Muslim woman takes brunt of local anger

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- A Newport Beach woman awoke Tuesday to a tragic

lesson of how hatred ultimately breeds more hatred as seven threatening

phone calls terrorized her small family.

“I have an Arabic-sounding last name and I’m in the phone book, that’s

the only explanation I can think of,� said the woman, who believes the

calls were motivated by anti-Muslim hatred fueled by the East Coast

terrorist attacks. “I’ve never gotten calls like this before.�

Even before preliminary reports inferred that attacks on the World

Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon were a response to the

Middle East conflict, the woman, who the Daily Pilot has declined to

name, received the first threatening call about 6:15 a.m. Within 15

minutes, she received another harassing call.

“I was in hysterical tears,� she said.

She gathered her two children and left the house about 7 a.m.

“I didn’t want to take any chances,� she added. “There are real nuts

out there, this morning’s bombings prove that.�

She returned home briefly to gather some possessions and contact the

phone company. When Pacific Bell’s business offices opened at 8 a.m., she

ordered a privacy manager service on her phone line -- but not before

five more calls had rattled her to the bone.

She reported the incident to the police and left the house again. By

afternoon, she had not decided when she would feel safe to return.

Sgt. Steve Shulman of the Newport Beach Police Department said there

was not enough evidence to be sure the calls constituted a hate crime. No

other residents had reported harassing calls or threats Tuesday morning.

But the woman said she doesn’t need any more evidence of the callers’

motivation.

“They were saying things like, ‘Mohammed lovers should go back to

their own country,�’ she said.

The woman, who is Muslim, believes the callers were different people,

and said all of them were male.

“In times like this, it’s not uncommon for people to point fingers at

the Muslim community,� said Haipham A. Bundakji, chairman of the public

relations council of the Islamic Society of Orange County. “Phone books

have names, and Islamic names are recognized. Some people have nothing

better to do.�

He noted that his organization, the largest Islamic organization in

the western United States and whose purview includes Newport Beach and

Costa Mesa, is available to help locals cope with the crisis.

FYI

The Islamic Society of Orange County can be reached at (714) 432-5725.