CAIR taking action to protect Muslim, Arab, Palestinian Americans amid violence

By Web Staff

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    BALTIMORE, Maryland (WBAL) — The Maryland Council on American-Islamic Relations is taking action to help protect Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Americans.

The action comes after the organization has seen a surge in reports of violence and hate crimes since the Israel-Hamas war began, including the recent shooting in Burlington, Vermont, that left three Palestinian students injured. The assault is now being investigated as a possible hate crime.

“Of the many dozens of complaints that my office in Maryland has received over the last several weeks has included complaints of students on college campuses who have been threatened, who have been verbally and physically assaulted, who have been threatened to be doxed, who have faced retaliation, who have faced censorship,” Zainab Chaudry, director of the Maryland Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Chaudry has been tracking the number of reports and believes the number of actual incidents is much higher. She said almost 80% of attacks on Muslim Americans are kept quiet because of a fear of reporting and belief that incidents will not be investigated.

“One-hundred fourteen incidents and complaints and reports of hate bias were made to our office between the period of Oct. 9 and Nov. 9,” said Chaudry.

While a spotlight has been placed on eliminating Hamas, Chaudry fears there’s a loss of humanity for innocent Palestinians.

“There’s a sense of we need to root out and eliminate Hamas, right? If you have a school shooter inside of a building and you’re trying to eliminate the school shooter, you don’t bomb the school, right? You don’t eradicate all the children in the school to get rid of the school shooter,” she said.

To address fear and anxiety among Muslim communities, CAIR is offering self-defense workshops and bystander intervention training beginning this weekend.

“Especially now and after the tragedy in Vermont, we want students to feel that they can take ownership of their safety to some degree, and there are basic steps that they can take to help make sure that they’re protected and they’re safe,” said Chaudry.

In the meantime, she’s calling on lawmakers and others with a platform to condemn attacks on Arab, Muslim and Palestinian Americans.

“Stop waiting for permission to do the right thing. You have to be a leader in these times, especially when we’re seeing unprecedented rise in hate violence against our community,” said Chaudry.

CAIR hopes to offer the training at as many mosques, colleges and high schools as necessary to help students feel secure and empowered to stand up for themselves.

Gov. Wes Moore is also taking steps to prevent hate crimes.

On Monday, he announced $1 million in emergency state funding to be distributed to Maryland organizations.

Groups that serve protected classes and religious institutions can now apply for up to $40,000 in grant funding. That money will go toward hiring security personnel to protect members and facilities against hate crimes.

“In Maryland, we do not, and we will never tolerate hatred. Not toward Muslims, not toward Jews, not toward Christians, not toward anyone,” Moore said in a news release.

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