War, rhetoric cloud Ramadan for U.S. Muslims

Immigration raids add to rising fears during what is a time of communal traditions.

- By Luis ANDRES HENAO AND MARIAM Fam

TWO women encourage congregants to vote in New Jersey's primary at the Islamic Center of Passaic County.

(LUIS ANDRES HENAO Associated Press)

Midway through Ramadan, Muslims across the United States are striving to maintain the holy month’s traditional mix of prayers and festive spirit under a cloud of worrisome events.

The federal government's immigration crackdown has affected many of their communities. Virulent anti-Muslim rhetoric is surging. And now the Middle East — where many have loved ones —is buffeted by the Iran war.

In Paterson, N.J.,— home to one of the country’s highest per capita Muslim populations — 18-year-old Haneen Alatiyat regrets that fear and uncertainty are keeping many community members from gathering to embrace Ramadan’s communal traditions.

“The meaning of the holiday is to be together with the people you love,” said Alatiyat, who is half Palestinian, half Jordanian.

“Unfortunately, because of the ICE raids that are happening, people don’t want to do that,” she added, speaking outside the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Paterson about Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions happening under President Trump. It’s the mosque where she worships every year with family during Ramadan.

Paterson's Palestinian community — one of the largest outside the Middle East — had been grieving loved ones and trying to help the survivors of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza even before the latest anxiety-fueling developments.

“This Ramadan has already been heavy for many families in our community with the immigration crack downs,” said Rania Mustafa, executive director of the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, N.J.

“Now, as the war on Iran started, many people here are experiencing another layer of fear and grief,” she added.