|
As the
anti-Muslim, anti-Arab fervor has escalated in the United States,
individually
targeted terrorism is intensified. One recent case profiled by the
Council on American-
Islamic Relations, (CAIR), has received some notoriety.
Enas Sarsour, a 17 year old Muslim high school student was
terrorized into
removing her head scarf, known as hijab, in a public strip search.
Sarsour, after passing
the required security checkpoints at the Baltimore/Washington
International Airport, was
harassed by a guard shouting, “Hey you need to take that off,”. Ms.
Sarsour defended
herself by responding, “Why do I have to take off my head cover?”,
and was immediately
surrounded by military personnel in camouflage uniforms with combat
rifles. Terrified, she
removed her headscarf without further thought, violating her
concession to God.
CAIR, the Washington based Islamic advocacy group, requested an
apology on
behalf of Ms. Sarsour for the December 18th, 2001 incident from
Northwest and Delta
Airlines. After investigation, Delta President Frederick W. Reid
issued a formal apology
stating, “We regret and apologize for the embarrassment and
discomfort you experienced.
Be assured that we take this matter very seriously”. Mr. Reid later
telephoned Ms. Sarsour
to apologize personally. CAIR is presently dealing with 12 cases in
which Muslim women
have been forced to remove their headscarves and more than 170 cases
of racial profiling
since September 11th. The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, has
noted that these
acts of discrimination have taken place predominantly in the travel
industry, especially
towards passengers on commercial airlines or in the airports
themselves.
|
