4,981 is the total number of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian reports received by America’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, strictly between January and June 2024. According to Reuters, that’s almost a 70% increase over the same period in 2023.
Some incidents have made it to national headlines. The fatal stabbing and murder of Palestinian 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother in Illinois. The murder of 52-year-old Dr. Talat Jehan Khan in Texas. The brutal shooting of Tahseen Ali Ahmad, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Hisham Awartani, three young Palestinian-Americans in Vermont. Countless student protesters silenced and suspended from top universities. The list goes on.
Reuters continues that there has been a global rise in Islamophobia and Anti-Palestinian bias since the eruption in October of the Israel-Palestine war, which has killed over 40,000 civilians and displaced over 2.3 million people.
This bias is far from absent in Maryland. According to ABC News, there have been over 200 reports of bias incidents against Maryland Muslims. 32% were of Islamophobia in schools and colleges/universities, and 13% were workplace-related. Another 17% were reports of “doxxing,” or online threatening.
Most of the listed complaints came from Montgomery County. Many Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab students in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) are experiencing this hate firsthand.
“My AP Government and Politics teacher felt the need to bring up the Israel-Palestine conflict and start mentioning 9/11 in it, making me uncomfortable,” Seneca Valley junior Misbah Zaman said. “Even indirectly calling me a terrorist by saying, ‘If there was one person in this room that you would think is a terrorist, who would it be?’”
Several students from Northwest and Thomas S. Wootton High School reported being harassed by strangers who used statements such as “Go back to your country,” and “F Palestine.”
“Since the killing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, numerous acts of hate, and threats towards MCPS Muslim Student Association and myself, it has been extremely difficult to go about my day without wondering if I am going to be the next victim of hate crime,” Thomas. S. Wootton graduate Aneela Shemsu said.
Rhetoric that paints Muslims as aggressive appears to be rampant.
“Students in MCPS are jumping on the bandwagon that Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims overall are terrorists. We’ve now realized that regardless of what we do or what stance we take, we’ll always be deemed the ‘bad guys,’” Seneca Valley High School senior Hira Zaman said.
8 Muslim students, when asked if they felt safe and heard as MCPS students, said no. Many articulated that they feel scared to speak up about their opinions for fear of being shut down.
“There have been instances when I’ve felt ignored and overlooked by school environments. Sometimes I feel afraid to speak up because of how people may react to me or what they may say to me in response,” an anonymous Wootton student said.
The extent of MCPS’ response to increases in Islamophobia has been newsletters. One school presented a slideshow about Anti-Muslim hate. While spreading awareness about these incidents is vital, Montgomery County and the nation as a whole must take greater action to address the hate against Muslims and Arabs in their communities. Schools and governing bodies must stand behind their Muslim communities by prioritizing them and thoroughly investigating their complaints.
“Considering that Muslim and Arab students constitute a minority within this school system, it becomes imperative for MCPS to provide meaningful support to these students,” Shemsu said.
Education on how to prevent hate needs to be prioritized. Since the majority of hate and bias incidents occur in schools and colleges, students and staff need to learn how to respect all ethnic and religious groups. Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab voices will be suppressed no longer.
Written by Noor Mahmoud
Graphic by Bella Li