On September 22, 2005, The Vancouver Sun reported, "Surrey Provincial Court overflowed with dozens of members of the city's Sikh community Wednesday as two teenagers were set to make their first court appearance in connection with fatal attacks on two elderly Sikh men in July.

Mewa Singh Bains, 82, and Shingara Singh Thandi, 76, died after they were beaten and robbed in separate incidents at Bear Creek Park. Thandi, who was attacked July 19, died Aug. 6, while Bains, who was attacked July 18, died Sept. 3. Both assaults took place in a public bathroom near the park's 88th Avenue entrance.

Two youths, aged 13 and 15, have been charged with assault and robbery in connection with the attacks. Surrey Crown lawyer Michelle Wray said more serious criminal charges, including murder charges, are under review by her office."

On September 23, 2005, the Associated Press reported, "A Muslim firefighter cannot wear a beard on the job because of the safety risk that facial hair poses, a judge ruled yesterday. Curtis De Veaux sued the city on grounds that the ban infringed on his Muslim faith, which generally requires men to grow beards. But the state judge sided with the city, calling safety a compelling interest that warrants an exception under the Pennsylvania Religious Freedom Protection Act. The city had argued that beards interfere with the tight seal firefighters need on their respiratory masks, which deliver oxygen and keep out dangerous toxins. The American Civil Liberties Union's local chapter, which represented De Veaux, plans to appeal the ruling to Commonwealth Court, lawyer Mary Catherine Roper said."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's Religious Diversity News. There, you can read more on Backlash and Bias in the Workplace (after 9/11) or more broad issues concerning religion in the workplace.

On September 22, 2005 the UN News Centre reported, "As a result of the proliferation of anti-terrorist policy, discrimination against religious groups, minorities and migrant populations is on the rise, particularly at waiting areas at airports, ports and borders, the United Nations' top official for monitoring racism warns in his latest report to the UN General Assembly. 'The General Assembly is invited to draw the attention of Member States to the alarming signs of a retreat in the struggle against racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia as a result of the growing number of counter-terrorism policies that generate new forms of discrimination against groups and entire communities, religions and spiritual traditions,' writes Doudou Diene, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on racism and related intolerance. In that context, he said that discrimination against Muslims must be given special attention, but greater vigilance might also be needed against anti-Semitism and 'Christianophobia.' As discrimination is increasing in waiting areas of transportation facilities, the report recommends that Assembly Members take measures to prevent those areas from becoming so-called 'no rights zones.'"

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News.

On September 26, 2005 Sify reported, "Punjabi film producer-director Mangal Dhillon has plans to screen his 55-minute documentary The Inseparables—A Sikh and his Turban before the judge of the French court where the turban case will be heard. A sensitive theme, like the relation of a Sikh with his turban and the impact of the French government's decision to ban the use of head gears, has been deftly handled in the documentary from the historical and religious perspective. Made in Punjabi and English with sub-titles in French, it contains statements of some Sikh scholars and covers most of the prominent historical and religious aspects of Sikh history relating to the turban and Sikh identity, concluding on the Sikh martyrs buried in France, who sacrificed their lives during the world wars. The film, which was screened for select audience in Chandigarh on Sunday, aims at finding a permanent solution to different kinds of controversies taking place in various parts of the world, which are associated with the turban."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News. There, you can read more about the Ban of Religious Symbols in French Public Schools and the Sikh protest of that ban, as well as more articles on the broader topic of Controversy Over the Turban.

On September 24, 2005 IslamOnline.net reported, "Muslims serving in the French army are routinely mocked at, discriminated against and sometimes denied their religious rights, according to a new report. The report, entitled French Servicemen of Immigrant Origin, found that racist jokes and derogatory remarks are often played on Muslims inside the military establishment, Le Figaro reported on Friday, September 24. French soldiers make fun of their Muslim peers by trying to mimic their native accent when speaking in French, according to the report, undertaken by the independent French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). Though Muslim servicemen are allowed halal meals and flexible working hours during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, this is not the custom inside the army. It is done randomly and not systematic as many Muslim servicemen do not get their halal meals for days, said the report. The military top brass are increasingly opposed to allow Muslim servicemen to practice their religion, it added."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News. There, you can read more about Islam in European Society, with many articles detailing the many social and governmental issues raised by increasing immigration and growth of the Muslim population in European countries.

On September 22, 2005 the Australian Associated Press reported, "Victoria's religious community pledged to increase tolerance and reject terrorism at a multi-faith forum today. Hosted by Premier Steve Bracks and attended by more than 30 leaders, the forum issued a statement supporting Victoria's controversial racial and religious tolerance laws. The faith leaders also agreed to set up a working group to foster religious tolerance in their youth groups and develop interfaith networks. The meeting and its initiatives were 'an important defence against some young people thinking that extremist views are a simple and easy answer to their lives,' said Mr. Bracks."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News. There, you can read more about Australia's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act, which attempts to protect minorities from "religious vilification" but has been accused of limiting free speech and criticism of other faiths.

On September 22, 2005 The Australian reported, "The Howard Government has promised to put safeguards into its new anti-terrorism laws to ensure Muslims were not unfairly targeted for scrutiny. The promise was made at a meeting between Muslim leaders and Multicultural Affairs Minister John Cobb in Sydney yesterday. The meeting also decided that the Muslim community would help create a crisis plan to stop a community backlash in the event of a terrorist attack. Mr Cobb acknowledged the recent London bombings had increased resentment of Muslims in Australia. Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Ameer Ali said there had been concerns at the meeting that the new federal terrorism laws could be abused and Muslims targeted. He said the federal Government had assured the meeting that when the laws were drafted safeguards would be put in place."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News.

According to reporter Benjamin Hu, a motorist spotted a man spray-painting "a line through the word 'Muslim' on the outdoor sign" of the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. The man also "drew a Star of David to the right of the word."

A spokesman for the county police department stated that "The incident is being treated as vandalism, but may be changed to a hate crime if conditions warrant."

Earlier this month, the Davis Board of Education voted to name the school district's newest school after civil rights icon Fred Korematsu. The name -- the Fred Korematsu Elementary School at Mace Ranch -- "recognizes the contributions of a Californian who waged a legal battle to the Supreme Court and beyond, appealing his arrest and internment during World War II."

The public was invited to speak before the board made its decision. "Many speakers favored naming the school after Korematsu." For example, Loriene Honda, whose father was interned said, "As a resident of Davis, who is raising children who will attend the school, it's important to remember that even during a time of war, we do not agree with members of the community being scapegoated."

Mr. Korematsu, who passed away in March, will be best remembered for challenging the military order allowing for the forced exclusions of Japanese-Americans before the U.S. Supreme Court. The divided court sided with the government, thus sanctioning the blanket discriminatory treatment of Japanese-Americans. The case, Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), is widely cited as one of the worst decisions in our nation's history.

Olivier Guitta writes that while France "moved swiftly... to announce the expulsion of a dozen radical imams... another form of incitement common in France has gone largely unnoticed--namely, anti-French rap music."

In Mr. R's single "FranSSe," for example, the rapper notes, "My Muslim brothers are hated like my Jewish brothers were during the Reich." Guitta states that Mr. R and others "are viewed as role models by many young French males of Arab and African descent who live in France's depressed ethnic suburbs." Guitta questions whether "the French will enforce their laws against racism and anti-Semitism--the toughest in Europe--against this homegrown anti-Western hatred."

We previously reported on a case involving Curtis De Veaux, a Muslim, who refused -- for religious reasons -- to shave his beard as a condition of remaining employed as a firefighter in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a press release indicating that it has offered to mediate the dispute.

The arguments for CAIR and the city are straightforward. On one hand, the city argues that "safety concerns should prevent a Muslim firefighter from wearing a religious beard. The city says facial hair interferes with the tight seal needed on face masks." CAIR counters by noting that "alternative types of face masks... might satisfy safety and religious concerns." CAIR also cites an OSHA interpretation that reads in relevant part, "The OSHA standard does allow beards with the use of respirators that do not rely on a tight face piece seal between the respirator inlet covering and the underlying skin (i.e., both loose fitting helmets and hoods are acceptable in this regard)."

As we noted in June, this story has garnered national attention. More details to follow when they become available.

UPDATE: Judge Says No Beard for Muslim Firefighter.

Morgan Spurlock, best-known for his documentary film, "Super Size Me," is receiving praise for “30 Days,” his series on the FX network [see previous posts here and here]. Indeed, the Muslim Public Affairs Council "plans to present one of its 14th annual Media Awards to Spurlock and FX for the episode of '30 Days' called 'Muslims and America,'" in which Dave Stacy, a Christian, spent 30 days living with a Muslim family.

Stacy noted after completing the 30 days:

I have a whole new appreciation for what it’s like to be discriminated against.... A lot of Americans have a stronger sense of nationalism than we do even our own faith.... We’re not as tolerant as we should be.... You can’t stereotype one and a half billion people, or even 500 people, for the actions of five.”

In a speech delivered last week, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney asked:

“How about people in settings, mosques for instance, that may be teaching doctrines of hate and terror? Are we monitoring that? Are we wiretapping? Are we following what's going on? Are we seeing who's coming in? Are we seeing who's coming out? Are we eavesdropping, carrying out surveillance on those individuals from places that sponsor domestic terror?”

As a result, several Muslim organizations, including the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), and others, are calling on Governor Romney to apologize. In a letter urging the Governor to retract his comments, these organizations argued, “Your willingness to profile and scapegoat an entire community based on religious affiliation only serves to erode trust and increase fear.” The state's ADC chair added, "When you do blanket surveillance without specific intelligence, then the whole community becomes suspect."

Governor Romney, however, remained defiant and refused to apologize: “When it comes to protecting our citizens, there is no place for political correctness.” He continued:

Most mosques are teaching doctrines of love and consideration, but there have been places of extremism where certain teachers have been identified as having been involved in or led to terrorist attacks. Let's not pretend that's not the case.

