American Muslims have blamed politicians and the media for the US public’s increasing hatred and fear of Islam in the five years since the September 11 attacks.
“The trends of Islamophobia unfortunately are worsening,” Abdul Malik Mujahid, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organisations of Greater Chicago, said at the start on the annual meeting of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) on Friday. “During the last five years the Muslim community has been scrutinized by almost all branches of the government and the media to the extent that more than half a million Muslims have been directly touched by this process.”
“They continue to face dehumanization and a great trend of Islamophobia,” Mujahid said. Mujahid cited George Bush’s recent remark that if terrorism is not beaten in Baghdad then Americans will have to fight it in their own streets as a remark that casts suspicions on Muslims in their own country.