Muslims facing more hostility in post 9/11 America

[sonz]

U.S. radio host Jerry Klein triggered uncommon reactions when he suggested on-air that all American Muslims must be marked with a crescent-shaped tattoo or a distinctive arm band.

One of the callers congratulated Klein for his suggestion, saying: “Not only do you tattoo them in the middle of their forehead but you ship them out of this country ... they are here to kill us."

Another said that marking Muslims isn’t enough, adding: "You have to set up encampments like during World War Two with the Japanese and Germans."

At the end of the one-hour show, which was aired on Nov. 26, Klein revealed that he had staged a hoax.

”I can't believe any of you are sick enough to have agreed for one second with anything I said," he told his audience on the AM station 630 WMAL, which covers Washington, Northern Virginia and Maryland.

"For me to suggest to tattoo-mark people's bodies, have them wear armbands, put a crescent moon on their driver's license, their passport or birth certificate is disgusting. It's beyond disgusting,” he added.

After the show, Klein said that he had been surprised by the response.

"The switchboard went from empty to totally jammed within minutes… There were plenty of callers angry with me, but there were plenty who agreed.”

Those who agreed aren’t a minority, according to recent public polls in post 9/11 America.

A USA Today poll, carried out in August, showed that 39% of Americans believe that Muslims, even U.S. citizens, should carry special IDs.

Another survey by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the U.S.'s largest Muslim advocacy group, found that one in every three Americans associate the word “Islam” with negative connotations such as "war” or “hatred”.

The 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq contributed to such perceptions, according to CAIR.

Moreover, CAIR’s 11th annual report concluded that discrimination against Muslims in the U.S. reached a record high in 2005.

In the report, titled “The Struggle for Equality”, CAIR said it processed a total of 1,972 civil rights complaints last year alone; almost 30% higher than the figures of 2004.

A recent study published in the Journal of Human Resources also showed that wages of Arab and Muslim men working in the U.S. declined by 10% after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“Ignorance”

Some analysts believe that the rising Islamophobia emerged from the policies of many Western governments who want to protect their interests in the Middle East through tarnishing Muslims’ image to justify their political and military interference in Arab and ME nations.

Other Muslims believe that ignorance is the main reason behind the rise in anti-Muslim sentiment.

"The level of knowledge is very, very low," said Mohamed Esa, an American Muslim of Arab descent who teaches a course on Islam at McDaniel College in Maryland. "There are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world and some people think they are all terrorists."

Hossam Ahmad, a retired Air Force Reserve colonel who occasionally leads prayers for a small congregation at the Pentagon, agreed. "Ignorance is the number one problem. Education is of the essence,” he said.

Although the rise in Islamophobia affected Muslims’ efforts to integrate in Western societies, many Muslims succeeded in establishing themselves in the West, and played a key role in their countries’ social and political life.

Some optimists saw signs of change in the Nov. 4 election of the first Muslim to the U.S. Congress.

Democrat Keith Ellison, a 43-year-old defense lawyer, did not stress his religion during his campaign for a Minnesota seat, but said his victory would "signal to people who are not Muslims that Muslims have a lot to offer to the United States and the improvement of our country."

Every Muslim is obliged to educate followers of other religions about Islam because, unfortunately, many non-Muslims have negative views of the noble religion, wrongfully associating it with violence.

Contrary to what they believe, the Islamic religion promotes peace and justice. In fact, the word “Islam” itself, which means “surrender or submit” to Allah (SWT) in Arabic, is originally derived from the word “Selm”, or peace.

-- AJP and Agencies

[Woodrow]

I believe he also gave a good summation of what we as Muslims must do:

Every Muslim is obliged to educate followers of other religions about Islam because, unfortunately, many non-Muslims have negative views of the noble religion, wrongfully associating it with violence.

[YusufNoor]

:sl:

sooo..., where can i get an armband? :giggling:

j/k, wearing the "Muslim label" is pretty safe in the northwest.
controversial, but safe. Subhanalah.

:w:

[Woodrow]

:sl:

sooo..., where can i get an armband? :giggling:

j/k, wearing the "Muslim label" is pretty safe in the northwest.
controversial, but safe. Subhanalah.

:w:

I have some friends in the Northwest, in the Seattle area. I hear from them that Islam is gaining acceptance in Washington and Oregon. We seem to be well accepted in California also.

We seem to be well accepted in Texas actually I think a Muslim Armband here would be very popular. Lots of the kids would be jealous because they don't get to wear one.

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[YusufNoor]

I have some friends in the Northwest, in the Seattle area. I hear from them that Islam is gaining acceptance in Washington and Oregon. We seem to be well accepted in California also.

We seem to be well accepted in Texas actually I think a Muslim Armband here would be very popular. Lots of the kids would be jealous because they don't get to wear one.

:sl:

erm, what Masjid do they go to? i'm in Tukwila, but live a mile and a half from the Seatac Masjid. during work hours, sometimes i make to the Masjid Towa in first hill, the Bellevue Mosque or the Idras Mosque in northgate.

i wouldn't doubt we've met!

:embarrass :embarrass

erm, assuming the're Muslim.

:w:

[Woodrow]

:sl:

erm, what Masjid do they go to? i'm in Tukwila, but live a mile and a half from the Seatac Masjid. during work hours, sometimes i make to the Masjid Towa in first hill, the Bellevue Mosque or the Idras Mosque in northgate.

i wouldn't doubt we've met!

:embarrass :embarrass

erm, assuming the're Muslim.

:w:

You are correct they are Muslim. I will find out which Masjid the next time I contact them. I had never asked them as I do not anticipate ever going to Seattle.

This is a strange phenomena happening. I keep hearing talk of anti Muslim hostility. But, I do not personaly know any person here in the US that has expeienced it. except for some stupids act during a few weeks after 911

Back last spring we did have an incident here in Austin in which some Neo-Nazi
Teenagers vandalized a mosque with anti Jewish Graffitti. When caught it turned out they thought the Mosque was a Jewish synagogue and they thought Islam was the same as Judaism. It was still a hate act even if it was not anti Islam per se.

[YusufNoor]

:sl:

Asalaamu Alaykum,

i think most of the "hate" here is just rhetoric from loonies. only their "groupies" listen to it.

i get kidded alot, but other than that not much. i think if someone is afraid of Muslims, they just stear clear of us.

the "haters" generally posses little courage, so unless they got "back up", they ain't saying anything...

Wa Salaam,

:w:

[united]

Muslims dont need armbands. we dress differently anyway.

[Muezzin]

:sl:

Asalaamu Alaykum,

i think most of the "hate" here is just rhetoric from loonies. only their "groupies" listen to it.

i get kidded alot, but other than that not much. i think if someone is afraid of Muslims, they just stear clear of us.

the "haters" generally posses little courage, so unless they got "back up", they ain't saying anything...

Wa Salaam,

:w:

I've not experienced the situation in the US myself, but in my part of the UK, it seems to be as you describe. The odd joke here or there on a very rare occasion from someone you know well enough that they can get away with it. Complete strangers exhibiting Islamaphobic or racist tendencies? Not really seen it myself. But I live in a very multicultural, accepting and peaceful city.

[Woodrow]

I've not experienced the situation in the US myself, but in my part of the UK, it seems to be as you describe. The odd joke here or there on a very rare occasion from someone you know well enough that they can get away with it. Complete strangers exhibiting Islamaphobic or racist tendencies? Not really seen it myself. But I live in a very multicultural, accepting and peaceful city.

Austin is very multi cultural and there is much mutual acceptance of each others rights to worship as they choose.

How Religiously Diverse is Austin?