The National Review Online's Andrew C. McCarthy defended Governor Romney, stating that he simply "told the truth" and that "we should be giving him a medal."

As we noted earlier, prisons are being considered "fertile ground for extremists" and that "politicians and even a few evangelical leaders have warned that Muslim inmates are ripe for terrorist recruitment...."

In response, "France's main Muslim organization has appointed its first national chaplain for prisons, [in] an effort to root out the causes of deadly religious extremism and prevent the spread of Islamic militancy behind bars. "

A spokesman for the organization stated the group was "responding with a high priority to the protection of the community and the French population overall against the slide to this political, violent form of radical Islam."

The chaplain, Moulay El Hassan El Alaoui, noted that Muslims constitute "about half" of those in French jails and that he will teach inmates "how to interpret the Quran."

The East Valley Tribune (Arizona), contains this article on Balbir Singh Sodhi's family four years after Mr Sodhi's tragic death. The article also profiles Valarie Kaur, DNSI's co-founder and co-director, who recently sat down with the Sodhi family:

A feature-length documentary due out early next year examines why some Americans became so violent and aggressive against Sikhs and other groups after Sept. 11. It tells the stories of the people changed forever by that violence, including Balbir Singh Sodhi’s family.

To the film’s creator Valarie Kaur, "Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath" is essentially the story of two young adults on the most important journey of their lives.
That journey started as Kaur sat in her bedroom for three days after learning of Sodhi’s Sept. 15, 2001, murder. Kaur was 20 then and a student at Stanford University. At the time, she was preparing to take the fall quarter off, fly to Punjab, India, and document oral histories with her cousin Sunny Gill through a grant. But when the terrorist attacks happened, they canceled the trip. At the same time, Kaur, a third-generation Sikh who grew up in California, was receiving e-mails on a Sikh
mailing list. Sikhs were getting chased and beaten across the country, the e-mails said.

Then Sodhi was killed. She learned about it on TV, then by phone calls from her family. Sodhi was a friend of Kaur’s family. It knocked her flat. "I really was just kind of paralyzed," Kaur said. "I was in my pajamas for three days. I just avoided the television for three days."

For those days, she thought hard about what came next. What would she do? Then, her grandfather’s words in Punjabi came to her: Naam Daan Isnaan. Or, loosely translated: In order to connect to God and yourself, you must give of yourself. You must act. "I just realized I couldn’t stay in that black-and-white world. I had to face the grayness outside," Kaur said.

She rewrote her grant proposal and hit the road with Gill at her side as cameraman. Neither had any film experience, but they wanted to document the violence. He who holds the camera, holds the power, Kaur said.

For the next four months, Kaur and Gill drove from northern California to Mesa to New York and Washington D.C. to document the aftermath of Sept. 11 in the Sikh, Muslim and Arab American communities. There were endless stories to tell and the two told many, logging 100 hours of footage talking to politicians, lawyers, scholars and the victims of hate crimes.

At the end of the four months, Kaur finally traveled to India. But this time, it was to talk to Sodhi’s widow. With all Kaur had learned on her trip, of countless crimes against Sikhs in the U.S., she expected the widow to be full of anger toward Americans, the same anger Kaur started to feel along her journey.

But the still-grieving widow wasn’t angry. She had only this to say to Americans: "Thank you. Thank you for taking my husband into your hearts. The action of one man can’t overshadow that...."

Rana Sodhi said the solution is education. He tries to do some of it himself. He has gone to the Mesa classrooms of all three of his children to explain to other students what it means to be Sikh, that they don’t cut their hair and that’s why they wear a urban.

He’s grateful Kaur is making "Divided We Fall." He and his family have given several interviews. And despite the occasional problems at the store or around town, Sodhi said most people in the Valley have rallied around his family and welcomed the Sikh community after Sept. 11.

"I think our family loves this country and loves, in this country, people," Sodhi said. "And we’ve had so much love received from people. "But we have some people that don’t understand the value of this country. And if everyone took the opportunity to understand each other and help each other, then that makes things better."

The footage Kaur and Gill shot on the road was pretty raw, Kaur said. At the end of the four-month journey, she edited it down to a short and showed it around North America, at colleges and film festivals.

At one such festival, she met Sharat Raju, a director who won awards for a fictional short film about Sikhs after Sept. 11. Raju and Kaur decided to make Kaur’s footage into a feature-length film. Raju’s team got Kaur to go on the road again this year to re-interview all the people she spoke with the first time. Both sets of footage are being combined in Los Angeles, Kaur said, but the crew still needs financial help to finish on time.

Kaur said the journey and these stories have changed her life. She is now a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School and occasionally speaks across the country about her experience. "The whirlwind came when I was paralyzed by fear," Kaur said of mayhem in her fourmonth trip. "It swept me up and it hasn’t let go."

"I want all Arabs to be stripped naked and cavity-searched if they get within 100 yards of an airport," argues Jillian Bandes in The Daily Tar Heel. Bandes notes:

You can debate a lot of things about post-9/11 foreign policy, but one thing you can’t debate is that taking out terrorists — or blatant human-rights violators — is a good thing.

