Southland Muslims Try to Help Iraqi Civilians : Aid: They proceed quietly for fear of retaliation or being branded unpatriotic, but their only motive, they explain, is to give food and medicine to the suffering.

Muslims in Orange County and across the Southland have quietly begun raising money to purchase medical supplies and food for civilians in war-torn Iraq.

Arab-American organizers say they realize that theirs is not a popular cause and that some Americans might consider their efforts unpatriotic. But they stress that their intent is to provide strictly humanitarian aid for the civilians in Iraq--many of whom are feared injured, hungry and homeless after weeks of around-the-clock bombings by allied forces.

The Islamic Society of Orange County, which recently began soliciting funds within the Muslim community, has raised about $8,000, according to a member of the mosque’s Gulf committee relief fund who asked not to be identified out of fear of retaliation.

“We’re trying to at least get some food and antibiotics over there,” the member said.

Muzammil Siddiqi, president of the Islamic Society of Orange County, said Friday that officials at the county’s largest mosque have yet to determine how to get the supplies into Iraq, which has been virtually cut off from the rest of the world since the outbreak of the Gulf War three weeks ago.

“We haven’t decided anything yet,” Siddiqi said. “We are just people who are concerned about human life and suffering.”

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the Muslim Public Affairs Council has raised about $18,000 toward Gulf relief.

“It’s for medicine, food, supplies, clothing and shelter,” said spokeswoman Bina Frausto. “Most of the donations have come from Arab-Americans, but not all of them.”

The council’s funds are being channeled to the needy through the Red Crescent Society in Iran and Jordan--the only medical assistance that has been allowed into Iraq, Frausto said.

“This money is going solely for food and medicine. It’s not going to the Iraqi government,” said an Iraqi from Orange County who is in charge of one such drive by a mosque in the Los Angeles area. “This is for the innocent people who are being bombarded every day.”

The man asked that his name and the location of the mosque not be published out of fear of retaliation. Since the outbreak of the Gulf War, a record number of hate crimes against people of Middle Eastern descent have been reported, according to a study released this week by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

“I decided to get involved in this because I felt that I had to do something,” the man said, adding that he has not heard from his relatives in Iraq since the war began. “I love this country, and I love Iraq, and I got caught in the middle.”

So far, he said, the mosque has raised about $10,000.

While the funds raised are not a significant amount of money, he said, the fund drive does provide a much-needed outlet for the frustrations of Arab-Americans caught in a strange paradox. Although they pray for the safety of the U.S. troops stationed in the Gulf, they are angry and bitter about the daily bombing of Iraq and what they believe is a lack of concern for the plight of civilians.

“We spent so much time worrying about the (Gulf) oil spill and the poor marine creatures who would be killed by the bacteria,” the Iraqi said. “But no one has spent one minute talking about the millions of children in Baghdad who are under constant bombardment and breathing foul air every day.”