posted December 16, 2006 09:39 PM              

In U.S., fear and distrust of Muslims runs deep

Mon Dec 4, 2006 11:18 AM GMT

By Bernd Debusmann, Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When radio host Jerry Klein suggested that all Muslims in the United States should be identified with a crescent-shape tattoo or a distinctive arm band, the phone lines jammed instantly.

The first caller to the station in Washington said that Klein must be "off his rocker." The second congratulated him and added: "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 tattoos, armbands and other identifying markers such as crescent marks on driver's licenses, passports and birth certificates did not go far enough. "What good is identifying them?" he asked. "You have to set up encampments like during World War Two with the Japanese and Germans."

At the end of the one-hour show, rich with arguments on why visual identification of "the threat in our midst" would alleviate the public's fears, Klein revealed that he had staged a hoax. It drew out reactions that are not uncommon in post-9/11 America.

"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 (http://www.wmal.com/), which covers Washington, Northern Virginia and Maryland

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

"Because basically what you just did was show me how the German people allowed what happened to the Jews to happen ... We need to separate them, we need to tattoo their arms, we need to make them wear the yellow Star of David, we need to put them in concentration camps, we basically just need to kill them all because they are dangerous."

The show aired on November 26, the Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday, and Klein said in an interview afterwards he had been surprised by the response.

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

POLLS SHOW WIDESPREAD ANTI-MUSLIM SENTIMENT

Those in agreement are not a fringe minority: A Gallup poll this summer of more than 1,000 Americans showed that 39 percent were in favor of requiring Muslims in the United States, including American citizens, to carry special identification.

Roughly a quarter of those polled said they would not want to live next door to a Muslim and a third thought that Muslims in the United States sympathized with al Qaeda, the extremist group behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

A poll carried out by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR.L: Quote, Profile , Research), an advocacy group, found that for one in three Americans, the word Islam triggers negative connotations such as "war," "hatred" and "terrorist." The war in Iraq has contributed to such perceptions.

Klein's show followed a week of heated discussions on talk radio, including his own, and online forums over an incident on November 22 involving six Muslim clerics. They were handcuffed and taken off a US Airways flight after passengers reported "suspicious behavior" that included praying in the departure gate area.

The clerics, on their way to a meeting of the North American Imams Federation, were detained in a holding cell, questioned by police and FBI agents, and released. Muslim community leaders saw the incident as yet more evidence of anti-Muslim prejudice.

IGNORANCE SEEN AS KEY PROBLEM

Several American Muslims interviewed on the subject of prejudice over the past few weeks said ignorance was at the core of the problem.

"The level of knowledge is very, very low," said Mohamed Esa, a U.S. 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 Ahmed, a retired Air Force Reserve colonel who occasionally leads prayer meetings for the small Muslim congregation at the Pentagon, agreed. "Ignorance is the number one problem. Education is of the essence."

There are no hard figures on how many Muslims have been subject to harassment or prejudice and community leaders say that ugly incidents can prompt spontaneous expressions of support. Such as the e-mail a Minneapolis woman sent to CAIR after the imams were taken off their flight.

"I would like to ... help," the e-mail said. "While I cannot offer plane tickets, I would be happy to drive at least 2 or 3 of them. My car is small, but at least some of our hearts in this land of the free are large."

And optimists saw signs of change in the November 4 election of the first Muslim to the U.S. House of Representatives, which has 435 members.

Democrat Keith Ellison, a 43-year-old African-American 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."

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved

posted December 16, 2006 10:43 PM            

Bet you anything that these callers would instantly have had a more "Negitive" feedback towards the radio host if the toic of discussion happened to be the Jewish Holocaust.

posted December 16, 2006 11:19 PM            

There are people I know or know of and mistrust..with good reason. I wouldn't have anything to do with them, in business or otherwise.

None of them are Muslim.

posted December 17, 2006 12:59 AM              

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Roughly a quarter of those polled said they would not want to live next door to a Muslim and a third thought that Muslims in the United States sympathized with al Qaeda, the extremist group behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

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In reality its only natural for muslims in the U.S. to sympathize with Al Qaeda, because of the American/captilist way of life verses Islamic religious ideals creating a clash of moral and ethical values as well as America's generalizations, untamed stereotypes and prejudices of Muslim people, who are *people* let me add, deeply frustrates and upsets them on a humane level.

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"The level of knowledge is very, very low," said Mohamed Esa, a U.S. 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."

