NEW YORK, United States: Muslims in the United States remain under siege four years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
 
There are no second thoughts about it: Arabs and Muslims are the prime targets of the post 9/11 reconfiguration of American laws, policies, and priorities. And they are feeling the brunt of it. Their constitutional rights to free exercise of religion and assembly, due process and security from unreasonable searches and seizures have been violated.
 
The government initiatives have reshaped public attitudes about racial profiling and created a harsh backlash against the Muslim community.

US authorities have trampled on the civil liberties of Arabs, other Middle Easterners, South Asians and Muslims during the past four years under the pretext of keeping America safe.

According to a report of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) entitled, Unequal Protection: The Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States 2005 last year marked the highest number of Muslim-related civil rights cases ever recorded in the United States.
 
Meanwhile, America grieved the victims of September 11 on Sunday as the relatives of the dead gathered at ground zero and recited the names of those killed in the attack on the World Trade Center towers.
 
In Washington, US President George W. Bush marked the anniversary at the White House. The president stood with his wife, Laura, and Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne Cheney on the South Lawn during the simple ceremony that has been repeated each year since the attack.
 
The flag on top of the White House flew at half staff, as it has for the past week in honor of the victims of Hurricane Katrina.