Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Crimson Ghost who wrote (3679)	11/11/2003 9:30:24 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Respond to of 22250

Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein AmeriKKKa.... Metro Arabs, Muslims suffer harassment, hatred 05-11-2003 By Francis X. Donnelly WATERFORD, The Detroit News: -- Early on a summer night, a white ice cream truck rolled down a tree-lined street, luring children with its tinny rendition of "The Entertainer." A moment later, an undercover officer wearing a red-white-and-blue bandana was kneeling over the prone body of an Arab-American who had just been driving the truck. The cop was pointing his gun at the man's head, according to a subsequent lawsuit. How did this suburban scene last year jump so quickly from Americana to American gothic? According to Arabs and Muslims, it has to do with another day, one that featured lightning-quick assaults on the American psyche: hijackings, jetliner crashes, falling skyscrapers. The terrorist attacks of September 11 unleashed a torrent of hatred and ugliness against Arabs and Muslims. Some say they have suffered small indignities, while others talk of blatant discrimination that violates their civil rights. "I didn't expect even in my dreams that this could happen in America," said Basim Alkhateeb, the Jordanian who was accosted by the Waterford policeman. Tipped off by neighbors, the police said they thought Alkhateeb and his brother, Abedulah, who regularly switched vehicles in the neighborhood, were dealing drugs. But Basim was just dropping off the ice cream truck for his brother. The number of discrimination and harassment complaints received by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) tripled last year to 1,516. The complaints, from Arabs and Muslims in the United States, ranged from job discrimination to name-calling to violence. The organization's survey of 945 Muslims last year found that 48 percent believed the quality of their lives had declined since September 11. The alleged discrimination has come from all directions: bosses, neighbors, public officials, by-passers in the street. Arabs and Muslims contend they have been insulted unknowingly by friends and openly by strangers. "Many Americans are misdirecting their anger toward other Americans," said Shereef Akeel, a Huntington Woods attorney who represents several Muslims who have filed civil rights lawsuits. "You're constantly on the defensive to explain Islam," he said. "(Al-Qaida leader Osama) bin Laden hijacked Islam. He put a face on Islam that will take years to remove." It makes Arab immigrants feel like outcasts, like they have to constantly prove their loyalty to their adopted homeland. The irony is that some came here to escape just this sort of thing. (Cont'd on next post)

To: Crimson Ghost who wrote (3679)	11/11/2003 9:32:33 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22250

[...] Other victims of discrimination didn't move to the United States. They were born here. Still, they feel alienated. And they wonder: At what point will they be accepted as an American? Range of complaints Before September 11, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's office in Dearborn received a few complaints a week from local residents who felt they were discriminated against. It now receives up to 10 a week. The group has expanded its staff from two workers to five. Local residents have complained about businesses that refuse service, workers who have been fired, threats of bodily harm by strangers and apartment landlords who have evicted them. Brandon Al-Sandouk believes he was fired from his job as a receiving clerk at Bombardier Aerospace in Taylor because he is an Iraqi-American. He said his boss referred to his lunch as "camel food" and told him to ride a forklift "like a camel." The company declined to discuss the case, which is under investigation by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. "I thought I was going some place with the company," said Al-Sandouk, 25. "I thought I was starting my career. How could they do this to me?" Among pending lawsuits involving Metro Detroiters are an Iraqi owner of a Lincoln Park pizzeria who said he was cussed and harassed by a magazine salesman for refusing to buy an ad and a Jordanian who was fired from a private school in Troy. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights has settled 11 cases in which Arab-Americans allege discrimination in the aftermath of September 11; another 66 investigations remain open. 'Flying While Brown' The most inhospitable place, local Arabs and Muslims say, is the airport. Many tell stories of being stopped and searched several times before getting onto a plane. Some have been searched once they were aboard. One resident said his identification and boarding pass were requested four times before reaching his flight, twice the number for most passengers. Arab-Americans have a name for the offense they seem to be punished for: Flying While Brown. "My guys are law-abiding citizens who support their family," said Michael Cafferty, an attorney representing two local Arab-Americans who have filed a civil rights lawsuit. "To be treated this way is appalling." Last year, five Arab-American men filed civil rights lawsuits against four air carriers, among them Northwest Airlines, charging that they were taken off flights because of their nationality. The lawsuits were filed in New Jersey, California and Maryland. A spokeswoman for Northwest said the pilots had received conflicting information on whether the passenger was judged a security risk by authorities. [snip] muslimnews.co.uk