Inconvenient Truth: 10 Times More Hate Crimes Against Jews Than Muslims

NewsBusters ^ | September 6, 2010 | Noel Sheppard

[Stoat]

Inconvenient Truth: 10 Times More Hate Crimes Against Jews Than Muslims

 

By Noel Sheppard (Bio | Archive)
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 20:18 ET

If you believed the media, you would think that hate crimes against Muslims was a growing epidemic in America.

Just Monday, the New York Times had a front page story hysterically noting a "torrent of anti-Muslim sentiments and a spate of vandalism."

"The knifing of a Muslim cab driver in New York City has also alarmed many American Muslims," wrote Laurie Goodstein in the second paragraph of her article titled "American Muslims Ask, Will We Ever Belong?"

Unfortunately, as Michael Doyle reported on August 28, the most recent data concerning hate crimes in this country paint a very different picture than what Goodstein and others in the media have been dishonestly portraying of late:

Hate crimes directed against Muslims remain relatively rare, notwithstanding the notoriety gained by incidents such as recent vandalism at the Madera Islamic Center.

Jews, lesbians, gay men and Caucasians, among others, are all more frequently the target of hate crimes, FBI records show. Reported anti-Muslim crimes have declined over recent years, though they still exceed what occurred prior to the 9-11 terrorist attacks. [...]

In 2008, 105 hate crime incidents against Muslims were reported nationwide. There were 10 times as many incidents that were recorded as anti-Jewish during the same year, the most recent for which figures are available.

The San Francisco Examiner broke those numbers down a little further:

According to the latest hate crime statistics available, there were 1,606 hate crime offenses motivated by religious bias in 2008. A closer look: 65.7 percent of them were committed against Jews. Against Muslims? 7.7 percent. [...]

Another interesting data point: 4.7 percent of hate crimes in 2008 were motivated by anti-Catholic bias. Another 3.7 percent were anti-Protestant. So from a raw numbers perspective, there were more hate crimes against Christians in America in 2008 than there were against Muslims. Given our large Christian population, it's true that each Christian is far less likely to be victimized, but the numbers still show that religious haters have not been singling out Muslims.

Some data provided by USA Today last November also helps to put this in perspective:

The number of attacks on blacks increased 8% to 2,876, accounting for seven of every 10 race-motivated crimes. [...]

Hate crimes based on sexual orientation increased 3% to 1,297,although the number of people victimized went up 13% to 1,706.

So, in 2008, the last year such statistics were available, there were 2,876 hate crimes against blacks, 1,297 against gays, and 1,055 against Jews.

Yet, with only 105 such disgusting acts committed against Muslims, America's media want you to believe this nation is Islamophobic.

Consider their premise as you watch the following video of a pro-Palestinian rally that took place in Washington, D.C., Friday (h/t Right Scoop):

 
(unable to embed videos at FR, here's the YouTube link instead)

YouTube - 2010-09-03 Al Quds Rally.flv

Imagine the wall-to-wall, 24 hour media coverage that would ensue if rabbis at a pro-Israel rally spoke with such vitriol about Muslims.

On the flipside, filmmaker Oliver Stone in July said America's "Jewish-dominated media" prevent Adolf Hitler from being portrayed in his proper context.

The prior month, the historically anti-Semitic Helen Thomas said Jews should go back to Germany or Poland and "get the hell out of Palestine."

A month before that, Comedy Central's website offered an astonishingly anti-Semitic video game wherein one character said, "You lied to me, Jew producer."   

A month before that, a report was released showing that anti-Semitic acts around the world had more than doubled in 2009 reaching levels never seen since figures started being kept on such things, and our media almost totally ignored these disturbing findings. 

Yet America's an Islamophobic nation - don't you ever forget it!

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Stoat. The Muslim cab driver was knifed by a Ground Zero Mosque supporter anyway, so anyone pointing to that as Islamophobia needs craniorectosis treatments.

If you believed the media, you would think that hate crimes against Muslims was a growing epidemic in America. Just Monday, the New York Times had a front page story hysterically noting a "torrent of anti-Muslim sentiments and a spate of vandalism." "The knifing of a Muslim cab driver in New York City has also alarmed many American Muslims," wrote Laurie Goodstein... Hate crimes directed against Muslims remain relatively rare, notwithstanding the notoriety gained by incidents such as recent vandalism at the Madera Islamic Center. Jews, lesbians, gay men and Caucasians, among others, are all more frequently the target of hate crimes... In 2008, 105 hate crime incidents against Muslims were reported nationwide. There were 10 times as many incidents that were recorded as anti-Jewish during the same year... Another interesting data point: 4.7 percent of hate crimes in 2008 were motivated by anti-Catholic bias. Another 3.7 percent were anti-Protestant. So from a raw numbers perspective, there were more hate crimes against Christians in America in 2008 than there were against Muslims... 1,055 against Jews. Yet, with only 105 such disgusting acts committed against Muslims, America's media want you to believe this nation is Islamophobic... filmmaker Oliver Stone in July said America's "Jewish-dominated media" prevent Adolf Hitler from being portrayed in his proper context. The prior month, the historically anti-Semitic Helen Thomas said Jews should go back to Germany or Poland and "get the hell out of Palestine."

[Stoat]

Thank you very much for pinging your list  :-)

 

[Stoat]

what is a “hate crime” anyway?

It's an augmentation of existing criminal sentences based upon the court's supposed ability to divine the full and complete level of motivations behind a given crime, and to attach additional penalties to the same crime if the thinking processes of the perpetrator are judged to have been in opposition to politically-correct fashion of the moment.  We already have severe penalties for murder, assaults, vandalism and so forth, but if the perp engaged in those crimes with malice in his or her heart toward a protected minority group then there are additional penalties as 'hate crimes'.  Such 'hate crimes' have been widely criticized as being harbingers of 'thought police' and concerns have been raised that 'hate crime' legislation tends to remove the concept of equality under the law, as different sentences are meted out based upon the political standing of the victim and the supposed thought processes of the perpetrator.  If a person kills someone, that's murder.  If a person kills someone while yelling a racial epithet about the victim's lineage then it may qualify as a 'hate crime' and be considered for additional penalties.

Victims' families who are not members of protected minority classes often feel shortchanged, that their relative was not held in a sufficiently high political regard to warrant a tougher sentence for the perpetrator.

 Aren’t they all hate crimes?

I believe so, yes.

 if i murder someone, can I say it’s a love crime?

You can say so, and if you are in a Central or South American country you may possibly have such a defense taken seriously, as I've heard of cases where husbands have been acquitted or given reduced sentences for murder of a cheating wife with her lover when they have been caught in the act.  "In flagrante delicto" I believe is the expression.   

More liberal mind control!

Indeed....and more Liberal separation and renumeration of classes based upon political popularity.

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure.