Arab-Americans fear retaliation; stereotypes

Not all casualties of war are on the battlefield. Friendly fire can extend to those at home. When die President Clinton ordered strikes on suspected terrorist sites in Sudan and Afghanistan last Thursday, some ArabAmericans worried about the reverberations. There is a fear that the media will portray all Arabs or all Muslims in a negative light because of the events overseas. "Each religion has crazy people. (The media) have to differentiate between the mainstream and the fringe. There is a lack of knowledge and a lack of information (about the Arabic culture)," said Hussam Ayloush, regional director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "A lot of the stereotypes are based on ignorance and also a reluctance on the part of Muslims to explain their culture. Islam is Ayloush said many other ethnic groups went through similar periods of adjustment with mainstream culture. "Islam is still new to America. The media don't know how to deal with it. Is it political, religious, they aren't sure," Ayloush said. The first mistake people often make is in assuming that all Arabs are Muslims or that all Muslims are Arabs, he said l Muslims are followers of Islam. Arab refers to a person from the countries on the Arabian peninsula or north Africa. Though many Arabs are Muslim; millions of Arabs are Christians. Bassam Nezam, marketing director for the weekly Al Watan an Arabic language newspaper that covers Orange County, fears that school children will feel ostricized because of their Arab heritage even though they are U If (children) are made to feel like terrorists, they will be confused.... They are very American"(The bombings) will be difficult for our children to talk about in school. If they are made to feel like terrorists, they will be confused. This is their country; they are very Americanized. It will make them feel like something is wrong with them,'.' he said. Hende Abufarie, mother of five, will tell her children that the terrorists are "sick people." She believes these incidents do have a negative impact on the way Americans view Arabs. She also fears that U.S. retaliation might cause or death who have nothing to do e terrorists. "Nobody should kill innocent people," she said. Hani Elhaj, owner of the Sultan Market on Brookhurst Street, hopes die media will realize that the Arabs in this country love America and are happy to be here whatever their feelings about American foriegn policy. "Some approve, some disaprove; we don't want to see any killed. We are peace loving (The Arab community) s' a lot to show and give to the city of Anaheim," said Elhaj. "In the U.S., everybody comes from somewhere else."