The xenophobic rhetoric and anti-Muslim fear-mongering enjoys unprecedented influence with Donald Trump’s most vitriolic anti-Muslim rhetoric as typified by his election campaign declaration: “I think Islam hates us.”

Tellingly, on Oct 29, attorneys for a President Donald Trump supporter, Patrick Stein, who was convicted in a domestic terrorism plot aimed at slaughtering Muslim refugees asked a federal judge to factor in the “backdrop” of Trump’s campaign rhetoric when deciding their client’s sentence. Patrick Stein was one of three right-wing militiamen found guilty in April of a conspiracy to kill Muslim refugees living in rural Kansas.

Stein’s attorneys argued in a sentencing memo that sending Stein to prison for life was unwarranted and that a sentence of 15 years would be appropriate. They said the judge should factor in the “backdrop to this case” when crafting an appropriate sentence.

“2016 was ‘lit.’ The court cannot ignore the circumstances of one of the most rhetorically mold-breaking, violent, awful, hateful and contentious presidential elections in modern history, driven in large measure by the rhetorical China shop bull who is now our president,” they wrote and added: “Trump’s brand of rough-and-tumble verbal pummeling heightened the rhetorical stakes for people of all political persuasions.”

The accumulated impact of anti-Islam and anti-Muslim rhetoric  is that a large proportion of non-Muslim Americans think Islam is incompatible with American values, according to a research by the New America Foundation and the American Muslim Initiative. The research found that 56 percent of Americans believed Islam was compatible with American values and 42 percent said it was not. About 60 percent believed US Muslims were as patriotic as others, while 38 percent they were not.

Researchers found that Republicans were more likely to hold negative perceptions of Muslims and Islam, with 71 percent saying Islam was incompatible with American values. About 56 percent of Republicans also admitted they would be concerned if a mosque was built in their neighborhood.

It will not be too much to say that Islamophobia has entered the government. It is incorporated into the law, and becomes increasingly acceptable in America. Apparently, Muslims in America are more vulnerable to bigotry and Islamophobia as a result of President Donald Trump’s behavior and actions than they were after the 9/11 attacks.

The level of anxiety and apprehension was such a high level that many Muslims were fearful to public display signs of their faith. A number of Muslim women, for instance, were deciding not to appear in public wearing the scarf. Alarmingly, a Hijab-clad Muslim woman stabbed in Texas by two white males.

As Sophia McClennen of Salon pointed out, the month of June 2018 was an especially bad month for the seven-million Muslims in America. First, a new study of U.S. perceptions of Muslim Americans conducted by Dalia Mogahed and John Sides for the Voter Study Group showed that many Americans view Muslims in the United States as insufficiently “American,” and almost 20 percent would deny Muslim citizens the right to vote.

The Muslim Ban 3.0
Then in June, the Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump’s decision to institute a ban on immigrants, refugees and visa holders from five majority-Muslim countries in a 5-4 decision. This is known as Muslim Ban 3.0 since it was the third iteration of the Muslim Ban.

The synergy of these two pieces of information is critical because it reveals a common attitude that Muslims pose a threat to U.S. security whether they are U.S. citizens or not, McClennen said adding: while these attitudes do break down heavily across party lines, it is noteworthy that the study indicated that even 12 percent of Democrats would consider denying Muslim citizens the right to vote. Their study also showed that 32 percent of Democrats favor targeting Muslims at U.S. airport screenings to ensure the safety of flights. That figure compares with 75 percent of Republicans.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority of the Supreme Court opinion upholding the travel ban. He emphasized that, despite ample evidence of President Donald Trump’s animus towards the Muslim community, the ban was a security issue and not an example of discrimination, “Because there is persuasive evidence that the entry suspension has a legitimate grounding in national security concerns, quite apart from any religious hostility, we must accept that independent justification.

As made clear by Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent, where she referenced the court’s 1944 decision to uphold the internment of Japanese Americans, the practice of claiming national security needs in order to implement discriminatory policy is nothing new in this country. She argued that the court’s decision “leaves undisturbed a policy first advertised openly and unequivocally as a ‘total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States’ because the policy now masquerades behind a façade of national-security concerns.”

