Muslims being bullied

MUSLIMS IN AREA FEELING BULLIED - TOPDeborah Ziff, Tampa Tribune, 8/16/06
http://news.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBOCCH6XQE.html
The taunts exploded in Dhuha Hannah's ears."Drop the bomb!" "Drop the bomb!" Hannah remembers two men yelling at her, as they cruised past her in a pickup while she was waiting to pick up her 15-year-old granddaughter at King High School on Friday afternoon.She was wearing her hijab, or headscarf, when the men put a screaming police siren on top of the truck and began hurling hateful comments, Hannah said."For someone to imply, because I'm wearing a hijab, that I'm toting a bomb," Hannah trailed off. "It's ludicrous."The New York-born woman said she lowered her eyes, not wanting to provoke reaction. But she wished she would have taken note of the license plate number.It was the first time anyone made such comments in 17 years of living in Tampa, she said.According to anecdotal information, there has been an escalation of such incidents in the past weeks against area Muslims, said Ahmed Bedier, director of the local chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, though none has risen to the level of hate crimes.