By Isaac Ceja
31 Jul 2024, 23:00 PM EDT
Earlier this year, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) found disturbing statistics regarding hate crimes and situations against the Arab and Muslim community in the United States.
Reports of hate incidents against Muslims increased by 742.11% in just one year.
In 2022 they only received 19 reports, but in 2023 they received 160 reports of hate crimes and incidents against this community.
Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR’s Los Angeles-area office, says the increase in reports his organization is receiving is due to tensions in the Middle East.
“We have witnessed politicians expressing unconditional support for the ongoing brutal attack against Palestinians without regard for the humanity of the Palestinians.”
He said describing those who support peace in Gaza and the Palestinian community as anti-Semitic is dangerous because it also contributes to the normalization of Islamophobia or anti-Palestinian sentiment and behavior in the United States.
CAIR was founded in 1994 to challenge anti-Muslim discrimination nationwide and to protect civil rights and anti-defamation rights, but also to educate everyone about the Muslim community, but primarily groups that routinely interact with Muslims.
Other statistics shared by CAIR include: an increase in incidents at higher education institutions from 6 in 2022 to 105 in 2023, an increase in workplace incidents from 46 in 2022 to 103 in 2023, and an increase in K-12 school incidents from 22 in 2022 to 65 in 2023.
Ayloush explained that every person, regardless of their ethnicity, religion or political beliefs, should work hard to celebrate and support the diversity of the United States, but first it is extremely important to create a safe space where everyone can discuss.
CAIR’s executive director says the U.S. government is guilty of conflating criticism of Israel’s human rights abuses with anti-Semitism.
“This is part of legitimate political debate and the attempt to stifle that debate by using the word anti-Semitism… but it also leads to the normalization of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hatred in the United States,” Ayloush explained.
Locally, Rida Hamida, executive director of the nonprofit Latino Muslim Unity, has launched projects to create more unity between Latinos and Muslims.
Among them is the “#loncherasdetacosencadamezquita” project where I create a union through taco lunch boxes in mosques throughout California, in cities like Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Los Angeles, Sacramento and more.
According to the Latino Muslim Unity website, the goal is to bring communities together to learn from each other, heal and fight the injustices faced by both groups by redefining their identities through positive social, cultural and economic changes.
Over the past five years, the project has connected half a million people with halal tacos and has inspired people in other states like Milwaukee and Texas to join the movement to unite a coalition of Latinos and Muslims.
According to Latino Muslim Unity, the project has served to educate the population about the diversity of Muslims. Currently the fastest growing Muslim population in the United States is Latinos, according to the organization.
Despite the importance of creating more unity between communities to combat Islamophobia, it is important to acknowledge the government’s impact according to Salam Al-Marayati who is the chairman of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
For Al-Marayati, what the government does is half-baked and it only deals with the repercussions of politics.
The US government is trying to justify Israel’s crimes against humanity to its residents which in itself dehumanizes the Muslim community, according to Al-Marayati.
“So the American public sees us as the enemy and then hatred arises,” Al-Marayati said. “Then the government says, well, we’re going to help them deal with that hatred so they can fight the hatred in public, but they don’t do anything about the hatred that’s institutionalized in their own politics.”
Al-Marayati added that there are a lot of parallels between what is happening in the Middle East and what has historically occurred in Latin America.
“The United States has installed puppet regimes in Latin America and the Middle East,” Al-Marayati said. “And when there is resistance against these regimes, the United States says that we need to fight terrorism.”
This publication is supported by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Affairs as part of the Stop Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, please visit https://www.cavshate.org/.