A 92-page report titled “Confronting Fear: Islamophobia and Its Impact in the United States” was released on Monday, authored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The study found a sharp rise in anti-Muslim incidents in 2015, which was attributed to Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric along with the attacks in Paris in November, the San Bernardino shootings in December, and the Syrian refugee crisis.
According to the report, there were nearly four times as many attacks against mosques in 2015 compared with the previous year. In 2015, there were 78 instances where mosques were targeted — involving vandalism, arson, and other destructive incidents. Compared to 2014, when there were 20 total anti-Muslim incidents. The 2015 incidents included the firebombing of a mosque in Coachella, California and the discovery of a severed pig’s head at a mosque in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
According to BuzzFeed, “the report documents various mutations of Islamophobia in the U.S. including the tracking of anti-Islam legislation, the funding and rise of anti-Islam groups, anti-Muslim law enforcement trainings conducted by noted anti-Muslim activists, incidents of mosque attacks, as well as hate crimes and discrimination committed against Muslim-Americans. The report also reveals the relatively new phenomenon of private businesses declaring themselves “Muslim-Free” zones and the rise of armed anti-Islam demonstrations outside mosques.”
“This report contains evidence that Islamophobia is more than hate crimes, it involves the passage of biased laws,” says Corey Saylor, Director of the Department to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia at CAIR. “We also document efforts of anti-Islam groups to manipulate educational standards away from an objective set of facts about Islam and toward their hateful political viewpoints.”