You also can’t debate that of the 19 hijackers on those planes, all 19 were Arab.

And you can’t debate that while most Arabs are not terrorists, sadly, most terrorists are indeed Arab.

Given this combination, I want some kind of security.

Done in a professional, conscientious manner, racial profiling is more likely to get the bad guys than accosting my 12-year-old pipsqueak of a brother on his way to summer camp.

Sure, while terrorism should be eliminated, racial profiling is not the answer. The 19 9/11 hijackers were Arab, however relying on a specific profile is not only difficult -- if not impossible -- to develop or implement with any reliable consistency (e.g., the shooting death of a Brazillian by British police, or the murder of Sikh Balbir Singh Sodhi by an American "patriot"), but it will invite the terrorist masterminds to recruit individuals who defy that profile (e.g., White women, Asian men, etc.). A prominent judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit privately agreed with me on the latter point.

Moreover, we should not forget that terrorists aren't all Arab (and Bandes offers no support for her conclusion that "most" are Arab), as the Washington Post's Colbert King noted:

· White male Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people, including 19 children, and damaged 220 buildings.

· White male Eric Rudolph, whose remote-controlled bomb killed a woman and an off-duty police officer at a clinic, whose Olympic Park pipe bomb killed a woman and injured more than 100, and whose bombs hit a gay club and woman's clinic.

· White male Dennis Rader, the "bind, torture, kill" (BTK) serial killer who terrorized Wichita for 31 years.

· D.C.-born and Silver Spring-raised white male John Walker Lindh, who converted to Islam and was captured in Afghanistan fighting for the Taliban.

· The IRA bombers who killed and wounded hundreds; the neo-fascist bombers who killed 80 people and injured nearly 300 in Bologna, Italy; and the truck bombings in Colombia by Pedro Escobar's gang.

Finally, a polite deprivation of rights and gracious deviation from bedrock American principles of individualized suspicion and equality under the law does not excuse or remove the noxious quality and effects of the practice.

[Bandes was fired after writing this column for an apparent lack of journalistic professionalism.]

[Thanks to Abhi of Sepia Mutiny for the tip.]

On September 12, 2005 ABC News Online reported, "New research gauging Muslim attitudes shows rising alienation, especially among young people and a growing reluctance on their part to report suspicious activity to authorities. The research is being conducted for the Victorian Police by the Global Terrorism Research Unit at Monash University in Melbourne. Its early findings suggest Australia's hardline counter-terrorist policies could be backfiring because of Muslim youths' fears of being caught in the security net. Dr David Wright-Neville spent the last year interviewing Muslim leaders and others in Melbourne about how they see the Government's counter-terrorist policies. What he has found may set alarm bells ringing, with community leaders saying many of their youth are now reluctant to approach police if they suspect a terrorist plot, fearing they would automatically be thrown in jail."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News.

On September 10, 2005 the Daily Mail reported, "The head of security service MI5 has warned civil liberties may have to be eroded to protect British citizens from terrorist attacks. In a speech in the Netherlands, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller said the suicide bomb attacks in London in July were a 'shock,' and that MI5 and police were 'disappointed we had not been able to prevent them'... She added: 'We also value civil liberties and wish to do nothing to damage these hard fought rights. But the world has changed and there needs to be a debate on whether some erosion of what we all value may be necessary to improve the chances of our citizens not being blown apart as they go about their daily lives.'"

Read more on the London Terror Attacks at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News.

On September 11, 2005 the Australian Associated Press reported, "The world changed on September 11, 2001. For Muslims and Arabs in Australia, it changed for the worse. People started abusing them in the street, physically assaulting them, sexually assaulting them. The media vilified them and they faced discrimination and harassment. Four years after hijacked airliners destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and killed more than 3,000 people, the hatred continues, according to a report published by the Community Relations Commission (CRC) for a Multicultural NSW. The report's author, Tanja Dreher, said the events of September 11 seemed to compound existing tensions and prejudices in Australia. Arabs and Muslims in Australia were physically and verbally abused and made to feel they were not welcome in the months following the September 11 terrorist attacks, her report says. And the fear and insecurity continues to impact on those communities, it says."

Read the full article here.

Read more articles and access archives on the subjects of In the Wake of September 11 and Hate Crimes and Violence at the Pluralism Project's Religious Diversity News.

On Sept. 10, 2005, the Indo Asian News Service reported, "A [Hindu] temple in the Canadian province of British Columbia that was destroyed in hate crimes following the 9/11 terror bombings in the US has been rebuilt and will be inaugurated Sunday - exactly four years later. Called Project Elimination of Hate Crime, the temple located in Hamilton, will be inaugurated at a public function. The temple, destroyed on Sep 15, 2001, has become known as the Canadian Ground Zero and received donations from across the globe, the South Asian Observer newspaper here reported. Multi-faith groups from Hamilton and the surroundings joined hands to rebuild the temple and eliminate hate crimes from the face of the world. The project also initiated programmes to heal victims of such crimes."

