LOCAL MUSLIMS

Groups express sorrow and fear

By Anand Vaishnav, Globe Staff, 9/12/2001

ocal Muslims say they are bracing for a possible wave of harassment and retaliatory threats, as speculation runs rampant that Islamic extremists may have masterminded yesterday's catastrophic terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Many Muslim parents said they were leery of sending their children to school in the coming days, certain they will be targeted or teased. Police are patrolling the neighborhood near the Islamic Center of New England in Quincy. And the center itself, which received bomb threats in the early aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, is again electronically monitoring its phone lines to track callers.

Imam Talal Eid, the center's religious director, said the precaution is an unfortunate necessity. Because acts of terrorism are often linked to Islamic radicals, who represent a tiny fraction of the world's Muslim population, adherents around the world are unfairly targeted, he said.

Yesterday, images of Palestinians celebrating the attacks in the streets of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were televised around the world. Eid called on people not to be swayed by the actions of a few, saying the majority of Muslims are peace-loving people who deplore the violence of Islamic extremists.

''Words cannot by themselves express our feelings, but we are deeply saddened and condemn such acts, especially when we hear they were directed at civilians and government property,'' Eid said. ''We really would like to call on all our citizens not to judge people by acts of other people.''

In a statement, the Islamic Society of Boston also condemned the terrorism, asking local Muslim doctors to make themselves available to help in New York City. The group also called on the media to ''exercise restraint'' while reporting on who might be responsible for the attacks.

The Islamic Society said it planned to hold a blood drive at its Cambridge headquarters in the days ahead.

Eid estimated that 70,000 Muslims live in the Boston area. The Islamic Center of New England has about 1,500 active members at its mosques in Quincy and Sharon.

The Quincy mosque was heavily damaged in an arson fire during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in 1990, Eid said, and received threatening phone calls in 1995 after the Oklahoma City bombing, before Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry Nichols were apprehended.

The Quincy center has canceled its annual food bazaar and fund-raiser scheduled for this weekend, Eid said, but services at the center are expected to continue. He is urging Muslim families to go about their lives normally but be prepared for possible harassment.

Salim Marhamo of Quincy said he is undecided about sending his six children to school. Marhamo came to the United States from Lebanon 13 years ago in search of a safe place to raise his family.

''I have two kinds of pain,'' Marhamo said. ''I feel sorry for the innocent victims. They are paying a price for nothing. And I have the pain of fear of retaliation against our community.''

This story ran on page A23 of the Boston Globe on 9/12/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.