Alwaght- The number of anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 91 percent across the United States in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2016.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, on Monday released an update on anti-Muslim incidents in the second quarter (April-June) of 2017.
CAIR’s quarterly report indicates that the number of hate crimes in the first half of 2017 spiked 91 percent compared to the same period in 2016, which was the worst year for such anti-Muslim incidents since the civil rights organization began its current documenting system in 2013.
The number of bias incidents in 2017 also increased by 24 percent compared to the first half of 2016.
Bigotry in Trump's administration
“The presidential election campaign and the Trump administration have tapped into a seam of bigotry and hate that has resulted in the targeting of American Muslims and other minority groups,” said Zainab Arain, coordinator in CAIR’s Department to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia.
“If acts of bias impacting the American Muslim community continue as they have been, 2017 could be one of the worst years ever for such incidents.”
The most frequent type of incidents documented by CAIR in the second quarter of 2017 involved harassment, defined as a non-violent or non-threatening incident. The second most common type of bias incidents were hate crimes and involved physical violence or property damage.
Prevalent Islamophobia triggers
CAIR said the most prevalent trigger of Islamophobic bias incidents in 2017 remains the victim’s ethnicity or national origin, accounting for 32 percent of the total.
“Twenty percent of incidents occurred because of an individual being perceived as Muslim. A Muslim woman’s headscarf [hijab] was a trigger in 15 percent of incidents,” it added.
The report dataset is drawn primarily from the intakes CAIR conducts each year. With each case, civil rights and legal staff seek to ensure the highest possible level of accuracy.
According to CAIR’s 2016 report, anti-Muslim hate incidents rose over 40 percent compared to 2015, with a 44 percent increase in hate crimes targeting Muslims as well as a 57 percent increase in anti-Muslim bias incidents during that time.
CAIR notes that the report contains just a snapshot of the experiences of the American Muslim community since bias incidents targeting the community are underreported to both law enforcement and community institutions.
According to CAIR's 2016 report, anti-Muslim hate incidents rose more than 40 percent compared with 2015.
Hard times ahead for US Muslims
Anti-Muslim hatred and bigotry now appears to be institutionalized across the US, a country prides itself on being the land of the free. Leading politicians vie with one another on who can utter the most outrageous anti-Muslim diatribes. Donald Trump's anti-Muslim venom added to his popularity and eventual election thus reflecting a dangerous trend in America.
Immediately he took over the reins of power, Trump started implementing his anti-Islam doctrine by banning people from a number of Muslim-majority countries from entering the country.
While there have been legal bottlenecks in implementing Trump's ban there are increasing administrative hurdles to Muslims intending to travel to the US. Certainly, Muslims in the US should brace for harder times ahead as Trump clearly intends to pursue his racist, anti-immigrant, and Islamophobic agenda vigorously.
