The FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list contains just 22 men. But every single name on the list sounds like it’s of Arabic descent; from Osama bin Laden to Ayman Al-Zawahiri to Abdulla Ahmed Abdullah.

For Muslim, Sikh and Arab-American communities, those faces and names are perhaps the hardest obstacles to overcome in trying to establish relationships with their communities and combat the hate crimes that have dogged them since 9/11.

“Some people are giving Islam a very bad name out there, and people are failing to realize that it’s not all of Islam,” said Abdul Quayyum, chairman of the newly founded Kentucky chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relationships, or CAIR. “It’s not Islam. This is just a bunch of bad apples.”

Those communities, though, aren’t going to stand by and let the “bad apples” ruin their community and image in America. They’re reaching out to law enforcement agencies in their communities to establish relationships, educate people on their religions and offer aid in helping to fight terrorism.

In turn, police are reaching back to help make religious and ethnic minorities feel comfortable working with them.

“I think one of the most important things for those of us in law enforcement to remember is that we need to take the first step to reach out to religious and ethnic minorities,” said David Beyer, spokesman for the Kentucky division of the FBI.

“In opening up these relationships, we can help them feel more comfortable working with them, and if they encounter information, helping them to feel like they can come forward and meet with us.”

In Louisville, Muslim leaders said, most already do.

The faces

Since 9/11, three ethnic minorities have endured hate crimes and scrutiny here in America: those of Arabic descent, Sikhs and Muslims.

“Arab” is a general definition that refers to any of the 3.5 million people living in America who come from one of 21 Arabic-speaking countries and the territories occupied by Israel, according to the Arab American Institute. But Arab Americans of Lebanese descent constitute the largest percentage.

While many people lump all Arabs into the Muslim faith, more than three-quarters of Arab Americans are actually Christian, according to the institute’s website. Twenty-three percent are Muslim.

Islam is the second-largest religion in the world. More than 21 percent of the world’s population follows Islam. The Islamic faith is based on the Koran, and

Muslims worship in mosques. Many people identify Muslims by their modest dress, which includes a headscarf for women, and for their devotion to prayer five times a day.

Sikhs are often mistaken for Muslims because they also wear a head covering. Sikhism, the world’s fifth-largest religion, originated in India.

Sikhs are usually identified by the turbans men wear, and since the religion prohibits cutting hair, most Sikh men have beards.

Attacking the problem

According to CAIR national, hate crimes against Muslims rose 70 percent in 2003. The Arab, Muslim and Sikh communities have seen increases in hate crimes in waves.

There were several attacks after Sept. 11, and when America invaded Iraq, Rabiah Ahmed, communication coordinator for CAIR, said the Muslim, Arab and Sikh communities saw an increase in hate crimes.

“Whenever America is at war with a Muslim country — for example, when we invaded Afghanistan — there’s a high surge in hate crimes,” she said. “Hatred is ignorance, basically.”

The hate crimes aren’t happening nationwide. The closest Louisville has come to a hate crime against Muslims, if you even want to call it that, was some graffiti painted on the front of the Faisal Mosque on River Road.

Much of the credit goes to Louisville’s religious institutions, according to Dr. Ghouse A. Shareef, an active member of Faisal Mosque. “Louisville has a long history of ecumenical work,” Shareef said. “It started with the Protestants and Catholics 40 years ago.”

Now, that interfaith initiative has grown to include Muslims, Sikhs, Jews and nearly every well-represented religion in the metro area. “We have this interfaith coalition that keeps everyone in touch,” Shareef said.

Recently, Faisal Mosque hosted a group of United Methodist women who were learning about other faiths. Shareef, who often speaks to groups on behalf of the mosque, sat down with the ladies after Friday prayers and went over some of the broader concepts of Islam. As the women learned, Islam is not that far removed from their own beliefs. “We have a lot of connections between Muslims, Jews and Christians,” Shareef said. “We get along.”

In the surrounding area at least, that has translated to homeland harmony

Quayyum, of Lexington, said he’s always felt safe and comfortable in his community, and he believes that many other Arabs also have felt support from their communities.