Taken together the Supreme Court decision and the voter study reveal a mainstreaming of Islamophobia. Whether aimed at Syrian refugees or U.S. citizens, these attitudes, policies and practices underscore the reality that America really has a Muslim problem — a problem seeing Muslims as human beings deserving of dignity, human rights and respect, McClennen concluded.

A chilling example of President Trump’s Muslim Ban 3.0 was prevention of Shaima Swileh, a Yemeni mother to see her dying son who came to the U.S. to be treated for a genetic brain condition. Ultimately Swileh was given a visa waiver. She arrived in San Francisco on December 19 while her son Abdullah expired on December 28 only nine days after her arrival.

Anti-Muslim Bias Incidents, Hate Crimes Spike
Not surprisingly, the divisive rhetoric of US President Donald Trump has fomented hate crimes against the Muslims.  Anti-Muslim bias incidents and hate crimes are up 83 and 21 percent respectively, as compared to the first quarter of 2018, according to a report released in July by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization.

Incidents involving government agencies, including the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, have also risen by 60 percent in this time period. For the second quarter of 2018, CAIR received 1006 reports of potential bias incidents, with 431 of these reports determined to contain an identifiable element of anti-Muslim bias.

The 2018 second quarter report records denial of religious accommodation as the number one type of bias incident. Many of these cases have occurred at an incarceration or detention facility, making this the number one location of anti-Muslim bias incidents in the second quarter of the year. This is the first time that detention facilities have been among the top five locations of bias incidents since CAIR has kept records of anti-Muslim discrimination.

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. The report dataset is drawn primarily from the intakes CAIR conducts each year. With each case, civil rights and legal staff seek to ensure the highest possible level of accuracy. 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.

Civil Rights Report shows increase in anti-Muslim bias incidents in California
In August, the California Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) released its annual civil rights report which revealed an 82 percent increase in reported incidents of religious-based discrimination, anti-Muslim bias incidents, and immigration matters to all four CAIR offices throughout the state from the previous year.

The report, titled CAIR-California’s “Civil Rights Report 2018,” summarizes and analyzes all civil rights and immigration matters reported to CAIR-California’s offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, (CAIR-SFBA), San Diego (CAIR-SD), the Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR-LA), and the Sacramento Valley (CAIR-SV) in 2017.

According to the report, CAIR-CA staff received a total of 2,259 incident reports in 2017. Key highlights of CAIR-California’s report include a 503 percent increase in reported discriminatory treatment during travel from 2016 to 2017, driven primarily by the intentional discrimination encapsulated by the Muslim Ban. The number of immigration matters handled also increased significantly by 113 percent from 2016.  In 2017, CAIR-CA received the most incident reports in the following categories:  immigration (44.9%), travel matters (17.1%), hate incidents or hate crime (8.7%), law enforcement interactions (8.3%), and employment discrimination (6.2%).

On the positive note
On the positive note, three Muslims elected to House of Representatives in November 6 election. Ilhan Omar won in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District and Rashida Tlaib won in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. They are the first Muslim women elected to the Congress. In Indiana, Rep. André Carson (D) won his re-election bid for the 7th District.

More than 90 American Muslims ran for office this year at the local, state and national level according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and Jetpac, a group that seeks to build a strong American Muslim political infrastructure and increase American Muslims’ influence and engagement.

The CAIR exit poll survey indicated that 95 percent of eligible Muslim voters turned out at the polls. Seventy-eight percent of Muslim voters cast ballots for Democratic Party candidates and only 17 percent for Republican Party candidates.

CNN reported winning of two Muslim Women to the House of Representative with the headline: What happens when Muslims and Islamophobes both win. Writing under the above heading, Juan Cole, chief editor of Informed Comment and Professor of History at the University of Michigan, comments about Tuesday’s election: “Perhaps the most remarkable stories are the two Muslim women elected to the House, one from Minneapolis (Ilhan Omar of Somalia) and the other from Detroit (Rashida Tlaib of Detroit, but ultimately Palestine). They aren’t only women, and Muslims, but also refugees. They are Donald J. Trump’s worst nightmare and the antithesis of what he thinks America is or should be, if you listen to his rhetoric. But actually he has some commonalities with them.”

