On the night of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, an angry Bay Area woman called in to a KGO radio talk show and said she would never speak to her Arab grocer again.
“That’s just ridiculous,” said host John Rothmann, when he was off the air. “Our anger over this attack needs to be targeted at those who are to blame, not those who are not involved in any way.”
The call reminded Rothmann of the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, when the U.S. government herded around 120,000 innocent Japanese-Americans into internment camps, and kept them there throughout World War II.
“But at least then we knew who attacked us. Right now we don’t fully know,” said Rothmann, a longtime Jewish community activist and former president of the Zionist Organization of America. “And even if it is a Muslim or Arab perpetrator, we can’t blame Muslims and Arabs in general.”
Yet in cities across the nation Arab-Americans and others, including South Asians, are bearing the brunt of the blame. Physical violence and death threats are permeating their communities.
As a result, a number of Jewish groups are issuing calls for tolerance, recognizing that the scapegoating of any minority group creates a dangerous climate for Jews as well.
In a statement, the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council said it “unequivocally condemns any and all manifestation of bigotry, harassment or violence against Arab-Americans and American Muslims.”
Some of this violence has hit close to home. In San Francisco, for instance, a bag labeled as pig’s blood was left at the doorstep of Minority Assistance Services, where Mideastern immigrants receive services.
A San Francisco man of the Sikh faith was shot and killed outside his newly bought gas station in Mesa, Ariz.
A Bay Area community Internet site, www.craigslist.com, was bombarded with messages seeking revenge on Arabs, Muslims and even Israelis.
And the Anti-Defamation League has received reports from teachers at area elementary schools where young students with Middle Eastern features have been spit upon and beaten.
“Many can’t even distinguish between ethnicities, so they’re just attacking anyone who’s perceived to be Muslim,” said Jonathan Bernstein, director of the ADL’s Central Pacific region. “There’s some ugly stuff happening. We predict it will probably get worse.”
The ADL and many other mainstream Jewish organizations have been attempting to reach out to Bay Area Arab and Muslim communities, particularly through interfaith prayer vigils. Since Jews know what it’s like to be marginalized, Bernstein said, it is important to show solidarity and support.
“We need to put aside whatever grievances we might have with them on the Israel issue and understand the hate-crime possibilities they are facing.”
Here are just a few of the incidents from around the nation, as reported by the Arab Discrimination Committee and the Middle East Children’s Alliance:
*In Gary, Ind., an Arab gas station attendant was attacked with a machete.
*In Texas, a Palestinian woman was sent home from work by her boss because he thought she might celebrate the death of Americans in the office.
*In Chicago, bomb threats and firebomb attacks were made against Arab communities and an angry mob of 300 rushed a neighborhood mosque.
*In Rockville, Md., a Palestinian-owned rug company was set on fire.
“I’ve heard about mosques which have had their windows shot out [in Dallas and Carrolton, Texas],” said Penny Rosenwasser, director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance in Berkeley.
“Imagine how we feel in the Jewish community when windows are shot out of our synagogues,” she added. “Remember Kristallnacht? I’m not saying this is quite that bad, but this is how things start.”
Edward J. a Palestinian-American who lives in San Francisco, has not personally been the victim of an attack. But Edward, who remembers the backlash against his community following the Gulf War, can sympathize with those who are frightened.
“I remember watching the news one day during the Gulf War when they interviewed the Detroit chief of police. He held a file of hate crimes against Arab-Americans that was at least a foot and a half thick,” said Edward, who asked to withhold his last name out of fear of repercussions.
“It’s frightening. There are a lot of Arab-Americans who have chosen not to go outside.”
But what Edward, an attorney, finds particularly disappointing is that those seeking revenge against Arab-Americans are stooping to the level of terrorists.
“As someone who considers myself an Arab-American,” he said, “it makes me feel like there’s people living among us just like” the terrorists who crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
In Berkeley, the Arab Film Festival scheduled for Sept. 12, the day after the attack, was canceled partially out of concern for the safety of audience members. The annual event has not yet been rescheduled.
“Due to the amount of Arab factions which have gotten death threats and individuals who have been threatened by passersby, we decided to cancel,” said Tracy Bigelow, the festival’s publicist. “We didn’t want to put the audience, the volunteers or anyone else at risk.”
Rosenwasser put it a little more bluntly. “To be honest, I think they’re scared to death of having a lot of Arabs together in one place. Frankly, from what I’ve seen and heard, I don’t blame them a bit.”