Islamophobia is on the rise in America. In a recent report, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) highlighted a series of anti-Islamic incidents targeting individuals and mosques. One of the incidents cited in the report related to harassment by Muslim students. According to the report, a teacher working in Delaware made a female student uncomfortable after wearing a hijab for the first time during the holy month of Ramadan. In a statement to a local television station WPVI, the Muslim student said a teacher told her she was too “skinny” to fast, and that if she fasted, he wouldn’t see her in class. According to the victim, the words made other students in the class laugh.
Read: United States: Suspect arrested after killing of four Muslims
The report documents acts of Islamophobia at places of worship, including in Iowa, where a security camera at a community center recorded a woman using snow to paint crosses on a Muslim building. Another incident: CAIR filed a lawsuit against Alaska Airlines on behalf of two Muslim men who were kicked off a flight in 2020 for communicating in Arabic. The two passengers “were told to disembark after other passengers raised concerns about their Arabic text messages. “The lawsuit came after the airline promised to conduct an internal investigation into the incident and then never followed up with the men,” the report said.