c. 1996 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS)-On the first anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, an Islamic watchdog group reported an”alarming”pattern of anti-Muslim incidents-many involving women-in the year since initial speculation blamed Muslim militants for the blast.
Almost 300 incidents of anti-Muslim bias, harassment, violence and threats of violence were noted in the report released Friday (April 19) by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.
About 10 percent of the reported incidents involved violence, including beatings, vandalism and other property damage. Most involved Muslim women, who are often easily identified by their distinctive head coverings, known in Arabic as an hijab.
Other violent incidents included attacks on Muslim houses of worship, such as the arson blaze last October at a mosque in Greenville, S.C.
Ironically, said CAIR researcher Mohamed Nimer, the incidents came amidst a generally”promising”upswing in the level of awareness and acceptance of Islam in the United States.
He noted this year’s first-ever White House celebration of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan; the observance of April 22 as”Islamic Day”by Stillwater, Okla.; and the broad community support Denver Muslims received after a local radio station broadcast an anti-Muslim stunt in March when Muslim pro-basketball star Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf refused to stand for the pre-game playing of the National Anthem.
Some 200 of the reported incidents took place in the days that immediately followed the Oklahoma City bombing, when speculation centered on a link with Middle East terrorists. Two non-Muslims-Timothy James McVeigh and Terry Lynn Nichols-have since been charged in connection with the blast, which killed 168 people.
Despite those arrests, the report said”bias and violence (against Muslims) continued. But rather than malice, Nimer said many of the incidents can be traced”to a lack of knowledge”about Islam on the part of most non-Muslim Americans.
He also said anti-Muslim bias is of special importance to Americans because Islam is, by most accounts, the fastest growing religion in the United States. Some 3 million to 5 million Americans are Muslims-about 40 percent of whom are African-American converts to the faith.
As Muslims become more visible, he said,”old hatreds and negative stereotypes”are surfacing that should be dealt with by education. Anisa Abd El Fattah, a CAIR board member, said the media was in large part responsible for these stereotypes by its”constantly linking Islam with terrorists.” The CAIR report-“The Price of Ignorance”-said 57 percent of the anti-Muslim incidents reported consisted of verbal abuse, intimidation, harassment and bias.
The most recent case included in the report involved a Muslim woman from Falls Church, Va., who was denied a hotel job because the employer initially objected to her head covering. The woman, Egyptian-born Hanem Zahwy, 41, has since been hired by the hotel and given a week’s back pay and a written apology.
Zahwy said at the news conference at which the CAIR report was released that the outcome of her case made her”so happy”because it showed”a Muslim woman can work wearing a scarf and do a fine job.”
MJP END RIFKIN
