US Senator’s Comments at Hate Crime Hearing Draw Criticism from Muslims, Arabs
Kennedy made the comments at a Senate hearing on hate crime and hate speech last week.
Some of Kennedy’s New Orleans constituents also said they think the Republican senator does not see them as full American citizens despite being part of his constituency.
The Sept. 17 Senate Judiciary hearing was meant to address rising hate crimes against Jewish, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim Americans. But instead of discussing incidents of hate at home, Kennedy asked Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, “You support Hamas, do you not?”
He continued his line of questioning by asking Berry if she supported Hezbollah and Iran. Moments later, he told Berry she should hide her “head in a bag.”
Kennedy’s questioning of Berry was condemned by civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Council on American-Islamic Relations. Residents of greater New Orleans also denounced the comments.
Hakm Murad, a Palestinian American and a leader of pro-ceasefire protests in New Orleans, said he found Kennedy’s behavior “devastating.”
“You have to almost laugh at it,” Murad said. “That during a congressional hearing about hate speech and hate crimes that he’s actively using hate speech.”
Murad called Kennedy’s words “ugly,” especially because Kennedy didn’t acknowledge the presence of a Palestinian hate crime victim at the hearing. Murad was referring to Hanan Shaheen, who was stabbed dozens of times in an attack at her family’s Illinois home last year in an attack that also killed her 6-year-old son, Wadee Alfayoumi. Police said the attack by the family’s landlord was a targeted hate crime.
“She’s lost her child, her everything, and she’s a victim of a hate crime in our country,” Murad said. “And he did not give her even a moment of attention. Didn’t even give her condolences.”
Immigration lawyer and Muslim American Fatima Khan, who lives in Mid-City, said, “The way that our community experiences Islamophobia is that we have our Muslimness or our concern for our communities labeled as extremism.”
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Metairie resident Jenny Yanez, who works as the Louisiana community development coordinator at Islamic Circle of North America Relief USA, said that the rhetoric she hears about Muslims from politicians today is worse than what she heard in the post-9/11 era. She said Kennedy’s “racist and disrespectful” words legitimize Islamophobic attitudes.
“He’s creating a new generation of people who have disdain and hatred and [are] learning to dehumanize Arabs,” Yanez said.
Yanez also said she thinks Kennedy sees Arabs and Muslims as terrorists with foreign interests instead of as Americans. She’s worried about the policy implications Islamophobic bias can have.
“We understand now that he does not think of Arabs or Muslims as full Americans, so why would he include policies that include us?” Yanez said.
Source: lailluminator.com
