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By KIRK SEMPLE
NOVEMBER 25, 2015
The safety tips, concise and chilling, have been passed from friend to Muslim friend on social media, by imams to their congregations, by Islamic groups to their members, by parents to their children heading off to school:
When in the subway, stand away from the platform edge, preferably with your back against a wall. Walk in groups after dark. Stay alert at all times.
In the days since the Paris terrorist attacks, Muslims in New York and elsewhere have guarded against a violent backlash, changing their routines and trying to manage their fear.
Still, the violence has come.
In the past week and a half, several Muslims in New York, mostly women wearing head scarves, have reported being victims of verbal abuse and physical assault. Even some non-Muslims — including at least one Latino mistaken for a Muslim — have been subjected to taunts or worse.
Two Muslim women in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn said that a man claiming to be a postal worker assaulted them, elbowing one and spitting in her face, and telling them he was going to burn down their “temple.” The police arrested a man on Tuesday in connection with the episode and charged him with aggravated harassment and menacing as a hate crime.
With each passing day, Muslims say, they are growing more fearful for their lives.
Muslim groups have reported a sharp increase in bias incidents around the country, including Muslims harassed and attacked on the street, at work and by phone and in online messages. Numerous mosques and Islamic centers have reported vandalism and threats.
And the community is bracing for more — including in New York City, one of the most pluralistic and inclusive municipalities in the nation.
“Even in New York,” said Ferida Osman, 21, a Hunter College senior and a Muslim, who recalled being spat on by a stranger as she waited for a train at Pennsylvania Station last week. “Definitely in New York. Especially in New York!”
The pressure and scrutiny on Muslims in New York since the Paris attacks “feels like 9/11 happened all over again,” she said.
“It feels like everybody’s staring like you’re on stage and you’re scared to do anything wrong,” she continued.
Ms. Osman, who was born and raised in the United States and wears a hijab, said she was attacked last Tuesday as she was en route from Hunter to her home in Huntington, on Long Island. She was talking on her phone when suddenly she felt a spray of saliva hit her. She said she heard someone yelling, “Go back home, you terrorist,” laced with a vulgarity.
Her attacker quickly melted into the crowd, and she was left stunned and bewildered. It had already been a rough day: She had been singled out three times by the police for bag checks while traveling on the subway system.
“I didn’t feel like a person anymore,” she said. “It’s like the hardest feeling in the world. You feel like you have no allies; you feel like you are alone. It’s a horrible feeling of isolation.” She did not report the episode because, she said, she did not want to relive the trauma and risk the possibility that it might be ignored.
Among other attacks in New York City, Sameya Omarkheil, 22, an Afghan-American student at St. Paul’s School of Nursing in Queens, said a man intentionally tripped her early last week as she was rushing to take an exam. The man then threw his cigarette butt near where she had fallen, ground it out with his shoe and said, “Go back to your country,” recalled Ms. Omarkheil, who was born and raised in New York and also wears a hijab.
“I was so scared on the inside, I couldn’t say anything back,” she said.
Ms. Omarkheil reported the episode to campus security but did not go to the police because she was in the middle of midterms and had no time. Once her exams were done, she said, she thought it was too late.
http://googleweblight.com/?lite_url...530459&sig=ALL1Aj63_ok5m_KEuA2aKINeO9S5Hm6Ypg
NOVEMBER 25, 2015
The safety tips, concise and chilling, have been passed from friend to Muslim friend on social media, by imams to their congregations, by Islamic groups to their members, by parents to their children heading off to school:
When in the subway, stand away from the platform edge, preferably with your back against a wall. Walk in groups after dark. Stay alert at all times.
In the days since the Paris terrorist attacks, Muslims in New York and elsewhere have guarded against a violent backlash, changing their routines and trying to manage their fear.
Still, the violence has come.
In the past week and a half, several Muslims in New York, mostly women wearing head scarves, have reported being victims of verbal abuse and physical assault. Even some non-Muslims — including at least one Latino mistaken for a Muslim — have been subjected to taunts or worse.
Two Muslim women in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn said that a man claiming to be a postal worker assaulted them, elbowing one and spitting in her face, and telling them he was going to burn down their “temple.” The police arrested a man on Tuesday in connection with the episode and charged him with aggravated harassment and menacing as a hate crime.
With each passing day, Muslims say, they are growing more fearful for their lives.
Muslim groups have reported a sharp increase in bias incidents around the country, including Muslims harassed and attacked on the street, at work and by phone and in online messages. Numerous mosques and Islamic centers have reported vandalism and threats.
And the community is bracing for more — including in New York City, one of the most pluralistic and inclusive municipalities in the nation.
“Even in New York,” said Ferida Osman, 21, a Hunter College senior and a Muslim, who recalled being spat on by a stranger as she waited for a train at Pennsylvania Station last week. “Definitely in New York. Especially in New York!”
The pressure and scrutiny on Muslims in New York since the Paris attacks “feels like 9/11 happened all over again,” she said.
“It feels like everybody’s staring like you’re on stage and you’re scared to do anything wrong,” she continued.
Ms. Osman, who was born and raised in the United States and wears a hijab, said she was attacked last Tuesday as she was en route from Hunter to her home in Huntington, on Long Island. She was talking on her phone when suddenly she felt a spray of saliva hit her. She said she heard someone yelling, “Go back home, you terrorist,” laced with a vulgarity.
Her attacker quickly melted into the crowd, and she was left stunned and bewildered. It had already been a rough day: She had been singled out three times by the police for bag checks while traveling on the subway system.
“I didn’t feel like a person anymore,” she said. “It’s like the hardest feeling in the world. You feel like you have no allies; you feel like you are alone. It’s a horrible feeling of isolation.” She did not report the episode because, she said, she did not want to relive the trauma and risk the possibility that it might be ignored.
Among other attacks in New York City, Sameya Omarkheil, 22, an Afghan-American student at St. Paul’s School of Nursing in Queens, said a man intentionally tripped her early last week as she was rushing to take an exam. The man then threw his cigarette butt near where she had fallen, ground it out with his shoe and said, “Go back to your country,” recalled Ms. Omarkheil, who was born and raised in New York and also wears a hijab.
“I was so scared on the inside, I couldn’t say anything back,” she said.
Ms. Omarkheil reported the episode to campus security but did not go to the police because she was in the middle of midterms and had no time. Once her exams were done, she said, she thought it was too late.
http://googleweblight.com/?lite_url...530459&sig=ALL1Aj63_ok5m_KEuA2aKINeO9S5Hm6Ypg