By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY  "One incident like this can just completely erase five years of building up confidence in the mainstream American community that we're no different," says Ray Hanania, one of the founders of the Association of Patriotic Arab Americans in Military. "It's always a setback when there is an act of violence."  Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings that left 13 people dead and 30 wounded, was born in Virginia to Arab immigrant parents and is a Muslim.  The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, is urging religious institutions to beef up security in the aftermath of the Texas shootings.  The organization has already received hate calls and hate e-mails, says Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director. Muslims in Killeen, Texas, near Fort Hood, contacted him because they fear a backlash.  "The Muslim-bashers and Islamaphobes come out of the woodwork," Hooper says. I've taken a handful of calls personally," he says. "It's '(expletive) Islam' and 'Go back where you came from' types of calls. … I hate to say it, but it's almost routine now."  CAIR was a leader of educational campaigns to quell anti-Muslim sentiment after the Sept. 11 attacks. All the terrorists involved were Arabs and Muslims.  The organization created a Muslim Community Safety Kit that includes advice on developing a good relationship with law enforcement and forming a list of lawyers to handle backlash incidents.  "We're asking for calm and unity," Hooper says. "In this time of crisis, we really need to come together as a nation and not listen to voices that try to pit one community against another."  Hanania hosts Radio Chicagoland, a five day-a-week talk radio show aimed at Arab Americans. The Fort Hood shootings dominated the show Friday morning.  "A couple of callers said, 'You need to stop being an Arab,' " Hanania says. "Wait a minute. What this guy did has nothing to do with being an Arab. Part of the problem is our fault. We need to tell Americans who we really are."  Hanania is an Army veteran who served during the Vietnam War. His brother was a Marine. His father and uncle served during World War II.  Army statistics show that as of April 2008, there were 1,563 active-duty soldiers who identified themselves as Muslims and 436 Army National Guard members and 581 Army reservists.  Hanania said he knows of no statistics that track harassment cases against Arabs or Muslims in the military.  "There is always harassment," Hanania says. "It's just part of our society. … It takes a lot of courage to be an Arab-American and a Muslim in this country."  Not all Arabs are Muslim and not all Muslims are Arabs. Hanania, for instance, is Christian.  "Thousands of Arab Americans and American Muslims serve honorably every day in all four branches of the U.S. military and in the National Guard," says James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute.  John Abizaid, of Lebanese descent, is a retired four-star general and onetime head of the U.S. Central Command. Navy SEAL Petty Officer Michael Monsoor, also an Arab American, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously last year for heroism in Iraq.  Eric Rahman, a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, is Iraqi American. He served in Iraq twice this decade.  He enlisted after the first Gulf War and says attitudes toward Arabs and Muslims were worse then because the military was not as sensitive as it is now to cultural diversity. That changed after 9/11, when the government launched a massive effort "to educate, understand and learn," Rahman says. "You can't walk the streets of Iraq and not understand the cultural mores and values."  He says he has not personally encountered harassment in the military but admits that some people may not know he is Arab.  "I don't have a discernible accent. I don't have facial hair. I look just like an Italian or Greek or anyone else with dark eyes," says Rahman, who splits his time between Louisville and Tampa, where he is stationed. "Sometimes, if someone uses a derogatory term, I'll take them aside and let them know it's inappropriate. … If the subject comes out, I'm happy and proud to tell them both of my parents were born in Iraq."  Rahman expects that military commanders in coming days will remind servicemembers that the Fort Hood shootings are "an isolated event that shouldn't reflect on the service of Arab Americans and Muslims."  You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference.
The tragic shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, allegedly by an Arab-American Army psychiatrist, may deal a severe blow to image campaigns launched by Arab and Muslim groups after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.