US Muslims: Backlash Fear Builds Each 9/11

[Kadie]

US Muslims: Backlash Fear Builds Each 9/11
Many Still Struggle Through Anniversary Of Attacks
RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer

POSTED: 11:48 am PDT September 10, 2009
UPDATED: 12:42 pm PDT September 10, 2009

NEW YORK -- There is the dread of leaving the house that morning. People might stare, or worse, yell insults.

Prayers are more intense, visits with family longer. Mosques become a refuge.

Eight years after 9/11, many U.S. Muslims still struggle through the anniversary of the attacks. Yes, the sting has lessened. For the younger generation of Muslims, the tragedy can even seem like a distant memory. "Time marches on," said Souha Azmeh Al-Samkari, a 22-year-old student at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

Yet, many American Muslims say Sept. 11 will never be routine, no matter how many anniversaries have passed.

"I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach every year," said Nancy Rokayak, 45, of Charlotte, N.C., who covers her hair in public. "I feel on 9/11 others look at me and blame me for the events that took place."

snip...
A poll released this week by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that 38 percent of Americans believe Islam is more likely than other faiths to encourage violence. That is down from 45 percent two years earlier.

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[DesertFlower]

1. very sad. nt

[Betty Karlson]

2. A quote from the article:

"Not all mosques will commemorate the day. A significant number of U.S. Muslims contend that no one of their faith could have perpetrated the hijackings. They resist suggestions that they should be monitoring their own communities for extremism."

How is a dispute over whether Bin-Laden shares your faith an excuse for NOT participating in the commemoration?

Germans, over sixty years after WW II, may dread May commemorations, but they still make an effort to participate wherever they are invited. Why do these mosques have to deliberately segregate from the rest of America when the event is remembered that united an entire nation through grief?

Sad. Just sad.

[Orangeone]

3. Ugh it reminds me of Pearl Harbor day

when i was a child (I'm Japanese-America,) kids would say: "you bombed Pearl Harbor!"