The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, has released a statement regarding the hate speech used by counter-protesters in a video of a rally that took place earlier this week in Rockville. According to @RaefMusic, who shared the video on social media and was present, the initial rally was a “gathering was an interfaith collective of MoCo leaders including Muslims, Christians, and Jews seeking an end to the carnage in Gaza.” The full CAIR statement can be seen below:
“The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned a anti-Palestinian counter demonstration in Montgomery County, Maryland, at which demonstrators made violent and racist statements about killing Palestinians.
After a group of protesters gathered in Montgomery County to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, a group of anti-Palestinian protesters gathered to oppose them. One demonstrator using a megaphone said “we will secure America against you animals […] we’ll take your heads, we’ll take your lives […] because we are white, and you are murderers.” Shouting at a pro-Palestine protester, one counter protester said “you Muslim, we kill your brothers.” WATCH THE VIDEO
In a statement, CAIR Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry said: “This incident is a perfect illustration of the difference between the two sides. While one calls for a ceasefire and an end to the slaughter of innocents, the other celebrates and threatens to murder them. This incident also exemplifies the dangerous levels to which anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim bigotry has risen in recent weeks, with the enabling of major voices in politics and the media. Lawmakers must take action to address the rising tide of anti-Muslim bigotry before more people like those we see in this video decide to take their threats to the level of action.”
She noted that CAIR’s Maryland office recorded an unprecedented 108 hate and bias incidents, complaints and requests for assistance between Oct. 9 and Nov. 4. Yesterday, CAIR announced that its national headquarters and chapters received a total of 1,283 requests for help and reports of bias, which is a 216 percent increase over the previous year.”