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THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING
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ANT-ARAB SENTIMENT Bush urges respect toward US Muslims
By Mary Leonard, Globe Staff, 9/14/2001
''Our nation must be mindful that there are thousands of Arab-Americans who live in New York City who love their flag just as much as the three of us do,'' Bush said in a telephone call to New York Governor George Pataki and New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
''And we must be mindful that as we seek to win the war, that we treat Arab-Americans and Muslims with the respect they deserve,'' Bush said. ''We should not hold one who is a Muslim responsible for an act of terror.''
Bush's words - echoed during the day by his father, former President George H.W. Bush, Attorney General John Ashcroft, and Secretary of State Colin Powell - appeared to be a coordinated attempt to dampen a surge of anti-Arab sentiment taking the form of vandalism and violence, threats, and harassment in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
''It's unbelievable,'' said Mohamed Nimer, who is keeping track of reported incidents at the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington. ''We are getting calls by the minute from all over the country.
''I can understand the frustration of Americans, but I can't understand the logic; it's the same us-versus-them mentality that drove the terrorist attacks,'' Nimer said.
In an e-mail alert, the council contacted 10,000 to 15,000 members and recommended that those who wear Islamic attire stay out of public areas. It also urged mosques to request police patrols. Many mosques were expected to take the unusual step of canceling their prayer services today, Nimer said.
In Denton, Texas, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the Islamic Society building, causing an estimated $2,500 in fire damage yesterday morning. Two other Dallas-areas mosques were vandalized Wednesday.
Samir Abuissa, administrative director of the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., said he has called police to the mosque four times this week. He has canceled today's prayers, usually attended by 2,000 Muslims, and he is not sending any of his six children to school because his 11-year-old daughter was taunted and cursed by other students Tuesday.
In the Boston area, three teenagers were freed on bail after being accused of setting fire Wednesday night to a Somerset convenience store that they believed to be Arab-owned. In addition, a small fire was set at a Weymouth gas station Wednesday night, and vandals smashed in the windows and front door of Halal Market in Quincy early yesterday morning.
Ashcroft confirmed that the Justice Department was receiving reports of violence and threats against Arab-Americans and other Americans of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent.
''We must not descend to the level of those who perpetrated Tuesday's violence by targeting individuals based on race, religion, or national origin,'' the attorney general told reporters.
Yesterday, leaders of two Arab-American organizations met at the Justice Department with Ralph Boyd, head of the civil rights division, as well as representatives from the FBI, and were assured that any hate-crime activity against Muslims would be investigated.
James Zogby, who attended the meeting, said he has also been contacted by several senators, including Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, with expressions of support for the Arab-American community. He said it was ''fantastic'' that the Senate last night unanimously passed a resolution to protect the civil rights of Arab-Americans and Muslims and condemn acts of violence and discrimination. The vote was interrupted by a bomb scare that evacuated the Capitol.
''In all the years, going back to the Iran hostage crisis, I have never seen such an outpouring of concern on this issue,'' said Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute.
Some fear that reprisals against innocent Arab-Americans could be severe if it is proved that Islamic-extremist followers of Osama bin Laden were responsible for the attacks.
''There should be no rush to judgment,'' the elder Bush said at a conference in Boston sponsored by Lodestar Corp. ''We should be mindful that these are not the acts of all Muslims,'' even if bin Laden's followers carried them out.
Lois Williams, senior counsel for the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, said the anti-Arab tone was not so different from the animus after Pearl Harbor that led to the internment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans.
''I like to think we are much more protective of civil rights today, but we are still liable to slip into the worst kinds of stereotypes,'' Williams said.
Peter J. Howe and Susan Milligan of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.
This story ran on page A26 of the Boston Globe on 9/14/2001.
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