Re: It just seemed odd that your favorites are over here... a place that you constantly ridicule. LOL
But "ridiculing" other people for their faith, clothing or whatever seems to be an apple-pie --even couth-- habit with you Yanks....
Hijab can make someone a target in America
16-01-2004
By SOUHEILA AL-JADDA
Dallas News:
"Are you a terrorist?"
"Do you have a bomb in your bag?"
"Are you going to blow up this bus?"
Those were questions that a group of laughing teenagers bombarded me with as I rode a bus to work the other day.
I sat silently, staring straight ahead and pretending their remarks didn't hurt me. But they did.
As a veiled Muslim woman, it may have been my clothing that set me apart. Yet I knew it really was my faith that was the object of their ridicule.
And with nearly 7 million other Muslim Americans who may be subjected to similar stereotypes, I knew I wasn't alone.
During the 10-minute bus ride, I found strength by remembering Rosa Parks, the black woman who, despite racist jeers and taunts, took her place at the front of a bus to demonstrate her resolve against racism in the 1950s.
I also took solace in knowing I would be one of more than 2.5 million Muslims from around the world, including 10,000 American Muslims, who will gather in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the annual Hajj pilgrimage this month.
While President Bush repeatedly has declared that the war on terrorism isn't a war against Islam, the words and actions of senior officials in his government say otherwise.
The USA PATRIOT Act, our country's new anti-terrorism law, allows the government to conduct intrusive search-and-seizure raids without prior notice. It also expands federal wiretapping capabilities, threatening our rights to privacy. Many Muslim immigrants and visitors have been swept up in the government's dragnet, detained in prisons for months without charge, access to an attorney or contact with family members.
Meanwhile, hate crimes continue to be committed against mosques, Muslim homes and businesses.
I ask myself, "Will I be next?"
Souheila Al-Jadda is a free-lance writer who serves as an Arabic translator for Mosaic, a Middle East news program on Link TV.
muslimnews.co.uk |