According to Arab-Anti-Discrimination Committee, five Arab Americans were elected today to the House of Representatives: Donna Shalala (FL) winning Florida’s 27th district,  Ralph Abraham (LA) US Congress 5th District, Darin LaHood (IL) US Congress 18th District, Garret Graves (LA) US Congress 5th District, and Justin Amish (MI) US Congress 6th District. Chris Sununu was re-elected as New Hampshire’s Governor. Michael Saba was elected to the Ninth District seat in the South Dakota House of Representatives. There were over 60 Arab American candidates running for office in local, state and federal elections.

Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the House of Representative in 2006, was elected Attorney General of Minnesota today. In a victory message Ellison said: “No matter what color you are, what your gender identity is, what your religion is, how much money you make, how old you may be, how healthy you are, who you love, where you live, or how you pray, know that as Minnesota Attorney General, I’ll be on your side fighting for your rights every day. Because we believe everybody counts, and everybody matters.” Keith Ellison received national attention for his decision to use an English translation of the Qur’an, translated by British scholar George Sale in 1734, that once belonged to President Thomas Jefferson for his reenacted swearing-in ceremony, which generated praise and criticisms from political pundits. Ilhan Omar is one of the first Muslim-American woman took up the seat vacated by Keith Ellison.

Five American Muslim candidates were elected to local offices in San Francisco: Sabina Zafar, Aisha Wahab, Maimona Afzal Berta, Cheryl Sudduth, and Javed Ellahie. A total of 12 Bay Area Muslims ran for elected office in the November 6 election. In New Jersey at least 11 Muslims were elected to various offices which include: Assad Akhtar, Passaic County Freeholder; Mohamed T. Khairullah, Mayor Prospect Park; Alaa Abdelaziz, Councilman, Paterson; Hazim Yassin, Councilman, Red Bank; Sadaf Jaffer, Councilwoman, Montgomery; Salim Patel, Councilman, City of Passaic; Mussab Ali, Jersey City Board of Education; Mariam F. Khan, Dennis Township Board of Education; Mohammad M. Ramadan, Passaic County Board of Education; Alaa Matari, Councilman, Prospect Park; and Adam Chaabane, Woodland Park Board of Education.

In December, The city of South Portland has elected Deqa Dhalac the first Muslim African-American woman city councilor in the city’s history. Dhalac who is a U.S. citizen with Somalian roots, is a social worker with two masters degree and mother of three children. Dhalac won the elections against her opponent Donald Cook with more than two-thirds of the vote. “My campaign was all about love,” she said. “Everybody was excited to see a different person, different representation, different faces in the city council. A lot of people were like, ‘It’s time.’”

The Muslim Awareness and Appreciation Month
The County of Santa Clara California declared the month of August as the Muslim Awareness and Appreciation Month. The Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara, California issued a proclamation saying that Muslims have been part of U.S. history from the beginning, have contributed to the production of wealth and construction of the nation, and have served in our Armed Forces and they are also part of the rich history of the civil rights movement. The proclamation went on to say Muslim Americans within California and throughout the nation strive to promote peace and understanding between all faiths, identities, and nationalities and extend to them the respect and camaraderie every American deserves. Recognizing the Muslim Americans’ contribution the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara declared the month of August as the Muslim Awareness and Appreciation Month.

Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org/

Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America (www.journalofamerica.net) email: asghazali2011 (@) gmail.com
 

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After a week of exhausting travel in London, I wanted nothing more than to see my wife and children.

Customs and Border Patrol at Dulles had other plans.

 

On Aug. 6, I landed on UA919 from Heathrow to Dulles wearing my Ahmadiyya Muslim Community logo-embroidered press jacket. I cleared passport control with my Global Entry card, and called an Uber as I headed for the exit.

