The Dual Tragedy Of Arab Americans

The images of the 9/11 attacks are still fresh and vivid in the minds of Americans who were alive to witness that tragic day. As a result of these attacks, the United States has undergone a transformation socially and politically as it seeks a remedy to the threat of Islamic terror. The years following the events were not great for the United States and for the West countries either. Even though the attacks almost 16 years ago, witnesses still remember it, like if were yesterday. The attacks also changed stereotypes for Muslims in general, which Al Qaeda was responsible.

The Islamic community was not responsible for 9/11 and therefore shouldn’t be blamed or receive discrimination for it. Although Americans have gotten away with it so far, they don’t understand their strength or the effects of their hate. We, as a people, need to make right our wrongs and work together to make the Islamic community feel accepted

September 11, 2001 is the most significant event of our generation. On this day two planes struck the North and South World Trade Center towers in New York City. One plane struck the Pentagon and another crashed in Pennsylvania on its way to The White House. After the attacks, which took the lives of 2,830 people, the American population was distraught. Instantly a sense of nationalism, in specific ethnic nationalism, was increased. The percentage of Muslim population in America is only 1.71% and Muslims are physically distinct from the average American, so much of this nationalism was directed against this small percentage (Ogan 2013). The attackers on September 11 all shared the Muslim ethnicity, consequently the American government, media,

The aftermath of the September 11 attacks created a dichotomy between the American people and people of Arabic heritage, specifically the Muslims and those who “appear Arab”. How do the aftermaths of these tragedy portray and place a great emphasis on a divide between the “us” and the “them”? My paper will examine the aftermath of the tragics events that occurred in the September 11 Attacks, through the works of scholars and authors to investigate the portrayal and emphasis on the “us” and “them” divide that sprouted from the catastrophe. Douglas Kellner, a theorist in the field of critical media culture, explains that the way the media portrays victims of tragedies is them as weak and the culprits as violent, citing how the media portrayed the Americans as “vulnerable and open” and the terrorists as “violent and capable of causing great harm” (Kellner, 2004).

September 11, 2001. This day led to the deportation and incarceration of thousands of Muslims and Arabs, based almost fully on their immigration status and national origin. Moustafa Bayoumi, the author of the novel “This Muslim American Life” aims to consider how culture, politics, and the law all reinforce the idea of the dangers of being Muslim or Arab and how together they create this War on Terror Culture. War on Terror Culture relates to the wrongdoing of many Muslim and Arab American citizens because of this tragic event that has shaped our societies minds. After the September 11 attacks, “more than five thousand immigrants were rounded up by early law enforcement sweeps in a systematic effort of selective prosecution.” (Bayoumi 85)

The agonizing terrorist attacks of September 9th, 2001 left the country in emotional distress. The United States of America decided to prepare for tragic attacks like this and reevaluated its immigration and foreign policies, the citizens of the US also became united and stronger from these attacks. This ideology that the US has become more united after an attack that killed nearly 3,000 people has become mainstream and may be true in some cases, but many people overlook the impact it had on the millions of Muslim Americans. The Muslim generation before us had its own problems dealing with racial discrimination and hate crimes, many people believed it stop their but this contempt was passed on to my generation. The discrimination I have received has caused me to change my aspirations in order to ensure that no one else receives the treatment I had gotten.

Islam has been around for over a thousand years. The religion has spread across a few continents including America. A recent study demonstrates that there are around 7 million Muslims in the U.S. That compares to around 2.3% of the populace. Despite the fact that the number is not large, it has been increasing in spite of the attack of September 11, 2001. On that day, a lot changed for the Islamic individuals living in the United States. Though the American Muslims had nothing to do with the terroristic attack that happened on that day, their lifestyle was bound to change. The change that happened was not in their religion, or the way they rehearsed it; it occurred in the attitude of the non-Islamic populace. An accusing finger was pointed on the Muslims because the attacks were said to be conducted by Muslim radicals. Generally, the media was the main place Americans would get detailed information about the Muslims, and they were not depicting them positively.

