Hate Crimes Stir Fear in Islamic Community : Muslims Are Concerned Over Rise in Attacks Aimed at Them in Response to Extremists’ Actions Abroad

Over a sea of bowed heads during a recent religious service at the Islamic Center of Southern California, the words of the sermon lingered heavily as solemn worshipers absorbed the message.

“Islam is a burden,” the speaker admonished the multiracial crowd. “But do not ask Allah to lighten your burden. Ask Allah instead to strengthen your back.”

The message could not come at a better time. In the wake of two recent arson attacks on Islamic mosques--one in September in Yuba City in Northern California, another in October in New York--the local Islamic community is trying to steel itself against a rising fear of hate crimes directed at Muslims.

Recent terrorist acts committed by Muslims in the Middle East, such as the fatal Oct. 19 bombing of a Tel Aviv bus, coupled with American media coverage many in the Islamic community perceive as portraying their religion in a negative light, have Muslims throughout Los Angeles fearing further acts of retaliation aimed at them in response to other people’s crimes.

“We do not condone violence, even if it is in the name of God. Yet every time you hear the terms ‘Islamic militant,’ ‘Islamic fundamentalist,’ and ‘Islamic terrorist,’ we become targets,” said Aslam Abdullah, editor of The Minaret, a nationally distributed magazine published by the Islamic Center, which is located in the Wilshire area.

A fresh wave of hate mail and threatening phone calls have flooded the center lately, Abdullah said. A bomb threat three months ago forced staff to evacuate the building, including more than 60 young children who participate in the center’s preschool through first-grade program.

“There’s no question that it’s very frightening, knowing these things can happen and do happen,” said Jasser Hathout, an Egyptian immigrant whose two children attend the Islamic Center school.

Several members of the center’s congregation, one of the largest in Los Angeles with close to 1,500 members, have also reported incidents of verbal harassment on the street, on college campuses, and in other public places.

Hate calls to the center peaked after the Nov. 21 KCET presentation of “Jihad in America,” a documentary about extremist Muslims that was criticized by the Islamic community as having perpetuated unfavorable Muslim stereotypes.

The Public Broadcasting Service defended the film as balanced and meticulously documented. But Mona Hathout, who shares her husband’s concern for their children’s safety, saw it as yet another drop of fuel added to years of press coverage feeding anti-Muslim sentiment.

“Unfortunately, it’s the extremist elements that are newsworthy,” she said. “Your average American Muslims who go about their business, take their kids to school and go to work, they’re not newsworthy. So what ends up happening is that you don’t get a balanced presentation.”

Since the mid-1980s, crimes of bigotry against Muslims and Middle Eastern immigrants--including physical attacks, vandalism, and phone threats--have been reported throughout Los Angeles County, increasing each time there is an international incident in which Muslims play a negative role.

According to reports compiled by the county’s Commission on Human Relations, the most dramatic increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes, not including verbal harassment, occurred during the Persian Gulf conflict.

Although local acts of hostility against Muslims have been on the downswing since, the recent harrassment experienced by the Islamic Center, other Islamic religious and cultural centers and individual Muslims is being heralded as a sign that anti-Muslim activity in Southern California is again on the rise.

The swell of anti-immigrant sentiment that carried Proposition 187 to victory last month also has local Muslims worried, since a large number of the 200,000 Muslims living in Los Angeles County are nonwhite immigrants.

“This is shattering the American dream for a lot of Muslim families who came here fleeing persecution, only to find themselves discriminated against,” said Salam Al-Marayati, director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in mid-Wilshire.

The council wants to create a greater voice for Muslims in Los Angeles, encouraging them to report hate crimes to authorities and become involved in efforts to set the record straight on Islam in the eyes of the general public through community outreach.

Although the council holds regular interfaith discussions with leaders from other religions, greater outreach must be done through schools and city government in order to dispel the myth that associates Islam with political extremism, Al-Marayati said.

“We want people to see the positive side of Islam, that our charities go to the homeless and needy, and that we are taxpayers like every other American,” he said. “Our whole mission is to integrate American Muslims into society, and it’s mainly a problem of overcoming powerlessness.”

One goal is to network with other Islamic groups throughout the state, encouraging them to also pursue greater interaction with mainstream society. Another is to fund a system for documenting and analyzing anti-Muslim hate crimes, Al-Marayati said.

According to Abdullah, some local Muslims have become reluctant to frequent mosques and other Islamic gathering places out of fear of victimization, with several younger Muslims going so far as to change their names, and women adopting Western dress.

But many others, like Sri Lankan immigrant Nabila Idroos, continue their normal routines and maintain their traditions with a bit of caution and unyielding faith.

“We can’t always worry about what’s going to happen in the future,” she said cheerfully, her hair covered by a white scarf. “We just trust in God and go on with our lives.”