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What has our world come to? Not, what is it coming to, for the evil and the stupidity that we feared and disliked is already amongst us. My Christmas & New Years Wish is for people to realize that when they place prejudices on others out of their personal ignorance and have the audacity to judge people according to their personal views and opinions, their doing a disservice to themselves.

posted December 17, 2006 03:01 AM            

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n reality its only natural for muslims in the U.S. to sympathize with Al Qaeda, because of the American/captilist way of life verses Islamic religious ideals creating a clash of moral and ethical values as well as America's generalizations, untamed stereotypes and prejudices of Muslim people, who are *people* let me add, deeply frustrates and upsets them on a humane level.

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Woa woa woa...no it is NOT natural for Muslims in the U.S. to sympathise with Al Qaeda...if they are in Afghanistan, perhaps those are the ppl involved in every day life. IN America thats like spitting into the well u drink from. If one doesnt like America's way of life they can feel free to get out...i mean no one has the right to come into a country and try to change their life. Everyone deserves equal respect. And Islamic ideals say nothing against capitalism...Muhammed (PBUH) was a merchant himself...there is nothing that says capitalism is wrong and therefore I fail to see how Islam contradicts American values...considering that Al Qaeda supported the Taliban which goes more against Islam than any American society.

posted December 18, 2006 12:07 AM              

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Juni respects Islam very much. She can skillfully discuss its finer points with more ease than a few so-called Muslims I've met.

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If that were true tink she would have said something to lioneye about her bigotry and her choice of language. However she did not utter one word about it. What remains vivid in my mind is her comment that lioneye was passionate about equality. Juniperb did make the effort to say some things to me though in the hopes of killing the thread. She tried to reason that I should just suck it up and learn to deal with their comments.

She thought I was "warring with myself through other people" and implied I needed to work on my weak imam. Where were such sayings for pidaua or lioneye and their highly offensive posts? No where to be found. She remained silent. And because she remained silent about their posts and chose to focus on me for raising some issues involving bigotry Im left to think she doesnt see it as a problem or possibly sides with what lioneye said.

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First they came for the Jews. I was silent. I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists. I was silent. I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists. I was silent. I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me. There was no one left to speak for me.
~Martin Niemöller

posted December 18, 2006 06:12 AM              

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She thought I was "warring with myself through other people" and implied I needed to work on my weak imam.

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No, she relayed a message.

I think when she pointed out pid's love of country and lioneye's love of fairness she was looking for the good and positive feelings which through misunderstanding had sadly lead to a fight. If I recall, she also pointed out your love of your religion. In other words, we should consider that your strong feelings regarding potential prejudice came from a good place.

of course your opinion of people is your own. It would make me sad, however, to know you mistook a friend for an enemy.

posted December 18, 2006 02:34 PM            

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What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted December 18, 2006 02:55 PM            

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DayDreamer, an Inspiration for you from a Friend,

Salam sister,

Your deen is the deen of peace and reconciliation. You know this, your heart experiences this. Why then do you war with yourself through the people? If your iman is weak, it is not the fault of the wise or the ignorant. If your iman is strong, there is nothing to say to the wise or the ignorant. Find the weakness in yourself, cure it and you will come to peace with yourself and thus to peace with others.

Waalaykum salam sister, and may the Peace and Blessing of the Holy Prophet live in your heart and your actions. Amin.

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Dislike the message or the messenger, it`s of little difference to me. I complied with a request from a Friend...

juniperb

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What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted December 18, 2006 06:04 PM              

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Does that provide clarity?

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You miss the point entirely.

And that "inspiration" you posted for me did not inspire me because that had no relevance to what was being discussed at the time.

posted December 18, 2006 06:52 PM            

You blur the lines between two separate conversations/posts.

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I complied with a request from a Friend...

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Why didnt you compile one for lioneye or pidaua...they needed it more than I did.

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Did I say I compiled anything?

This is a perfect example of emotional interference between objective comprehension and subjective comprehension... which is why I won`t engage with you in this self defeating type of behavior you are insisting upon..

juniperb

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What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted December 18, 2006 07:33 PM              

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This is a perfect example of emotional interference between objective comprehension and subjective comprehension... which is why I won`t engage with you in this self defeating type of behavior you are insisting upon..

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Im being quite objective.

This is not self defeating but self deflecting behaviour on your part.

posted December 18, 2006 08:41 PM              

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On the other hand DD, your charges of racism, your support for groups which can only be defined as terrorists, your constant screech, whine, howl and shrieking against the United States, your refusal to accept the majority opinion of Iraqi citizens who voted about 70% in favor of representative government, your overt support and excuse making for Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups who deliberately attack civilian populations and your support and excuse making for groups inside Iraq who deliberately attack civilians, including women and children; could only be considered non confrontational in a society of lunatics.

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I meant everything and stand firm in everything Ive posted in the past!

posted December 18, 2006 09:40 PM            

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And FYI America is the largest terrorist state in the world!...

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posted December 18, 2006 09:46 PM              

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US isnt out to get any civilians...

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