“No person and no community in this country should have to live with the fear of hate-fueled violence.”
That was Attorney General Merrick Garland this weekend, speaking after three college students of Palestinian descent were shot in Burlington, Vermont, on Saturday. The young men were speaking Arabic and English near the house of a relative and two were wearing kaffiyehs, a traditional Palestinian headdress, when they were attacked.
On Monday, Garland said the FBI was investigating the violence as a possible hate crime. Sadly, it’s the latest of several such despicable acts the federal law enforcement agency and the Department of Homeland Security are reviewing amid an uptick of attacks against Jews and Muslims since the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on Israel.
If hate has no home here, as Garland insists, then law enforcement, the criminal justice system and the general public must do more to protect the vulnerable and ensure that no one faces the threat of violence because of where they were born or how they worship.
Shamefully, such behavior does have a long history in this country, though antisemitism and Islamophobia are by no means exclusive to the United States. Both are revolting malignancies that sicken the individuals who harbor such hate in their hearts and diminish the communities in which they reside.
There have been numerous reports of threats, intimidation and violence against Jews and Muslims since the horrific attack in Israel by Hamas last month and the subsequent bombing of Gaza by Israeli defense forces.
College campuses, including those in Virginia, have been hotbeds of discord, and both Jewish and Muslim students have been harassed and attacked in places where they should be safe from harm. Extremists have used this moment to amplify their worst prejudices and encourage violence.
Contributing to the problem are those in positions of power who only respond to the fears of one group. There is no question that the rising wave of antisemitism demands concerted action — that was true long before Oct. 7, and more true today — but officials cannot overlook those of Palestinian descent and those of the Muslim faith who are similarly worried about their well-being and their future.
It is telling, for example, that an encouraging and even-handed letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona from Virginia’s U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine called for expansion of an antisemitism awareness campaign for college campuses and the creation of an awareness campaign to combat Islamophobia. The point being, one is already up and running while the other is still on the drawing board.
Warner and Kaine, along with officials in the White House and Justice Department, have done well to acknowledge and address the fears that both Jews and Muslims harbor about the current climate.
Virginians who are Jews, Muslims or members of other faith communities should also find comfort in actions on the state level. On Oct. 31, Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Directive Six, calling for coordinated action by law enforcement agencies to operate on a “heightened state of alert” about anti-religious bigotry. It also calls on colleges and universities across the commonwealth to protect the safety of Jewish and Muslim students.
It aptly demonstrates the sort of broad coalition needed to fight antisemitism and Islamophobia. State and local officials can step up monitoring, work to promote tolerance and strive to foster understanding to ensure that people of all faiths can live in Virginia without fear of violence.
There’s a critical role for the public as well. There should be no tolerance for those who promote hate and encourage violence against our fellow Virginians, and we should be fierce in our defense of our Jewish and Muslim family, friends and neighbors, knowing what they’re enduring.
As the attorney general said, no person should be threatened or harmed because of their religious faith in this country. It is up to all of us to make our communities harbors of safety from the raging storm around us.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
