WASHINGTON, 3 February — Four members of the New York City police department were recently honored here for their heroic work at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. All are Muslim Americans.

The event, entitled: “A Tribute to Muslim and Arab-American Heroes,” was sponsored by the Islamic Institute and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and held at the Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C. The event drew over 120 members and leaders of the Muslim and Arab-American communities, as well as representatives of the Bush administration and members of Congress.

New York City Police Officer Ahmed Nasser and his colleagues drove down from New York City for the luncheon, but said he was startled to learn they were the honorees. He told Arab News it was the first time they had been recognized, and, he shyly admitted, the first time ever a journalist had interviewed him.

Nasser admitted he was unprepared for the special tribute. “We came here today at the request of our American Muslim colleagues, I never knew it was going to be a tribute to us.”

Officers Adil Almontaser, Ahmed Nasser, Rafet Awad, and Faisal Khan were all on duty when the attacks occurred at the World Trade Center. They spent the next several days working non-stop in the rescue efforts.

Since Sept. 11, Nasser said he’s noticed a difference in the questions put to him about Islam. The NY police force is also making an effort to better understand Muslims, he said.

“Something like this makes people think about what happened. I’ve had many opportunities to explain Islam to many people.”

This has helped me feel a lot better, because I’ve had so much support from my colleagues in the NY police department. One of my supervisors even asked me to let him know if I was having any problems from anyone, and to let him know if I did. But I never have had any problems,” Nasser said.

There are a lot of Muslim officers in the police force, but we just never thought about it until Sept. 11,” said Nasser.

Nasser has been active in the New York City police force for two years. He immigrated from Yemen 15 years ago, and joined the force at the urging of his brother-in-law, fellow police officer Adil Almontaser.

Sept. 11 caught him, along with everyone else, completely by surprise. Nasser said he was drinking his morning coffee when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. He immediately called his precinct and said he had just seen “the accident.” The police station captain told him everyone on the force had been mobilized, and to report to the World Trade Center immediately. Nasser arrived on the scene just as the first building collapsed. Had he arrived a few minutes earlier, he might not be here today. “I couldn’t see anything, the dust and debris that really was as thick as soup. I just heard the screams all around me, and I couldn’t see where they were coming from. It was awful, and something I will never forget.”

Nasser said he worked straight through the next 48 hours. “My day started at 8:45 a.m, and I went home two days later at 4:30 a.m.”

Anxiety kept him going. “I didn’t feel any fatigue, I just kept on thinking about what had happened. I kept on wondering if it really was a Muslim who was responsible for this catastrophe.”

Of course Nasser was worried about the immediate consequences. “I was worried about my wife and kids. There was no way I could contact them from Ground Zero to let them know that I was safe. And I was worried about their safety. As you can imagine, I was very glad to see my family, and they were very happy to see me. They didn’t know if I was dead, or alive.”

Being an Arab-American made the event doubly upsetting for Nasser. “The disaster was so hard — but for me, it was hard on both sides. The event was so painful, and then, Muslims were targeted. Fortunately, I had a lot of support from my fellow officers.”

Nasser said prior to the World Trade Center disaster, “Most people treated us with indifference, or just viewed us a ‘a cop.’ But after the event, there’s been a tremendous difference. Everyone stops and says ‘thank you.’

Nasser said people don’t look at him as a Muslim, or Arab, when he’s out on duty. They simply know that he was a police officer who was there — at the city’s worst hour.

He has struggled with the aftermath of Sept. 11, trying to come to terms with the disaster and the consequences. “I don’t care what people say, Sept. 11 did not serve the Muslim community in any way. It did the opposite; it hurt us a lot in many ways. I think it will be years before we get over this.”

Nasser said he and his colleagues have put a lot of thought into to what it means being a Muslim American in America: “Our mission here as Muslims is to show all people respect, and the true face of Islam.”

Nasser is from north, from Radaa, the town is called Ryachia. His parents still live there, and “I visit them when I can.”

Nasser married a Yemini-American and raised a family. “We have two boys. My wife was born in the US, but her family also came from Yemen.”

Nasser says the Sept. 11 bombings have also been hard on his children.

“They always ask me why the planes hit the buildings, and want to know if people hate us because we’re Muslim. It hurts me when they ask me that, but I explain to them that it was done by bad people who call themselves Muslims.

As the close of the tribute, each officer was awarded with commemorative plaques honoring their service.

Officer Almontaser told the audience that following Sept. 11, he and his colleagues had decided to create the American Muslim Law Enforcement Officers Association, AMLEOA, “to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the Muslim community.” Their aim, he said, is to encourage more Arab and Muslim Americans to go into law enforcement.

Almontaser said the AMLEOA will include Muslims and non-Muslims, too. “We want to try to emphasize that our police officers are Muslim. And we want to get the word out across the US that their police force has many dedicated Muslims working as law officials throughout the country.”

Then, in expressing their gratitude for their awards, a visibly moved Almontaser told the audience they did not deserve the awards, that the men who really deserved them were unable to collect them — referring to their colleagues who had died at the World Trade Center.

Nina Shokraii Rees, Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for Domestic Policy, said “These brave public servants are among our nations greatest heroes.

Ralph Boyd, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, “I am here to recognize and honor these American heroes, to give them great thanks and to claim them as America’s own.”

Ziad Asali, president, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said “the four men who are here represent the very best we can offer this country.”

Khaled Saffouri, founder and chairman, Islamic Institute, said lack of understanding about Islam and the Muslim community is because we do not participate in the law enforcement system.

He cited examples of translation mistakes that were made by the FBI and Pentagon, “because the people who were translating were not Muslim, so they could not understand the significance of the statements.”