Newspaper reports Pakistani-Americans Terrorized by 'Recriminations'

By Peter Wilson

When a radical Muslim attempts mass murder, it's a sure bet that the press will recycle a "fear-of-anti-Muslim-backlash" story from its archives. The Boston Globe did not disappoint. Two days after Muslims connected to the Times Square bomb attempt were arrested in Watertown, Mass., the paper ran a front page photo with the caption, "Pakistani-Americans in New England said they now fear they will be ostracized."

The article begins:

Muneeza Nasrullah knows the fear of being a Muslim in the United States, having lived through the recriminations after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

With the arrests of Pakistanis following this month's failed car bomb in New York City, the Pakistani-American woman worries that her community will be singled out.... "It's very scary,'' said Nasrullah, 34, president of the Pakistan Association of Greater Boston.

The whole "recrimination" story line is undermined by a quote from Malik Khan, president of the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland:

[Khan] said that after the attacks on Sept. 11, neighbors of his mosque, including those from a nearby synagogue, brought flowers and asked how they could help prevent any backlash. In recent days, he said, he has received similar expressions of support by e-mail.

The only examples of ill-treatment the article could come up with appear to come from school kids, a class of people not known for unfailing politeness. One Muslim child was "ostracized for wearing a hijab," another was told his middle initial "T" must stand for terrorist. The horror. Call me strange, but what scares me more is the thought that my children might be blown up by a car bomb on their way to get ice cream.