That’s when Customs and Border Protection, as one of the officers I encountered put it, “randomly selected” me for additional screening. What I experienced next involved harassment, threats of further interrogation, allegations that I was non-compliant and breaking the law, an attempt to confiscate my travel documents and childish stalling tactics — all courtesy of officials hired to protect Americans like me…
 

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A young Muslim-American woman filmed the moment she was harassed and called a b***h after a man took photos of her in an Atlanta coffee shop.

Asma Elhuni, 39, noticed the man, news outlets believe to be Rob Koehler, walk into Joe’s Coffee Shop and start taking pictures of her as shew worked on her laptop.

“I was just literally on my computer, minding my business, and I look up and see a guy with a camera pointing at me,” Elhuni told Atlanta’s Creative Loafing.

Elhuni, an American citizen who is a Georgia State University political science graduate student and a legislative intern for State Representative Brenda Lopez, said at first she tried to ignore the man who allegedly began photographing her with his phone.

“I’m like, are you taking a picture of me? And he goes: ‘Yeah.’ Just like that! And so I was like: ‘OK, ‘ll take a picture of you.’ And he smiled, and I was like, OK, I’m going to videotape him now,” Elhuni said.
In the resulting video, Elhuni calmly asks the man, who is white, why he is taking pictures of her.

The man sits down close to Elhuni, claims he was taking pictures of the man behind her, and accuses her of being “uptight” and “acting like a b***h”.

He then asks “do you have a green card”, before another man who appears to be his friend ushers him away.

Elhuni posted the video on her Facebook page and it has since gone viral, with more than 90,000 views.

“Really what I wanted to show him was, one, what he did was inappropriate, and two, I’m not afraid of you. Because did you see how he sat down and got in my face? I knew my weapon was my camera,” she said.
At the coffee shop, several patrons and employees who witnessed the event firsthand quickly rallied around Elhuni, sitting down next to her, hugging her and buying her tea.

“It was hard to tell what was happening from across the room, but it was clear the guy was harassing her,” a witness was quoted as saying.

The harassment incident comes close on the heels of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning all entry into the US of nationals from seven majority-Muslim countries, including Libya, where Elhuni is originally from.

An official statement posted on the Joe’s East Atlanta Facebook page in response to the incident reads, “There is a video floating around on Facebook of an encounter with one of our dear customers and a man saying horrible things to her. We do not condone such behaviour and are, frankly, disgusted by it.”

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter
 

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The Islamic Center of Victoria was destroyed in early morning fire on Saturday when nobody was in the building in Victoria city, about 185-km southwest of Houston.

The incident occurred within hours of President Donald Trump announcing a ban on citizens from seven Muslim majority countries entering the United States.

"A gofundme.com page set up to raise funds to rebuild the mosque demonstrated the overwhelming goodwill from supporters in Victoria, the state of Texas, the US and beyond. As of 10:45 PM Sunday, the page had raised more than USD 780,000 since its creation the previous day," Victoria Advocate newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people prayed and communed yesterday at the burned ruins of the mosque in a show of community solidarity. Religious leaders of varying faiths and backgrounds led an emotional crowd, the paper said.
At least four churches and a synagogue have offered the use of their own houses of worship for the displaced members of the now-destroyed mosque.

The Islamic centers president, Shahid Hashmi, refused to speculate about whether it was arson, but said the building was burglarised a week ago.

The mosque, built in 2000, was the victim of a burglary on January 21 and in July 2013, a man admitted painting H8 – short hand for hate – on one of the mosques outside walls.

With authorities in the early stages of their investigation, mosque member Abe Ajrami asked people to avoid jumping to conclusions and politicizing the tragedy.

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Washington, Jan 28 (PTI) President Donald Trump today signed an executive order that calls for "extreme vetting" of people entering the US from certain Muslim-majority countries, a move he said is aimed at keeping "radical Islamic terrorists" out of America.

The executive order "Protection of The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States" notes that the steps taken by the US in the aftermath of 9/11 has not been able to deter terrorists from entering the country.

"Numerous foreign-born individuals have been convicted or implicated in terrorism-related crimes since September 11, 2001, including foreign nationals who entered the US after receiving visitor, student, or employment visas, or who entered through the US refugee resettlement program," it said.

