White House Acknowledges ‘Disproportionate Number of Hate-Fueled Attacks’ Against Muslims
US has seen Islamophobic violence on the rise since the October 7 Hamas attacks
Muslims, and those perceived to be Muslim, face a “disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks,” according to the White House press secretary, a number of attacks that have been on the rise since Hamas launched its brutal attacks on Israel last month.
The United States is seeing a wave of Islamophobic violence and hate since the October 7 attacks against Israel reminiscent of the hate US Muslims experienced following the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and at the Pentagon.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said that it received 774 requests for help and reports of bias incidents from Muslims across the United States from October 7 to October 24, a 182 percent jump from any given 16-day stretch last year. For comparison, during a 16-day period in 2022, the organization received an average of 274 complaints.
In perhaps the most horrific example of such hate, an Illinois man has been charged in the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy -- allegedly over the Hamas-Israel conflict.
Joseph Czuba allegedly stabbed Wadea Al-Fayoume 26 times with a “military-style knife” and also stabbed his mother Hanan Shaheen more than a dozen times in the incident, according to police. Shaheen survived the attack.
The man has pled not guilty.
Laila El-Haddad, 45, 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.
Some in the Muslim community hold leaders like President Biden largely responsible for inflaming rhetoric that has made Muslim Americans more targeted. In the days after the October 7 attack, Biden repeated a claim that Hamas decapitated infants that was later proven unsubstantiated.
The White House addressed Islamophobic hate Tuesday.
“Look, what I can say is this: The president knows that Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim have endured a disproportionate number certainly of hate-fueled attacks, right, as we talk about what we’re seeing here,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the regular press briefing. “And so, he also understands that many of our Muslim Arab American and Palestinian American loved ones and neighbors are worried about the hate being directed at their communities.
“And so, leaders at every level of this administration will continue, we’re going to continue to engage, engaging with the Muslim community and the Arab American community and Palestinian American leaders to hear their concerns and also to hear their feedback on how best, certainly to combat the discrimination, the hate and discrimination that they’re seeing as well,” she added.
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