Adrienne McPhail • Special to Arab News

What is it like to be an Arab-American in the current political and social climate of the United States? I asked that question of Richard Fawal, the national political director of the Arab-American Institute in Washington D.C. “The reaction to Sept. 11 has created a level of distrust between the Arab community and various government agencies,” he said. “We have received phone calls from Arab-Americans that express a real hesitation to contact these agencies. We hear comments like ‘I don’t know if I should go to the FBI with this information. Something could happen, I could get into trouble’.”

He said after Sept. 11 the leadership of both the Arab and Muslim communities tried to reach out to the administration and were ignored. “In my opinion, this created this condition of mistrust. The FBI and other government agencies simply refuse to accept this and other organizations as having credibility.” The question is why? There are three million Arab-Americans living in the United States. Their original homelands are 22 Arab countries. The largest percentage of Arab-Americans are from Lebanon, then Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Iraq and Jordan.

Arab-Americans are a very successful segment of the country. Eighty-two percent have at least a high school diploma and their average incomes are 22 percent higher than the US national average. They have different religious backgrounds too. Forty-two percent are Catholic, 12 percent Protestant, 23 percent Orthodox (Syrian, Greek, Coptic) and 23 percent Muslim.

Although they share a common language, they have a multitude of different dialects that often make communication difficult unless they speak English to one another. Some have lived in this country all their lives, while others have only been in America for a few years. They are politically active voters and have a record for voting on the issues rather than by influence. They are split almost evenly between the Democratic and Republican parties. So why would they need institutions to protect and promote Arab-American interests, such as the Arab-American Institute and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee?

The reason is that the current climate in the United States is decidedly anti-Arab. The Bush administration’s policies and appointments are an on-going declaration that Arabs and Muslims are being separated from the rest of American society and are being treated differently.

One sign of this is that the INS has closed all avenues for Arab or Muslim immigration into this country. Students and other visitors are now fingerprinted, photographed and tracked during their stay.

The FBI is collecting “demographic” profiles of areas, a process that includes tallying the number of mosques, and in March 2003 the Islamic Society of Fredrick, Maryland, was asked by FBI agents for a complete listing of all their members. It only takes a phone call to one of these agencies to result in an unannounced visit by federal agents to an Arab-American’s home or place of business, and the American Civil Liberties Union has worked with the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee to provide written instructions on how to handle one of these intrusions.

However, the problem goes beyond a national issue and impacts US foreign policy as well. On April 2, 2003, the White House nominated Daniel Pipes to serve on the board of directors for the US Institute of Peace. This organization is not only an important think tank, it was established to balance the US war department as the primary instrument of worldwide peace. Its origins date back to the earliest days of the republic and its direct influence on both the White House and US Congress is enormous.

The nomination of Daniel Pipes is remarkable because as the spokesman for The Middle East Forum, his positions on Middle Eastern policy are often questionable. Many of his policies are in direct opposition to the Bush administration’s stated positions as well as being openly confrontational toward the Arab and Muslim communities.

His nomination sends another signal to the Arab and Muslim communities that their status as equal Americans in a society that will not only protect their individual rights here but will promote policies internationally that reflect justice, equality and freedom is not set on firm ground.

Unless this administration takes steps to improve this climate, the danger of Arab and Muslim Americans becoming second class citizens is very real.