Many Muslim and Arab Americans fear that outreach programs launched by the U.S. government after the 9/11 attacks means little more than propaganda, recruitment and spying.

“It’s not about reaching out to us and including us,” community activist Kenwah Dabaja told Reuters on Tuesday, May 9. “The community is nervous.”

Dabaja, whose family immigrated to the United States from Lebanon, described the government’s outreach program as a misnomer.

“It’s not really outreach. To some it’s recruiting and propaganda spreading,” she said, adding there was a need for genuinely closer ties.

Counterterrorism officials are trying to build closer ties with Muslim and Arab Americans through town hall meetings, discussions with community leaders and one-on-one talks with local residents at mosques, schools or cultural events.

Officials hope closer ties will encourage community members to tip off authorities about suspicious newcomers or militant activities, allowing agents to foil possible plots before it’s too late.

Detroit, and especially the suburb of Dearborn, is home to the largest Arab and Muslim community in the United States.

While there is no scientific count of Muslims in the United States, six to seven million is the most commonly cited figure.

Wary

Many Arab and Muslim Americans have complained of being the target of racism and discrimination since the 9/11 attacks.

They accuse law enforcement officials of singling them out for scrutiny in the fight against terrorism.

“One thing everybody is taught in this country is that you are innocent until proven guilty, but it seems this is not working with regard to the Muslim community anymore,” said Imam Hassan al-Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center of America, one of the largest mosques in Dearborn.

He has recently urged the government to review its security policies that are unfairly targeting Muslim Americans.

A May 2004 report released by the U.S. Senate Office of Research concluded that the Arab American and the Muslim communities have felt the brunt of the Patriot Act and other federal powers applied in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Michael Brouchard, a Detroit area sheriff, said improving security cooperation with the community takes time.

“Every time you have a long-standing misunderstanding and distrust, it takes time to break that down,” said the man, the only Arab American running for the Senate this fall.

Some community members feared they were under surveillance, especially after the disclosure of domestic wiretapping as part of counterterrorism efforts.

Thousands of Muslim and Arabic men were rounded up an questioned in the weeks and months following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The administration agreed in February to pay $300,000 to settle an illegal detention lawsuit brought by an Egyptian man who was rounded up after the attacks.

Not enough

Federal, state and local counterterrorism officials recognize that bridging a gap of understanding is stumbling over deep-seated mistrust and suspicions.

One senior U.S. counterterrorism official in Washington admits that “we haven’t done enough” to cooperate with Arab and Muslim immigrants against terrorism.

He said the government had to beef up intelligence gathering at home by building trust between officials and Americans of Middle Eastern descent, linking local police more closely into communities and encouraging residents to volunteer information.

William Kowalski, the FBI’s acting special agent in charge of Detroit, seemed to agree. “Our job is to convince them that they can trust us so that they can come forward with information that will further our investigations, or points us in the right direction if they see suspicious individuals.”

He said the number of Arab Americans was so large in his area that almost every United States security investigation at home and abroad touched his community in some way.