The crash yesterday of another plane out of New York inevitably brings memories flooding back of the horrific events of Sept. 11. But emotions must not rule people’s minds at this time when the consequences of Sept. 11 are very much with us — not just in Afghanistan, but elsewhere.
The murder in Canada of two young Muslim students — a brother and sister — whose parents live in Jeddah, has brought home to Saudi Arabia the dangerous situation in which Muslims in non-Muslim countries find themselves following the terrible events of Sept. 11. Across the West, attacks on Muslims or people thought to be Muslim continue unabated. In the US alone there have been four murders clearly linked to a racist backlash; five possible others are still being investigated. Almost as frightening are the hate-filled looks on the sidewalk because someone wears clothing that marks them out as different, the hostility of the media and the hate mail by the ton. Even this paper has been inundated with hate e-mail.
It would be dangerous speculation to assume that these two latest slayings were race-hate crimes. It is dangerous because with passions inflamed, such conclusions could so easily lead to counter reprisals, in Canada or elsewhere, with other innocent people suffering. That way leads to an endless cycle of viciousness, hatred and bloodshed — so horribly evidenced in the massacre of Christians at prayer in a Pakistani church ten days ago, an act wholly contrary to Islamic teaching.
The murders must be left to the Canadian police. If they think that this was a racist act, they will say so.
But that is not going to stop the fear. More than 300 Saudi students have cut short their university studies in the US because of the hate campaign there. The number may be a fraction of the 5,500 Saudi students in the US, but it is 300 too many. And that is just the Saudi students. There are thousands of students from other Muslim countries in North America; tens of thousands in Europe. Many feel intimidated and frightened. The onus has to be on the authorities, in the US and elsewhere, to stop the poison. Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders. Those who have quit the US and elsewhere are not going to forget this treatment. The seeds of a wave of a future anti-American sentiment is being laid, and it could last for a generation or more.
In fairness, there have been some moves. In the US, the authorities have asked radio stations not to broadcast views that could incite anti-Muslim violence; protection has been given to mosques and Islamic institutions. But that is not enough. In the UK, a new law is being proposed to make religious hate a crime alongside race hate. The US should at least think of doing the same.
The last thing that is needed, however, is the suggestion from one US congressman to freeze Saudi assets in the US. It is lunacy. Those Saudis with assets frozen would become bitterly anti-American while other nationalities, concluding that there is no security there and worrying that they might be next, would spearhead a massive flight of foreign investment from the US. It probably will not happen. Even so the mere suggestion is bound to frighten many Saudis and result in them moving investments out of the US. That is hardly good news for a US economy in recession.