To read the full article on NewKerala.com, click here

Read more articles and access archives on the subjects of In the Wake of September 11 and Hate Crimes and Violence at the Pluralism Project's Religious Diversity News.

On the fourth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Sikh Federation (UK) urged the government to do more to protect Sikhs from hate crimes after 9/11 and the July 7, 2005, London bombings. The Sikh Federation called for greater legal protection at a conference held this past weekend, and which wsa attended by approximately 10,000 people.

The group's chairman, Bhai Amrik Singh, noted that Sikhs were "the prime target of hate crimes as the largest and most visible ethnic minority." However, the "government has at best been paying lip service to Sikhs since 9/11, when we were first targeted by what many termed 'mistaken identity'."

Singh was of the opinion that the government has perhaps failed to vocally condemn hate crimes against Sikhs because of the unintended implication that attacks against Muslims would be acceptable. [The wisdom and efficacy in singling out a single group for protection, where this may expose the remaining ethnic minorities, specifically Muslims, is discussed at length here at Sepia Mutiny.]

The fourth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, has forced Americans to reflect on that horrible tragedy, such as the images of the World Trade Center and where one was when one first heard about the terrorist acts. September 11, 2005, also presented Americans and the rest of the world with an opportunity to re-examine the conditions facing Muslims, Arabs, Sikhs, and South Asians since that fateful fall morning. This post looks at two of the articles discussing this condition and three incidents that took place on or around the anniversary:

Sept. 11 has forced local Muslims to defend their religion as one of peace: "'9/11 brought about a major change for a lot of Muslims,' said Ghada Osman, an assistant professor at San Diego State University and director of its Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies. 'It somehow extenuated both identities. It made it much clearer that they are part of American society and yet at the same time put them on the spot to explain their religion.'"

Terrorists 'hijacked the Muslim faith' on 9/11: The terrorists, who hijacked the planes before using them as human bombs to kill nearly 3,000 people, did not just attack the freedom of the Western world on that day. They also made the lives of Asian people across the globe hell.

Vandals hit Muslim center Sept. 11: Standing near a broken window, Ahmed Elmalky said the vandalism "broke his heart." any Muslims have expressed concern after a Sept. 11 break-in at the Islamic Center of Irving.

Firefighter charged with assault following 9-11 memorial: A firefighter who had just attended a memorial service for a comrade killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack was charged with assaulting an immigrant worker who claimed his attacker told him he looked "like he's al-Qaida," authorities said.

Two Muslims offloaded from plane as nervous passengers refuse to fly: The Excel Airways flight from Larnaca to Manchester was due to leave Cyprus on Sunday - the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks - but was cancelled after passengers refused to fly amid fears they were being targeted by bombers. The scare began when two Muslim men, believed to be British of Pakistani origin, boarded the flight.

On September 13, 2005 WFAA - TV (Dallas, Texas) reported, "Many Muslims have expressed concern after a Sept. 11 break-in at the Islamic Center of Irving. On Sunday, someone smashed the windows of portable classrooms used by students in pre-kindergarten through second grade. The crime came at the end of two weeks of the center donating not just money, but shipping several trucks of food, supplies and medicine after Hurricane Katrina... Police said while the suspects did leave prints and blood, nothing was missing or taken. To the people who worship and gather at the Islamic Center of Irving, the vandalism was disheartening and disappointing... With regard to this being a hate crime, police said that there isn't any proof of that yet. However, many in the Muslim community said the date and location the vandals chose seemed more than a coincidence."

Read more articles and access archives on the subjects of In the Wake of September 11 and Hate Crimes and Violence at the Pluralism Project's Religious Diversity News.

John G. Roberts [pictured], testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing to become the Chief Justice of the United States, was asked by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) about the state of civil liberties and individual rights during times of war. The exchange, as reported by the Washington Post, is as follows:

LEAHY: In his book, "All the Laws But One," Chief Justice Rehnquist, the late chief justice, concluded with this sentence, "The laws will not be silent in time of war but they'll speak with a somewhat different voice."

He offers a somewhat different voice, of course -- the Supreme Court decision, an infamous decision, a horrible decision in my estimation, Korematsu. As we know, in that case, the court upheld the internment of Japanese-Americans in detention camps, not because of anything they had done, not because of any evidence that they were at all disloyal to the United States, but solely based on their race, as sometimes this country has legislated very, very cruelly and very wrongly solely on the question of race.

Now, the Korematsu majority's failure to uphold the Bill of Rights I believe is one of the greatest failures in the court's history.

Now, we can't -- I don't believe -- have a Supreme Court that would continue the failings of Korematsu, especially when we're engaged on a war on terror that could last throughout our lifetime; probably will.

We'll always face -- we'll always -- this country, all the Western world, all democracies will face terrorist attacks, whether internal, as we had in Oklahoma City, or external at 9/11.

I just want to make sure you're not going to be a Korematsu justice....

