jennifer bryan
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Of all states reporting bias incidents to the FBI, New Jersey had the second highest number of
reported hate crimes: 804 (FBI Hate Crime Statistics 2001: 20).
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Nine of the 804 were in Jersey
City. The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) allocated funds to the Jersey
City police to monitor mosques and watch out for hate crimes, so that the relatively low number
of reported offenses in Jersey City suggests that some crimes were successfully deterred. Still,
this did not eliminate hostile acts.
Nearly all Muslims I interviewed mentioned hostility from employers, coworkers, store
clerks and bank tellers, police officers, neighbors, random passersby or even former friends.
Women and children have tended to bear the brunt of various kinds of hate crimes, especially
face-to-face assaults. In part, this may be because so many Arab men were detained or fled
Jersey City after the 9.11 attack, and were not as visible as Arab women in public spaces. Also,
perpetrators of hate crimes may have been more afraid of Arab men than women, given
widespread notions about Arab male terrorists. Further, it could be that the women I interviewed
were more willing to talk about harassment than men, particularly to a female researcher.
Nonetheless, regardless of the reasons for physical violence against Muslim women, the effects
have been dramatic.
Physical Violence against Muslim Women
Most often the violent attacks against women were directed at those wearing the hijab
and Islamic dress, while shopping around the area of Journal Square. Indeed, it has become a
daily struggle to reconcile the maintenance of religious traditions and the objective and
subjective fears of harm. The attacks I learned about ranged from children throwing rocks at
Muslim women to teenagers throwing beer cans to adult men and women punching Muslim
women in the face, while attempting to rip off their clothes and tear their veils. Speaking of her
sister who was badly beaten up in Journal Square, one woman explained:
I know a lot of sisters who got beat up. One sister got beat up very, very bad on
Journal Square. They tore her dress, pulled off her hijab. Al Hamd li Allah [praise
to Allah] some storeowner helped her. …I told her you have to report this, but she
doesn’t want to cause trouble. A lot of people don’t want to cause trouble. A lot
of people are afraid because they don’t have papers.
As this quote suggests, Muslim were reluctant to report hate crimes because they were
afraid of “causing trouble.” This was especially true when they lacked proper immigration
Convention