Abdo Zindani offers a piece of simple advice to fellow Arabs in the United States: "Be conservative. Keep a low profile."

Then, after a measured silence, the Yemeni American issues a laundry list of don'ts: "Try not to be outdoors as you normally would; young men, try not to travel in groups - three Middle Easterners together may trigger what they are looking for; traditional dress is out of the question".

Abdo, of the Yemeni American Association, believes that Islam-bashing has reached a historic high in the United States and that the Arab community is now under siege, a trend triggered by the Sept 11 terrorist attacks that has hardened under an administration that has not missed an opportunity ''to scapegoat Muslims''.

As the war in Iraq drags o­n, other community leaders and immigration groups assert that members of Arab and Muslim communities in the United States have never felt more vulnerable.

Days before US-led forces launched air strikes o­n Iraq last month, the New York Immigration Coalition appealed to Mayor Michael Bloomberg to ensure the safety of immigrant communities in the event of an ethnic backlash.

The coalition said that victims of hate crimes might not come forward, fearful that the police might report them or their family members to immigration officials. It called o­n Bloomberg to guarantee the confidentiality of the immigration status of hate crime victims who seek police protection.

Community leaders say they are disappointed at the mayor's lack of response, including his absence from a memorial to four victims of attempted Arab-bashing.

Hate crimes

Abdo's organisation this week marked the death of Yemeni Mohammed Ali Nassir, who was shot dead last month, o­ne of four immigrants killed over the past two months by a New York native reportedly intent o­n exacting revenge for the Sept 11 attacks.

The incidents are the most deadly series of hate crimes targetting immigrants in recent memory.

Although ''Arabs'' were the intended targets, the victims were of diverse backgrounds - Guyanese, Indian, Russian and Yemeni.

Larme Price, who confessed to the shootings, describing his victims as ''Arabs''.

Other incidents have been reported across the country. In Phoenix, explosives were tossed into the home of an Iraqi-American family. In Chicago, a van parked outside a Palestinian home exploded and a mosque was vandalised. In Indianapolis, an Afghan restaurant owner was severely burnt when he was set o­n fire, while in Los Angeles, Muslim women were threatened with rape.

According to o­ne estimate, 80 percent of hate crimes go unreported in the United States due to a variety of factors, such as fear of police, lack of knowledge about civil rights and the failure to classify incidents as bias-motivated.

The Immigration Coalition says that Arabs, Muslims and South Asians have been subjected to blanket law enforcement efforts and blunt immigration policies that target them en masse o­n the basis of religion and national origin.

Secret detention

It cited such incidents as the round-up and secret detention of more than 1,200 men after 9/11; a special registration programme that mandates fingerprinting, photographing and interrogation of males from 25 predominantly Arab and Muslim countries; and most recently, Operation Liberty Shield, which calls for the detention of asylum seekers from 33 mostly Arab and Muslim countries.

''A climate of hostility and suspicion towards Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians has been fostered by federal policies since 9/11,'' says Emira Habiby Browne of the Arab-American Family Support Centre.

''When government policies single out and target o­ne group of immigrants again and again, that stigmatises these immigrants and creates fertile ground for bias crimes.''

''The trend that started after 9/11 has been rekindled after the events in Iraq,'' says Shaker Lashuel, a Yemeni immigrant who teaches computers in New York's public schools. He blames the US media for perpetuating Arab stereotypes to a gullible public.

''If you are an Arab, you are a suspect until proven otherwise,'' he says.

The practice has had a tremendous impact o­n the lifestyle of Middle Eastern immigrants, Lashuel adds. ''I know at least o­ne restaurant (in Manhattan) that is about to close. The whole area is virtually empty. Everybody thinks they are under surveillance.''

When Washington announced its domestic war contingency plan last month it began targetting thousands of Iraqi and other immigrants for investigations, according to immigration groups, who point out that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials have repeatedly stated that immigration violators found during their interviews and sweeps will be detained and-or deported.

Climate of hatred

The Council o­n American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) compares the post-Sept 11, 2001 backlash with instances of bias attacks o­n Muslims following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, when false media speculation about Muslim involvement led to a rash of attacks, although 9/11 spawned nearly eight times more incidents.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee says it has documented four confirmed cases of hate crime murders after 9/11 and seven suspected hate crime killings following the five-week period after Sept 11.

Between Jan 1 and Oct 11 last year, it documented 165 cases of hate incidents targetting Arab Americans or those perceived to be Arab Americans, Arabs, and Muslims, a significant increase over most years in the past decade.

While community leaders acknowledge that many US citizens have made an attempt to understand Islam and its followers after 9/11, the negative fallout continues.

One irony is that members of minority groups that complained of profiling in the past have themselves begun to profile, says Lashuel, referring to the killings of Ali Nassir and other immigrants thought by their African-American attacker to be ''Arabs''.

But, ''this is not about a single deranged killer,'' says Patrick Young, an attorney with the Central American Refugee Center. ''This is about the climate of hatred against Arabs and Muslims, which has left many immigrants around the country dead, beaten, and frightened.''

Despite his friend's murder, Lashuel is optimistic. ''With all its flaws, America is still seen as a land of opportunities by the Arabs and there is a strong belief among their community members that the country is capable of correcting itself.'' - IPS