rights of both immigrants and
American citizens alike.
I believe the Arab and Muslim communities in the U.S will survive these
unconstitutional attacks on their liberties. It is now evident that 9/11 was not
prevented not because of inadequate antiterrorism laws, or “too much freedom”,
but because of intelligence agencies' own internal procedural failures. As we
continue to make the case that other communities will not be immune from
Aschroft’s abuses, more Americans will join the fight to repeal the PATRIOT ACT.
Over a hundred and fifty cities and three states nationwide have passed
resolutions to repudiate the legislation and protect their residents from a
perceived abuse of authority by the federal government. Of note are the
assurances we have received from many Congressional representatives that they
will support measures to restrict the infringements of the ACT onto our
fundamental freedoms and to dispel the illusion that the ACT has made America
safer. If there is a silver lining, it is the rise of a new cadre of leaders
committed not only to defend our beleaguered Arab and Muslim Americans but also
to position them at the forefront in the fight for the restoration of The Bill
of Rights. If there is one guaranteed loser in this game, it will undoubtedly be
President Bush who received the majority of Arab and Muslim votes in the 2000
Presidential elections. Now that he has failed our expectations here and abroad,
one can only speculate if he will be able to regain our trust, votes and money.
In the words of Ben Franklin, those who forsake liberty for the sake of security
deserve neither.
Respectfully,
Aref Assaf
The writer is the Media Director of the NJ Chapter of ADC, the American Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee
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