News / Human Rights

American Muslims face record threats in 2015: CAIR

Saturday, 12 December 2015 4:58 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 12 December 2015 5:02 PM ]

CAIR says the number of threats against US Muslims has shot up this year. (file photo)

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says mosques and Islamic centers have been facing the highest record of threats, harassment and vandalism in the United States this year.

The study suggested US mosques and Islamic centers have been the victims of vandalism, harassment and anti-Muslim bigotry for at least 63 times so far this year, CNN reported.

It said that 2015 has been the most intense anti-Muslim year in American history because of deadly attacks carried out in the name of Islam by the Daesh (ISIL) Takfiri terrorist group that is wreaking havoc in parts of Syria and Iraq.

"Daesh wants Americans to turn on each other, and with November seeing the highest number of mosque incidents since we started keeping data, it seems they are getting their wish," said CAIR spokesman Corey Saylor.

The study also said the anti-Islamic flames have been rising since August 2014, when Daesh released a video showing the beheading of two Americans. The killings created an environment of "toxic hate," which caused some Americans to lash out against their Muslim neighbors.

CAIR headquarters in Washington DC was evacuated on Thursday after the advocacy group said it had received a threat in mail. A white powdery substance in an envelope along with a hate message was posted to CAIR’s main office, according to its Executive Director Nihad Awad and Communication Director Ibrahim Hooper. The substance and envelope were sent to the FBI for investigation.

According to Awad, “the number of recent threats have gone up significantly since [Republican presidential candidate Donald] Trump’s comments, San Bernardino shooting and Paris attacks.”

Trump ignited a political firestorm on Monday by proposing a “total and complete” ban on all Muslims entering the US.

His statement, which has drawn widespread condemnation both domestically and internationally, came after the mass shootings in San Bernardino, California, last week, in which a married couple, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik killed at least 14 people and injured 21 others.

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