The Myth Of The Anti-Muslim Hate Crime Wave

To hear CAIR tell the story, Americans have conducted a wave of hate crimes against Muslims that put them at greater and greater risk as time goes on. They highlight every perceived injustice as a means of shaming Americans into believing that Muslims in our midst have been the greatest victims of terrorism, thanks to our innate bigotry. However, as Investors Business Daily discovered when they looked at the FBI’s numbers, anti-Muslim hate crime has dropped dramatically since 9/11 — and another group remains far more likely to be victimized:

Not only are anti-Islamic hate crimes way down, but they’re a fraction of overall religious hate crimes. The overwhelming majority of such crimes target Jews, something CAIR and other Muslim groups don’t seem all that concerned about.
In 2006, a whopping 66% of religiously motivated attacks were on Jews, while just 11% targeted Muslims, even though the Jewish and Muslim populations are similar in size. Catholics and Protestants, who together account for 9% of victims, are subject to almost as much abuse as Muslims in this country.
Last year’s anti-Islamic hate crimes totaled 156. While just one hate crime is one too many, that’s a 68% drop from 2001.
The FBI report gives lie to CAIR’s alarmist narrative of “Islamophobic” lynch mobs marching on mosques across America. In reality, Americans have been remarkably, and admirably, tolerant and respectful of Muslims and their institutions since 9/11.

The actual statistics can be found at the FBI’s website. Out of almost 1500 anti-religious hate crimes committed in the US in 2006, 967 victimized Jews, while 156 victimized Muslims. Put together, Catholics and Protestants were the targets of 135 attacks.
That means on a per-capita basis, Muslims would be much more at risk for a hate crime in the US than a Christian. However, since Jews and Muslims have similarly-sized populations in the US, Jews are six times more likely to be victims of hate crimes than Muslims. Unlike with anti-Jewish hate crime, “intimidation” accounts for more than a third of all reported anti-Muslim victims. For Jewish victims, actual destruction of property accounts for two-thirds, while intimidation accounts for less than a fifth.
Qualitatively as well as quantitatively, the Jews have much more risk for hate crimes than the Muslims in America. Does that make our nation anti-Semitic? Hardly; we have provided perhaps the best opportunity for Jews to live in peace and prosperity than any other nation in the world. The same can be said for Muslims as well, but CAIR wants Americans to believe that we are a nation of Islamophobes who have to be scolded and legally harassed into giving Muslims a fair shake.
CAIR sells anger and fear. Americans have shown their hospitality to all peoples around the world, including Muslims, but CAIR isn’t interested in truth. It’s interested in power, and anger and fear make great shortcuts to it.