In the wake of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Muslim leaders in Chicago say this is the worst period of anti-Muslim hate they have ever seen.
“This is causing shockwaves in our community. There is palpable fear,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
This period of anti-Muslim hate is worse than post-9/11 because of the volume of threats and because children are being targeted, he said.
Last weekend, a man fatally stabbed 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume in Plainfield because of his Muslim faith. Rehab called the murder “one of the worst hate crimes ever on American soil.”
This week, someone sent hate mail to a Chicago-area Muslim school, praising Wadea’s killer, Rehab said. Aqsa School, an Islamic day school in Bridgeview, moved to remote learning Friday after its principal received the “threatening hate letter.”
On Tuesday, a Lombard man was charged with threatening to shoot two Muslim men outside an apartment complex.
A root cause of the rising hate, Rehab said, is the Israel-focused narrative in the media that he believes ignores the suffering of Palestinians.
Elected officials could address the root of the problem by recognizing the loss of life in Gaza, said Gregory Abdullah Mitchell, executive director of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.
“Start telling the story — all of the story, not half of the story — so we don’t stir up this needless and senseless violence that is inflicting the Muslim community,” he said.
