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Rabat – A new report has once again shed light on the struggles Muslim Americans face due to Islamophobia in the country.
Last week, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a report listing a series of anti-Islam incidents targeting individuals and mosques.
One of the incidents cited in the report is CAIR’s lawsuit against Alaska Airlines on behalf of two Muslim men. The two men, according to the report, were removed from a flight in 2020 for communicating in Arabic.
“The lawsuit came after the airline committed to an internal review of the incident, then never followed up with the men,” the report said, stressing that the two clients were ordered to “deplane after other passengers raised concerns over their Arabic language text messages.”
The airline allegedly made the men go through airport screening following their removal from the first flight and put them on “separate flights hours later.”
The report also listed Islamophobic acts in places of worship, including one that took place in Iowa, when security cameras at a community center recorded a woman using snow to draw crosses on the Muslim facility.
She also used an unidentified substance to write insults directed towards Islam and Muslims.
Muslim students in the US also face other discrimination issues, as widespread Islamophobia manifests itself in bullying.
The report identified a case in Delaware where a teacher made a student feel uncomfortable for wearing the hijab for the first time during the holy month of Ramadan.
The Middle School student told local TV WPVI that a teacher told her she was too “skinny” to fast, and that if she fasted more he would not see her in class. The victim reported that the other kids were laughing.
Another teacher at the same school called her “Sub-Zero” and claimed that the hijab made her look like “Sub-Zero,” in reference to a videogame character who wears a ninja outfit.
Several reports have shed light on the persistence of discrimination challenges affecting Muslims’ lives across the world, including in Europe and Canada.
Earlier this month, Muslims in Canada echoed their concerns and frustration over Islamophobic attacks.
One of the latest attacks took place on April 6, when a 28-year-old man drove his car directly towards mosque-goers, trying to hit them with the vehicle. He also yelled threats and slurs during the attack.
In 2021, a 20-year-old man was charged with four counts of fourth-degree murder and one count of attempted murder after murdering four members of a Muslim family. The man deliberately hit the family members with his truck.
Another incident that made international headlines was in 2017 when a gunman killed six Musims at a mosque in Quebec City.
