"The referral to the arrest campaigns, closures of Muslim charities and raids on Muslim organizations' offices as a 'Witch Hunt', is a term that Arabs and Muslims are now often compelled to use. Many Muslim circles openly narrate the fate of their communities while remembering the days of the Japanese detention camps during WWII, or the McCarthyism era .."

By RAMZY BAROUD

A mixture of fear and dismay gripped many members of the American Arab and Muslim communities when the news of the arrest of Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi was confirmed.

Al-Amoudi is not just an “activist”. He is a community leader, and a vibrant one. One can argue that he manifested a new breed of American Muslim leaders, a breed that adheres to the causes that concern most of the 8 million Muslims in the United States, but chooses political and social integration rather than isolationism or confrontation to ease the mounting pressure faced by Muslims.

To the surprise of many who knew and conversed with al-Amoudi, a US citizen of Yemeni heritage, he was detained at a Virginia airport on September 29, 2003. The news has also indicated that al-Amoudi’s house and office have been raided. At one point, the man, who was a founding member of the American Islamic Council, had served as a goodwill ambassador to Muslim countries under President Bill Clinton’s administration, says the Muslim American Society in a press release on the day of the arrest, titled: “Government ‘Witch Hunt’ Continues with Arrest of Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi.”

The referral to the arrest campaigns, closures of Muslim charities and raids on Muslim organizations’ offices as a ‘Witch Hunt’, is a term that Arabs and Muslims in the United States are now often compelled to use. Many Muslim circles now openly narrate the fate of their communities in the US while remembering the days of the Japanese detention camps during WWII, or the McCarthyism era in following years.

The mistreatment of Arabs and Muslims in America however, is hardly an unconfirmed reality, netted out of mistrust in the US government and its internal and foreign policies toward Muslims. In addition to numerous complaints stated by human and civil rights groups in the United States and elsewhere, the US Department of Justice Inspector General also added a voice to the rest. The inspector general’s report, recently published, cited numerous abuses targeting Muslims, varying from unlawful imprisonment to abuse while in detention. According to the report, 75 percent of what the government has classified as “terrorism” had little to do with terrorism.

While it has been the norm to rationalize such abuses on the grounds that the terrorism attacks of September 11, 2001 were the extreme circumstance that compels an extreme measure, many members of the American Muslim community believe that the measure had in fact surpassed the circumstance. Indeed, they say that such an injustice goes back to 1996 with the passing of the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.

Ironically, the act was in response to the 1995 Oklahoma City terrorism bombing. Scores of Muslims, many well-known community leaders, educators and intellectuals were tried, imprisoned or deported based on the notorious secret evidence law. Neither the accused, nor their lawyers were allowed to have charges disclosed to them, while the federal prosecutors had the right to detain, try, deport or hold ‘suspects’ indefinitely. A judge once called the law “obnoxious”, another “poisonous”, reported the Chicago Tribune. The majority of U.S. Muslims voted for President George Bush for his open criticism of secret evidence. In fact, some Congress members successfully herded significant support for a bill that, if passed, would have repelled secret evidence for good. Due process, some lawmakers said, is the essence of the American judicial system.

But those who lobbied for secret evidence were quick to capitalize on the tragedy of September 11, quickly drafting and pushing for a new law, more notorious indeed, that of the US PATRIOT ACT. Unlike, the 1996 anti-terrorism laws, the unconstitutionality of the PATRIOT ACT was more visible and more vigorously opposed by rights groups in the United States. For one, the new law didn’t only victimize Muslim Americans, whose plight has often been either ignored or cleverly justified, but it holds the potential of cracking down on any dissent or opposition.

The federal government would have faced a tremendous task justifying its detention of Muslims without the required due process of the Constitution, if Muslim rights in the United States were on equal footing with other groups and communities. Inherit racism that has governed the relationship between Muslims and the West is largely to blame. But equally worth pondering is the Muslim community’s lack of coherence and failure to integrate into the society in which they live. Al-Amoudi was one of those who labored to foster mutual understanding between his smaller community of Arabs and Muslim in the US and the American society as a whole. Rather than supporting his quest of mutual understanding, al-Amoudi was imprisoned.

I met the well dressed, soft-spoken and optimistic al-Amoudi is a recent conference in Virginia. I was invited to speak and he, so competently helped put the conference together. Hundreds of Muslim community leaders were brought to discuss the state of affairs of American Muslims, discuss ways that would help them get engaged in the political process, vote, express themselves, integrate. Representatives from the government and the media were also invited. Al-Amoudi’s words reflected his sense of responsibility and commitment toward sheltering his community from the injustices of these hard times. Little did we know that he too would fall victim.

The alarming trend of mistreatment of Muslims in America has taken another sharp turn, with the arrest of a man known for his sensible stances, playing the role of the responsible leader in lean times. His arrest is an alarming sign to an already bitter community, which indicates that no one is safe anymore. And when ambassadors of goodwill themselves fall victim, one can hardy help but agree. It is surely a ‘Witch Hunt’.


About the Author: Ramzy Baroud is a Palestinian-American journalist and editor-in-chief of The Palestine Chronicle online newspaper. He is the editor of the anthology: "Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion."