As world media continues its biased coverage of the war on Gaza, another Palestinian American has been hospitalized after being hit by the driver of a dark SUV who shouted ‘Kill all Palestinians,’ ‘Long live Israel’.
According to a statement by the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the 20-year-old victim was attacked while walking on Cook Road on the border of Olmsted Falls and North Ridgeville.
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The driver of the car allegedly started yelling at him using anti-Palestinian statements like “Kill all Palestinians,” “Long live Israel,” as he swerved his car to intimidate the victim. The driver then allegedly turned around and hit the man while shouting “DIE!”
“We call on state, local and federal law enforcement authorities to monitor and investigate crimes related to the rising Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism,” Faten Odeh, CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland Interim Executive Director said.
Odeh added, “we hope the North Ridgeville Police Department and the FBI will collect all the information they need to charge this individual with a hate crime. We should all feel safe to walk down the street to grab a bite to eat, go to the store and go to school.”
Rising Hate Crimes
The victim, who hasn’t been named, is the second Palestinian American to be targeted after the eruption of the Gaza war on October 7.
Earlier this month, Palestinian American boy Wadea al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times by a 71-year-old landlord who was allegedly upset about the Israel-Hamas war.
CAIR and its affiliates nationwide have also documented an increase in incidents of anti-Muslim bigotry in the weeks following the escalation of violence in Gaza.
CAIR-Philadelphia called for a hate crime investigation into an alleged vandalism that targeted United Muslim Islamic Center (UMIC), a South Philadelphia Islamic center.
CAIR-Chicago announced that hate crime charges were brought against a man who reportedly threatened to shoot two Muslim men after allegedly shouting anti-Muslim statements.