Posted on Nov 5, 2023
For Muslim Americans, a spike in hate incidents feels reminiscent of post 9/11 Islamophobia
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As a Palestinian American, Laila El-Haddad, 45, feels like she’s fighting a battle on two fronts. She’s filled with fear for her family in Gaza, now facing an uncertain future without a way to contact her. But as a Muslim living in the U.S., she’s also dealing with some of the most rampant Islamophobia of her lifetime, she said.
“I personally have been through this — I was 21 or 22 in Boston when 9/11 happened,” she said. “This feels like that, but almost a more dystopian version of that.”
El-Haddad, a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights, said she has faced harassment, online threats and even a letter sent to her home address calling for all Gazans to be killed.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said that it received 774 requests for help and reports of bias incidents from Muslims across the U.S. from Oct. 7 to Oct. 24, a 182% jump from any given 16-day stretch last year. For comparison, during a 16-day period in 2022, it received an average of 274 complaints.
“We’re working seven days a week, around the clock, fielding incoming complaints,” said Corey Saylor, CAIR’s research and advocacy director. “I’ve only ever seen that twice in my career: right after 9/11 and in December 2015 after that announcement by Trump of his plan to ban Muslims from the country.”
“I personally have been through this — I was 21 or 22 in Boston when 9/11 happened,” she said. “This feels like that, but almost a more dystopian version of that.”
El-Haddad, a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights, said she has faced harassment, online threats and even a letter sent to her home address calling for all Gazans to be killed.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said that it received 774 requests for help and reports of bias incidents from Muslims across the U.S. from Oct. 7 to Oct. 24, a 182% jump from any given 16-day stretch last year. For comparison, during a 16-day period in 2022, it received an average of 274 complaints.
“We’re working seven days a week, around the clock, fielding incoming complaints,” said Corey Saylor, CAIR’s research and advocacy director. “I’ve only ever seen that twice in my career: right after 9/11 and in December 2015 after that announcement by Trump of his plan to ban Muslims from the country.”
For Muslim Americans, a spike in hate incidents feels reminiscent of post 9/11 Islamophobia
Posted from nbcnews.com
Religion
Islam
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9/11
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Posted 6 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."A targeted period of backlash for Muslim Americans
Saylor said this period of backlash for the Muslim American community is concerning because, he feels, it’s more targeted than in the past.
“What’s unique about this one is it’s very personal,” he said. “Meaning usually we see activists get targeted, but this time, we’re seeing students getting doxxed because they spoke in support of Palestinians. We’re seeing the same thing in corporations, waves of people calling saying they’re being called into HR, some actually being terminated or having job offers rescinded because they decided to speak up for Palestinian humanity.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this, and I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Saylor said.
Zainab Chaudry, the director of CAIR’s office in Maryland, said she believes the reports the organization has received are an undercount.
“There’s a very real sense of fear within our communities about the implications of these kinds of incidents and the consequences of reporting and coming forward to demand justice,” she said. “There’s a fear of consequences, of backlash, of intimidation, harassment, further perpetuation of the aggressions against the victim.”
Chaudry emphasized the importance of law enforcement agencies’ investigating such incidents thoroughly and elected officials’ calling out Islamophobia in their communities the same way they would call out other forms of hate.
CAIR itself, which has expressed support for a cease-fire in Gaza, was forced to cancel its annual banquet, scheduled for Oct. 21, because staffers and the hotel venue received violent threats, including one to plant a bomb in the hotel’s parking lot, the organization said. CAIR later secured another venue for its annual banquet for the same day.
“We take these threats very seriously, and we condemn them and the broader surge in Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian sentiment and racism,” Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a video statement.
The Arlington County, Virginia, Police Department documented the banquet incident, which it said included the hotel’s “receiving anonymous phone calls, some referencing threats to bomb.” The investigation continues, police said in a statement.
Awad said the recent wave of Islamophobia has left him feeling dehumanized as a Muslim and a Palestinian.
“I feel backstabbed and betrayed,” he said. “But the racism? I grew up with that. I’m used to it.”
One positive in the current climate compared to the past, Awad said, is social media.
“What we have now is our social media and our voice, which we didn’t have in 2001,” he said. “So now we can actually broadcast what’s happening.”
..."A targeted period of backlash for Muslim Americans
Saylor said this period of backlash for the Muslim American community is concerning because, he feels, it’s more targeted than in the past.
“What’s unique about this one is it’s very personal,” he said. “Meaning usually we see activists get targeted, but this time, we’re seeing students getting doxxed because they spoke in support of Palestinians. We’re seeing the same thing in corporations, waves of people calling saying they’re being called into HR, some actually being terminated or having job offers rescinded because they decided to speak up for Palestinian humanity.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this, and I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Saylor said.
Zainab Chaudry, the director of CAIR’s office in Maryland, said she believes the reports the organization has received are an undercount.
“There’s a very real sense of fear within our communities about the implications of these kinds of incidents and the consequences of reporting and coming forward to demand justice,” she said. “There’s a fear of consequences, of backlash, of intimidation, harassment, further perpetuation of the aggressions against the victim.”
Chaudry emphasized the importance of law enforcement agencies’ investigating such incidents thoroughly and elected officials’ calling out Islamophobia in their communities the same way they would call out other forms of hate.
CAIR itself, which has expressed support for a cease-fire in Gaza, was forced to cancel its annual banquet, scheduled for Oct. 21, because staffers and the hotel venue received violent threats, including one to plant a bomb in the hotel’s parking lot, the organization said. CAIR later secured another venue for its annual banquet for the same day.
“We take these threats very seriously, and we condemn them and the broader surge in Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian sentiment and racism,” Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a video statement.
The Arlington County, Virginia, Police Department documented the banquet incident, which it said included the hotel’s “receiving anonymous phone calls, some referencing threats to bomb.” The investigation continues, police said in a statement.
Awad said the recent wave of Islamophobia has left him feeling dehumanized as a Muslim and a Palestinian.
“I feel backstabbed and betrayed,” he said. “But the racism? I grew up with that. I’m used to it.”
One positive in the current climate compared to the past, Awad said, is social media.
“What we have now is our social media and our voice, which we didn’t have in 2001,” he said. “So now we can actually broadcast what’s happening.”
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Help me out here, I do not have a dog in this race so am having a hard time feeling much sympathy because of stated ideologies. Muslims are now feeling the same thing they have vowed to do against the Jewish State but they don't like it? Seems if there was some Empathy there, both sides could be better off.
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