“In general, I’ve never had a problem in Kentucky,” said Quayyum, who has lived in America for more than 25 years.

But, when people don’t know the people in their communities, and the beliefs of their neighbors, it can breed hatred, he said. “Out of lack of knowledge, out of hatred, whatever, a lot of people try to relate Islam to terrorism,” he said.

Many immigrant communities have a hard time trusting police and law enforcement officers because of police policies in their homeland. So it’s hard for Muslims, Sikhs and Arabs to approach their local police departments because they perceive the police as enemies, said Sarah Eltantawi, communications director for the Muslim Political Action Committee.

“I think the most important component is trust,” Eltantawi said. “We need to be able to trust that law enforcement is going to protect us and our community, and that we are going to be protected from political attacks. I think the most important thing is treating this community as a partner in preventing terrorism, rather than as a suspect.”

From the law enforcement perspective, it’s also difficult to break through ethnic barriers because officers either lack the training or the tools to approach those communities effectively. And when they do approach them, it’s sometimes difficult to communicate.

“I think it helps to personalize an entity so that you can have a name or a face to call,” said Donna Spiser, supervisory special agent for the FBI.

By establishing ongoing dialogues and relationships between law enforcement and their communities, Arab-American, Sikh and Muslim leaders believe they can help reduce hate crimes, increase trust and become full-fledged, recognized partners in the war on terrorism.

“These are things that any other religious or ethnic group should promote,” said Ahmed, adding that her group has been working on educating police on how to approach the Islamic faith. Some of that education includes the proper way to enter a mosque and on basic courtesies, such as allowing women to cover up when police raid a home or having women officers pat down women and male officers pat down men.

Locally, people like Shareef, a retired Bellarmine University business professor, have helped open lines of communication. He sits on boards like the Cathedral Heritage Foundation, which works to bring religious groups together. The foundation’s largest annual event, the Festival of Faiths, is one of the more popular ways to showcase religions and allow the community to focus on the similarities in theological beliefs, not the differences.

“That goes a long way,” he said.

Attacking the solution

During 2003-04, Boston’s Northeastern University studied police relationships with Muslim, Sikh and Arab-American communities in Michigan, Southern California and Boston. From that project, called Partnership for Prevention, the university developed a “promising practices guide” of elements that help promote civil liberties while helping both sides work together to help in counter-terrorism work. The university will also establish a clearinghouse of information for Middle Eastern communities and law enforcement agencies.

Several of the study’s participants noted that there are two elements that make good relationships: training and communication. And both of those elements have to exist for law enforcement to partner with Arab-American, Sikh and Muslim communities, said Preetmohan Singh, national director for the Sikh Mediawatch and Research Taskforce.

“If we don’t work with law enforcement and come with partnerships, then I think that it sends a message to the larger community that these people are outsiders, this is someone to distrust,” he said.

Eltantawi agreed and said that her community has been trying to actively partner with law enforcement.

“Muslims have been very helpful and very involved on both sides of this process,” she said.

“To me, really, the big message is that Muslims have been very integral in this process.”

Police and law enforcement need training and education on how to interact with their particular ethnic and religious lifestyles, Singh said. And the Sikhs, Muslims and Arab-Americans need to learn how police operate so that they understand when the police don’t respond to a request immediately.

Early intervention is key, Singh said.

“Many times the most difficult step is the first one,” Singh said. “No one knows how to take the first step.

“If we were already being proactive as a community, and if law enforcement was reaching out to us, then that would have led to a lot of action being taken, a lot of mutual respect and more understanding in where we were each coming from.”

From the police to you

Although most local agencies in Kentucky have not encountered hate crimes against Middle Eastern people in their communities, they have increased training and outreach.

Lt. Ed Mahern, with Louisville’s Third District, said his area hasn’t dealt much with discrimination against Middle Eastern people. But he likened the interaction to recent police work with the local Hispanic community.

“I think the best thing to do is to treat people fairly,” he said.

