jennifer bryan
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To some extent, the fear over what might be going on at the local mosque was
understandable in light of the intense FBI investigations into and media coverage of Jersey City
neighborhoods and mosques. Indeed, during the initial weeks after 9/11, television crews lined
up by the dozens to capture glimpses of FBI agents raiding Jersey City apartments, while
journalists throughout the country and the world ran leading stories depicting Jersey City as a
“Terror Town.” In effect, this media campaign strengthened the local residents’ resolve to take
personal responsibility to “watch” their Muslim neighbors and “do something” to defend their
neighborhoods. As one man warned:
…Here’s really what you do, what I think everyone one of us has to do. We have
to watch everything they [Muslims] do. We all have ears and we’re all pretty
smart people. Nobody puts nothing over on us. … I’m a street guy. I walk these
streets. OK. … But when I walk around here…they don’t like me. … They don’t
like any of us. They don’t want to be here. Not all of them. Not everybody’s bad.
Most people are good. But let me tell you something. We got a problem here.
You all know it. What I’m saying to do is watch. You see something, call the
FBI. Don’t call the Jersey City police; it’s a waste of time. They got too many
other things to do. Call the FBI. And guess what. Maybe they’ll get 3 or 4
phone calls about the same house. And maybe, just maybe they’ll do something
about it. But otherwise, it’s up to us
.
In some ways the phenomenon of neighbor turning against neighbor is similar to what
has been observed in studies of the effects of “ethnic cleansing” in the former Yugoslavia; there
the ideological movement to construct ethnic and religious categories as a way of promoting
ethnic cleansing and nationalism had a traumatic impact on neighborly relations (see Bringa
1995). Though clearly on a much lesser scale, the socially constructed image of Muslims in
Jersey City as terrorists has hampered trust and amicable relations among neighbors.
6
Indeed,
reflecting the heightened fear and panic, applications for gun permits in Jersey City increased
250% after the September 11 attacks (Associated Press 2001).
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Muslim Responses to Living in Terror: Emphasizing “the True” Islam
Given the extreme hostility Arab Muslims have experienced in Jersey City, it would not
be surprising if they lashed out against local Americans. It would also not be surprising if many
tried to blend in or mask their “Muslimness,” especially in public. But this is not what happened
among the people I met and interviewed.
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They have not, in most cases, pressed charges against
authorities. And while some have reacted by staying away from mosques and keeping a low
Convention