September 11 was the beginning of a new era. Like every era, a new enemy was created, subjected to discrimination. “Racial profiling had a new poster boy: he was young, Arab and Muslim.
These words come from a five minute documentary titled “Flying While Muslim: Racial Profiling Post 9/11 by Lyra Porras Garzón. This is one of many films taking part in the One Nation, Many Voices online competition for “Muslims in America: telling stories, not stereotypes.
The competition is a platform for Americans to speak out against the discrimination of Muslims. US citizens of any ethnic background or religion are welcome to take part in posting films or voting. The point is to challenge the stereotypes against Muslims imbedded in contemporary American culture, using short video clips that run for up to five minutes.
The competition is sponsored by news and culture channel Link TV and One Nation, a non-profit organization of Muslim Americans.
There are six categories of film. In the comedy section, a film called “Muslim While Flying by Baba Ali has already been viewed 1,963 times.
“If you thought black while driving is bad, try Muslim while flying is this clip’s tagline. A young Arab American delivers a monologue, taking on different characters to discuss how Muslims are perceived.
Throughout the monologue, he repeats “Islam does not teach terrorism. He makes fun of random searches at airports that usually target people who look Middle Eastern. He goes back and forth between playing himself and a security official to get his message across.
Although the film pokes fun at the situation, a black comedy of sorts, the short documentary “Flying While Muslim does have a dramatic effect.
The film portrays a Muslim American family that arrives in a US airport after a holiday trip and is humiliated and violated by security officials who question them for a whole day without feeding them. One of the family members says that they originally immigrated in pursuit of the American dream, but since 9/11, they have been living an American nightmare.
In the animation and music category, a film by Joan Mandell titled “I, Too, Sing America shows a veiled young lady (Amal Raychoun), singing the national anthem in a sweet voice. Although that is all the film entails, the patriotic image of an American Muslim will send tingles down your spine.
A film called “Scout Leader by Joan Mandell – in the under 60 seconds category – tells a story narrated by Boy Scout leader Khalil Baydoun. One day he was on a trip with the boys and they needed to take a ferry. The ferry driver called 911 saying there were suspected terrorists on board. The driver made this assumption because there were about a dozen Arab looking boys standing together. Baydoun explains that it is “frightening and sad how they have to live their lives with people pointing fingers at them, assuming that they are terrorists.
Another film in the drama category is a clever adaptation of Shakespeare’s play “The Merchant of Venice. It was slightly modified to make it relevant to the issue at hand. The original version featured Jewish Shylock; but in this version, Seleem Siddiqui is a Muslim standing up to the post 9/11 discrimination.
Looking distressed, the actor says – in a British accent – “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh. scorned my nation. what are his reasons? I am a Muslim.
All the films posted evoke an array of emotions, which highlights the seriousness of the problem.
Omar El-Dewey, an Egyptian citizen who was studying at the University of Denver, Colorado before and after 9/11, said his American friends did not change the way they treated him even though government officials were more cautious and suspicious of him. In 2002, while reentering the US after vacationing in Cairo, El-Dewey was detained and interrogated for 12 hours.
“They believed that I was forging identities and somehow connected to terrorism, he explains. Eventually, they let him go but kept a close eye on him for two weeks. During that time, these agents “scared his American roommate, who asked El-Dewey to leave because he didn’t want to be linked to terrorism. El-Dewey’s records are clean, but he is still interrogated every time he enters the US.
Vanessa Hoo, an American graduate student majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication at the American University in Cairo, lived in the US during 9/11 and says she felt a difference in the way Arab’s were suddenly perceived. “People were primarily afraid and acting on emotion – not really thinking, she says, and they justified the discrimination against Muslims after 9/11.
She said that while media can definitely help deal with discrimination, the people that are going to watch these films in this competition are most probably a specific audience that already understands the situation.
The best film will be awarded $20,000, and $5,000 will go to the winner in each category. People can vote for their favorites, but the finalists will be chosen by a panel of judges that include Sara Abbasi, who along with her husband, endowed the Abbasi program in Islamic Studies at the Stanford University in 2003.
Also on the board is actor Danny Glover (of “Lethal Weapon and “The Color Purple ), who is known for his role as a UNDP and Unicef ambassador.
Another judge is Marianne Pearl, widow of journalist Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped and killed by terrorists in Pakistan. A Hollywood adaptation of her memoir “A Mighty Heart was released this summer, starring Angelina Jolie.
The final member of the committee is comedian Azhar Usman, who is cofounder of “Allah Made Me Funny – The Official Muslim Comedy Tour and the Nawawi Foundation, dedicated to contemporary Islamic research.
The deadline for film submissions is Nov. 25.
To view these films, visit: http://www.linktv.org/onenation
