In March, two 16-year-old Muslim girls were imprisoned by the FBI on the assertion (no charges, mind you) that they are "an imminent threat to the security of the United States based on evidence that they plan to be suicide bombers." The FBI stories unraveled as fast as they were created.

The FBI said the two girls knew each other and were planning by the time they were imprisoned. Actually, they met after the FBI held them after their parents were detained on immigration charges. The girls, one from Bangladesh living in Queens and the other a Guinean girl living in East Harlem, had only age and Islam in common. The only "connection" to suicide bombing was an essay the Bangladeshi girl had written stating suicide is forbidden in Islam. It is strange that while the girls were being accused of preparing to blow up indeterminate targets, the FBI did not open their school lockers.

Now the girls are being held, in the words of the immigration authorities, "purely on immigration charges, that's it" and, according to the U.S. attorney, "there are absolutely no other criminal charges."

Muslims are increasingly the target of a "shoot first and ask questions later" policy by our government. Americans vary in their responses, from saying nothing to murmuring words of disapproval to condoning such repressive policies. The hard work of our Founding Fathers and the work of our great leaders of freedom seem to be going down the drain after a challenge to our nation by a handful of terrorists.

As Muslims decried the treatment of the young girls, many voices from the patriotic front were heard approving and justifying the same. This support was usually mixed with ill-concealed bile toward Muslims and Islam; how violent they are and how hateful their religion. They restate the 9/11 tragedy and cast the present in an "us-or-them" situation where it becomes the Muslims' fault that the United States is "forced" to take such actions.

Instead of looking at how our Constitution can be so easily undermined, we are engaged in tangential arguments that sweep from Muslims to Islam to terrorism and Israel. People have pointed out examples where Muslim women were suicide bombers and said where Muslims are concerned the authorities had no choice but to handle things in this manner.

If such reactions are justifiable, Muslims had better avoid doctors when they have a stuffed nose and difficulty breathing or they may get sent to Gitmo for threatening the nation with anthrax. Muslims could be justifiably shot as they walk in public places in a coat with a fanny pack around their waist.

As the review date approaches for certain portions of the Patriot Act, we Muslims watch with wistful bemusement at the energized stances of senators and representatives who decry those parts of the act that permit the FBI to sneak and peek in homes, library records and similar places sacred to all Americans.

We Muslims wish we had these problems.

Jeff Siddiqui is an American Muslim living in Lynnwood. He is a member of American Muslims of Puget Sound and is a human rights activist.

© 2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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