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US officials try to quell fears of Arab Americans

Federal officials met with Arab-Americans to assure them that laws protect them from racially motivated violence, but found participants more concerned with their civil liberties than slurs or assaults.

Tuesday's forum on anti-Arab violence prompted by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks gave way to a question-and-answer session on plans to interview Middle Eastern men as part of the nationwide investigation.

Imad Hamad, Midwest regional director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told the panel that the interviews "brought chilling concerns to the community."

Noel Saleh, an attorney for the Arab Community Center for Eco-nomic and Social Services, objected to the idea of singling out young Arab men for questioning.

"This is something that is profiling a certain portion of the Arab community," he told the panel.

Held at the public library in Dearborn, where about 20 percent of the 98,000 residents are Arab-American, Justice Department officials spoke first about how America's laws protect Arabs.

But many of the estimated 100 participants questioned how that was possible as authorities prepare to interview more than 5,000 visitors from Middle Eastern countries to try to determine if they have been recruited by Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, al-Qaeda.

About 300,000 of Michigan's 350,000 Arab-Americans live in the Detroit area, according to the Arab-American Institute.

Just days after starting his job as US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Jeffrey Collins said his office would do "everything possible" to make sure racial discrimination does not occur.

Collins said it is a "fine line" trying to balance protecting national security interests and civil liberties. Arab-American leaders say the Detroit area has avoided anti-Arab violence since the terrorist attacks, although some say they've been subjected to ethnic slurs and threats.

Dean Hachem, owner of the Sheik Restaurant chain, said his business dropped almost 60 percent after an e-mail went out the day of the attacks falsely claiming people had been cheering at the restaurants.
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