CAIR: Hate crimes against Muslims spike after Trump win

The number of anti-Muslim hate crimes in the United States rose 91 percent in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2016, according to a leading Muslim advocacy and civil rights group. In a report published on Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said hate crimes have spiked since 2016, which was the worst year on record for anti-Muslim incidents since the group began its documenting system in 2013. The number of bias incidents in the first half of 2017 also rose by 24 percent compared with the first six months of 2016, CAIR said. “The presidential election campaign and the Trump administration have tapped into a seam of bigotry and hate that has resulted in the targeting of American Muslims and other minority groups,” said Zainab Arain, a CAIR coordinator working to monitor and combat Islamophobia. “If acts of bias impacting the American Muslim community continue as they have been, 2017 could be one of the worst years ever for such incidents.” The most common form of Islamophobia from April to June this year involved harassment, defined by CAIR as non-violent or non-threatening incidents. The second was hate crimes, involving physical violence or property damage. In the 347 cases in which the gender of the victims was identified, males accounted for 57 percent, and females for 43 percent. Victims were most likely to be targeted at their homes, followed by a highway, road, alley or street. In third place were air, train or bus terminals, the President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party has called for a “Day of Rage” to protest against new security measures introduced by Israel at a Jerusalem site which is holy to both Muslims and Jews. The call follows the implementation of metal detectors and turnstiles at the entrance of al-Aqsa compound after a deadly shootout there on Friday. In that incident, two Israeli security officers died after an alleged attack by three Palestinians - who were themselves killed by Israeli police following the violence. Tensions have soared since Friday. The Red Cross said on Tuesday that at least 50 Palestinians were wounded in overnight clashes with Israeli police remaining near the sacred site, known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. At least four paramedics were injured, and 15 others were hit by rubber bullets, the charity said. Clashes also broke out on Tuesday evening after Israeli security forces used sound bombs and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of worshippers near Lion’s gate in occupied Jerusalem after evening prayers. A number of Palestinians suffered rubber bullet injuries, including former Jerusalem mufti Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, said Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent.