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The US White House has announced the first national strategy to combat Islamophobia. The strategy outlines more than 100 steps that federal officials of the US President can take to prevent hate, violence, prejudice and discrimination against Muslims and Arab Americans.
Growing hate and discrimination among American Jews
The proposal follows a similar national plan to fight anti-Semitism. It was introduced by President Joe Biden in May 2023, as fears grew about growing hate and discrimination among American Jews.
Trump has the responsibility to implement them
White House officials worked for months on the anti-Islamophobia plan. It was released on Thursday, five weeks before Biden leaves office. This means that if his administration wants to do so, most of the responsibility for implementing it will fall on the next president, Donald Trump.
Increased threats against American Muslim and Arab communities
In a statement announcing the strategy, the Biden administration said the initiative has become even more important over the past year as threats against American Muslim and Arab communities have increased. It says this includes the October 2023 killing of six-year-old Wadi Alfayoumi, an American Muslim boy of Palestinian descent, who was stabbed to death in Illinois. The plan details actions that could be taken by the executive branch. There are also more than 100 other calls for action in all sectors of society.
Massively improve the safety and security of Muslims
The strategy has four basic priorities. It includes raising awareness of hate against Muslims and Arabs and widely recognizing the heritages of these communities. To comprehensively improve their safety and security. To appropriately accommodate Muslim and Arab religious practices by working to prevent discrimination against them. To encourage solidarity among communities to combat hate.
Help Muslims and Arab Americans build the nation
The strategy announcement states that sometimes individuals are targeted because they are perceived to be Muslim. It is also important to recognize that Arabs are routinely targeted simply because of who they are, given that Muslims and Arab Americans have helped build the nation since its founding.
It says new data collection and education efforts are raising awareness of these forms of hate, as well as the proud heritages of Muslim and Arab Americans. The plan calls for more broad dissemination of successful practices of including Muslim and Arab Americans in hate crime reporting.
Trump wins Muslim-majority areas
Donald Trump implemented a travel ban on people from several Muslim-majority countries during his first term. Trump won the largest Muslim-majority US city in last month’s elections. After this, some Arab Americans who support Trump have started expressing concerns about some of his choices to fill his Cabinet and other selections for his incoming administration.
