May/June 1996, pgs. 62-68

Muslim-American Activism

CAIR Documents U.S. Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes

With police and “terrorism experts” quick to blame Islamic extremists, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the weeks that followed proved to be one of the low points in the American Muslim experience. For several days after the bombing, Muslims were accused of bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and an Arab-American was detained as a suspect in the case. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has shown that these false accusations not only tarnished perceptions of Muslims in America, they also led to verbal and violent attacks. The episode prompted CAIR to begin making a detailed account of anti-Muslim hate crimes in America. The findings were released April 19, 1996, exactly one year after the Oklahoma City bombing.

The report, entitled The Price of Ignorance, documents 300 cases of anti-Muslim incidents in the year following the bombing. According to CAIR, there were 39 cases of rights violations, 169 incidents of verbal abuse, 59 threats of violence and 29 violent attacks on Muslims. All these incidents are classified as “hate crimes” because they were committed solely because the victim was Muslim.

“The most alarming trend in these numbers is that, while verbal abuse and threats of violence have gone down since the bombing, the actual incidents of violence have increased,” said Mohamed Nimer, a CAIR researcher and the report’s author. He and CAIR believe the root cause of all these offenses against Muslims is a general ignorance of Muslims, their religion and their culture.

“Whether it’s in the schools or the work place, people lack the knowledge of what is required of them to accommodate Muslim culture,” Nimer added.

A seeming example of this ignorance occurred April 8, when a Northern Virginia women was told she could not be hired because she wore her hijab head scarf. At a press conference to discuss the incident, Hanem Zahwy said she interviewed for a part-time desk clerk position at the Quality Inn Governor in Falls Church, VA. She was not offered the job during the interview, but the manager later called her and said she could report to work the next morning, but without the “head part.”

“I told him that I am a Muslim and every Muslim woman has to cover her hair,” Zahwy said. “This is part of me and this is what I believe.”

Zahwy, a mother of two from Egypt, said she was willing to change her head scarf to a color that matched the uniform, but it was clear the manager didn’t want the scarf on at all.

The hotel owner said the scarf would violate the “hotel’s policy on employee uniforms,” but CAIR found that federal laws prohibit such policies if they do not accommodate religious practices. With this information, the woman filed a law suit against the Quality Inn Governor.

CAIR held a protest and press conference in front of the hotel April 15. This and subsequent public pressure forced the hotel owner to settle the case out of court. CAIR announced April 19 that the Quality Inn Governor agreed to issue a formal apology to Zahwy and hire her for the part-time job. It also agreed to provide back pay from the time she was supposed to be hired and to pay all her legal fees from the case.

Nimer pointed out, however, that not all discrimination cases turn out so well. According to his findings, 40 percent of all Muslim victims of hate crimes never take action against the offenders. He said this inaction is usually due to a lack of legal and financial resources. There is also a lack of organized groups that can advise Muslims on their legal and political rights. “Muslim-Americans have maintained a low profile in this country,” Nimer said, “but they are now emerging with the increased recognition and growth of Islam in America.”

He added that, especially in this time of increased visibility, Muslim Americans must work to educate and reach out to other segments of American society.

“Anti-Muslim sentiment seems to thrive on the American public’s general ignorance of Islam and the American Muslim experience,” Nimer added.

—Geoff Lumetta