In Louisville, there’s a growing Hispanic population. That ethnic minority, like the Middle Eastern groups, doesn’t trust the police. In some cases, people are afraid the police will discover they’re illegal immigrants. In others, they regard the police as an authoritarian power that is often abusive, like the police at home.

But some people have been preying on the Hispanic housing areas because they seem like easier prey. One woman, posing as a federal immigration agent, swindled people out of thousands of dollars.

If the police went directly into the Hispanic community and tried setting up town hall meetings, no one would come, Mahern said. Instead, the police are working with someone the community trusts, having her arrange the town hall meeting.

A community liaison is the most important part of the relationship, Mahern said.

“They feel comfortable talking to her,” Mahern said. “Probably the biggest obstacle we’ve had to overcome is fear of the police.”

While community involvement is key, in both Lexington and Louisville, training has been essential in building trust with minority communities.

Both cities have a police training program in which cops take six semesters of Spanish, then travel to Mexico to observe the culture and the police there. Once the officers come home, they’re better prepared to interact with the Hispanic community because they speak the language and know the culture.

To increase trust between law enforcement and the Middle Eastern community, similar programs might work, said Ronnie Bastin, an assistant chief for Lexington Police.

He thinks that getting police involved in community-action groups helps to bridge cultural barriers.

“If there are complaints, then they’re usually funneled through these organizations,” said Bastin, who sits on the Lexington Committee on Race Relations, and the National Committee for Community and Justice.

Bastin said a local Arab group that wants to train Lexington’s officers has already approached his department. “It’s something that we’re interested in doing,” Bastin said.

Sgt. Mike Wilson, of the Savannah, Ga., police department, said training and integration are key elements to communication. “I can’t say this enough,” he said. “I think that agencies that first start within their own ranks, and that have a face that truly reflects their communities … it does wonders for improving relations.”

What’s more, he said, police officers need to be in the community, attending meetings, and meeting people.

“Community-oriented policing is an integral part of our policy here,” Wilson said. “Our diversity within our organization helps in going out into these communities.”

Since Sept. 11, the FBI has instituted a similar “community-policing” approach.

Nationally, FBI agents have attended 1,880 town hall and community association meetings and 917 meetings specifically with Muslim and Jewish communities since Sept. 11, Spiser said.

Nationwide, it has also made 332 meetings with civil rights leaders and responded to 139 requests from Middle Eastern groups that wanted to help increase officer sensitivity training.

In May, the FBI held a conference in Kentucky, and eight local Muslim leaders sat on a panel to tell officers about their religion. FBI and local religious leaders have met regularly to get to know one another.

The Louisville Islamic community is also well-positioned to create dialogue with the general public.

“America gives each person an ability to develop,” explained Imam Ali Mian, a religious leader at the Faisal Mosque.

Mian, a student at the University of Louisville, said he has never experienced any bad treatment, “And I go to school like this and nobody bothers me,” he said, pointing at his galabiyya, or traditional outfit.

Those who immigrated to the region and have cultivated deep roots in the community also feel Louisville has welcomed them, but there have been testy occasions, such as in the early 1980s, when there was a hostage stand-off between the United States and Iran (which is not an Arab country).

“It was bad with the hostages,” explained Esse Chitsaz, owner of Pesto’s Italian Restaurant downtown, who emigrated from Iran during that time to attend school. “We didn’t go out back then to the nightclubs. It was like that for six or seven months, and then people just forgot about it.”

But after Sept. 11, 2001, Chitsaz said, he did not notice the same tone in the community. “All I heard happen was a convenience store owner got his window broken,” he said.

As Muslims continue to interact with the community at large, misconceptions will erode, many said.

“The more time you spend with someone, the more you feel comfortable with them, and you realize that they are not the enemy,” said Louisville FBI spokesman Beyer.

Quayyum agreed.

“We are all from same religion, if you look back,” he said, “and we need to better communicate and better understand each other in order to live happily as a single community in this American nation.”

Additional reporting by Dug Begley

http://louisville.snitch.com/2004/07/21/muslim