The move fulfils the vow Trump made on the campaign trail to limit Muslim immigration to the United States.

"I'm establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America. We don't want them here," Trump said after he signed the executive order in his first visit to the Pentagon, a week after he was sworn in as the President.

"We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas.

We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people," Trump said.

"We will never forget the lessons of 9/11 nor the heroes who lost at the Pentagon. They were the best of us. We will honour them not only with our words, but with our actions, and that's what we're doing today," said Trump flanked by Defence Secretary Gen (rtd) James Mattis and the Vice President Mike Pence.

Deteriorating conditions in certain countries due to war, strife, disaster, and civil unrest increase the likelihood that terrorists will use any means possible to enter the US, the executive order said.

The US must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those approved for admission do not intend to harm Americans and that they have no ties to terrorism, it said.

"In order to protect Americans, the US must ensure that those admitted to this country do not bear hostile attitudes toward it and its founding principles," the executive order said adding that the US cannot, and should not, admit those who do not support the Constitution, or those who would place violent ideologies over American law.

In addition, the US should not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred (including "honour" killings, other forms of violence against women, or the persecution of those who practice religions different from their own) or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender, or sexual orientation, it said.

The executive order suspends the US Refugee Admissions Programme for 120 days until it is reinstated "only for nationals of countries for whom" members of Trump's Cabinet deem can be properly vetted.

The order also prevents all persons from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen from entering the country for 30 days. .
 

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डोनाल्ड ट्रंप ने सात मुस्लिम देशों से आने वाले मुसलमान शरणार्थियों को बैन कर दिया है। राष्‍ट्रपति ट्रंप ने यह कदम अमेरिकी शरणार्थी पुर्नवास कार्यक्रम को स्‍थगित करके उठाया है। इस ऑर्डर के तहत अमेरिका में सात मुसलमान देशों सीरिया, इरान, इराक, लीबिया, सूडान, यमन और सोमालिया से आने वाले शरणार्थियों पर नए प्रतिबंध लगा दिए गए हैं।

मीडिया रिपोर्ट्स के मुताबिक, ट्रंप ने पेंटागन में ऑर्डर को साइन किया और कहा कि हम सिर्फ उन्‍हीं लोगों को देश में एंट्री देंगे जो अमेरिका को सपोर्ट करेंगे और यहां के लोगों से प्‍यार करेंगे।

ट्रंप ने अमेरिका के शरणार्थी कार्यक्रम को 20 दिनों के लिए स्‍थगित कर दिया है। वहीं जांच के लिए नए नियम लागू कर दिए हैं।

बता दें कि ट्रंप ने अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति चुनाव के दौरान और राष्ट्रपति पद की शपथ लेने के बाद कट्टरपंथी आतंकवादियों के खात्मे का संकल्प लिया था। उन्होंने कहा था कि CIA ऐसा करने के लिए योजना बनाएगी।

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter
 

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Abubaker Amry, who has lived in Cincinnati, Ohio for nearly four decades, said he and his neighbours do not interact much beyond a cordial “Hello,” so the note someone left him, came as a surprise.

So the day 70-year-old Trump was sworn into office, one of his neighbours in Westwood left this in his mailbox, “Dear Neighbours, today begins a new stage for our country. No matter what happens, please know there are still a lot of people who will fight for your right to practice your religion, to continue your lives without discrimination. You are welcome in our neighbourhood and if you need anything – please knock on our door,” a CNN affiliate WCPO reported.

