Published on: Thursday, August 19, 2010

By Brian J. Karem

On Page two today we carried a story about a bank robbery spree.

Three banks have been robbed recently, but the one that has received national attention occurred in Ashton at the Sandy Spring Bank.

It was here that a man speaking with a “Middle Eastern Accent” robbed the bank wearing a burqa.

“We are looking for a definitive person in that case,” police spokesman Lucille Bauer said adding that the police were looking for someone “wearing a burqa or having access to a burqa.”

This makes national news, of course, at a time when President Obama is being criticized for not going off into a tirade because someone wants to build a mosque in lower Manhattan near the site of the World Trade Center disaster.

Looking at these issues closely, I can’t help but shrug my shoulders and sigh.

In the case of the local bank robbery, I really only have a couple of questions for the police department beyond their blatant racial profiling. After all, it could be someone affecting an accent. Maybe they aren’t looking for Osama Ben Laden, but only someone who plays him on T.V.

But going beyond that, I’m going to assume – a dangerous move I admit – that the police detectives have a very good reason for suspecting a man of Middle Eastern descent in committing the robbery.

But saying they are looking for a “definitive person,” made me laugh. What else would you be looking for, a “vague person,” or an amorphous lump? Of course you’re looking for a definitive person. A person definitely committed the crime. As for “wearing a burqa or having access to a burqa,” I’m not sure what that means.

Burqa’s are readily available to anyone who wishes to purchase one. You don’t need a prescription. They aren’t listed on an endangered garment species list. Heck, you can buy a bolt of cloth at your local fabric store and make your own, if you so desire. In short, everyone has “access” to a burqa. That makes for a long list of potential suspects in my book.

I certainly hope the police department has more clues than that to solve the case. After all, I guess me, my family, and all our close friends have “access” to a burqa. Someone better stake-out the fabric store for more clues.

But, joking aside, those statements betray the true sentiments of fear still running deep and rampant through our culture – or what passes these days for culture here in suburban D.C. where I still can’t get electricity or even Internet service in any regular fashion.

And that sentiment travels deep when the President’s political enemies decide to pick on him for not going ballistic about a mosque being built near the World Trade Center site.

It’s the politics of fear. Scare us. How dare we allow a mosque in lower Manhattan? Look what “those people” did to us. And to allow “them” to build a mosque so close to the site of the World Trade Center explosions. It’s a smack in the face to the United States –right? Wrong.

Religious freedom is the cornerstone of this country and what brought many of us here – except the Dutch who founded New York colony as a money maker – and thus Manhattan is still the true melting pot. In New York nobody cares what your religion is as long you buy the goods.

My son is Catholic. Growing up his two best friends were Jewish and Muslim. They played together in our backyard for  years never caring what their religion was or even knowing that had they lived in the Middle East they likely would have been taught to be each other’s enemy.

That’s the true spirit of the country – the spirit in which I still believe.

This other garbage, fearing Muslims and searching for people with access to burqas is nothing more than a cartoon mirage, fueled by fear and ignorance.

Unfortunately it still appeals to a lot of people.

The fact is Muslims didn’t blow up the World Trade center - criminals did. Criminals come in all shapes and sizes and singling out Muslims for retribution is un-American.