Many years after 9/11, Muslims battle Islamophobia in US | September 11 Information

For Muslim People, the post-September 11 ramifications of Islamophobia proceed because the twenty first anniversary of the assaults is solemnly marked on Sunday.

In line with FBI statistics, hate crimes in opposition to Muslims in the USA skyrocketed instantly after September 11, 2001, and are nonetheless on an upward pattern.

“Muslims proceed to be the goal of hate, bullying, and discrimination on account of the stereotypes that have been perpetuated by Islamophobes and the media within the years following the 9/11 attacks,” mentioned Hussam Ayloush, govt director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“Twenty-one years after the assaults, Muslims proceed to face the specter of focused violence.”

After September 11, Ayloush mentioned, there was “an ideal storm of the American individuals and its authorities needing a typical ‘enemy’”.

“The unlucky actuality is there are individuals and organisations that profit from perpetuating Islamophobia, bigotry, and battle,” he mentioned.

‘Xenophobic commentary’

Islamophobia – which is outlined as the detest of, or prejudice in opposition to, Islam or Muslims – stays a prevalent drawback within the US.

Zahra Jamal, affiliate director of Rice College’s Boniuk Institute for Non secular Tolerance in Houston, mentioned 62 % of Muslims report feeling religion-based hostility and 65 % felt disrespected by others.

“That’s nearly thrice the proportion amongst Christians,” mentioned Jamal. “Internalised Islamophobia is more prevalent among younger Muslims who’ve confronted anti-Muslim tropes in standard tradition, information, social media, political rhetoric, and in coverage. This negatively impacts their self-image and psychological well being.”

She mentioned the numbers associated to discrimination in opposition to Muslims are alarming and present simply how a lot Islamophobia has elevated within the US over the previous 20 years.

Ayloush mentioned the statistics weren’t stunning contemplating the present unstable political local weather within the US perpetuated by former President Donald Trump throughout his time period in workplace.

“Trump’s presidency normalised being an anti-Muslim bigot. He made it socially acceptable to be overtly anti-Muslim,” mentioned Ayloush.

“In addition to always retweeting anti-Muslim rhetoric from Islamophobic entities from his now-permanently suspended Twitter account and stating throughout his marketing campaign that he thinks ‘Islam hates us’, he additionally made a number of xenophobic commentary and insurance policies about Muslim immigrants and refugees … with little or no regard to their discriminatory intent.”

Extra susceptible to violence?

Ayloush cited “the Muslim ban”, which barred travellers from a number of Muslim-majority nations from getting into the US.

“Though the present administration overturned the ban, we’re nonetheless coping with the ramifications of it to this present day with many households nonetheless being separated,” mentioned Ayloush.

He emphasised one stereotype that impacts the Muslim community the hardest.

“Essentially the most blatant falsehood to come up from the response to the 9/11 assaults is the concept that Muslims are someway extra susceptible to violence than different teams or religions,” mentioned Ayloush.

“This harmful and inaccurate ideology portrays Islam’s greater than two billion followers in a manner that in the end dehumanises them. Even worse, it has led to authorities insurance policies and regulation enforcement practices that surveil the Muslim neighborhood.

“Islamophobia doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Muslims are sadly not the primary, and so they sadly is not going to be the final, group that faces hate and discrimination in the USA,” mentioned Ayloush.

He famous the US has an extended historical past of “dehumanising and marginalising” ethnic and non secular teams, together with Native People, African People, Jews, and Asian People.

The one approach to fight Islamophobia after 9/11 is to deal with it head-on, he mentioned.

“You will need to maintain individuals who perpetuate racism, bigotry, and xenophobia accountable for his or her hateful phrases and actions in all sectors, whether or not it’s on the border, on the airport, by regulation enforcement, or by a politician,” mentioned Ayloush.

“Within the final 20-plus years since that horrific day, we’re seeing increasingly People selecting to face up for what is correct.”