ROBERTS: I read the chief's book that you quoted from. And for someone who sits on the court that I sit on now, we famously look back to one of the first cases decided in the D.C. Circuit. It was the Aaron Burr trial. And if anything's a model... it's, sort of, a motto of our court, an opinion that was written out of that, in which the judge explained that it was our obligation to calmly poise the scales of justice in dangerous times as well as calm times -- that's a paraphrase.

But the phrase, "calmly poise the scales of justice" is, if anything, the motto of the court on which I now sit.

And that would be the guiding principle for me, whether I'm back on that court or different one, because some factors may be different, the issues may be different, the demands may be different, but the Bill of Rights remains the same. And the obligation of the court to protect those basic liberties in times of peace and in times of war, in times of stress and in times of calm, that doesn't change.

The hearings may be viewed live at c-span.org, among other places.

A "featured article" on the Wall Street Journal's editorial page addressed what has been on the minds of many Americans since the July 7, 2005, London bombings: if "homegrown terrorists" can strike London, then is it possible or likely that American-born Muslim youths will attack the United States?

The authors of the article, Bret Stephens and Joseph Rago, argue that there are five differences between American Muslims and British Muslims that should assuage American concerns that "homegrown terrorism" will strike the United States. (To clarify, American-born terrorists have attacked the U.S. before, e.g., Timothy McVeigh, Eric Rudolph. Therefore, the "homegrown terrorism" that is at issue here is of the Muslim variety only.):

1. Muslim Americans, like Arab-Americans, have fared well [economically] in the U.S.;
   
2. [T]he overwhelming majority of Muslims arrived here legally, and many of those who didn't were deported after Sept. 11, 2001;
   
3. 21% of Muslim Americans intermarry.... And because 64% of Muslim Americans are foreign born, there is reason to expect that figure to grow among second and third generations;
   
4. [T]he average mosque-goer is 34 years old, married with children, has at least a bachelor's degree, and earns about $74,000 a year. If this is representative of Muslim Americans as a whole, it suggests that the religiously committed among them hardly fit the profile of the alienated, angry young Muslim men so common today in Europe; and
   
5. Muslim Americans benefit from leaders who, despite some notable exceptions, are generally more responsible than Muslim leaders in Britain and Europe.

The authors note, in conclusion, that "if it can be said that 'it takes a village' to make a terrorist, the U.S. enjoys a measure of safety that our European allies do not. It is a blessing we will continue to enjoy as long as we remain an upwardly mobile, assimilating--and watchful--society."

A few quick comments regarding these five differences. First, as to point 2, illegal status isn't determinative of whether a person will commit an act of terrorism against the United States (again, e.g., Timothy McVeigh - a natural born citizen). As to point 3, the suggestion seems to be that if more Muslims marry people of other faiths, that they are less willing to be terrorists and conversely that we should be more concerned if Muslims marry eachother. This is pretty offensive on its face. As to point 4, one of the 7/7 bombers had a newborn child, which cuts against the argument that a stable family with something or someone to live for is less likely to end his life through a suicide bombing.

France is not the only state that has banned turbans from being worn in public schools. Belgium has reportedly followed suit by banning "the religious symbols of the Sikhs in their educational institutes."

Meanwhile, a proposal in Australia "to ban Muslim girls from wearing traditional headscarves in state schools has been rejected by Prime Minister John Howard and all the main political parties in Victoria." PM Howard was quoted as saying that, "If you ban a headscarf you might, for consistency's sake, have to ban a … turban." An official in opposition to the proposal said, "We're at war with terror, not young girls wearing scarves or (people wearing) crucifixes or skull caps." A member of parliament also noted, "I'm delighted that we are living in a country where religious tolerance is part of our creed and I don't think there's any enthusiasm for the views of Mrs Bishop or Ms Panopoulos on this matter in the Coalition party room."

UPDATE: Two Sikh students in France have violated the ban on conspicuous articles of faith in public schools, one has been excluded and the another has been "forced to wear a small cloth instead."

Gurinder Singh, 17, was barred from class in a Paris suburb because he refused to remove the keski, or under-turban, that his school let him wear last year, said Kudrat Singh of the United Sikhs pressure group.

Hardeep Singh, 13, was only allowed into class when he agreed to wear a small cloth over the top-knot of his uncut hair.

The Spinning Wheel Film Festival presents films "by, about, and for Sikhs and the wider public." This year's festival, which will be held at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto, Canada from October 14-16, 2005, will feature a number of interesting films.

DNSI's own Valarie Kaur, as some of you may know, is traveling across the country working on her own film, "Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath," which is supported by the Sikh Film Foundation.

The Festival's site contains this description of "Divided We Fall":

A turbaned Sikh man was killed on September 15, 2001 by a man bent on eliminating anyone “Arab-looking.” The murderer screamed: “I am a patriot!” Similar stories of hate crimes swept across the nation in the aftermath of September 11. Armed with only a camera and a question, an American college student journeyed into the heart of a suffering nation in search of answers. She met people, some born and raised in America. Others who came seeking a better life and adopted a new land as their own home. All believed in the American dream. Captured on film are their stories – hundreds of them. Stories of sadness. Of unimaginable loss and fear. But hope, resilience, and love.