The September 11, 2001, horrific terrorist’s attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon left every Muslim to blame for these attacks. Even though it was only a few people out of this entire race that contributed to these attacks, all Muslims were held accountable in more ways than one. Since these attacks, they have become the target of numerous racial attacks and forms of racial discrimination. They have become the target of public resentment in America. It has become normal to associate every Muslim person with those

All these texts conveyed feelings of responsibility and anxiousness as these authors used literature to convey their message to the Americans, Arabs and the Arab Americans who were feared that they were the ones who were about to pay the tall of this tragedy.

Although radically diverse, the 3 million Muslim Americans who had no sympathetic ties with the perpetrators were still held accountable in the eyes of many Americans. Whether the other 99% of American citizens were all aware of the prejudices fostered from 9/11, the blow was devastating, and a prevailing unrest

The immediate results of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, were those who perished, or suffered physical and emotional trauma. The United States reacted to the attacks with grief and outrage. However, the long-term consequences of 9/11 involve the U.S. perceptions of Islam and terrorism and the Muslim experience in the United States. Recent ISIS activity is the reason for the additional spark in the targeting of Muslims, due to the U.S. emphasis on Islamic terrorism. These events continually influence the perceptions the U.S. has about Muslims and terrorism, and the pressures that Muslims face in the United States. Events of attack by ISIS fuel the peoples’ confidence in their initial post-9/11 suspicions, thus leading to them to

A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks on the United States. After the horrible attacks, America lived in terror and politics were motivated by fear to make decisions against terrorism. “The 9/11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent backlash experienced by Middle Eastern and Muslim American populations resulted in a few months of paralysis, isolation, and retrenchment. When we asked a respondent how she had handled the crisis, she replied: ‘We’re just like anybody else who lives in New York City. We were shocked. We were afraid. We were sad....’”(BRIEFEL, AVIVA). The USA PATRIOT Act, Homeland Security Act, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act was signed into law to help prevent terror attacks from happening again and to ensure that Americans will fear no more. “Coming immediately on the heels of the hate crimes and bias incidents, the government initiatives were interpreted among the Middle Eastern and Muslim American populations as an undeserved infliction of discrimination and suffering. In the language of sociologists (e.g., Mann 2005), this was state repression. These groups were being targeted for no other reason than sharing the terrorists’ ethnic origins (Arab) and religious affiliation (Muslim); they were scapegoats. Unanimously, the leaders we interviewed considered the actions of the administration more harmful to the overall well-being of their communities than the incidents of harassment and hate crimes by ordinary…”(Bakalian,

Although there is an undeniably ever-growing Arab community present within the United States, prejudice against it presumably continues to burgeon since the September 11th twin tower attacks. Despite the rampant 'melting pot' mentality within the United States, Arabs in the US are heavily racially profiled. Racism faced by Arabs is said to have increased significantly in the twenty-second century. However, in spite of the fact that it is a well-known truth that Anti-Arabism is quite prevalent within the US, we cannot assert how true the claim is and just how intense, and consequential this issue is; leaving the entire world questioning: What are the effects of 9/11 on Arabs in the US? In order to have a complete overview of the subject, one must evaluate it from two different standpoints: both objective, and subjective. Similarly, in order to gain an absolute understanding of the situation, one must also explore the various features that affect Arabs' lives in the US which are mainly divided into two categories: laws/empirical evidence, and societal attitudes/a conceptual approach.

As we all know, the 9/11 attack has impacted our community as Muslims, that many people labeled us in the US as a threat to our country due to our Faith. Many Muslims in America still face discrimination and danger until today. I was born in Egypt, I came to the US approximately two months before the 9/11 incident happened. I was in the age of 11 months. I was raised in a way where we all believe that we’re supposed to follow the laws and the values of the land we live in as well as Freedom of Religion is included. As I began to grow, I realized that something was coming very slowly, and all of the sudden became very drastically. It all started by the 9/11 attack and everything took place afterwards, such as ISIS, Jihad, or even the racist comments that Trump stated about Muslims since his election.

The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 in the US brought Islam religion into the national and international spotlight with an impeccable volume. Its effect on the Muslim community cannot be ignored. “When Al Qaeda movement, an Islamist militant network founded and formerly overseen by Osama bin Laden, claimed responsibility for the attacks, many feared Muslims in America would be targeted for retribution.” ("The Pluralism Project.") Being