JEDDAH, 16 September — The terrorist attacks in the United States have horrified us all. People in many nations have lost loved ones. Others have been traumatized by the tragic scenes and the accounts of the events carried in the international media. Here in the Middle East our grief is compounded because the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is asserting that Arab Muslims are responsible for the attacks.
Since last Tuesday, I have spoken with hundreds of people about the tragedies. Many used the Internet to reach out to family and friends through e-mail, voice over IP and chat. Internet users in the Kingdom have voiced frustration with delays in accessing e-mail especially on Microsoft’s Hotmail and Yahoo! Microsoft Arabia has been in communication with the Hotmail managers in the United States. They report that the slowness in Hotmail response time for some users is because “traffic volumes are exceptionally high at Hotmail and MSNBC.”
There are additional problems in cyberspace. US authorities have served warrants on US-based Internet service providers (ISPs). They have been requested to turn over the e-mail and Internet logs of individuals who are thought to have any connections with the alleged terrorists. Many Arab and Muslim activists fear that they will be harassed simply because they expressed views that some would consider radical. I have been asked what are the possibilities that their old mails will be read?
The bottom line is that what US authorities will be able to access depends on the policies of the individual ISPs. Most likely all ISPs will be able to turn over records containing the “From,” “To,” “Subject,” and IP addresses of the mails. If the mail was on a server 10 minutes or less it might not have been saved by the ISP. Otherwise, many ISPs keep rolling backups, usually not for periods longer than six months. Some ISPs save everything. I will repeat what I have stated for the past two years: E-mail is not the most secure method of exchanging information.
Cyberspace is now an extremely hostile place for Arabs and Muslims. Chatrooms are filled with anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric. Hate e-mails are the newest form of abuse. I urge Internet users to actively work to reverse these trends. The majority of e-mail sites have policies that do not permit the sending of abusive mail. If you receive an abusive mail, go to the site from where the mail originated and lodge a complaint through the contact address available there. Also report the matter to your ISP. If you see anti-Muslim or anti-Arab postings on message boards you should complain immediately to the hosting site. If you must participate in chatrooms where Arabs or Muslims are being abused, remember that your comments should come from your head not from your heart. Be polite, make your point but don’t be surprised if the abuse continues.
Many foreign businessmen are trapped in the US due to the problems with air transport. For nearly a year I have been pushing for the development of video conferencing facilities in the Kingdom. International travel will now be much more difficult for Arabs and Muslims not only because of new security procedures but also because of the irrational Islamophobic hysteria that Muslims will encounter everywhere in the West. It is urgent that the Kingdom upgrade its telecommunications infrastructure faster so that readily available technologies can be used to facilitate businessmen locally.
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the US, there are many web resources that you can use to stay informed, lend a hand, vent your grief, and learn to cope. Using these resources can help to alleviate the sense of hopelessness and depression that are natural consequences of such shocking events.
To keep up with the investigations go directly to the source at fbi.gov. At the site are posted the list of suspects and other information concerning the progress of the US government’s probe. For information specifically related to the situation in New York City, see the official New York City website. Its address is a bit long: home.nyc.gov/portal/index.jsp?pageID=nyc_home. The site contains information on hospital patients, business services and transportation. If you are looking for information on someone who might have been in New York or Washington D.C. at the time of the attack a wonderful resource has been developed at safe.millennium.berkely.edu. The site contains links to numerous other sites. Some are being used by specific nationalities like Greeks or Germans. Other sites are registering individuals by professions, such as those in the finance industry.
Numerous memorial sites are being built. At americasurvives.org visitors can see how they can help with relief efforts. They can read memorials and stories and post messages of encouragement and support. Another good memorial site is americanmemorials.com/NationalTragedy.htm.
Many people are dealing with mental health issues related to the attacks. Get information and advice from the National Mental Health Association at nmha.org. Arabs and Muslims need information and support specific to their communities. Two organizations working to fill those needs are the Council on American-Islamic Relations, cair-net.org, and the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, adc.org.
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