Following the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, Arab-Americans, Muslims and other individuals of Middle Eastern descent reported numerous incidents of harassment and violence. Dr. Mohammed Ebeid, head of the department of agriculture and an Arab-American who practices the Muslim faith, said blaming all Muslims for what the terrorists did is like blaming Christianity for Christian fundamentalists who bomb buildings.
“I believe a major mistake is that Muslims were blamed for this when the attack happened in Oklahoma. Tim McVeigh did that, nobody blamed Christianity. Nobody attacked any church. We have more than 60,000 churches across the United States that we call mosques, and they were attacked. In Denver, someone with an automatic weapon shot up an entire mosque,” Ebeid said.
In Palos Heights, Ill., a man attacked a Morroccan gasoline station attendant with a machete. In Gary, Ind., a man in a ski mask fired an assault rifle at a gasoline station owned by Arab-Americans. In Huntington, N. Y., a man tried to run over a Pakistani woman. He yelled at her that she was responsible for destroying his country.
For some, the incidents reflect misunderstandings about people of middle-eastern descent among citizens of the United States. Many are unaware of the differentiation between Arab-Americans, other middle-eastern ethnic groups, and Muslims. Additionally, many people confuse mainstream Muslims with the small percentage of fundamentalist Muslims who indulge in terrorist acts.
Ebeid also said he believes the ones who perpetuated this act are not true Muslims, since a main tenet of the faith, as with most mainstream religions, is peace.
“As a fellow American of the United States and at the same time being Muslim, I would like to say that this faceless, cowardly act that happened that day touched all of us inside. It is not from Islam. No religion on this earth would approve of what happened. Those people who did this have no religion. They claim that they are Muslim, but they are not. They have no faith. They are not human beings,” he said.
As Ebeid points out, victims of the attack included people of Middle Eastern descent.
“We have here in the United States more than 12 million fellow Americans who are Muslims. When the disaster happened, it shook all of us inside. In Washington and in New York, we had many victims, among them there are some Muslims, some Arabs, some Egyptians, some Jordanians, some Moroccans. That’s an attack to our whole entire freedom, and the whole entire world,” Ebeid said.
Wearing a tie emblazoned with the American flag, Ebeid expressed his feelings as a citizen with middle-eastern descent.
“If president Bush called me today and said, `Dr. Mohammed Ebeid, come and serve,’ I would be the first one. I would come and serve and find out who are those cowards, and I would help the CIA and FBI with all the means to bring these people to justice,” he said.
As a faculty member, Ebeid said that he was treated with dignity after the recent attack.
“I am lucky that here in Thibodaux I did not face any of these problems. I was dealt with respect from all of my colleagues. My friends and all of my students respect me highly, and love me for what I am doing for my job here in America.
“But in other areas, there are a lot of weak, hardened, immature people who can cause huge damage to those 12 million Muslims in America,” he said.
Another faculty member of middle-eastern descent who said he is not apprehensive about supporting America is Dr. Syrous Kooros, professor of economics and finance.
While Kooros is neither Muslim nor Arab-American, he is a Persian originally from Iran.
Kooros traveled to various communist countries, including China and Cold War Russia, in order talk about the American cause.
“I came to this country because I love this country, and have admiration for it,” he said.
Kooros said he was hurt by the recent Trade Center attack.
“It is insanity and an attack on humanity. It has caused tremendous devastation,” he said.
However, Koroos said the media is biased and too focused on retaliation.
“If you look at NBC and listen to National Public Radio, they talk nothing but retaliation. In addition to retaliation, we need to know why this has happened. It is necessary to go after the cause, not the effect,” he said.
Koroos said that the attacks are not related to religion or regionalism.
“The actions of these terrorists had nothing to do with religion at all. It has nothing to do with regionalism or people in the Middle East whatsoever. At least from what we’ve seen in the news media, all of the countries in the Middle East, with a few possible exceptions, have stood besides America against this terror,” Koroos said.
Koroos said that another misconception many have is that people from Middle East and other foreign countries are anti-democratic.
“I think that there is a misconception that people around the world are against democracy. We have to differentiate between a small minority of insane people and the vast majority who look up to America’s ethical standards,” he said.
“Where I come from there is an expression that says `when the fire starts, it burns both the dry as well as the fresh leaves’. Unfortunately, when there is anger on the part of the masses, it effects the innocent party as well as the guilty party,” Koroos said.
Another member of the faculty who is a Persian from Iran is Dr. Badiollah Asrabadi, a mathematics professor. Asrabadi said prejudice is a result of unfamiliarity of other cultures.
“The scapegoating is always there, and it is understandable. It is some form of discrimination, but we have to find the reason for it. Those people are not very at ease with other cultures, and they want to find a reason to say why we should not be here,” Asrabadi said.
“Otherwise, any adult understands that it’s not a culture, it’s not the color of skin. There is no point in saying that every Arab is bad, or that any Muslim is bad. There are so many Arab people in this country that are patriotic, that are hard working; they have never done anything illegal or wrong,” he said.
In Asrabadi’s experience, all cultures and societies have the same virtues and evils.
“I have been to many different countries, and people are the same all over the world. Every society, every community has some bad apples. They get brainwashed, they become fanatics, they lose their mind,” he said
Marylin Gonzalez, assistant director in International Student affairs, said Nicholls has a friendly student body, and that there are no reports of discrimination.
“We hope people will keep an open mind and get to know individual students. With any student of non-American descent, there is a potential for possible discrimination. They can always stop here, and we can direct them and address any concerns,” Gonzalez said.
