Michael Ejercito
2017-12-05 13:56:09 UTC
Religious Hate Crimes, USA.: Jews, Not Muslims, Still Key Victims
by A. Z. Mohamed
December 5, 2017 at 4:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11447/religious-hate-crimes
Hate crimes -- defined as those directed at someone "based on his race,
religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity" -- are not only
illegal; they are immoral and should not be tolerated.
However, we must not allow the dictates of political correctness, according
to which "Islamophobia" is the most rampant form of bias in America, to
cloud the reality that anti-Semitism is still more widespread.
In a prepared statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 2, 2017,
Prof. Brian Levin -- director of the Center for the Study of Hate and
Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino -- stated, "Hate
crime, especially those based on religion, have [sic] increased in recent
periods."
Levin, who has dealt extensively with the topic for decades -- analyzing
statistics, compiling data and advising American and European
policy-makers -- argued that one of the problems involved in tracking hate
crimes in the U.S. is that some states do not cooperate in collecting or
reporting on the information. Another, he said, is that there is no uniform
way in which different bodies (such as the FBI and the Anti-Defamation
League) receive and investigate complaints.
Prof. Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and
Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. (Image source: CNN
video screenshot via CSUSB)
Additional confusion lies in that some crimes initially suspected as having
been motivated by hatred of Muslims or Jews often turn out not to be "hate
crimes" at all, but something else entirely. One example Levin provided was
that of an attack on a Muslim establishment that turned out to be a simple
robbery. Another was the recent case of a disturbed American-Israeli
teenager who issued bomb threats to Jewish community centers and other
institutions in the U.S. and elsewhere.
One thing, nevertheless, seems to be constant and underreported. Since 1992,
two years after Congress passed the Hate Crime Statistics Act, the FBI
Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program information showed that anti-Semitic
incidents have been higher than those perpetrated against other groups. By
contrast, from 1992 to 2000, anti-Muslim incidents were the second
least-reported. This changed in 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, when reports
on anti-Muslim incidents rose to the rank of second-highest, with a steep
spike in the immediate aftermath of the World Trade Center and Pentagon
attacks. To this day, the greatest number of reported religion-based hate
crimes have been directed at Jews, and the second greatest against Muslims.
(Source: UCR website)
Between 2010 and 2014, the number of people victimized for their religion
declined dramatically. This shifted in 2015, when there was a sharp rise in
religion-based hate crimes, particularly against Islam and Muslims. Yet even
then, Jews were 2.38 times more likely than Muslims to become victims of a
hate crime.
Hate crimes -- defined as those directed at someone "based on his race,
religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity" -- are not only
illegal; they are immoral and should not be tolerated. However, we must not
allow the dictates of political correctness, according to which
"Islamophobia" is the most rampant form of bias in America, to cloud the
reality that anti-Semitism is still more widespread.
A.Z. Mohamed is a Muslim born and raised in the Middle East.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here
do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of
Gatestone Institute.
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by A. Z. Mohamed
December 5, 2017 at 4:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11447/religious-hate-crimes
Hate crimes -- defined as those directed at someone "based on his race,
religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity" -- are not only
illegal; they are immoral and should not be tolerated.
However, we must not allow the dictates of political correctness, according
to which "Islamophobia" is the most rampant form of bias in America, to
cloud the reality that anti-Semitism is still more widespread.
In a prepared statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 2, 2017,
Prof. Brian Levin -- director of the Center for the Study of Hate and
Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino -- stated, "Hate
crime, especially those based on religion, have [sic] increased in recent
periods."
Levin, who has dealt extensively with the topic for decades -- analyzing
statistics, compiling data and advising American and European
policy-makers -- argued that one of the problems involved in tracking hate
crimes in the U.S. is that some states do not cooperate in collecting or
reporting on the information. Another, he said, is that there is no uniform
way in which different bodies (such as the FBI and the Anti-Defamation
League) receive and investigate complaints.
Prof. Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and
Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. (Image source: CNN
video screenshot via CSUSB)
Additional confusion lies in that some crimes initially suspected as having
been motivated by hatred of Muslims or Jews often turn out not to be "hate
crimes" at all, but something else entirely. One example Levin provided was
that of an attack on a Muslim establishment that turned out to be a simple
robbery. Another was the recent case of a disturbed American-Israeli
teenager who issued bomb threats to Jewish community centers and other
institutions in the U.S. and elsewhere.
One thing, nevertheless, seems to be constant and underreported. Since 1992,
two years after Congress passed the Hate Crime Statistics Act, the FBI
Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program information showed that anti-Semitic
incidents have been higher than those perpetrated against other groups. By
contrast, from 1992 to 2000, anti-Muslim incidents were the second
least-reported. This changed in 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, when reports
on anti-Muslim incidents rose to the rank of second-highest, with a steep
spike in the immediate aftermath of the World Trade Center and Pentagon
attacks. To this day, the greatest number of reported religion-based hate
crimes have been directed at Jews, and the second greatest against Muslims.
(Source: UCR website)
Between 2010 and 2014, the number of people victimized for their religion
declined dramatically. This shifted in 2015, when there was a sharp rise in
religion-based hate crimes, particularly against Islam and Muslims. Yet even
then, Jews were 2.38 times more likely than Muslims to become victims of a
hate crime.
Hate crimes -- defined as those directed at someone "based on his race,
religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity" -- are not only
illegal; they are immoral and should not be tolerated. However, we must not
allow the dictates of political correctness, according to which
"Islamophobia" is the most rampant form of bias in America, to cloud the
reality that anti-Semitism is still more widespread.
A.Z. Mohamed is a Muslim born and raised in the Middle East.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here
do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of
Gatestone Institute.
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