Hate Crimes

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Mezuzahs Burned In Brooklyn Investigated As Hate Crime On Holocaust Remembrance Day
By Ellen Yan, Huffington Post
9 April 2013

Religious objects attached outside the door frames of Jewish homes were burned in a Brooklyn apartment building Monday, New York City police said.

The NYPD’s hate-crimes task force is investigating a total of 11 mezuzahs burned, said Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne.

Mezuzahs are parchment scrolls with verses from the Torah, and Jewish families attach them, often inside decorative casings, to their doorways as protection and reminder of their connection to God. (read more)

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Tunisian activist ‘fears for life’ after topless protest
AFP
6 April 2013

PARIS — A Tunisian activist said on French television Saturday that she feared for her life after courting controversy by posting topless pictures of herself online in support of Arab women’s rights last month.

The young woman, who goes by the name of Amina Tyler, provoked the ire of Islamist groups when she posted the pictures of herself online with the words “My body belongs to me” and “F(expletive) your morals” emblazoned across her naked breasts, in feisty homage to the Ukrainian women’s power group Femen.

Shortly after, she disappeared from public view, raising fears that she had suffered reprisals at the hands of extremists and giving rise to a number of rallies around the globe supporting her. (read more)

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Most US hate crime not reported, justice statistics say
BBC News
21 March 2013

Nearly two in three hate crimes in the US are not reported to police as victims doubt police can or will help, justice department statistics showed.

From 2003-06, 46% of hate crimes were reported, but police were notified only 35% of the time from 2007-11.

The proportion of victims who did not report crimes fearing police would not help rose to 24% from 14%, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said. Experts said the data comes amid a rise in the number of hate groups. (read more)

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Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai is shown in Birmingham, England, on March 19, 2013 (Malala Press Office/AFP, Liz Cave)

Pakistan’s Malala in school for first time since shooting
By Danny Kemp, AFP
19 March 2013

LONDON — Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai returned to school for the first time since October when she was shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education.

The 15-year-old said she had “achieved her dream” and was looking forward to meeting new friends at the independent Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham, central England, where she is now living.

Malala was flown to Britain after the attack for surgery for her head injuries and underwent several operations as recently as last month. (read more)

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Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng. (UN Photo/Rick Bajornas)

Fighting deadly hate speech requires ‘multi-layered approach,’ UN official says
UN News Centre
1 February 2013

A multi-layered approach to countering hate speech that could incite genocide and other crimes against humanity is needed, given the limits of legislation and the imperative to preserve freedom of expression, the United Nations official dealing with the issue said today.

“It is important to balance the principle of freedom of expression with the need to prevent or stop the most extreme cases of hate speech – those that have the potential to incite mass violence,” Adama Dieng, UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, told a panel on the topic. (read more)

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Hate crimes against Muslims only escalating 10 years after 9/11
By Natasha Dado, the Arab American News
4 January 2013

The tragic events that unfolded on Sep. 11, 2001 gave birth to an ugly and embarrassing chapter in America’s history-the post 9/11 anti-Islamic and Arab era that continues today.

Despite relentless national efforts to combat the negative stereotypes and intolerance of Muslims and Arabs that’s emerged after 9/11, hate crimes against them and people perceived to be members of their communities are at their height more than 10 years later according to activists and reports from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News has chronicled the widespread discrimination faced by Muslims and Arab Americans since 9/11 in the paper, and says last year hate related incidents targeting Muslims and Arab Americans increased noticeably in comparison to the first few years following 9/11. (read more)

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For earlier articles, please see the “Archived Updates” section.

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