How religiously diverse is Austin? It can be safely stated that Austin enjoys a high level of religious diversity. However, it remains difficult to answer the question precisely even after looking at the city’s immigrant population, the number of different religious groups, and surveying different perspectives with qualitative interviewing.
The Census shows that Austin has a high number of foreign-nationals. However, this says little about the city’s religious diversity. Out of the population of 129,163 foreign-born living in Austin reported in the 2002 Census, 91,245 are from Latin America–a population that is traditionally Catholic. The next largest immigrant group is from Asia with 29,583 people. [8] Much of this population is also Christian. Austin boasts three Christian churches which are entirely Indian [9] and at least one which is entirely Korean. Thus, immigrant and religious diversity are not necessarily linked.
A clearer picture can be reached by looking at the number and variety of religious groups in the city. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to measure exactly how many different religious traditions and denominations exist in Austin. Austin Area Interreligious Ministries (AAIM) currently has 123 member communities including Baha’is, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Ethical Culturists, Scientologists, etc. However, of the twelve groups that I profiled, only three were members of AAIM. The reason for this relates to the two factors of religious diversity described above: immigrants and non-immigrants. For example, of the sixteen Austin Buddhist groups that I was able to contact, only three were members of AAIM. Of those three, none were immigrant Buddhist groups. For several reasons, immigrant groups tend to be more “low profile” and less likely to become members of AAIM and it is for these same reasons that I had difficulty measuring the number of religious groups in the city.

The 2002 Census reveals that the rate of immigration seems to have actually increased since the economy began to turn sour. In 2000, Austin was home to94, 984 foreign-born residents, 14.75 percent of the total population. In 2002, this figure rose to 129,163 foreign born residents, about 19.64 percent of the total population. [13] Obviously, not all incentives for immigration are economic. Some of the immigrants I spoke with this summer arrived in Austin because they had married servicemen stationed at Bergstrom Airforce Base (now the Austin international airport.) Many had come to Austin to attend the University of Texas. Finally, Austin is still a “creative” economy even if it is currently a damaged one. I predict that as long as there is an effort to “keep Austin weird,” Austin will continue to attract immigrants and continue to remain religiously diverse.

Source: http://www.pluralism.org/research/pr...?profile=72686

I hope the attitudes found in Austin are truly typical of most Americans. It may be I do not find the hostility I read about because I am in Austin.

[*charisma*]

Assalamu Alaikum

subhanallah..if some islamophobes want more muslims to show that they are muslims..then they should encourage more muslimahs to wear the hijaab and more brothers to grow the beard lol

what more identification would you need other than that!

I guess in a way they are saying we "blend" in too much that they can't tell the difference between those who are muslim and those who aren't..or something...ya akhwa, i think we need to be more religious inshallah.


fi aman Allah
w'salaam

[InToTheRain]

Muslims dont need armbands. we dress differently anyway.

:sl:

Agreed. Let the Beard without the Moustache be an armband for the brotheres and the Niqaab for the sisters :)

[arabiyyah]

armbands are like what nazis did to all jews.

it seems europe and usa/west forget what they did to jews, and startin same cycle over with the new religious minority which refuses to assimilate.

[Keltoi]

armbands are like what nazis did to all jews.

it seems europe and usa/west forget what they did to jews, and startin same cycle over with the new religious minority which refuses to assimilate.

You are talking about these "armbands" as if it something that is actually happening, which of course it isn't.

[Woodrow]

As Keltoi said this is nothing that is happening.

From the first post:

At the end of the one-hour show, which was aired on Nov. 26, Klein revealed that he had staged a hoax.

”I can't believe any of you are sick enough to have agreed for one second with anything I said," he told his audience on the AM station 630 WMAL, which covers Washington, Northern Virginia and Maryland.

[Ryane2222]

hello. i am from america and where i live people around here hate muslims because of 9/11. all my friends hate muslims. i ask them the other day. i said why do you hate muslims? they said because of 9/11 you cant trust any of them. then i said you cant hate all muslims just because of of 9/11.then one of my friends said well they hate america. i said not all muslims hate america.some muslims love america. my friend then said well they should not be allowed in this country. i said everybody here has a right to be here. its their descion.me and my friends went on and on about this subject for 45 min. they still hate muslims.my friends are dumb.

i have alot of respect for muslims. im trying to learn about the culture and everything.

[KAding]

Well, clearly the feeling is mutual. It is not as if Americans are particularly liked in most of the Muslim world.

[Ryane2222]

yes thats true alot muslims dont like americans. i dont know why but i guess they have there reason's. as for me i like all races.

[Fishman]

Complete strangers exhibiting Islamaphobic or racist tendencies? Not really seen it myself.

:sl:
I've experienced it almost every time I left the house looking visibly Muslim.
:w: