Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard
Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with Chris Cook- CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.
The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from
the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried
public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for
disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the
harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.
US Arabs and Muslims: The Search for Common Identity
by Ramzy Baroud As the security check line began moving slowly at Washington Dulles airport, one passenger standing a few steps ahead of me appeared particularly uneasy. His dark skin, long beard, trimmed moustache, prayer spot centered on his forehead, and overall demeanor quickly gave away his identity, though he had obviously labored little to hide it.
He was a Muslim and a religious one at that. Predictably, a few minutes later he was singled out and his clothes spread across a separate station reserved for those "randomly" selected for extra security check.
In the current climate, those who are not singled out for the
humiliation of extra checking are still often daunted by their names —
any Arabic or Muslim sounding name —, birthplace — any Arab or Muslim
country —, suspicious travel destinations — all Arab and Muslim
countries, although some are more "suspicious" than others —, or past
records — which can include anything from conventional crimes to a
single antiwar comment made to a local newspaper.
Airport authorities
across the US would vehemently deny any racial discrimination, but
indeed such selective screening and harassment is real. Many civil
rights organizations and human rights groups have worked tirelessly to
verify this, but all it really takes is one candid conversation with
any Muslim or Arab American. Each person seems to have a personal
record of injurious stories, if not at a port of entry, then at some
other public place. Whenever I run into an Arab or a Muslim during my
frequent travels, the subject often serves as an icebreaker.
Obviously
such ill treatment is neither deserved nor justified, although I find
it interesting that Americans continue to be treated with grandeur
status wherever they travel in an Arab or Muslim country. In some Gulf
countries, US soldiers also freely roam the streets during their short
breaks from Iraq, without a word of objection from the hapless locals.
At
the same time, decent American Muslim intellectuals, students, and all
sorts of law-abiding citizens are losing their posts, fleeing their
country, and, at best, being made to endure the suspicious eyes of
fellow travelers and security personnel wherever they go. If one
compares the collective harm inflicted by individual Muslims on the US
and the latter government's actions against Muslim nations, the
contrast seems all the more astonishing.
Although the flow of
Arab and Muslim immigrants to the US spans decades, it has never been
accompanied by a corresponding "sense of community," one that developed
evenly along racial, religious, or geopolitical lines. The nature of
immigration to the US was often political — for example, allowing tens
of thousands of Iraqi Shiites access to and residence in the US after
the 1990-1991 Gulf war, while almost completely blocking the
immigration of displaced Iraqis after the 2003 invasion of Iraq —,
economic — the oil boom of the 1970's saw a huge influx of Arab
students from the Gulf, now able to afford studying and living in the
US —, or a combination of the two.
In their 1986 study, scholars
McMillan and Chavis identify four elements of "sense of community":
membership, integration and fulfillment of needs, influence, and shared
emotional connection. In the case of Muslim and Arab communities in the
US, it is nearly impossible to apply these four points in any
meaningful sense. Even religion cannot in this case serve as a unifying
force.
The main differences are not just between Shiite and
Sunni Islam, but also along national lines; in the US, a Sunni of
Moroccan background can hardly relate to a fellow Sunni from Cambodia.
Mosques are divided by ethnicities — for example, a Libyan mosque —
rather than by denomination only, as is the case with most Christian
churches in US cities. Identity issues are also affected by the fact
that not all Arabs are Muslims. Christian Arabs were in fact some of
the earliest Arab immigrants to the US, and their mark on American
culture is unquestionable. However, many Christians still often find
themselves lumped as Muslims.
While some might prefer to opt for
assimilation in these hard times, others cluster in their own clubs and
small societies to preserve whatever they can of their cultural
heritage.
But "assimilation" is now becoming a tool for survival
for Arabs and Muslims. Many women date the removal of their headscarves
to September 11, 2001, the same day that many men quietly shaved or
significantly trimmed their beards. Even Arabic-sounding names have
begun to find an American equivalent, such as Ghassan turning into Gus,
or Sami into Sam.
What is truly dangerous in these phenomena is
the development of a collective sense of escapism and detachment, as
opposed to community. Many are starting to redefine the way in which
they exhibit their background, for example, Muslims meeting on
religious occasions only, or Arab gatherings based around the redundant
themes of humus, belly dancing and Salma Hayek.
No other
minority groups in the US are in as urgent a need for collective action
as Arabs and Muslims, yet many remain incessantly inactive. While this
can be explained or even justified by the very real fear of
retaliation, the truth is that the post-9/11 backlash against US
Muslims and Arabs can hardly compare with the collective punishment
endured by the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Millions of Arab and
American Muslims can take advantage of their privileged status to reach
out to and educate the public, to get involved in city, state, and
national politics, to stop trying to prove their patriotism by
distancing themselves from the "extremists" back home. Instead, Arab
and American Muslims must develop a greater sense of pride in their
identities, backgrounds and contributions to society — if not as Arabs
or Muslims, at least as decent Americans, members of a democratic
society, and worthy of respect.
Ramzy Baroud is a
Palestinian-American author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His
work has been published in numerous newspapers and journals worldwide.
His latest book is The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a
People's Struggle (Pluto Press, London). Read more about Baroud at his
website ramzybaroud.net
common ground written by a guest,
September 04, 2007
........we,the common citizen in the u.s.a.,have everything in common with the common citizen in iraq..(or any other country). and nothing in common with the brutal elite,that are ruling this world,those self-agrandized pharoahs of chaos and death... (Z.)
Writings 
As the security check line began moving slowly at Washington Dulles airport, one passenger standing a few steps ahead of me appeared particularly uneasy. His dark skin, long beard, trimmed moustache, prayer spot centered on his forehead, and overall demeanor quickly gave away his identity, though he had obviously labored little to hide it. 
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