Sunday, December 14, 2008
Bergen Record
Regarding "Is anti-Arab discrimination alive and well?"
(Other Views, Dec. 11):
While we share Ahmed Soliman's joy at the qualitative
reduction in the incidents of hate and discrimination
against Arab-Americans, we think there is another side to
the story. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's
report covers incidents of hate against Arab-Americans
(Muslim and Christian). By design, the report excludes
statistics on non-Arab Muslim Americans. It would be
erroneous to deduce that conditions have improved for Muslim
Americans.
It is a fact that most acts of hate are rendered against
two types of groups in our community: Muslim women wearing
head cover, or Hijab, and against bearded Muslim men. It is
also a fact that most Arabs who encountered acts of
discrimination were Arab Muslims. Christian Arabs luckily
have not been the intended or the primary target of
discrimination. Only 35 percent of Arab-Americans are
Muslims, it should be noted.
We laud ADC for this important work. We wish, however,
they cooperated with CAIR (Council on American Islamic
Relations) on producing a more complete picture of hate
crimes in America. The real targets of discrimination,
whether by our government or by fellow American citizens,
have been Arab Muslims and Muslims from other nationalities.
Readers should look to CAIR's 2008 report to learn more
about the fate of Muslim Americans.
While hate mongers spew their bigotry against anyone who
looks or behaves like a Muslim/Arab, ADC has produced a
report that erroneously embellishes the hate crimes report
by excluding the status of the largest segment of victims,
namely American Muslims, some of whom are of Arab ethnicity.
The great majority of victims seeking ADC's help are Arab
Muslims, while the largest number of victims seeking CAIR's
assistance is Muslims of other nationalities. Until the rise
of CAIR in the early 1990's, ADC was the sole venue for
civil rights abuses against Arabs and Muslims. Islamophobia
and the substantial increase in Muslim immigration,
according to some, are setting the stage for an avoidable
turf battle between ADC and CAIR. This battle is manifested
in the fierce competition for membership, funds, and claims
to representation. While rivalry may produce a healthy
outcome, we think the two giants need to find common ground
to coexist. Victims of hate and their leaders stand to
defeat bigotry only if they unite.
Aref Assaf
Denville, Dec. 11
Aref Assaf is president of American Arab Forum, a think
tank specializing in Arab and Muslim Americans.
