http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk1JmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NjkyNzE2JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg==
Anti-Muslim bias rose sharply in 2004
Thursday, May 12, 2005
By WAYNE PARRY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEWARK - Cases of discrimination and bias against Muslims in New Jersey rose
sharply last year, according to a survey released Wednesday by a national
Islamic group.
The survey by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations counted
69 incidents of discrimination or bias crimes committed against New Jersey
Muslims in 2004, up from 40 incidents in 2003 - an increase of more than 72
percent.
The figures include incidents reported directly to the group by individuals or
organizations.
New Jersey cases included taunts and death threats made against a Muslim van
passenger in Paterson, the tossing of liquor bottles at a Union City mosque
while congregants were inside mourning an Arab-American teen killed in a car
crash, and the vandalism of a mosque under construction in Toms River, including
the spray-painting of Nazi graffiti.
"We all try to close our eyes and hope it's getting better, but it's not," said
Mohamed Younes, an elder in Paterson's Arab-American community.
Muslim leaders said they suspect the higher figures were due to a rising number
of incidents and an increased willingness on the part of Muslims to report them.
"Discrimination and stereotyping against Arab-Americans and Muslims has
persisted, and it demands of us a greater effort to educate the community about
us," said Aref Assaf of Denville, president of the Arab-American
Anti-Discrimination Committee's New Jersey chapter.
"I think it's because of the continuing war in Iraq, and the announcement of
investigations into Arab-American individuals and organizations. That only goes
to make permanent the suspicion of our community's good intentions."
Nationwide, hate crimes against Muslims rose 52 percent to 141 last year
compared with 2003, the council said, and civil rights violations jumped 49
percent to 1,522.
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