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Violent Anti-Muslim Backlash Spreads, Amnesty Condemns Violence
WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (IslamOnline) - A steadily increasing number of reports on the backlash of hostility against Muslims and Arabs from all over the country Thursday assured that the angry, violent reactions from many Americans will be firmly embedded in the nation's memory in the aftermath of events on September 11th.
As numbing shock gave way to a "quiet, unyielding anger" in the days following the devastating attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, those who are not so quiet about their rage began to turn it against anyone who looked like they could be from the Middle East, or might be Muslim.
Reports from Toronto to Dallas, from San Francisco to Raleigh, tell of bomb threats and death threats, physical assaults, mosque and religious center vandalism, verbal attacks and harassment of Muslims, Arabs and others who have no relation to either group, but simply don't look American enough.
The London-based human rights group Amnesty International (AI) issued a statement Thursday - a day after its statement condemning the massive attacks in New York and Washington - calling on Americans and others to avoid scapegoating and attacking members of ethnic and religious groups.
"In response to reports that Arab-Americans, Muslim-Americans, and others have been the victims of violent and non-violent attacks, including death threats," the statement said, "Amnesty International urges individuals to refrain from discrimination and attacks, whether violent or nonviolent, on citizens and residents of the United States on the basis of their race, ethnicity, religion, national origin or appearance, whether actual or perceived.
Amnesty emphasized the need to focus on helping the victims and to make sure "that hatred and vengeance do not become the order of the day."
Citing Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by the U.S., which provides that "[n]o one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention," the statement urged authorities to refrain from detaining people on the basis of their appearance, ethnicity or religion, and to provide extra protection for groups which might be targets of violence.
"These horrific acts cannot and should not become an excuse for violence and hate to be directed against any group of people," said William F. Schulz, Executive Director of AIUSA, the U.S. Amnesty office, in the statement.
But even as news anchors, mayors, police chiefs and national leaders called on people to restrain their rage, acts of violence continued around the country after the attacks.
In Huntington, NY, a Pakistani woman was nearly run over in a mall parking lot by a drunken elderly man who then followed the woman into a store, threatening to kill her for "destroying my country," news agencies reported.
A grocery store owned by a Pakistani man in Suffolk County, New York was set on fire, according to the
New York Post.
Windows were shot out at an Islamic center near Dallas, news agencies said.
The New York Daily News reported that a 55-year-old Pakistani candy store owner was beaten up by five teenagers in East Harlem, and in Brooklyn, two men were seen by a
New York Post reporter driving a car that had a signed taped to the window saying, "Kill all Palestinians."
In Milwaukee, WI, criminal charges were filed against a man who picketed in front of a Muslim-owned store and harassed customers who tried to shop there, and against another man who phoned threats to an Islamic center, prompting its school to close for a day, according to reports on the Milwaukee television channel WISN.
A woman in Brooklyn yelled at Arab storeowners to leave the United States. "I'm so angry, those people should go back to their own country," Stephanie Jankowitz told the
New York Post. "They're living off the wealth of this country. All those shops should be closed."
A teenager banged on the doors of the Institute of Islam in Brooklyn Heights, yelling, "Why did you do this?" according to the
New York Post.
News agencies cited an Islamic information service as reporting that a bag of pig blood was left on the doorstep of an Islamic community center in San Francisco.
An Islamic bookstore in Olde Town Alexandria, Virginia, had stones wrapped with threatening notes, saying things like" We want to kill you'' and "Death to the Arab murderers,'' thrown through its windows.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) reported that three phone calls saying Muslims were "pigs" who should be "wiped off the earth" were delivered to the Minneapolis-based Islamic Relief and Social Services.
Muslim schoolgirls in Quincy, MA, who wear headscarves reported being harassed at school, according to the Boston television channel WCVB.
A Muslim female college student while walking on campus in Raleigh, NC, was spit upon by an angry passerby.
A small fire was deliberately set at one mosque in St. Catherines, Ontario, in Canada, police told news agencies.
Canadian Arab Federation President John Asfour said that in Montreal, a schoolgirl was hit with paint because of the way she was dressed.
And news agencies reported that in Bridgeview, Ill., a crowd of about 300 marched to protest against a mosque before being turned back by police. Nearby in Chicago, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Arab community center.
Even non-Muslims and non-Arabs have fallen victim to the violence; the New York Post reported that three white teens shot a 66-year-old Sikh Indian man in Queens with a pellet gun and chased him down to attack him with a baseball bat. The man said he had to crawl three blocks to get home, and was hospitalized overnight due to his injuries.
New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has repeatedly appealed to New Yorkers to avoid blaming all Muslims for the acts of a few.
"Nobody should engage in group blame," Giuliani said in the New York Daily
News. "That's the type of sickness we are suffering from - people blaming a group for the activities of a few people."
U.S. President George W. Bush himself addressed the issue of a backlash Thursday in phone conversation meeting with Giuliani and New York Governor George Pataki.
"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, "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.
"I know that is your attitudes as well, certainly the attitude of this government, that we should not hold one who is a Muslim responsible for an act of terror."
Everywhere violence occurred, Muslim and Arab leaders and citizens affirmed their condemnation of the attacks and called on their fellow citizens to recognize that their religion cannot make them legitimate targets for violence.
Amnesty International director Schulz called upon Americans to ascertain that "no groups of people be scapegoated; that fear not be an excuse for violations of rights; and that we all remember our common humanity."
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