Muslim deli owner sues Yonkers, cops over harassment

by: Salaam

Fri Nov 14, 2008 at 21:56:38 PM EST

Haifa Tamimi, center, a Palestinian Muslim owner of a Yonkers delicatessen, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Yonkers Police Department, claiming that she has faced constant harassment and discrimination from police since the 9/11 attacks. She met yesterday with her lawyer, Jonathan Lovett, left, in his White Plains office. Her son Ahmad looks on. (Seth Harrison/The Journal News)

WHITE PLAINS - A Palestinian immigrant says she and her businesses were singled out for abuse and harassment by Yonkers police after the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because of her Arab ethnicity and Muslim religion.

Haifa Tamimi, 39, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and 14 Yonkers police officers charging that her downtown deli was targeted for tickets issued by cops who selectively enforced a city ordinance requiring businesses to close between midnight and 6 a.m.

She claims that officers told her Palestinians and Muslims did not contribute to the city, that "you people send your money to terrorists," according to her lawyer.

"We all have the right to be solely, not by a group," Tamimi said yesterday flanked by her lawyer, Jonathan Lovett, and three of her children.

Frank Rubino, the city's corporation counsel, declined to comment on the lawsuit because the city had not yet been served with the complaint.

Story here.