HEARTS AND MINDS

YUKIYA JERRY WAKI

Communities At Unease as References to Pearl Harbor Are Made

Nichi Bei Times - A headline on Time.com reads: "A Day That Will Live in Infamy." An op-ed piece in the New York Times is titled "A New Day of Infamy." Then news of a recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found nearly 86 percent of the respondents saying the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. Tuesday morning was an act of war. Also, reports speculate that Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden may be linked to the devastation that has claimed the lives of thousands of Americans.

The recent breach of security has put the Arab and Muslim American communities across the U.S. on alert - at the same time numerous organizations have adamantly condemned the attack and offered condolences to the families of those who were killed or injured.

A statement released by the American Muslim Political Coordination Council said: "American Muslims utterly condemn what are apparently vicious and cowardly acts of terrorism against innocent civilians. We join with all Americans in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators. No political cause could ever be assisted by such immoral acts."

An estimated seven million Muslims call the U.S. home, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The prominent Washington, D.C.-based Islamic advocacy group also called on Muslims nationwide to offer any type of assistance to the victims of Tuesday's attacks on New York and Washington.

CAIR added that reports of harassment and attacks have been made against Muslims who have worn Islamic attire, and steps have been taken to increase security around mosques and Islamic centers.

"This is a direct attack on all Americans," Helal Omeira told the San Jose Mercury News. Omeira is the executive director of the Northern California chapter of the CAIR in Santa Clara.

"I'm completely appalled and nauseated that anyone would do this in my country," he said. "Our first and foremost thoughts go out to the victims. There is no foundation in any religion, in Islam in particular, that would support such a horrific act against innocent civilians."

Nidal Ibrahim, editor of Arab-American Business magazine, urges the public to recognize that the terrorist acts are unrepresentative of Islam and the broader Muslim community.

"It is imperative that Americans in general be restrained and recognize that most Muslim Americans are as eager to see these cowards brought to justice as they are," said Ibrahim, in a Pacific News Service commentary. "It is also incumbent upon Arab and Muslim Americans to speak out against such actions, which some of our leaders are doing."

San Jose resident Fatima Ali fears a backlash against Muslims in light of the attack.

"We already get judged," said Ali. "We've been called baby killers, terrorists, traitors. This will probably make things worse."

San Francisco Islamic Society President Souleiman Ghali told the San Francisco Chronicle that he received threatening phone calls and insisted on the reporter not to publish his mosque's location. "You can feel it in the air," said Ghali. "All the Arabs and Muslims in this country are beginning to feel suspect - no matter how loyal they are."

Derailing A Repeat of History

Feeling suspect is something all too familiar for Japanese Americans, who were in a similar position of negative public sentiment perpetuated by racial stereotyping and hysteria after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 by Japanese military forces. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed to Congress that the day was "a date which will live in infamy," and eventually led to the incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry and permanent residents after the passage of Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942.

The recent terrorist attacks have conjured painful memories of World War II, reiterated by media personalities and U.S. legislators.

"This is the most serious attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor," said NBC's Tom Brokaw.

Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) said, "This is the second Pearl Harbor. I don't think that I overstate it."

The references to Pearl Harbor has certainly been felt by the Arab and Muslim American community. Ghali closely watched television reports label the attacks comparable to Pearl Harbor.

"I instantly thought of the Japanese (American) internment camps," said Ghali.

Several Asian Pacific Americans have denounced the analogy between the Pearl Harbor bombings and the recent terrorist attacks. They have also offered to maintain vigilant support and solidarity with Arab and Muslim American communities.

Author and UC Berkeley history Professor Ronald Takaki called the analogy a "mistake."

"The danger of the Pearl Harbor analogy is that it could convey to the galvanized American people a sense of overconfidence that would quickly dissolve into disillusionment and dismay once we realize how this new war is more complicated than World War II," continued Takaki. "This could lead our government to strike out indiscriminately in its 'hunt' for the enemy, and find itself 'punishing' civilians as well as the terrorists. The path would lead us to a vicious cycle of violence, without an end in sight."

"It's important for Japanese Americans to speak out against racism directed toward Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and other Middle Eastern Americans in the wake of what influential politicians and media people are now terming the 'new Pearl Harbor,'" said Glenn Omatsu, activist and associate editor of Amerasia Journal who teaches Asian American studies at UCLA. Pratap Chatterjee, a Bay Area activist, offered an appeal to the APA community to "be ready to stand up for our Arab, Palastinian and Muslim brother and sisters, who may become targets in the backlash after the events in Washington, D.C. and New York City." At the state capitol, Gov. Gray Davis expressed concern on Tuesday that Muslims may be targeted for revenge.

"We may be of different faiths, we come from different nations, but we're all Americans," said Davis. "We do not want Americans turning on Americans."

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