Muslim citizens targets of threats, accusations
■ Officials say the public’s
ignorance of Islamic ideals
and values may play a role
in occurrences of harassment
By Lindsay Buchele
Oregon Daily Emerald
Muslims in Eugene say they are
beginning to feel like the Jews in
Nazi Germany.
Tammam Adi, director of the Is
lamic Cultural Center of Eugene,
said Islamic women are leaving
their scarves at home while men are
shaving their beards and wearing
hats, all to conceal their origin of de
scent and avoid the angry backlash
of their fellow American citizens.
He said there is fear in the com
munity that identification cards
will be issued to Muslims, some
thing he likens to the Star of David
that Jews were forced to wear dur
ing the holocaust.
“People are not leaving their
homes," Adi said.
For the most part, Adi said Eu
gene citizens are supporting Islamic
and Muslim citizens, but that has
n’t stopped physical and verbal
threats from happening.
Ibrahim Hamide, owner of Cafe
Soriah in Eugene and an immi
grant from Palestine, said his
restaurant received a threat from
someone who was going to “blow
up my restaurant.”
But, Hamide said, he has also re
ceived an incredible amount of sup
port, including cards, flowers and
verbal support from his patrons and
other Eugene citizens.
“Eugene is a caring and wonder
fid community, but no community
is idiot-free,” Hamide said. “When
angry, people say stupid things; we
have all been idiots once or twice in
our lives.”
The Islamic Cultural Center was
among the first to receive threaten
ing calls, which ranged from death
threats to accusations. Eugene Police
Department spokeswoman Jan Pow
er said one suspect has been appre
hended for calls made to the center.
“It’s important for harassment to
he reported to the police,” Power
said. “Many community members
have expressed some fear.”
She also said that threats do not
have to be physical to be considered
a criminal act.
“Verbal threats effect people men
tally and can be just as harmful as
physical violence,” Power said.
Adi said that few victims are re
porting the harassment. He is work
ing with EPD and Eugene’s Human
Rights Commission on how to en
courage reporting and how to edu
cate the masses on Muslim practices.
“We don’t want these crimes to
continue, but if people aren’t report
ing them, the crimes won’t stop,"
Adi said.
Greg Rikhoff, who heads the Hu
man Rights Commission in Eugene,
said his staff is ready to help with
educating the public and helping
Muslims protect themselves from
threats made against them.
“A lot of people are fearful of
coming forward,” Rikhoff said.
“They’re hoping if they ignore the
threats, things will return to nor
mal.”
A large part of the problem is the
public’s ignorance about the Muslim
religion, Adi said. An important part
of moving on is educating the public
on the ideals of Islam, he said.
Islam prohibits terrorism and at
tacks against women, children, the
unarmed and acts against civilians.
Adi said many Muslims deny their
heritage to become “more Ameri
can” and, in turn, leave a vast num
ber of stereotypes still intact and the
masses uneducated as to the true
Muslim religion.
“[Islam] is not a known subcul
ture,” Adi said. “There is no infor
mation out there to educate the peo
ple.”
And the majority of Muslims do
not hold any hostility toward Amer
icans, Hamide said, and to lump all
the people of the religion together
with the so-called radical Muslims
is ignorant.
“It’s stupid,” Hamide said. “We
do not associate all Americans with
Timothy McVeigh. We are all
unique, like snowflakes.”
Adi said Osama bin Laden, who
is currently the United States’ prime
suspect in the recent terrorist at
tacks, knows that Americans are ig
norant about the Muslim religion
and is using that to his advantage.
Greg Rikhoff, director of the Human
Rights Commission, suggests the
following phone numbers for
reporting harassment incidents.
For immediate assistance: 911
To report to the police in an non
emergency situation: 682-5121
To speak to a Human Rights
Commissioner: 682-5177
“What happened has to do with
evil,” Adi said. “Whoever did this
is using religion as a cover, but there
is no religious thinking there. Every
religion respects human life.”
Rikhoff said he hopes to aid Adi
and others in helping Eugene resi
dents recognize that Muslims are
not a threat.
“I have tremendous faith in this
community,” he said. “The people
here care for one another. But now
they are grieving and are in pain. We
need to show that the terrorists who
claim to adhere to the Muslim faith
do not represent the Muslim faith. ”
Lindsay Buchele is the community editorfor
the Oregon Daily Emerald. She can be reached
atlindsaybuchele@dailyemerald.com.
Backlash
continued from page 1
bia, were walking down Coburg
Road when a man yelled, “Kill the
Arabs, kill all the Arabs,” from his
truck as he drove by.
Samman said she does not doubt
that Osama bin Laden is behind the
attacks. But she added that there are
misconceptions about Islam’s teach
ings, contributing to some of the hos
,
tility toward Muslims on campus.
She said there is a sharp contrast
between the teachings of the Quran
and the “distorted" version of Mus
lim religion practiced by the Tal
iban, the Islamic militia that rules
most of Afghanistan.
“According to Islam, suicide is a
sin,” she said. “The hijackers won’t
even go through judgment. They’ll
go straight to hell. Islam specifical
ly means peace. How can you be
peaceful if you are killing people?”
Because some students are facing
discrimination, director of the Eu
gene Islamic Cultural Center Tam
mam Adi said he plans to meet
with University President Dave
Frohnmayer in support of Muslim
students.
Other Muslim students, howev
er, have noticed few instances of
hostility.
“I’ve gotten looks when I’m
walking on campus, but I don’t
know that there are more looks
than usual,” said Muslim student
Alina Tureeva from Uzbekistan.
She said she suspects most peo
ple look at her out of curiosity. Oth
ers have said, “God bless you,” as
they’ve walked by her.
Pakistani sophomore Gibran
Azamali said he has heard about
some instances of bias, but he has
not experienced any directed to
ward him.
Shruti Shah, co-director of the
International Student Association,
said it is ignorant to direct anger
and blame at a specific group.
“Just because a terrorist is from a
certain country doesn’t mean that
everyone else from that country is
the same way,” she said.
Diane Huber is a student activities reporter for
the Oregon Daily Emerald. She can be reached
at dianehuber@dailyemerald.com.
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