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परिवार के वकील रानडाल स्पेंसर ने कहा कि उताह के प्रोवो सिटी में टिम्पव्यू हाई स्कूल में पढ़ने वाली लड़की जान्ना बाकिर से बस चालक ने बस की इंटरकॉम प्रणाली का प्रयोग करते हुए कहा कि बस से उतर जाओ, तुम यहां की नहीं हो।

भाषा की खबर के अनुसार, बाकिर के हवाले से एबीसी न्यूज से जुड़े ‘डब्ल्यबीएनडी एलडी’ ने कहा, ‘यह (हिजाब) इसका हिस्सा है कि मैं कौन हूं और कहां से आती हूं और यह मेरे धर्म का हिस्सा है।

हर दिन मैं अपने कपड़ों के साथ अपने हिजाब का मिलान करती हूं’। उन्होंने पिछले महीने हुई इस घटना के बारे में कहा कि चालक ने कहा, ‘हे, तुम नीली चीज (स्कार्फ) वाली, तुम इस बस पर नहीं चढो और मैंने कभी तुम्हें सवार होते नहीं देखा इसलिए उतर जाओ’।

उन्होंने कहा कि उन्‍हें शर्मिंदगी महसूस हुई और वह बस से उतरकर रोने लगी।उन्होंने कहा, ‘मैं बहुत शर्मिंदा हुई कि किस तरह हर कोई उन्‍हें घूर रहा था’।

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter
 

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Officer Aml Elsokary, who was off duty and wearing her hijab, dropped off her son in Brooklyn. After parking her car, she returned to the scene to find her son being shoved by the suspect, a white man in his 30s. When the officer — a native New Yorker — approached, the man said, “ISIS (expletive), I will cut your throat, go back to your country!”

Elsokary did not identify herself as a police officer, and was unarmed, the New York Daily News reported, citing police sources. The suspect then fled the scene. Police were trying to track him down. The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is probing the episode as a bias incident which took place on Saturday.

Officer Elsokary — who proudly wears her hijab on duty – was touted as a hero by the New York city mayor after she ran into a burning building to save an elderly man and baby girl in April 2014. Responding to a call about a fire over the police radio, Elsokary and her partner had rushed to a smoke-filled building.

The decorated officer had joined the force shortly after the September 11 terror attacks to “show people that the terrible acts of that day contradicted the teachings of Islam,” Mayor Bill de Blasio had said at a 2014 dinner. The mother-of-five had received a medal for her bravery.

Saturday’s incident comes amid a slew of intimidation and assault cases that have been reported across the country against hijab-clad women following Trump’s win. On Thursday, a Muslim student was allegedly assaulted aboard a subway train by three drunk white men who repeatedly screamed “Donald Trump!” and hurled anti-Islam slurs before trying to rip her hijab off.

Earlier in December, a Hijab-clad Muslim student was allegedly struck in the face with a glass bottle in broad daylight at the University of Washington campus in Seattle. In another incident, a hijab-clad woman was allegedly accosted at a US store by another customer who called her a “terrorist” and told her to “get out” of the country. Also, a Muslim student’s hijab was allegedly ripped off and her hair pulled down by a classmate at a school in Minnesota.

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter

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An anonymous handwritten letter, which so far has been received by three mosques in California and one in Georgia, warned Muslims to “pack your bags and get out of dodge as Trump is going to cleanse America and make it shine again”.

Anti-Muslim bigotry has surged since the Election Day, claimed Edward Ahmed Mitchell, executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-GA).

“Whoever sent these letters should know that they have only strengthened our resolve to keep practicing our faith, defending our rights and building bridges with our neighbours,” he said.

Hussam Ayloush, director of Los Angeles chapter of CAIR A these hate letters are designed to intimidate Muslims in the US.

In a statement, CAIR calimed more than 100 anti-Muslim incidents have occurred across the country after the November 8 general elections.

Southern Poverty Law Center has documents more than 700 incidents targeting different minority groups.

After being elected as the 45th president of the US, Trump has spoken against all kinds of hate-crimes.

However, there has been no response from him in the aftermath of the series of hate letters being received by mosques in different parts of the country.

A query sent to the transition team remained unanswered.

After a mosque was vandalised in her Congressional District in Washington States last week, Indian-American Congresswoman-elect Pramila Jayapal said, “I am deeply troubled that hate crimes against Muslims and minorities are on the rise, in particular at places of worship and schools.”

“I strongly condemn this hateful act of vandalism of a place of worship. Hate has no place in our community, and we all stand united rejecting these actions in unequivocal terms,” she had said.
 

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