Arsalan Iftikhar, an internation human rights lawyer, lectured on anti-Muslim sentiments in the post-9/11 world.

The “cottage industry of Islamophobia” has seen a recent rise in media attention, in part due to the rise of the conservative Tea Party movement, Arsalan Iftikhar — international human rights lawyer and frequent contributor to CNN among other media outlets — said Saturday. 

Iftikhar, who describes himself as a liberal voice representing Muslims in America, lectured to a packed Kaufmann auditorium on the challenges faced by American Muslims following the attacks on the World Trade Center, touching on the many news stories that have brought attention to Muslims in America, from dissenters’ accusations against President Barack Obama’s religious background, to controversy over building Park 51 — a Muslim community center — near ground zero, to the firing of National Public Radio’s Juan Williams.

“[Sept. 11] was not only a day when our country was attacked, but for American Muslims and Muslims around the world it was also the day when our religion was hijacked, as well,” Iftikhar said.

Immediately following the terrorist attack on the morning of Sept. 11, Iftikhar — who was then a second year law student at Washington University in St. Louis — wrote an opinion piece that was published in major newspapers condemning the acts and asking for “greater understanding.” The editorial mapped out the course he would take from then on.

“I am an international human rights lawyer by trade, but much of the work I have done since Sept. 11 has been either in the intellectual realm … and public education,” he said.

Iftikhar said that in the aftermath of Sept. 11, there was a backlash against Muslims nationwide, including deportations without due process and imprisonment.  Iftikhar highlighted that even today, almost a decade after the Sept. 11 attacks, Muslim Americans are still met with mistrust and misunderstanding.

“When a lot of people say President Obama is a Muslim, that’s sort of their underhanded way of saying President Obama’s black. It is their way to ‘other-ize’ him without overtly racism … It’s sort of an accepted form of racism,” Iftikhar said.

He predicted that Obama’s re-election campaign would elicit even more explicit attacks.

Park 51, Iftikhar said, was only made a political issue in light of the midterm election. He cited the negative media attention surrounding plans to build the Muslim community center near ground zero as evidence of the visceral reaction Islam has earned in American media and in political and cultural arenas.

With increased media attention on Muslim issues, Iftikhar said some journalists use media outlets to express their own opinions under the shroud of the First Amendment.

Iftikhar said the conservative media defended Juan Williams, fired from NPR for saying he gets “worried” when he sees people in “Muslim garb” on an airplane, under the First Amendment right to free speech. However, no mentions of free speech rights were made when Helen Thomas and Rick Sanchez were terminated for using inflammatory language against other non-Muslim groups, Iftikhar said.

As a civil rights attorney, Iftikhar calls himself a “First Amendment freak.” However, he added, “[the First Amendment] does not mean that our mainstream media organizations need to give these people the platform to continue saying these things.”

Iftikhar explained that anti-Muslim rhetoric from politicians and the media today is stronger than in the past. He said he suspects that the bigotry will get worse before it can get better regarding all aspects of equality, including “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” health care and immigration.

Iftikhar said that all individuals, regardless of whether they are the victims of this discrimination, should work towards equality.

“It will be another demographic group tomorrow,” he said. “Just like American history turns its page from chapter to chapter, we’re only in the millennium version of that … We have an obligation as Americans and citizens of the world to help reinstall a culture of humanity.”

To reestablish this sense of equality, Iftikhar encouraged students to actively volunteer in their schools and communities as well as in politics and other fields in which they will find fulfillment.

“Public service is a contact sport. Get involved,” Iftikhar said.  

While many people interviewed at the lecture said that Cornell is a tolerant environment with an active Muslim community, some believe that there are certain issues that necessitate change.

“What hinders us most as a community right now is the lack of a permanent social and cultural center,” said Ali Hussain ’11, a member of the Islamic Alliance for Justice, the student group that organized Iftikhar’s talk.

“I believe the amazing turnout tonight … speaks to the need to establish such a permanent space on campus,” Hussain added. “This [would] optimize diversity and the ability for the Cornell community to learn about the Muslim world.”

Lura Salm ’11 said she attended the lecture to learn contrasting viewpoints to the perceptions of Islam circulated by the media. “[Iftikhar] spelled it out — Islam does bring a knee-jerk reaction,” Salm said. She said she attended the lecture to broaden her perspective, now that she has a Muslim boyfriend.