Presentation Handout

Arab and Muslim American Life Before 9/11

“Identities are formed not only through imagining shared characteristics with other members of a group, but also through the fabrication of an 'other.” (Jamal & Naber 143)

• A news article in 1929 describes the murder of a Palestinian as “white, male.” Arabs have earned an honorary whiteness in the community, especially in response to the current marginalized “black race”. They are essentially invisible.

“Before 9/11, Arabs had predominantly been represented variously as villains, oppressed veiled women, exotic belly dancers, rich sheiks with harems, and most remarkably as terrorists.” (Jamal & Naber 205)

• Surprisingly, not much has changed. However, there has been a huge wave of sympathetic portrayal in communities to help Arabs “re-humanize” their image in the media. This will later create an entire genre of author.

"As being neither white nor non-white, Arabs accrue neither the benefits of whiteness nor the protection of minority affirmative action." (69 Cainkar)

“first, please god, let it be a mistake, the pilot's heart failed, the
plane's engine died.
then please god, let it be a nightmare, wake me now.
please god, after the second plane, please, don't let it be anyone
who looks like my brothers.” (Hammad)

Immediate Measures in Government Policy Directly After 9/11

“25 of the 37 known government security initiatives implemented between September 12, 2001 and mid-2003 either explicitly or implicitly targeted US Arabs and Muslims.” (53 Jamal & Naber)

• wiretapping, mass arrests (1,200), indefinite detention, FBI interviews, property seizure
• closed hearings, eavesdropping on client-attorney conversations, secret evidence
• deportation of Arabs cleared of terrorist connection but with minor visa violations (600)
• registration of Arabs, both US citizen and non-citizen (83,000)
• over 100,000 Arab and Muslim Americans directly affected by these measures, which were passed without public discussion or debate

Concerning the deportation of Arab Americans for visa violations:

“Let the terrorists among us be warned: if you overstay your visa – even by one day – we will arrest you. If you violate a local law, you will be put in jail and and kept in custody as long as possible. We will use every available statute. We will seek every prosecutorial advantage. We will use all our weapons within the law under the constitution to protect life and enhance security for America … Some will ask whether a civilized nation – a nation of law and not of men – can use the law to defend itself from barbarians and remain civilized. Our answer, unequivocally, is “yes”. Yes, we will defend civilization.

-Attorney General John Ashcroft (2001b)” (Cainkar 114)

Creating the Arab and Muslim “Other”

“Post-September 11 federal government and media discourses have created an arbitrary “potential terrorist” subject - intrinsically connected to 'Islamic fundamentalism' and 'terrorism'.” (Jamal & Naber 278)

• 1,600% increase in hate crimes against Arab and Muslim Americans in the year immediately following 9/11
• On September 15, 2001, Balbir Singh Sodhi was fatally shot by a man who said he wished to, “kill the ragheads responsible for September 11^th.” (Jamal & Naber 289) Sodhi wore a turban and a beard because he was Sikh, a religion originating in the Punjabi region of India.

“more than ever, i believe there is no difference.
the most privileged nation, most americans do not know the difference
between indians, afghanis, syrians, muslims, sikhs, hindus.
more than ever, there is no difference.” (Hammad)

“After Timothy McVeigh, nobody said a man with blond hair and blue eyes is a danger to society.” (Cainkar 262)

“we did not vilify all white men when mcveigh bombed oklahoma.
america did not give out his family's addresses or where he went to
church. or blame the bible or pat robertson.”

“Like the Japanese after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Arab and Muslim Americans were effectively de-Americanised after 9/11, positioned as foreignors and then denuded their civil rights.” (232)

Works Cited

Cainkar, Louise A. Homeland Insecurity: The Arab American and Muslim American

Experience After 9/11. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2009

Hammad, Suheir. “First Writing Since.” Motion Magazine. November 7, 2011. Online publication.

Jamal, Amaney and Nadine Naber. Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11/. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2008