[Episcopal News Service]
Despite on-going calls for tolerance from church leaders, hate crimes against Muslims or those thought to be of Middle Eastern descent rose dramatically in the United States in 2001, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The report said that the number of cases rose from 28 in 2000 to 481 in 2001 but the report did not indicate how many incidents occurred after the September 11 terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Almost 10,000 allegations of hate crimes were reported with Muslims trailing behind African Americans, homosexuals and Jews in the number of cases reported. Hate crimes can range from verbal abuse to assault or murder.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil rights and advocacy group, welcomed the report but said that the figures did not present the whole picture since many Muslims did not report the crimes to authorities. 'They swallow the incident and move on,' said Ibrahim Hooper. 'People have a natural reluctance to report these to the FBI,' due largely to s feeling shared by Muslims that in the post-September 11 climate 'Muslims are guilty until proven innocent.'
CAIR said that Muslims in the country had reported more than 1,700 incidents to the council following the terrorist attacks. Referring to anti-Islam comments by evangelicals like Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, Hooper said, 'Unfortunately, the population that is hostile to Islam in the United States is increasing, parroting the line of Graham, Falwell and Robertson.'
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