Several Muslim teenagers were harassed by fellow pupils following the terrorist
attacks on the United States last week, the Human Rights Commission said
yesterday.
HRC spokeswoman Ms Phumla Mthala said the commission was aware that Arab pupils
at several Gauteng high schools had been verbally insulted.
Mthala said the attack was deplorable and resulted in heightened security.
The commission had received the information about pupils being harassed through
several sources, including parents.
"I am reluctant to name the schools involved until we decide what action
to take."
The HRC will meet next Tuesday to decide how to handle the situation.
She said there had been an incident were Muslim passengers on board a flight
from Durban to Johannesburg were asked to identify themselves to the crew.
"There are extra security checks for Muslim passengers," she said.
Airports Company South Africa spokeswoman Ms Mahle Ndlovu said she was not
aware of the incident.
"We search everybody. We haven't categorised people. No policy has been
implemented targeting Arabs or Muslims," she said.
Media reports abroad also revealed a string of attacks on Muslims in the US and
Britain.
In London a Muslim woman was allegedly assaulted by a white man with a baseball
bat.
And an Afghan taxi driver in London was paralysed after an attack by
anti-Muslim mobs.
On Monday US president Mr George Bush visited a mosque in New York as part of
his campaign to stop anti-Muslim sentiment among Americans.
Meanwhile, political parties were quick to condemn the arson attack on the Cape
Town offices of the Muslim Judicial Council in the early hours of yesterday.
MJC secretary general Achmat Sedick said a flammable substance was poured over
the wooden front doors of the MJC offices in Athlone and set alight around 3am.
The use of a flammable substance has been confirmed by assistant police
commissioner Joseph Ngobeni.
The caretaker who slept at the back of the building was woken by the smell of
smoke and extinguished the fire.
The blaze had burned through the doors, which would have to be replaced.
The leader of the African National Congress in the Western Cape Ebrahim Rasool
said the rise of Islamophobia since the attacks in the United States had
fuelled tensions and created a climate ripe for exploitation.
"We must not allow the motives and responses of the USA attacks to bring
terror in the Western Cape," Rasool said.
"The use of terror, intimidation and violence against any nation,
religion, ethnic group or community cannot be condoned."
Rasool said the Western Cape should set an example of unity in opposing all
prejudices and policies that brought harm or terror.
He called on the community, particularly the Muslim community of the Western
Cape not to retaliate and for all people to remain calm.
"Now is not a time for hostility and suspicion. That will only unwittingly
help spread tension and terror," Rasool said.
The United Democratic Movement's provincial secretary in the Western Cape Grant
Twigg called on all the citizens of Cape Town to unite against all forms of
terrorism and violence.
"It is the UDM's passionate plea that all of us remain calm and do not
analyse recent events in the United States by generalising.
"Our condemnation should not be based on religion but on our joint
commitment to peace, irrespective of our religious beliefs," Twigg said.
Western Cape safety and security MEC Hennie Bester said the Democratic Alliance
would "not tolerate this kind of behaviour in the province".
During a visit to the MJC offices, Bester condemned the crime in the strongest
possible terms and said that the police would launch a thorough investigation
into the incident.
National Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete was due to visit the MJC
offices later on Wednesday. - Sowetan and Sapa