Muslims struggle to end racial stereotypes
■The Muslim Student Association is hosting a series of
lectures informing people about ethnic misunderstandings
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
Labels such as terrorists and
oppressors of women are exam
ples of how Western culture mis
interprets the Muslim people and
culture.
The Muslim Student Associa
tion is hosting “Debunking the
Myths,” a series of talks that chal
lenges and clarifies the issues that
Muslims face on the University
campus and worldwide.
Director of the Muslim Student
Association, Nashran Santoso, a
senior political science and inter
national studies major, said that
there is a growing distortion of the
image of Muslim people and how
they are portrayed by the media.
He said that the intent of the dis
cussion series is to clarify uneasy
feelings of Muslims and Islam.
“Being Muslim here in Ameri
ca, some people give the image of
the terrorists, oppressors of
women and abusers,” Santoso
said. “By having these talks, the
MSA and people can understand
more about what Muslim is — in
reality.”
The May 25 discussion,
“Young American Muslim Expe
riences: Life and Challenge” was
centered around the narrative ex
perience of Muslims in the com
munity from the point of view of
MSA members.
On May 30, “Image of Women
in the Qur’an” was led by Profes
sor Mahmoud Dhouadi, a visiting
researcher from the University of
Tunisia’s department of sociology.
In his presentation, Mahmoud
addressed the misunderstandings
of the Qur’an, the Muslim holy
book. While men of the Muslim
and Arab world are portrayed as
being allowed to marry more than
one wife, Mahmoud contradicted
this in his lecture.
“Muslim men are not encour
aged to treat more than one
women equally,” he said.
Nadima Adi, a senior majoring
in biology and psychology, said
she came to the presentation so
that people would see there are
more Muslim women on campus.
“I was just interested to see
what [Mahmoud] would say and
to get information that I hadn’t
heard before in my studies,” she
said.
The “Muslims and the Media:
The True Lies” on May 31 fea
tured Tammam Adi, Ph. D. in a
discussion about the common
stereotypes of Muslims and Islam.
Dhouadi examined the place of
knowledge and science in the
Qur’anic perspective in a panel
on June 1: “Qur’an, Knowledge,
and Science.”
The series of talks will con
clude tonight at 7 p.m. in 204
Condon Hall with “Muslim Be
havior and Daily Life.”
Santoso said that through the
talks the different faces of Mus
lims are revealed, such as Hawai
ian Muslims, Caucasian Muslims,
African-American Muslims and
Indonesian Muslims. The MSA
offers Muslims a place where they
can come together to share their
way of life and the guidance they
receive from their holy scripture.
Sarah K. Samman, a senior bi
ology major, and new member of
the MSA said she frequently faces
racism because she is Muslim.
Samman said she was stopped
in the Seattle-Tacoma Internation
al Airport by customs officials
and discriminated against be
cause she was from the Middle
East.
“They actually asked me if I
had family in the Middle East and
why I stayed in touch with them,”
Samman said.
Samman and MSA member
Redha Mohammad, an'environ
mental sciences and geology ma
jor, said they have enjoyed partic
ipating in other events the MSA
has hosted this year. The associa
tion presented an informational
lecture at Sheldon High School in
April where they presented pic
tures of mosques, places where
Muslims pray, as well as clarify
ing issues about the Islamic cul
ture.
For more information about
“Debunking the Myths” contact
the Muslim Student Association
at 346-3798.
Elian s asylum hearing rejected
■An appeals court ruled
only Elian Gonzalez’s father
could apply for asylum for
his 6-year-old son
ATLANTA — A federal appeals
court sided with the government
Thursday and denied an asylum
hearing for Elian Gonzalez — a
ruling that could send the 6-year
old shipwreck survivor back to
Cuba with his father within
weeks.
The unanimous ruling from a
three-judge panel of the 11th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals blocked
Elian from leaving the country im
mediately and gave his Miami rel
atives two weeks to appeal — ei
ther to the full appeals court or the
Supreme Court. Family lawyer
Kendall Coffey said he hadn’t de
cided on a course of action.
However, Elian’s father, Juan
Miguel Gonzalez, pleaded with
the Miami family to end the court
battle so father and son could “fi
nally go back home together.” The
father came to the United States to
reclaim his son in April.
“Make no mistake about what
happened today,” said the father’s
lawyer, Gregory Craig. “This case
has been decided, and in our view
there is no longer any doubt about
the ultimate outcome.”
The appeals court ruled that the
Immigration and Naturalization
Service acted within reason when
it decided only Elian’s father
could apply for asylum for him,
not the Miami relatives.
The court said because no fed
eral law addresses whether a child
as young as Elian can seek asylum
against the wishes of his parents,
the INS was required to come up
with a policy dealing with “the ex
traordinary circumstances” of the
case.
The judges acknowledged Cuba
violates human rights and the rule
of law. But they said the INS, not
the courts, should determine im
migration policy.
The judges also denied a re
quest by Elian’s father to replace
Elian’s great-uncle Lazaro Gonza
lez as the boy’s representative in
the court proceedings, a move that
would have allowed the father to
drop the asylum request and take
his son back to Cuba.
President Clinton and Attorney
General Janet Reno praised the
ruling.
“We have said all along that
Elian belongs with his father,”
Reno said in Washington. In
Berlin, the president said the case
spoke to “the importance of fami
ly and the bond between a father
and son.”
Outside the Miami relatives’
former home in Little Havana,
where Elian lived for more than
four months until he was taken by
armed federal agents and reunited
with his father, protesters yelled
and wept over the ruling.
About 100 people gathered and
vowed to continue their fight to
keep the boy in the United States.
A small number promised vio
lence if Elian is returned to Cuba.
Sandra Linar, a 40-year-old
homemaker, held a sign with a
photo of Elian and his mother. “It
is not over yet,” Linar said. “God
is with us.”
The relatives held out some
hope that Elian’s father still would
be prevented from taking Elian
back to Cuba.
“I hope the laws of this country
favor him and give him the oppor
tunity to seek asylum,” said
Marisleysis Gonzalez, the cousin
who cast herself as a mother figure
to Elian after his own mother died
in the Thanksgiving Day boat
wreck.
She also said she hopes the
courts will force Elian’s father to
allow her family to visit the boy,
whom they have not seen since
the raid on April 22. Elian and his
father essentially have been in
seclusion in Washington and
Maryland since then, barred from
leaving the country until the court
fight is over.
In a statement read on Cuban
television, the communist govern
ment expressed its displeasure
with yet another delay in Elian’s
return, calling the 14-day waiting
period for the appeal “another
concession to the ‘mafia’” — the
term it commonly uses for the ex
ile community in Miami.
While campaigning in Atlanta,
Vice President Al Gore said the
case would have been best han
dled in a family court. Gore sup
ports legislation to grant perma
nent resident status to Elian, his
father and other relatives, a posi
tion at odds with that of the Clin
ton administration.
Texas Gov. George W. Bush sup
ports similar legislation, and
while campaigning in Nevada, he
called on his Democratic presi
dential rival to urge Clinton to get
the case heard in family court.
However, that option has al
ready been rejected. Elian’s great
uncle Lazaro Gonzalez tried to
win custody in a Florida family
court, and a judge dismissed the
case, saying even if Elian were giv
en permanent resident status,
Lazaro could not qualify for cus
tody of him under state law. She
also said she could not overrule
the INS.
The Associated Press
Pick up an Emerald at 03camPus & community locations.
Kevin Calame Emerald
Mahmoud Dhaouadi, a Fulbright scholar from the University of Tunisia, speaks.
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