Their stories were never before shared. Until now.
Two filmmakers. One camera.
Fourteen American cities. Four months on the road.
One hundred hours of footage.
And the question: why?

I urge you to learn more about this film and attend the Festival.

Continuing our discussion of the experiences of British Sikhs and Hindus after the terrorist bombings of July 7, 2005, a series of articles are now stating that Sikhs and Hindus in Britain are "more vulnerable" to hate crimes than Muslims [please see e.g., here, here, and here].

While Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims have been targeted in part because of the failure of a hate crime perpetrator to ask or care about what religion the "brown" person actually is, it is surprising to read that Sikhs and Hindus are more vulnerable to hate than Muslims. That is, Sikhs perhaps may be thought of as more susceptible because of their distinctive use of the turban and the association of the turban with Islamic fundamentalists, such as bin Laden. However, the suggestion that Hindus are also more targeted than Muslims is a bit more troubling.

The suggestion comes after the following data was released:

Figures released by the Metropolitan Police revealed that from July 7, 2005 until August 10 there were 932 instances of faith hate crime against Indians(predominantly Hindus and Sikhs) as opposed to approximately 600 instances of faith hate crime against Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslims.

And now for the analysis:

"In June there were only three instances of faith hate crime against Hindus and Sikhs," said Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain at the special meeting organised by the Hindu Forum of Britain and the Metropolitan Police Hindu Association.

It should be evident from an objective look at the figures and the spin from the Hindu Forum of Britain that the statement that Sikhs and Hindus are more vulnerable to hate crimes in Britain is bunk. Moreover, it should also be noted that this story has only been picked up by Indian news organizations, none wholly based in the U.K. or anywhere else outside of India for that matter. In fact, one of the sources of this article is the Press Trust of India.

On Monday, The Guardian (UK) featured an exceedingly fascinating article, written pseudonymously by Shivani Nagarajah, on British Sikhs and Hindus. Nagarajah's article, entitled "Mistaken Identity," addressed the difficulties facing British Sikhs and Hindus, and the attempt by some to separate themselves from British Muslims in order to avoid harassment and discrimination.

Nagarajah notes with respect to the backlash after the July 7, 2005, attacks that, "There's been a huge focus on the impact on Britain's Muslim community, but the plight of Britain's 560,000 Hindus and 340,000 Sikhs has been largely ignored." This despite the fact that the first reported hate crime was against a Sikh and there have been numerous other discriminatory incidents involving Sikhs and Hindus. Indeed, Dal Singh Dhesy, argues, "The turban-wearing Sikh community is under siege." Nagarajah notes that Dhesy "experiences name-calling and stares from white people on a daily basis, and describes other Sikhs facing physical attack and intimidation."

The explanation as to why Sikhs and Hindus are targeted, according to Nagarajah, is quite simple: "your average hate-crime perpetrator isn't going to stop and ask what religion you are before attacking you - or even care, for that matter, about such distinctions." Thus, Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims have all been subject to hate crimes and other discriminatory acts in the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings, seemingly because of their physical appearance and superficial resemblance to Muslims.

As a result of this apparent aesthetic similarity, Sikhs and Hindus have attempted to distinguish themselves from Muslims. For example, as Nagarajah describes, Sikhs are wearing stickers and t-shirts that read "Don't freak, I'm a Sikh." In addition, after being verbally abused, Ishvar Guruswamy, a Hindu, was told by his sister "to shave off his beard and wear a large crucifix so no one would mistake him for a Muslim." Also, Mahendra Dabhi stated of certain Hindu students: "They felt that if they didn't differentiate themselves, they would be at risk of social stigma."

The question becomes whether the intentional differentiation is morally justified. Tariq Modood, professor of sociology at Bristol University, believes that Sikhs and Hindus distancing themselves from Muslims is "selfish." According to Nagarajah, Sikhs themselves are divided as to the moral efficacy of drawing a line between the faiths: one reportedly said, "We need to think of ourselves first - let the Muslims take care of themselves," while another reportedly disagreed.

This debate is identical to the one that took place in the United States after September 11, 2001. After the terrorist attacks, some Sikhs in the United States, myself included, began to discuss how we should respond to the backlash and protect the Sikh community, as they were suffering the brunt of the backlash. Combating ignorance through education was, of course, of utmost importance. While we wished to inform others as to who Sikhs were and that the turban was a symbol of the Sikh faith, we ultimately did not want to send the message that, 'now that you know we are Sikhs, leave us alone,' and by implication 'going after Muslims is acceptable.' Thus, we settled on a two-pronged approach: the first was more of an isolationist one, namely to educate and inform others about Sikhs and Sikhism; the second was to submit a broad appeal for tolerance, encompassing not only Sikhs, but Muslims, Arabs, South Asians, and anyone else who may be perceived as a "terrorist." This is not to say that this two-pronged position is morally superior to the one that only attempts to draw a thick line between Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims.

[This entry is cross-posted on "IntentBlog".]

Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal upheld a state law that requires an individual's full face to be shown on his or her driver's license photo. Sultaana Freeman, a Muslim woman who wanted to wear her veil for her license photo, sued, arguing in the main that the state law infringed upon her First Amendment right to free exercise of religion. [Freeman's license photo is pictured at left.]

In siding against Freeman, the court wrote:

We recognized the tension created as a result of choosing between following the dictates of one's religion and the mandates of secular law.... However, as long as the laws are neutral and generally applicable to the citizenry, they must be obeyed.

[Moreover, the law] did not compel Freeman to engage in conduct that her religion forbids -- her religion does not forbid all photographs.

The circuit court below deferred to authorities in "that letting people show only their eyes would undermine efforts to stop terrorists." The Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, later "signed legislation requiring a picture of a driver's full face on a license."

The suit arose after Freeman's license -- in which she was veiled and only her eyes were visible -- was suspended by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

A press released emailed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reports that mosques in Nebraska, California and New York have been vandalized:

According to police reports, the Islamic Foundation in Lincoln, Neb., was vandalized twice this past weekend. Vandals reportedly broke a window and spray-painted racist graffiti such as "white power" and a Nazi swastika on the building and a car parked at the site.

In California, representatives of the Islamic Center of Redlands say their mosque has been a target of vandalism and trespassing. An incident during prayers on Aug. 19, during which unknown people threw beer bottles, poured alcohol into a worshipper's car and shouted epithets, prompted a letter to city officials.

The press release also indicated, without citation to any source, that "in Beacon, N.Y., a city garbage receptacle was reportedly thrown through a window of Masjid Ur-Rashid on August 23."

As a result of these multiple incidents, CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper urged the FBI to look into "whether anti-Muslim bias played a role in any of these incidents."

Yahoo! is reporting that several major Islamic organizations, including the Islamic Society of North America and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, "announced a pledge to raise $10 million in humanitarian relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina." A coalition, called the Muslim Hurricane Relief Task Force, was also formed to coordinate the aid effort.

Also, according to Dr. Pritpal Singh of the American Gurdawara Parbhandak Committee:

the Sikh community has so far dispatched two truckloads of grocery items, including juice, water and eatables for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. He also said that the gurdawaras of Houston and Dallas have been organizing langars or community kitchens for victims

Unfortunately reports are also surfacing as to the impact of Katrina on the Sikh community in New Orleans: a "gurdwara in New Orleans is submerged and some 50 Sikh families from New Orleans and the outlying areas have been evacuated and are living in temporary homes."

The Associated Press ran this article on efforts by public schools across the United States to accommodate the religious practices of Muslim students and to protect these students from harassment after 9/11.

The article first discusses the problem, that is why these efforts are being undertaken by school districts and/or demanded by concerned parents:

• Yasmeen Elsamra, now 14, was not permitted to pray during lunch. ''If I wasn't allowed to pray my second prayer at school, I couldn't do it at home," she said. ''When school finishes, the third prayer begins." The school amended its policy.
• Ingrid Mattson, vice president of the Islamic Society of North America said her children were subject to the following verbal insults: "Hey, Osama, do you have a bomb? Are you going to blow us up? What are you doing with that rag on your head?" Moreover, Mattson's daughter "has had people try to pull her head scarf off." Mattson also noted that others have defended her children.
• Noor Ennab, a fifth-grader in New York City, stated that before 9/11, "we were treated so kind." ''Now it's like, 'You're a terrorist; get out of this country.' "

The accommodations, in light of the above, include:

• A zero-tolerance policy on harassment of Muslim students was adopted by the Broward County school board in Florida, in March 2003.
• In February, Muslim community leaders led the Pledge of Allegiance at a high school in San Antonio, as part of a daylong conference on Islam.
• In Paterson, N.J., schools let some students out of class early on Friday to attend prayers, given parents' permission.
• Paterson is one of a handful of New Jersey districts in which schools are closed for Eid-al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of the fasting and penitence period of Ramadan.

In a related story, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that a Muslim elementary school is opening in the state.

The Chief Justice of the United States, William H. Rehnquist, died Saturday night at his home in Arlington, Virginia, at the age of 80. Rehnquist (1924-2005) will likely be remembered as a reliable conservative and one of the most respected chief justices of our time. His views on abortion, the Establishment Clause, and federalism may define his legacy as a member of the the Supreme Court.

Rehnquist also authored a seminal book on civil liberties during wartime. The book is entitled, "All the Laws but One," and examines the Roman principle, inter arma silent leges, or "in time of war the laws are silent."

Karen Hughes, Under Secretary, Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State, offered some very encouraging and positive remarks at the annual meeting of the Islamic Society of North America, "one of the largest gatherings of its type in the United States attended by up to 40,000 Muslims." Her comments included:

We have a common interest in confronting terror and violence and crime and hate that is committed in the name of any religion.

[W]e want Muslim voices to speak out against terror and violence and extremism, it is equally important that we be mindful of speaking out against all voices of hate and incitement including those raised against Muslims themselves.