All About America explores American culture, politics, trends, history, ideals, and places of interest.

October 2023: A 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy named Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times to death by his mother’s landlord in Illinois. Joseph Czuba, 71, is accused of killing the child and has been charged with murder and a hate crime.

November 2023: Three college students were shot and killed in Vermont while speaking Arabic and wearing a hijab (a traditional Arabic scarf). One of them, Hisham Awartani, 20, a Palestinian-American, is now paralyzed. Police charged Jason James Eaton, 48, with three counts of attempted murder. The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime.

Such violence prompted Palestinian-American Adam Absala to think twice about wearing the headscarf, which has become a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians.

“Is it worth it?” Absara said. “I think sometimes when I go somewhere that I’m not familiar with, I’m like, ‘Should I leave it in the car? You know, shouldn’t I mention that I’m Palestinian, that I’m Muslim?’

Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, fears of reprisal and reprisal have spread among Arab-American and American Muslim communities. Some Arab Americans say they haven’t felt this nervous since the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, more than 20 years ago.

“It’s very similar to 9/11, the feeling of anxiety, fear and trepidation,” said Diana Abouali, director of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. “But it’s kind of on steroids because now we have social media and obviously all of these things can be expressed more openly.”

Arab Americans like Samraa Luqman, a community activist from Dearborn, worry about being held responsible for violence overseas and in the United States.

“We’re always on edge,” Luckman said. “We’re always afraid. We’re always worried that we’ll be targeted or blamed for another incident.”

While fear of being targeted has increased since Oct. 7, Lukman said it’s part of what it means to be an Arab and Muslim American, especially since 9/11. These concerns make it difficult for Luckman to practice her faith as religiously as she would like.

“I wore a hijab for almost 30 years of my life, and when I moved to another state, I was afraid to wear it,” she said. “I actually don’t wear it anymore.”

Luckman also recalled a conversation with her boss, who told her she was initially reluctant to hire Luckman.

“The interviewer ended up being my supervisor and we became very close,” Luckman said. “She told me, ‘I don’t want to hire you. … I don’t want terrorists to work with me.”

Amny Shuraydi, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, encountered similar emotions when she expressed surprise after learning she was Arab American and Muslim.

“In some cases, people will comment [like], ‘It’s a pleasure being with you. You’re very elegant, but you have a personality that doesn’t fit in with you,” Sholaidi said. “Then the question becomes, ‘Well, why do you think Arab Americans and Muslims don’t get along well?’ Why do you think I’m the exception rather than the rule? “

The FBI has no recent public statistics on hate crimes against Arab and Muslim Americans.However, in his Ramadan message On March 10, President Joe Biden expressed concern about the “alarming resurgence of hatred and violence against American Muslims.”

The Biden administration is developing a strategy to eliminate bias, discrimination and hatred against Muslims, Arab Americans and other marginalized groups, the statement said.

Furthermore, both Council on American-Islamic Relations and anti-defamation leagueSince October 7, the organization has tracked numerous incidents targeting these communities.

Recently, the New York Times published an opinion article titled: “Understanding the Middle East through the Animal Kingdom.” one Opinion draft The Wall Street Journal called Dearborn, the city with the largest Arab-American population in the country, the “jihadi capital of America.”

Dearborn’s mayor said on Twitter that police would increase security at places of worship and major infrastructure points following the Journal’s opinion piece.

“Taking out ‘Arab’ and inserting ‘Jewish’ or ‘black’ in these articles or op-eds – that will never be allowed to see the light of day,” Abu Ali said. “I think it’s OK to post inflammatory and defamatory language about Arabs. … I think it’s OK to be truly racist against Arabs.”

Shoradi said inflammatory language justifies hatred and violence against Arab Americans and American Muslims, and he said equating any group with animals shows they are inhumane and therefore unworthy of sympathy.

“Just like any other community that exists in America, they are a wonderful community and a flawed community,” Schulaidi said. “It’s important that they are seen as human beings, treated as human beings, and not put into a situation that divides them and makes them targeted and dehumanizing.”