Islamophobia in the world persist?
While this was Sept 11, 2001, the day the terrorist attacks changed the world, for most Muslim
Americans, the ramifications of the Islamophobia that those attacks had generated, continue.
Statistics released by FBI show that hate crimes against Muslims in the United States skyrocketed
immediately after Sept 11, 2001 and are still on an upward trend.
As Americans, Muslims included, solemnly marked the 21st anniversary of the attacks, Khalid Tanvir, a
shopkeeper in Springfield, Virginia, commented: “America has changed. The pre-9/11 America will never
return, at least not for Muslims.”
In a 2022 report, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) warned that “in recent years, anti-Muslim
sentiment has spiked” and manifests itself in many ways, including “attacks on mosques” that “directly
take aim at religious freedom”.
After a six-year hiatus, US President Joe Biden resumed the 22-year-old tradition of hosting Eid
celebrations at the White House in May this year. The practice was discontinued by the Trump
administration, although President Donald Trump invited diplomats from Muslim-majority nations to
the White House for iftar dinner in 2018 and 2019.
“Muslims make our nation stronger every single day, even as they still face real challenges and threats in
our society, including targeted violence and Islamophobia that exists,” Mr Biden told those who
attended the Eid dinner.
The semi-official Voice of America (VOA) broadcasting service noted that President Biden’s comments
“marked a significant change of tone from his predecessor, Donald Trump, who said in 2016, “I think
Islam hates us.”
In 2022 Ramazan, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported a nine per cent increase in
the number of civil rights complaints it received from Muslims in the United States since 2020.
“CAIR received a total of 6,720 complaints nationwide involving a range of issues including immigration
and travel, discrimination, law enforcement and government overreach, hate and bias incidents,
prisoners’ rights, school incidents, and hate speeches,” it mentioned.