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anti-muslim violence
Anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiments are on the rise in the United States. The result of a
sustained campaign by the American ruling class and its media mouth pieces. Often thinly cloaked in an "anti-terrorism" veneer, the anti-Muslim & Arab propaganda used by the U.S. ruling class seeks to instill fear and mistrust against Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent as a justification for its attacks on basic democratic rights, and in order to divide us to keep us from facing our common enemy.
Millions of Americans have been infected with this hatred, and it has resulted in numerous acts of violence against Muslims and Arabs. Mosques are being vandalized, veiled women ridiculed,
and Arabs are made victims of physical attack, and sometimes even mob violence.
Below is a brief article by a young activist in response to an attack on a local Mosque in
Arizona:
Hi, my name is Jane Williams and I am an Amnesty International member at the University of
Arizona.
I am frightened and awestruck by the hate that is escalating increasingly against Muslims
in America. I am not a Muslim myself, but a very close friend to many and it shocks me what I
see in our society.
My friend, Sa'ad Nasim, just today was literally struck in the face by this violence in his community in Mesa, AZ. His mosque was vandalized by members in the community that hate Muslims. He was hit by a brick when someone threw it at his Mosque. His Imam was also beaten up by these people, just because his name is similar to Ossama bin Laden.
This man, however, is a very caring individual. He studies languages and his wife is a physicist. He is also mute. This occurrence is nothing new in America. However, it is increasing at alarming rate. Every two weeks a mosque is burned or vandalized. Muslims have difficulties in building their mosques because of community opposition. Muslims are misunderstood and not
correctly represented by the media. The burning and vandalism of a mosque is considered a
misdemeanor, while the burning or vandalism of a church or synagogue is considered a felony.
I even fight with my family about these issues, daily. They, like most Americans, claim not to be
racist, but then they turn around and express hate towards Muslims and Arabs. I am actually a German Studies major and therefore, I study a lot about the Holocaust. I have seen movies such as "Jud Suss," an anti-Semitic propaganda film that was shown to the SS officers to motivate them to commit acts of violence against the Jewish people. Scary, I know. I feel today that America has a similar environment for breeding similar hate sentiments that can lead to violence against these people in America.
This article was originally posted to the ProtestNet website on January 4, 2001.
