US: Despite their diversity, many Arab-Americans share the view that they have been unreasonably targeted since 9/11, writes Julie Sell in Chicago
Attorney General John Ashcroft launched a national tour this week to defend the USA Patriot Act, the centrepiece of a Bush administration policy that looks increasingly controversial ahead of the 2004 election campaign. Mr Ashcroft portrays the act, which passed quickly in Congress after the attacks of September 2001, as a bulwark against terrorists. But many others, including a majority of Arab-Americans, see it as a dangerous encroachment on civil liberties.
Their opposition represents a potential problem for Republicans. Back in the 2000 election, when Mr Bush nipped Al Gore in a controversial, whisker-close finish, Mr Bush did significantly better among Arab-Americans than he did among the public at large, outpolling his Democratic opponent 45 per cent to 38 per cent. After the 9/11 attacks, the President received resounding support from Arab-Americans, who largely recoiled in horror with the rest of the US.
But in a Zogby International poll released last month, only 33 per cent of Arab-Americans said they supported the President. Key reasons for the change include Mr Bush's perceived lack of attention to the Middle East peace process, and a clampdown on civil liberties. Arab-Americans and other Muslims (the majority of Muslims in the US are black and Asian) feel they have been unfairly targeted by wiretaps, surveillance, arrests and deportations since the Patriot Act was passed. Thousands of Arab-Americans and non-Arab Muslims have been required to appear for special registration, complete with fingerprinting. Scores have been deported for immigration violations, and aircraft have been chartered to send them on their way.
Opponents of such measures include the American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing to have parts of the Patriot Act declared unconstitutional; numerous communities that have passed resolutions opposing the law; and librarians who complain about FBI snooping into peoples' book selections. Congress voted in July to repeal part of the law which allows delaying notice when search warrants are issued.
Within the Arab-American community, leaders say the result of shared anxiety and anger about government actions is a growing sense of cultural identity; this among a group that had little of it in the past. The US census listed 1.3 million Arab-Americans in 2000, which is about double the figure in 1980. But Zogby International, the firm that conducted last month's poll, says the number is more than three times higher (its count includes more new immigrants and descendants of immigrants several generations back).
About 70 per cent of Arab-Americans are Christian. The largest number - 47 per cent, Zogby estimates - are of Lebanese ancestry, followed by Syrians (15 per cent), Egyptians (9 per cent), Palestinians (6 per cent), Iraqis (3 per cent) and Jordanians (2 per cent).
A visit to the Detroit suburb of Livonia, Michigan, the home of St Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church, reveals how many of them lead comfortable middle-class lives. The large and prosperous Arab-Christian parish was founded three decades ago. There are many professionals among them. Spencer Abraham, an Arab-American who serves as Mr Bush's Energy Secretary, worships at the church when he is visiting his home state.
But the nearby town of Dearborn, home to a large and concentrated Arab population, reveals how the group's make-up is changing. The town has eight mosques, another huge one is under construction, immigrant women wear headscarves, and many shops have signs in Arabic. This community is more predominantly Muslim than earlier arrivals. In 1970 only 15 per cent of immigrants to the US from the Middle East were Muslim. By 2000, that figure had risen to 73 per cent.
Despite their diversity, many Arab-Americans share the view that they have been unreasonably targeted by the government since September 2001. The Patriot Act has been a leading source of resentment, but there have been other concerns as well. In an effort dubbed Operation Liberty Shield, FBI agents conducted thousands of "voluntary" interviews with Iraqi-Americans in their homes and workplaces during the fighting in Iraq last spring. They sought information on topics ranging from Iraqi geography to political connections and ties to Saddam Hussein's regime.
Even Arab students accepted at American universities - including some of the best and brightest in their home countries - have felt the sting. Student visa rejections, particularly for applicants from Arab and Muslim countries, have risen sharply in the past two years. Applications are down. "A lot of students don't want to come here to study any more", says Laila al-Qatami of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee.
The US government claims to have caught a number of terrorist supporters through its crackdown, but evidence of direct links is not always clear. This week a federal judge in Chicago ordered an 11-year prison term for the former head of an Islamic charity based near the city after he pleaded guilty to diverting $315,000 in relief money meant for widows and orphans to Islamic fighters in Bosnia and Chechnya. Yet despite strong interest in the case by federal authorities (including Mr Ashcroft), prosecutors failed to convince the judge of their charges that Enaam Arnaout, former head of Benevolence International, had provided material support to al-Qaeda. Mr Arnaout, a native of Syria, spent 15 months in solitary confinement before his sentencing. He vowed to appeal.
For most Arab-Americans, of course, the sense of being scrutinised more closely at work and on the street is harder to prove. Some newer arrivals have found the stress is too much to bear. Psychologists who treat Arab immigrants have seen cases of severe regression and depression among their patients since September 2001. One young Arab mother barricaded herself and her children in the basement for several weeks after the attacks because she feared retribution on the streets.
So far attempts by Bush administration officials, including the President himself, to reach out to the Arab community are seen as falling short. "A visit to the Iraqi mosque in Dearborn does not constitute a visit to the Arab community of Michigan", one leader sniffed.
Ms Al-Qatami said she sees a few bright spots amid the general gloom. "There have been some great steps", she said. "The FBI has an Arab-American advisory board and is trying to communicate more with the community."
For a growing number of Arab-Americans, education and political empowerment are seen as the best course for influencing their future. The Arab American Institute (AAI) has held an ongoing series of meetings and civic education workshops across the country in places ranging from New York to Iowa. The goal is to bring the community together with state and local officials, discuss their concerns, and teach them about their rights. In some cases, the FBI even recruits for Arab-American agents.
But the group's ambition extends beyond education. The AAI plans to endorse candidates next year in targeted congressional races, as well as the presidential election. It appears the politicians are taking notice. Several Democratic presidential candidates have already committed to attending the AAI's leadership conference in October.
"We've come a long way," says James Zogby, the AAI's president. "In the 1980s Michael Dukakis rejected our endorsement, and before that Walter Mondale returned our money." It remains to be seen what Mr Ashcroft does to win over the community he has thus far antagonised.