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'Muslims bracing for anti-Islam protests across US'

An NYTimes file picture showing Muslims taking part in afternoon prayers at the South Jersey Islamic Center in Palmyra, near Philadelphia.

The Muslim community in the United States is bracing for anti-Islam demonstrations by a group of potentially armed rightwing protesters this weekend.

Officials at several mosques are on high alert as social networks users are being encouraged to go to mosques and other Islamic organizations in some 20 cities and hold demonstrations against the community.

The organizers of the rally are planning to gather a group in front of every mosque in the US. A group called 'Oath Keepers' which advocates the open carry of guns, is also among the organizers of the event.

Muslim leaders of mosques, however, announced that they would not cancel the Friday Prayers. They will take precautions and will have police officers nearby to deal with any potential violence.

Officials at the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations urged Muslims to request police presence Friday and Saturday at their houses of worship.

"In one of their emails, they said they were going to bring 3,000 people to Washington, D.C., in front of our mosque, and they instructed them to bring their weapons," said Ibrahim Mumin, director of community relations for Masjid Muhammad mosque. "Well, we consider that kind of a threat."

Alia Salem of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said her group has alerted mosques and police in the area to the protests.

"Despite all of these attempts to unnerve the Muslim community and make them fearful and afraid, it never ends up amounting to anything except we become closer," she said.

Hate crimes against Muslims soared after the 9/11 attacks in the US and remain high 14 years later.

Anti-Muslim crimes have made up about 13 to 14 percent of hate crimes committed in the United States over the past few years, according to FBI data.

 


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