The most prevalent trigger of anti-Muslim bias incidents in 2018 remains the victim's ethnicity or national origin, accounting for 33 percent of the total. For the 341 cases in which a victim's ethnicity or national origin was identified, the most frequent was "Middle Eastern/North African" at 39 percent.
The second most common was "Black/African-American" at 17 percent. At 14 percent, "South Asian" was the third most commonly targeted ethnicity. Seventeen percent of incidents occurred because of an individual being perceived as Muslim.
A Muslim woman's head scarf (hijab) was a trigger in 16 percent of incidents. CAIR has reported an unprecedented spike in bigotry targeting American Muslims and members of other minority groups since the election of Donald Trump as president.
Under President Donald Trump, the United States government has shown an "unprecedented level of government hostility" toward the Muslim religious minority in the country, according to another report by the CAIR released in April. CAIR's 2018 civil rights report "Targeted", disclosed that federal government agencies instigated more than one-third of anti-Muslim incidents in 2017.
Trump's National Security and State Department picks alarm American Muslims
In April, American Muslims were alarmed by President Trump's choice of John Bolton as a new national security adviser and Mike Pompeo as a new secretary of state.
John Bolton is a notorious Islamophobe who as a history of ties to anti-Muslim extremists and organizations. He served as chairman of the New York City-based anti-Muslim organization, whose website regularly highlights negative stories about Muslim immigrants. It published the myth that certain cities with Muslim majority neighborhoods were off limits to those who did not practice the faith. In its posts, the institute consistently depicts refugees as rapists and hosts of "highly infectious diseases" that threaten the health of the German people.
Bolton has long been associated with anti-Muslim extremists Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller. He even wrote the forward for Spencer and Geller's book "The Obama Administration's War on America." Geller endorsed Bolton as a presidential candidate. Bolton advocated for the Iraq War and promoted the false justification for the conflict. He has promoted anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and called for bombing Iran and North Korea.
In 2016, Bolton spoke at a conference of the American Freedom Alliance hate group. His speech at the conference, which had the overall theme, "Can Islam and the West Coexist?" contained a "joke" the punchline of which was that President Obama was a Muslim.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Trump's pick to lead the State Department, has portrayed the fight against terrorism as an epic holy war. "The threat to America is from people who deeply believe that Islam is the way and the light and the only answer," he told a church group in his hometown of Wichita in 2014. "They abhor Christians and will continue to press against us," he said, "until we make sure that we pray and stand and fight and make sure we know that Jesus Christ as our savior is truly the only solution for our world."
"By appointing these highly controversial individuals, the Trump administration is normalizing anti-Muslim sentiment," says Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). "Trump is sending a green light for average people to mistreat Muslims."
Senate recognizes rights and contributions of American Muslims
On the positive side, the American Muslims for support from US Senate, California State Senate and City of Santa Clara, recognizing their rights and contributions.
In April, the California State Senate proclaimed "the month of April 2018 as Arab American Heritage Month." Senate Concurrent Resolution commemorates the month of April as "Arab American Heritage Month" in California and recognizes the important contributions of Arab Americans to our state. "the resolution is part of a broader effort toward creating awareness and paying respect to California's approximately 800,000 Arab American residents. In addition, vcelebrates the achievements of Arab American Californians and highlights their commitment and contributions to their communities," said Senator Newman (D-Fullerton).
Similarly, in June the Senate adopted a resolution recognizing the rights and liberties granted to people of all faiths in the United States, including American Muslims, and the many valuable contributions Muslims have made to the nation throughout its history.
The resolution was sponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), titled "Recognizing the freedom of Muslims of the United States to exercise their religion and participate in the civil systems of their country."
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