Staff Suffer
Fallout From 9/11 Attacks
Together
with management, discuss harassment and discrimination.
October 4, 2001?There was the staff member, a frequent traveler, who was returning to Washington from an overseas mission a few days ago and was delayed at Dulles International airport by immigration officials for over an hour. He was searched closely and questioned repeatedly about his travels, background, family, work and so on.
Then there was another staffer, returning from a family vacation in London, whose flight got diverted to Canada, three hours away from landing in the US on September 11. After deplaning in Newfoundland, he and his family were separated from the rest of the passengers and lodged in a different hotel when the authorities realized that his wife was traveling with a Syrian passport.
What do these two staff have in common? They are both Arabs.
These harrowing tales of discrimination were some of the personal experiences that came to light at a gathering organized by Human Resources, the World Bank/IMF Arab Club, and the Staff Association on Monday to discuss the aftereffects of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington, DC. The discussion was moderated by Lana Bader-Kodsi, president of the Arab Club.
For the Bank's Arab and Muslim staff, these after effects have taken the form of harassment and discrimination in their lives away from work.
World Bank Group President James D. Wolfensohn, who attended the session, said all of management consider "any form of discrimination against staff as an abomination."
"This is a chance for us to demonstrate to the world that we here at the Bank and at the Fund are a united family," he said. "The turnout by the President and senior management was very impressive and a testament to the Bank's commitment to issues of diversity and well-being of staff, said EXT Officer Hafed Al-Ghwell.
Nemat Shafik, VP of Private Sector Development and Infrastructure, noted that, fortunately, no incidents had occurred in the Bank, crediting this to the institution's culture of diversity and tolerance. She narrated the tale of a staff member who was mistaken for an Arab and assaulted near the World Bank offices over the weekend.
"The beauty of the World Bank," said Shafik, "is that this staff, who is Jewish and grew up in a tough neighborhood in Detroit, fought off his assailants and then returned to inform his sympathetic boss, an Arab, about the incident." The Bank quickly responded by notifying security, Human resources, Management, and local authorities. She said these post- September 11 adverse aftereffects on Arabs and Muslims were the result of intolerance and ignorance. "Civilized societies should not tolerate such intolerance," she said.
Kathy Sierra, Human Resource Services VP, said she was proud of the response of the Bank community to the plight of the Arab and Muslim staff. "We are a community that values diversity and that's why we work here," she said, adding that she was glad that such discrimination was not happening at the Bank.
Staff Association Chair Morallina George agreed. "Diversity is our strength," she said, "but after September 11, we must move one step further." She said staff delegates had volunteered to accompany Muslim colleagues to Friday prayer, if any thought such company would make them more comfortable. Such a service would also be available to staff such as Sikh, Buddhists, Jews and others who might be discriminated against.
Rula Ghani, president-elect of the World Bank Volunteer Service, talked about the support network for staff spouses and families; WBVS is also putting together support groups for staff who suffer discrimination or harassment. Clare Scrimgeour of the WBVS said the organization will be launching an educational series on world religions, whose objective is to foster understanding of some of the world's great faiths through education.
Club members also made suggestions about possible measures to counteract the perverse effects of post-September 11. These included: Educate and explain about Islam, while remaining yourself and true to your identity
The Bank should consider issuing United Nations passports (laissez passer) to Bank spouses.
A special telephone number should be established for traveling staff and their families to call in an emergency such as the September 11 incident. (This number, 202 458 8888, has since been established and is contained in the Family Security Information Cards made available last week.)
Parents should attend PTA meetings and bring up the issue of discrimination and harassment with their children's school authorities, dealing with it openly.
Shafik warned of more struggles ahead and urged that Arabs and Muslims?and indeed everyone?should treat questions about religion and culture as an opportunity to educate others about diversity. She told the story of how a lone Muslim girl had been treated by her classmates in a school in the United States. The day after the first stories about anti-Arab/Muslim harassment began to surface, all of the girl's female classmates, Christians and Jews, turned up in school wearing headscarves like the one that she'd worn alone up until then and which had distinguished her from the rest. An attack on one girl would be an attack on all girls, this attitude seemed to say.
For more information on the World Bank/IMF Arab Club, contact Samia Benidir, ext. 8-0063.
Useful link: For more information on Islamic civilization and Arabic culture, try this website prepared by Professor Alan Godlas, the Department of Religion, University of Georgia: http://www.arches.uga.edu/~godlas/.
Welcome
to the real world right?
African
Americans have lived like this all of our lives in this country and continue
to undergo both subtle and blatant forms of discrimination all the time. I think
it is very interesting that now we have this is published article about the
subject because the ethnic group has changed entirely from us. What a reflection!!!
I don't mean to sound insensitive or racist, but reality is that discrimination
is what it is and those who practice it against others for whatever reason now
know what we go through daily after the September 11th catastrophe.
It
does not feel good to be treated differently because of your appearance/skin
color.
LaTonya
________________________________
Forwarded by LaTonya S. Sills/Person/World Bank on 10/04/2001
12:19 PM
Submitted by Gregory Brown
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