The level at which islamophobia is raising has become a cause for concern. Many muslims have lost their lives as a result of anti-muslim hate crimes. Recent reports confirmed that the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes rose by 91 percent in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2016, a leading Muslim advocacy group said on Monday.
In addition to this, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the number of hate crimes spiked from the corresponding period of 2016, which was the worst year for anti-Muslim incidents since the civil rights organization began its current documenting system in 2013. The council has called on ways to correct this act as many innocent Muslims have died as a result of this.
Reports confirmed that the number of bias incidents in the first half of 2017 also rose by 24 percent:
“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.
She further said that year 2017 could be the worst of islamophobia as anti-muslim hate crimes is currently on the run:
“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.”
Recent research has indicated that the most frequent type of incidents documented by CAIR in the second quarter of 2017 involved harassment which is said to involve a non-violent or non-threatening incident. The second most common type of bias incidents were hate crimes which involved physical violence or property damage.
In addition, 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.”
The CAIR’s 2016 report indicated that the 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. It further stated that by the end of 2017, the percentage of anti-muslim hate crimes could double that of 2016.
Muslim communities around the world are concerned with the high anti-muslim hate crimes. These communities are presently calling for religious tolerance, love and unity in order for peace to reign among all existing religions.
