Muslims in U.S. report spike in discrimination, threats

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Tuesday 08 Dec 2015 - 10:27 Makkah mean time-26-2-1437 Ayah Sayyed. Image from CBS News Washington, (IINA) - In the wake of the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Muslims around the U.S. say the rhetoric against them has become increasingly incendiary, CBS News reported. A few weeks ago, armed protesters picketed a mosque in Irving, Texas, some chanting "Every Muslim is a terrorist!" In Virginia, tempers erupted at a meeting over building a mosque, one man yelled "every one of you are terrorists" at a Muslim man. On Sunday night in Philadelphia, a pig's severed head was found outside a mosque. And voice messages saying "you're not welcome here, I hope you get sprayed with pig's blood," among other things, was left on an answering machine of the Dallas chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR). Not far in Fort Worth, American-born Ayah Sayyed says the backlash has gotten worse. "I was in the car with my 9-month-old daughter, and a woman was trying to flag me down from her vehicle. She rolls down her window, she starts spewing derogatory language," said Sayyed. "She spit from her vehicle to my vehicle. Some area Imams have even started advising local Muslim women to consider covering their heads in a different way other than the traditional hijab. "I wouldn't have a problem with anyone else doing it. I on the other hand would never do it. The head scarf is who I am," Sayyed said. CAIR recently said in a statement that the group "has received more reports about acts of Islamophobic discrimination, intimidation, threats, and violence targeting American Muslims in the past week and a half than during any other limited period of time since the 9/11 terror attacks." Omar Suleiman is a Muslim scholar from Texas. "As an American, and as a Muslim, and as a human being, we are forced to both grieve and worry at the same time," said Suleiman. "We had Muslim victims in this most recent shooting. But even for non-Muslim victims, as human beings, we grieve." SM/IINA