Copyright 2002 The Buffalo News Buffalo News (New York) September 15, 2002 Sunday, FINAL EDITION SECTION: NEWS, Pg.A7 LENGTH: 1158 words HEADLINE: TERROR ARRESTS LEAVE COMMUNITY WITH MIXED EMOTIONS BYLINE: BRIAN MEYER; News Staff Reporter BODY: The City of Good Neighbors learned this weekend that five of its neighbors may well be terrorists. And that sent waves of fear across metropolitan Buffalo: fear that terrorists might strike here and fear that the community might strike back against its Arab residents. After the FBI took five Lackawanna men into custody and accused them of attending a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, many local residents seemed focused on the possibility of terrorism in Buffalo. Yet there was also talk of a boycott of Arab businesses, and the Lackawanna School Board called an emergency meeting to convene today to consider whether it needed to increase security to protect its Arab students. "I think people understand that whether or not (the defendants) are guilty, the larger community is not guilty," said Bayram Arman, treasurer of the American Muslim Council. "But you always worry about a backlash. A lot of it depends on how the media handles this." Arman spoke at a forum in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery sponsored by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, where some citizens seemed focused on the idea that terrorism may well come home to Buffalo. "It makes you wonder," said Don Ingalls of North Buffalo. "Could this mean that the next wave of activity might be in smaller communities -- in out-of-the-way places?" Christopher Conroy, a junior political science major at the University at Buffalo, said the arrests left him with conflicting emotions. "It makes me more comfortable knowing that we're catching them. But it definitely doesn't make me feel comfortable that this is all happening in our own back yard," he said. Sandra Carrubba said there was an obvious reason to view the Buffalo area as a possible target for terror. "With our proximity to the Canadian border, I've always been concerned," she said. Schumer, D-N.Y., praised the Bush administration for taking actions that have put the al-Qaida terror network "on the run," but he added that much needs to be done to make the homeland truly secure. "We've done well overseas, and I give the president credit for that," he said. "But domestically, in terms of tightening up (security) here, I worry." More immigration and customs employees should be hired, and new technology must be tapped to protect airports and ports, Schumer said. He claimed that less than 1 percent of all containers on ships are currently being inspected. Schumer is sponsoring legislation that calls for installation of new detection devices at ports. Schumer also praised local Muslims who alerted authorities to suspicious activities involving the five defendants who were arrested in Lackawanna on Friday. "This is not an indictment of any community or of the Muslim community in Western New York. In fact, it's just the opposite," Schumer said. Frank Mesiah, president of the Buffalo Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, agreed. "The Muslim community came out when people saw something that was wrong," said Mesiah. "I think that's a very positive thing." Some, nevertheless, fear that the arrests will drive a wedge between ethnic groups, much the way the Sept. 11 attacks did. Keith Woods, a resident of Highland Avenue in the First Ward, said he and others in the black community in Lackawanna are not surprised by the arrests. Woods said there is great resentment between the two communities, which co-exist within a few cramped, poverty-stricken city blocks. "It's true," Woods said of the arrests. "It's bad here. If I was in al-Qaida and I was looking for a place to hide, this would be the perfect place." He said the black community is "getting ready to organize a boycott" of the Arab-owned corner stores in the area. "We don't want to be sending our money to al-Qaida," Woods said. The arrests are also prompting one Buffalo lawmaker to intensify his push for more stringent oversight of delicatessens in the city, including a number of Arab-owned delis that he claims have been magnets for illegal activity. Council Member at Large Charley H. Fisher III has long contended that some delis are selling weapons and drugs. "These profits have to be going somewhere," Fisher said. "Of course, we need to be careful about trampling on people's freedom, but our greatest concern has to be protecting public safety." Fisher raised some eyebrows last year when he suggested that some local delis might have ties to al-Qaida. Many people -- including some of Fisher's Council peers -- dismissed the claims as irresponsible and far-fetched. "But if someone would have told you six months ago that the first arrests of an al-Qaida terrorist cell in the country would take place in Lackawanna, people would have also called that far-fetched," Fisher said Saturday. Ellicott Council Member Brian C. Davis, meanwhile, announced that a meeting will be held later this month to discuss a controversy involving plans by an Islamic group to turn the former Masten Park detention center into a mosque, school and residential facility. Neighborhood residents have raised concerns about the future of the vacant Best Street complex. Some residents and lawmakers claim the Islamic Society of America has kept the community in the dark about its plans for the facility. Shortly after the group bought the property from the state for $150,000, a spokesman told reporters the facility will be turned into a mosque, school and boarding school. Civil rights activists said they hope the Lackawanna developments don't cast a negative light on activities in the local Muslim community. Peter Allen Weinmann, president of the Buffalo Niagara Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, said it would be unfortunate if innocent people face discrimination. He said Jews have also been targeted by some people with the unfounded view that the United States' support of Israel is to blame for terrorism. While civil rights advocates worried how Buffalo residents would react to the news of the arrests, Muslims drew some active support in Batavia. There, more than 30 Rochester-area residents marched for an hour Saturday outside the front entrance to the Immigration and Naturalization Service's Federal Detention Center. Protesters shouted chants, waving signs with slogans such as "Release All Detainees" and "Stop Racial Targeting." Organizer Brian F. Erway of Rochester said protesters are opposed to curtailing civil liberties and the racial targeting of Arabs and Muslims. They are also demanding that the government release the names of detainees who have been held since the Sept. 11 attacks and that they be given "due process" of law. Erway said the arrests in Lackawanna had nothing to do with the protest, saying the event had been planned weeks before. News Staff Reporters Charity Vogel and Jerry Zremski and Genesee Correspondent Bill Brown contributed to this report. e-mail: bmeyer@buffnews.com GRAPHIC: DEREK GEE/Buffalo News Sen. Charles E. Schumer hosted a forum at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery on Saturday. LOAD-DATE: September 17, 2002