jennifer bryan
4
While Arab Muslims reside in neighborhoods throughout Jersey City, more recent Arab
Muslim immigrants have tended to rent apartments in densely concentrated neighborhoods near
the city’s old central business district and transportation hub—Journal Square. Currently, the
Journal Square area is composed of census tracts that are 61% foreign born, of whom 55% are
without citizenship. Persons with Arab ancestry make up 14% of the Journal Square area census
tracts, and, specifically, immigrants from Egypt make up 11% of these census tracts. These
figures are no doubt undercounts given that many undocumented Arab Muslim immigrants were
likely missed by census takers.
Before September 11
th
, Arab Muslims in Jersey City, like other immigrants, were focused
on earning money to support their families and improve their own and their children’s lives.
Indeed, with financial support from business partners overseas, a number of Arab Muslims were
running businesses including travel agencies, restaurants, check-cashing hubs, beauty salons and
pharmacies along Journal Square and throughout the city. Some were operating taxi and bus
services to accommodate the large number of commuters making their way to work in New York
City. Still others provided vital services in construction and electrical engineering. Like other
recent immigrants in the postmodern era, Arab Muslims in Jersey City maintained close
communication with families, friends and business partner in their countries of origin through
cell phones, email, fax and regular mail. Many also followed the time-honored practice of
sending money back to relatives in their home country. In turn, these relatives often reciprocated
by sending specialty food items and clothes, as well as antibiotics and other medicines, which
most immigrant workers could not afford given their minimal access to health care in the U.S.
Many also traveled back to their home countries for visits, and sent money home to allow
relatives to visit in New Jersey. In short, Arab Muslims were doing what most immigrants have
done throughout history: working long hours for little pay; spending time with their friends and
loved ones, enjoying specialty foods from their mother countries; and saving money in order to
make a better life for their children.
And then the sky fell in on September 11
th
. As this paper will show, the attack on
September 11
th
had a devastating impact on Jersey City’s Muslim community, shaking loose the
foundation they worked so hard to build, and unleashing a wave of hostility toward them. In
addition to feeling outrage over the attacks of 9/11, mourning the tragic loss of lives, and seeing
on a daily basis the gaping hole which once held the Twin Towers, Muslims in Jersey City had to
Convention