Hate crimes against Muslims and Palestinians are increasing in Chicago, according to a US Muslim group

A growing number of hate crimes against Muslims and Palestinians in the US city of Chicago is cause for concern, according to an official with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Maggie Slavin, operations manager of CAIR's office in the US Midwestern city, told Anadolu that there has been a 196 percent increase in hate crimes against Muslims and Palestinians in the city since last October, when Israel's sustained offensive against the Gaza Strip began.

According to Slavin, the incidents occurred in workplaces, schools and public spaces, and those affected faced consequences if they expressed their solidarity with Gaza and Palestine.

She stressed that the Muslim community in America faces strict censorship. In the workplace, people are punished for expressing support for Gaza, and on campus, students face administrative penalties for speaking out for Palestinian rights, she added.

She said the authorities' response to the rise in hate crimes was “uncertain.” While some police departments were cooperative, others required persistent engagement.

Regarding a recent attack on a Palestinian-owned cafe in the Uptown neighborhood, she said Chicago police initially refused to classify the incident as a hate crime.

“We must be absolutely relentless until the police – until the authorities – agree with us that this was a hate crime,” she said.

Nabala Cafe, a Palestinian cafe in Uptown that flies a Palestinian flag, was attacked last week.

– Actual anti-Semitic threat to all minorities

The rise of anti-Islamic sentiment is also reflected in the resumption of government surveillance measures. Slavin compared the current atmosphere to the period following the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

“We've gotten a lot of calls from the FBI or federal agencies about inappropriate interactions… It kind of feels like a witch hunt,” she explained.

When the FBI shows up at people's doors, they're scared and call CAIR to ask what to do, Slavin said. “We've never seen anything like this before,” she noted. “This is a very scary new thing that's happening.”

She expressed her frustration over the misuse of the term “anti-Semitism” to suppress criticism of Israel’s policies.

“The actual anti-Semitism, the actual attacks on the Jewish faith, are a threat to us (Muslims), it is a threat to all minorities,” she said.

“But if everything is dismissed with the words: 'Oh, that's anti-Semitic', 'Oh, you are anti-Semitic', then the matter is simply reduced to nothing serious,” she stressed.

What they were doing was “legitimate criticism of Israel’s policies” and what Israel was doing in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, she said.

– Killing of Turkish-American activist was a “targeted attack”

Regarding the recent killing of a Turkish-American activist by Israeli forces in the West Bank, Slavin said it was not an accident. Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was a vocal advocate of Palestinian rights, she said, adding: “We believe it was a targeted attack.”

“This just goes to show that the Israeli army doesn't care if you're American or Muslim, and they will erase your humanity even if you're Muslim, to the point of actually murdering you.”

Slavin said the Israeli army sees nothing but resistance from the Palestinians “who are experiencing this brutal genocide.”

Anything less than resilience would be a “disgrace” for the Palestinians, she said.