Although the war with Iraq began Wednesday night, Noel Saleh said war on Arab Americans began Sept. 11, 2001.

"Arab Americans were traumatized like all Americans when that event took place," said Saleh, a civil rights activist and member of the Detroit American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. "But the second trauma immediately followed the first, and that was the inability of Arab Americans to grieve like other Americans because they faced an assault.

"They had to prove who they were, what they were."

Saleh said Arab Americans had to make it known the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon did not reflect their faith or their culture.

Students from Professor Rosina Hassoun's Integrative Studies in Arts & Humanities 211C class listened to Saleh speak on topics that related to their class, which focuses on Arab Americans.

"I don't think half of the room knew what he was talking about before they listened to his speech," human ecology sophomore Elizabeth Guerrero said. "I was glad he was educating us."

Marketing sophomore Betsy Selecman, also in the IAH class, said education is key to dealing with current world events.

"When more people know what's happening it helps them to understand it," she said.

Saleh said Arab Americans felt one trauma after another, from mourning the attacks to being thrown under an intense psychological assault.

Saleh also said President Bush's comments following the attacks began to ring very hollow, that the war on terrorism seemed like a war on Arab Americans and a war on Islam.

The other main topic the former immigration lawyer's presentation touched on was the impact of the USA PATRIOT Act on the Arab-American community.

"I think it was good that he talked about the PATRIOT Act,"Guerrero said. "He can really educate people about it."

Saleh gave examples and told stories about how the act, a 347-page document, was infringing on the rights of many citizens, not just Arab Americans.

By utilizing the act, the Justice Department has been able to hold closed-door deportation meetings, harass charities they accuse of funding terrorism, and holding Arab Americans in detention centers without any reason, Saleh said.

"The most important thing now is for Arab Americans, especially students here on campus, to get out and get involved," he said. "When they hide and run, then they are giving those rights up."