Muslims report more bias cases across USA

Wednesday 09 Dec 2015 - 11:11 Makkah mean time-27-2-1437

Muslim shopkeeper Sarker Haque, who was beaten in an alleged hate crime, speaks at his shop in New York on Dec. 7, 2015. AFP/Getty Images)

Washington, (IINA) - Anti-Muslim attacks are on the rise since last week’s massacre in San Bernardino, California, USA and recent comments by U.S. Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump could make the situation worse, Muslim and Arab-American leaders said on Tuesday, USA Today reported.
The attacks range from a pig's head thrown at a mosque to a shop owner who was beaten.
Recent vandalism and threats at mosques represent a spike in anti-Muslim sentiment, said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has asked American Muslims to report incidents of bias.
“We don’t literally have time to issue a statement on every incident because they’re coming in so fast and furious,” Hooper said. “When the leading Republican presidential candidate can say, ‘Bar all Muslims coming to America’ and know he can get more support for it —it is truly frightening.”
The Anti-Defamation League has reports of about two dozen anti-Muslim attacks since the terror attacks Nov. 13 in Paris, ranging from a cabdriver shot in Pittsburgh to vandalism against mosques and other buildings, plus verbal or written threats.
“We’re definitely seeing anti-Muslim bigotry escalating around the country,” said Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.
Trump called on Monday for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." On Tuesday, the candidate said his plan has “tremendous support” by his followers, despite condemnation from Republicans, Democrats and world leaders.
Trump’s words came as Philadelphia police and the FBI investigated who left a pig’s severed head at the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society mosque. Surveillance camera video shows the object was tossed from a passenger window of a pickup early Sunday, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (AAATC) said it received complaints from three airline passengers pulled off planes since Dec. 2. Multiple death threats and other abusive comments have been directed at the group from phone callers, said Abed Ayoub, the committee's national legal and policy director.
Ayoub said all such incidents are reported to the FBI, noting the committee's office in Santa Anna, Calif., was bombed in 1985, killing regional director Alex Odeh, “so we have to take these seriously.”
Ayoub and Hooper said the wave of bias is similar to what happened after the 9/11 terror attacks, but it happens more online and on social media, Ayoub said.
The group received letters from many attorneys from across the country from different backgrounds, including Jews, who want to volunteer to counter Trump, he said.
SM/IINA

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