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The FBI reports annually about
hate crimes
in the U.S. Among these crimes, religious
motivation appears to be second only to race in
frequency.
In
late 2000, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR),
a Washington-based
Islamic advocacy group, reported anti-Islamic remarks by a range of
American and
Canadian public figures, "from
congressional candidates to syndicated columnists.
[They] have portrayed Islam as 'murderous' and Palestinians as
'lower than pond
scum' or 'ragheads,' 'pieces of sh-t' and 'turds.'
Anti-Islamic religious hatred appears to be widespread in the U.S.
and Canada. Violent
incidents against Muslims and their mosques are often triggered by
national and
international news items. For example, anti-Muslim hysteria followed
the 1995 terrorist
attack on the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK.
Although responsibility
for
the bombing was eventually traced to two domestic terrorists from
the
Christian
Identity movement, there had been
initial speculation that the persons
responsible might have been Muslims. The 2001-MAR attack on two
Muslims in Sparks,
NV
might have been triggered by the destruction of the Buddhist statues
by the
Taleban, in Afghanistan.
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