Among New York Muslims, Support for U.S. Strikes
" Ms. Ayaz did not see the actions as an attack on Islam. "Islam is against
terrorism," she said. So as a Muslim, she said, she favors the fight against it.."
From The New York Times
October 8, 2001
By DANIEL J. WAKIN and CHARLIE LeDUFF
From the Arab world's local Main Street, in Brooklyn, to Afghan
mosques in Queens, to the halls of academe, many Muslims yesterday
expressed sometimes tentative, sometimes anguished support for the attacks
on Afghanistan. Many also feared for the innocent.
The long-awaited United States retaliation for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
provided a sudden and sharp focus for the feelings of Muslims who make
their home just miles, not continents, away from the World Trade Center
nightmare.
Unlike many Muslims abroad, who declared the bombing and missile raids
an outrage against Islam, a number of Muslim New Yorkers said — publicly,
at least — that the strikes were necessary. Others struggled with conflicting
feelings: justice must be done, but not this way.
"I think right now we're really worried about people who are in Afghanistan,
the men, women and children there who are innocent and might be in grave
danger," said Noera Ayaz, 25, an American of Pakistani descent who is
co-chairwoman of the Columbia University Law School's Muslim Students
Association.
"As Muslims, we are taught to be conscious of all of humanity," she said.
"What we've been hearing is that the attacks are being very targeted, on
specific military targets. We're hoping that's the case."
Ms. Ayaz did not see the actions as an attack on Islam. "Islam is against
terrorism," she said. So as a Muslim, she said, she favors the fight against it.
"Personally, I feel that whoever is responsible for the World Trade Center
attacks should be brought to justice, but I'm not sure attacking Afghanistan is
doing that," she said. "I wish I knew a better way to do that."
Along Atlantic Avenue near Court Street in Brooklyn, there was a strong
police presence and an American flag in almost every shop window. That is
because it is the Arab heartland of the city, a stretch with a long- established
and heavy concentration of Arab-American businesses, many of them run by
Muslims.
"My opinion? It's not just a matter of a couple of missiles," said Saad
Almontsar inside his A & S tobacco shop as a police officer stood in the
doorway. "It'll take a long run. It's worldwide. More important than the
bombs is the political issue. We have to clean this up," he added, referring to
terrorism, which he said was the scourge of all people.
Mr. Almontsar, who said he had been the object of hateful remarks since the
World Trade Center attacks, said he found himself in an odd position. As a
Muslim, vice president of the Yemen American Association and someone
who has been in the area for 10 years, he finds himself these days as both a
source of information about the Muslim world and as an object of scrutiny.
At the Hazrat Abudakr Islamic Center, an Afghan mosque on 43rd Avenue
in Flushing, Queens, a crowd of men had already gathered yesterday to pray
after the death of a mosque member that was unrelated to the World Trade
Center attacks.
Many of them said they were seeking political asylum.
Some said they had fought with the Northern Alliance, the military force that
controls a tiny piece of Afghanistan and is fighting the Taliban.
A shrine to the victims of the World Trade Center blast has grown at the
front gate of the mosque.
There are newspaper clippings and photographs of the dead attached to a
chain-link fence, and a cluster of lighted candles lining the sidewalk.
Every few minutes, groups of men emerged from the mosque and gathered
around a car that had a radio blaring news about the bombing.
"We've been looking forward to the U.S. taking action," said Ekliel
Mohmand, who lives in Flushing and immigrated to New York from Kabul.
"We believe the attack is not on the Afghan people, but on specific locations
of the Taliban. At first we were concerned that the U.S. would attack
Afghanistan with B-2 bombers and start carpet-bombing our country," he
said. "But we think the attack is not on regular citizens, and so all and all it is
a positive thing, a new beginning for our people."
Mohammad Nasim, who was at his home in Flushing yesterday, heard of the
military strikes on CNN. "I'm happy because it will save the future of
Afghanistan," he said.
Several of those at the mosque said they feared for their relatives' safety, but
that they believed the United States would be steadfast in attempts to avoid
hitting civilians.
In Fresh Meadows, about 200 Afghan New Yorkers gathered at the
Mustang Cafe Restaurant, an Afghan establishment, to discuss the situation.
The reaction was somber.
"It's sad," said Abdul Aziz, 35, a janitor in Manhattan who lives in Flushing.
"I have relatives over there, and I'm concerned about them. I wish it could
have been done in a different way, if there was another way to solve the
problem.
M. Ishaq Nadiri, the Jay Gould Professor of Economics at New York
University, also attended the meeting. He described the mood of Afghan
New Yorkers — even those who support the American actions — as one of
"great sorrow."
"They are absolutely sad that the country is being bombed," he said. "This
community is highly, highly uncertain. There is a degree of depression that is
both personal and communal."
nytimes.com |
