People have differences in defining the discrimination and establishing the different between the discrimination and the ethnic profiling but any why both are discriminations and that is what we are living daily all over the world specially us Muslims and the people of Arab origin. It is a long time that we are living this discrimination and many around us, specially the media outlet try to deny this reality, but they are only mislead themselves because they are biased media. All these attacks prove that we are living an ill society try to pretend healthy, while it is very far from being healthy. The psychological illness should be recognized so it could be treated. Actually, we are not able to define if this society that pretend to be healthy, this pretend is intently or from ignorance…! Actually, there is no difference is it intently or from ignorance, both will lead to the remain of the illness and the suffering, this virus will remain and will spread to attack everything around us and will remain in the air so we will all breath it so it could affect everything form in and around all of us.

The psychological effect is the wrest results from this ethnic profiling, because it will affect our generation and generations to come. The effect will vary from nervous breakdown to the complete schizophrenia, we see the symptoms, and all this will lead to the segregation and separation with in the society. All this came up to my mind through personal experience I found it deserve to be brought to you, it represents two problems in a chain: The first is the side effect of the roomer and the fear, and the second represent the absolute fear.

My duties requires some travel, actually I did not travel since September 11, 2001, not because of the accident but because there were no need for traveling at that time. I get two advises from two friends, the first is not a Muslim nor from Arab origin, his advise was not to travel by plane because it is not save. I understand this fear that spread between many and it is a normal result from the scare that been going between all of us.

The second advice was from a Muslim Arab friend, whose advice matches the first friend, when I refuse his argument and fear because we suppose not to fear "God which will become happened". He never refuse my objection from the principal point of view, but he see it from another angle, he based his argument on the ethnic profiling that become evidence since September 11, 2001. My friend stated that any of us could be subjected to harassment and unnecessary lengthy questioning, then we could be removed from the plane because the pilot dose not feel save traveling with any Arab or Muslim, this been happening specially in USA, and in Canada also.

The worst in our friend analysis was his fear that the plane could fall down for any reason, or may be if any troubles happened, any Muslim or Arab will be the suspect and will be the guilty. He remind me that there were more than five hundred passenger on the 4 plans on September 11th, 2001, and only the Arab names become suspects and no Arab name been excluded from the suspected list, we do not travel we only hijack planes…! Our friend start to elaborate stated that he would be the main suspect, his name would never be cleared up from a crime he never committed, and his family would be in a mess.
They will be rounded by the media outlets and should they believe this accusations, they will loss faith on their relative, or they would refuse this silly accusations so they will be in a war with the society.

I wonder actually from this analysis, but I cannot hide my support for his argument and that I am joining him in his fear, it is not fear from an possible accident but it is a real fear from what could happened. It would be a sentence without a court and if been cleared from the accusations, it will be a small announcement in a hidden part in a small paper, while the accusations were published widely in the front pages of all the papers. Is not all a case of ethnic profiling?
I found that we have a case that should be discussed publicly, I reached a conclusion that this is the goal of the terrorist, who ever committed this crime his goal is to destroy all of us and to destroy the harmony of the all society, our fear from the future and our carefulness will be a way of separation. I am not blaming my friend, he is completely right, but I am reporting here my anger of this reality and my refusal to this reality, I am inviting you to live your regular day and do not change your way of living, unless there is a wrong doing that should be adjusted, that is my decision, please join me.

If every person been treated badly reported this harassment, if each individual been removed from a plane or a train report this to the authority, if we refused the accusation that all the Arabs names are for hijackers, this will be the way for the safe future.

For this reason I will not give up my work duties and I will live the experience of the harassment because I am Muslim Arab. But I would like to point out that I have been in the plane only because of the work, I was never been to Afghanistan, I never met or work for Bin Laden, I have no relation with the Iraqi regime, and I do not know how to drive plane.

I would like to point out that in my car there is a copy of the Qura'an as any Muslim and usually I pray before going to the plane.
That is why we have to resist this campaign, we have no chance to loss the stereotyping campaign, we are citizen with the rights and obligations, my name, my religion, and my color, no one of these should change anything of the reality that we are all Canadian. We have to protest any harassment; we have to be active in our role in the society, many elections are coming we have to participate as more than usual, we have to show all the society that we are part of it. We are part of the of this society for the benefit of all the society, for our children, that is the only answer we have to this unfair media outlets campaign.

They can full some people some time but you cannot full all the people all the time.

Freelance writer
Mohamed Sherif Kamel
sherif@unforgettable.com