In a survey that examined the profiling of Muslims by the Customs and Border Protection unit, results showed that 23 percent of the case intake expressed discriminatory sentiment. Further study of cases related to Islamophobia in the U.S. yielded disturbing information.
In the first three months after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, cases of Islamophobia increased by 1,035 percent when compared to a similar period in 2016. The 2016 cases were only seventeen in the first quarter of the year while the first one hundred days post-Trump saw that number rise to 193 cases. That number represents more than the total number of cases that occurred in the U.S. from 2014 to 2016 combined. Of the 193 cases, 181 took place after the signing of the executive order that banned entry of people from Muslim-majority states.
Islamophobia is the general fear a community or an individual may harbor for a person who practices the Islamic faith. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is the body tasked with ensuring the fair treatment and well-being of all Muslims in the United States.
CAIR attributed these latest figures to lack of proper investigation of incidences against Muslims in the United States and the purported endorsement of Islamophobia by the current U.S. administration.
President Trump has been anti-Muslim from the beginning when he promised to rid the country of the Islamic faith in his 2016 campaign speeches. Next, Mr. Trump signed an order restricting Muslims from Islamic states from coming into the U.S. President Trump then compounded the effect of the order by selecting advisers who had made anti-Muslim comments in the past, and who added the bias in the administration, CAIR stated.
There were also disquieting incidences when the administration proposed to designate the Muslim Brotherhood in the States as terrorists. This proposal was met with a lot of opposition with the opponents declaring that the designation was uncalled for as the Brotherhood did not incite its members to perpetuate violence against the country.
Another factor for the rise in Islamophobia was the lack of resolution when it came to Islamophobia-related incidences. Examples varied from hate speeches to harassment and threatening of Islamic women and children. CAIR even reported one incident when two men were shot, and one died because they had been perceived to be Muslims, which they were not. Furthermore, the groups that undertook the discriminatory crimes went unpunished. CAIR added an appeal to the Arizona Police Association to halt a meeting set to take place next month to advance anti-Muslim propaganda. The organization has not responded to the appeal yet.
Islamophobia is dangerous and needs to be dealt with soon. Already, there have been deaths linked to it. Similarly, CAIR noted an increase in the number of attacks on mosques in the U.S. from 19 in 2016 to 34 in just the first quarter of 2017. World bodies, companies, and states have started the fight against Islamophobia by filing an amicus.