el encuentro entre feminismos y traducción

176

According to most participants, being an Arab or Muslim did not affect their feeling of being safe on campuses due to the tolerance among students and staff,

emergency assistance stations on the ground, security or police force presence, students’

diversity, and the presence of the Arab and Muslim student population. Comments from the participants on this topic were as follows:

Yes, I mean I’ve been here for three years now. I feel very safe. I can stay late on campus until 8:30 or 9:00 pm and never fear anything ever happening to me. You feel that sense of safety (118).

The students are so polite, the professors are amazing, and you really do feel the sense of a community here, no matter where you are from. I have met people from many different countries (119).

Along the same lines, another student indicated, “Definitely, nobody ever

discriminated; nobody ever made me feel left out or that I was different. On the contrary, they were treating me nicely. The teachers are nice and extremely comforting. I have a good experience there” (117).

Someone else said, “Yes, I feel safe, I do, especially because I feel like there are a lot of Muslims around on campus. I know that there are other people there. It makes me feel secure. If I need anything, I know they are there. The environment around the school is pretty secure; it’s not bad” (110).

Yes, I feel like where I am is very diverse so I do not feel like I am targeted.

There are other places that people are very racist; however, on this campus not at all (104).

177

I do, I usually do not interact with people, but I think it is because the school is so diverse, you do not feel targeted for your race (102).

I feel safe. I do not walk around with paranoia that anyone is going to harm me in any way or say anything negative to me. People are very diverse and seem to be very tolerant for the most part. Tolerant in the sense that even if they do not like you/your culture, they will be accepting it (109).

Yes, I do. I have never once been targeted by people and therefore have never really felt concerned about my safety (122).

Of course, I feel very safe on campus. I have many non-Muslim friends and a lot of Muslim friends and I have never felt discrimination or racism upon me due to the diversity that is located on campus (103).

I do feel safe, maybe more than others because they are very open in this school. I noticed that a lot. With the professors and the students, they are very accepting. I feel very safe (107).

Yes, I do. Well, I feel like there are a lot of Muslims and Arabs on campus.

Whenever I see a fellow Arab/Muslim, they say salam [peace] to me. Also, there are many on-campus police who make me feel safe (101).

I know that there are police around, and there are stations where you could press a button when you need any assistance (115).

Other participants responded as follows:

I feel very safe. On this campus, everyone is very nice and very tolerant, and that is why I feel safe. And you don’t see this at other college campuses (106).

178

Yes, I do. I have not done anything to anyone, and no one has done anything to me. I go along with my day knowing I will not agree with everyone, and not everyone will agree with me; but I know I have to treat everyone with civility. For most people I know here on campus, I am one of the first Muslims they have ever met. In my ethics class, I was talking; and it was the first time they heard anything from a Muslim (105).

In terms of security, I think I stand in the same place as others, which is normal safety. However, in terms of what I say, I usually keep myself neutral and I do not really care. I do not think there is any type of physical security issues. However, mental security arises when you are afraid to say something in public in case the wrong person is around the corner listening to what you have to say (113).

One of the participants had a different opinion on this topic, as was apparent when she spoke openly on the NYPD spying activities on Muslim students. The language she used was strong as she stated the following:

Partially. I feel safe in the sense that I do not feel there is any physical danger. But law-wise, not really because of the thing that happened with the NYPD and how we found out they were infiltrating MSAs in our universities in New Jersey during my freshmen year, which is morally wrong. And when I found out, I was in the MSA, and I actually became an officer the year after. I started getting worried and double-checked everything we do. Non-Muslims even attended our meetings. I did not want to get charged with something like terrorism or

something (108).

Other students mentioned the following:

179

Last year . . . one of the MSA members was told by one of the university officials that somebody was coming here to speak to us about why we have been spied on.

The meeting never happened and the person never came as much as I knew. That was weird; I am sure this never happened to any club. I brought this matter to a previous MSA official, and I was told that during his time, one random person came to their room and started asking them about their political stances regarding different issues. They said they never met that person; that was weird and during that time I was aware from my reading that spying was going around in other states on mosques and schools (114).

Yes, I do feel safe at campus as an Arab Muslim student because I have many friends who respect me. In addition, I see myself as part of the college because I am enrolled in many of the clubs and activities provided by my college. Yet, many students were disturbed when they learned about the NYPD spying on the Arab and Muslim college students at different universities in New Jersey (121).

Following a conversation with two students on the issue of Syria, one of the participants said the following:

The last thing I did not hear it clearly because of the music playing, but I am 90%

sure I heard one of them saying all Muslims are terrorists. His attitude shows that he hates Muslims. I asked him what did you say? He said never mind and they left (114).

On the same topic, another student noted the following:

I remember two years ago when the Arab/Muslim students were suspecting one of the students was spying on them for one semester, then they did not see that

180

person after that time. We are not doing anything wrong to hide or be afraid of (109).

Question 10. Who is the most helpful to you when you have a question about a